"On the north side of the Thames, from Blackfriars to Westminster, and from Grosvenor Road to Battersea Bridge, and on the south side, from Westminster to Vauxhall, embankments have been made which, whilst reclaiming from the river a considerable extent of ground, have substituted for the unsightly and offensive mud banks that formerly prevailed, handsome river walls, with broad and commodious thoroughfares, relieved and ornamented by public gardens. New streets have been made, some of the principal of which are Queen Victoria Street, Southwark Street, Northumberland Avenue, Commercial Road, and the new thoroughfare from Oxford Street to Bethnal Green; many other leading thoroughfares, which had become inadequate for the increased traffic of the present day, have been widened and improved, greatly to the convenience and comfort of the public; and liberal grants of money have been made by the Board to the authorities in aid of the cost of smaller street improvements which have not been of sufficient extent or importance to be carried out by the Board. "Two new parks have been provided, in districts previously unsupplied with such places of needed recreation. Public gardens have been laid out and are maintained in the neighbourhood of dense populations; and suburban commons, to the extent of about 1,500 acres, have by the action of the Board been secured in perpetuity for the undisturbed enjoyment of the public. "Many areas formerly covered with dwellings unfit for human habitation have been cleared, under the operation of the Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act, and the ground let to societies which have undertaken to build, and in some cases have built, improved dwellings, in which the humblest class of the working population can live with health, decency, and comfort." These and many consequential improvements, and the better paving of the streets, and the better cleansing of streets, places, and yards, the more rapid removal of filth from London, had made the general conditions of life much less unwholesome. The work, too, being done by the Metropolitan Asylums Board was greatly diminishing the dangers of infection in the metropolis, as well as restoring to life and health thousands who would otherwise have fallen victims to disease. And by "The Poor Law Act, 1879," the Vestries and District Boards were authorised to enter into contracts with the Board, for the reception and treatment of infectious sick who were not paupers, thus in a measure depauperising the Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals. And a very large amount of most valuable work was done by the Port Sanitary Authority; in the year 1879-80 over 15,000 vessels of all classes having been visited and inspected, the infectious sick removed, and disinfection carried out. Writing of the year 1877 the Registrar General said:--