It may be supposed that, because the malady, during the later period of its existence at Underwood, did not prove fatal, it was understood better than at first, and that the medical treatment was on that account more successful. But if so, it would not have been so fatal afterwards at Plympton; as it was in the hands of the same medical practitioner.
It may be worthy of remark, that towards the end of August, the weather became cooler, and the vapour which rises in the valley below Underwood, concentrated in a white frost, though in a slight degree, in the month of September; to which the gradual disappearance of the disease was in some measure attributed.
By the entries in the Register of Burials, it appears that the deaths were,—males, 14, females, 16; total, 30. One male only died between the ages of 10 and 39. One female only died between the ages of 10 and 45. Two males died upwards of 50 years of age; viz., 53 and 72. Five females died upwards of 50 years of age; viz., 56, 67, 75, 76, and 77.
Burials in Plympton St. Mary:—
| 1831 | males, 26 | females, 18 | total 44 |
| 1832 | „ 31 | „ 31 | „ 62 |
| 1833 | „ 14 | „ 18 | „ 32 |
From the 1st of June to the 1st of September:—
| 1831 | males, 4 | females, 3 | total, 7 |
| 1832 | „ 20 | „ 19 | „ 39 |
| 1833 | „ 4 | „ 5 | „ 9 |
The fact that nine out of twelve inmates of the cottage [103] inhabited by Parsons’s family were swept off, under circumstances of a peculiarly aggravated and appalling character, may be attributed to the unfortunate inattention to sanitary precautions, which has already been mentioned.
The village of Underwood