ZYMOTIC DISEASES.—The deaths from the seven principal diseases of the zymotic class, named below, were 388 in number, viz.: 332 in the Town sub-district and 56 in Brompton, an increase of 98 over the previous year: 96 of the additional deaths belonging to the Town sub-district. Nevertheless, the mortality from these maladies was little above the average of the previous 10 years (380), and considerably below the corrected number, after due allowance for the increase of population. The deaths were equivalent to 2.8 per 1,000 persons living, and to 144 per 1,000 deaths, as against an average of 178 in the 10 years 1864–73. The deaths in London in 1874 from the same diseases were 147 per 1,000 deaths, and in all England in 1872 (the latest year of publication), 188. _Deaths from the seven principal Zymotic Diseases_. Town. Brompton. Total. Per 1,000 deaths. Small Pox 0 0 0 0 Measles 115 6 121 45 Scarlet Fever 28 4 32 11.8 Diptheria 24 2 26 9.6 Whooping Cough 36 9 45 16.7 Fever 39 13 52 19.3 Diarrhœa 90 22 112 41.6 Total 332 56 388 144.0 It will be observed that there was no fatal cases of _small-pox_ during the year: the first time during the decade of such immunity. But, on the other hand, the year was marked by an epidemic of _measles_ of extraordinary severity, and confined entirely to the Town sub-district. During the year 1873 the deaths from this affection were 38, of which 31 occurred during the months of November and December, the commencement of the epidemic. Of these 38 deaths, 28 belong to the Town sub-district. The mortality in Brompton was 10 during the whole of 1873 but fell to 6 last year; while the deaths in the Town Sub-district rose to 115. Of the total of 121 deaths, 119 occurred under the age of 5 years. The highest total in the previous 10 years was noted in 1864, when 100 children died of this complaint (vide Table 5 Appendix). The total mortality during the last epidemic was 148, viz., 16 in November and 15 in December 1873, and 107 during the first five months of 1874, viz., January, 25; February, 31; March, 25; April, 16; and May, 10. Measles is always more fatal when it occurs as an epidemic, and especially during the winter months, the immediate cause of death being, in the majority of cases, some intercurrent complication affecting the lungs. The brunt of the epidemic fell on the poorer classes in the northern parts of the parish.