1512

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN 76 of the largest English towns 7471 births and 457deaths were registered during the week ending May 25thThe annual rate of mortality, which had been equato 15.9, 15.7, and 15. 1 per 1000 in the three precedingweeks, further declined to 14 . 9 in the week undenotice. During the first eight weeks of the current quartethe death-rate in these towns averaged 16’ 2 per 1000, thrate during the same period in London being 15 ° 8. Th,lowest annual death-rates in the 76 towns during thweek were 7.5 in Hornsey, 7.8 in Smethwick, 8.1 inTottenham, 8. 7 in Willesden, and 8.8 in East Ham ; therates in the other towns ranged upwards to 20’1 1 iiStockport, 22-7 in Sunderland, 23’9 in Oldham, an(24-8 in Hanley. The 4578 deaths in, the 76 town)showed a decrease ’of 52 from the number in thl

preceding weeks, and included 474 which were referrecto the principal epidemic diseases, against 49and 507 in the two previous weeks; of these, 20 iresulted from measles, 116 from whooping-cough, 51 fromdiarrhœa, 46 from diphtheria, 35 from scarlet fever, 18 from"fever" (principally enteric), and one from small-pox. ThEdeaths from these principal epidemic diseases were equal tcan annual rate of 1, 5 per 1000, the rate from the samediseases in London being 1-4. No death from any of theseepidemic diseases was registered last week in Plymouth,Halifax, Stockport, Devonport, or in six other of the 76towns ; the annual death rates therefrom, however, rangedupwards to 3’ 3 in Portsmouth and in Walsall, 4 - 1 in Middles.brough, 5 0 in Derby, 6’ 8 in Bolton, and 7’ 0 in Hanley. The207 fatal cases of measles showed a slight decline from thehigh numbers in recent weeks; the highest death rates fromthis cause were 2’1 in Derby, 2’6 6 in Middleshrough, 2’7 inBury, 2. 8 in Nottingham, 5.1 in Bolton, and 7.0 in Hanley.The deaths from whooping-cough, which had been 176, 163,and 144 in the three preceding weeks, further fell last weekto 116, and caused death-rates ranging upwards to 1’1 inSt. Helens and in Swansea, 1 ’2 2 in Hornsey, 1 ’3 3 in Norwich,and l’ 8 in Preston. The fatal cases of diphtheria, whichhad declined from 59 to 41 in the three preceding weeks,rose again to 46 last week, and included five deaths, equalto an annual rate of 2’1 1 in Derby. Of the 35 deaths fromscarlet fever 13 occurred in London and three each in WestHam, Leicester, Liverpool, and Manchester. One fatal caseof small-pox was registered in Cardiff, but none in anyother of the 76 towns ; and no small-pox patients were undertreatment at the end of the week in the MetropolitanAsylums Hospitals. The number of scarlet fever casesin these hospitals and in the Londcn Fever Hospital, whichhad been 2672, 2658, and 2679 at the end of the three

preceding weeks, had further risen to 2732 at the end of theweek under notice ; 383 new cases were admitted durirg theweek, against 346,349, and 363 in the three preceding weeks.The deaths in London referred to pneumonia and other diseasesof the respiratory organs, which had been 282, 262, and 235in the three preceding weeks, further decreased to 230 lastweek, but were 17 in excess of the corrected average in thecorresponding week of the previous five years. The causes of46, or 1 0 per cent., of the deaths registered during the weekwere not certified either by a registered medical practitioner

°

or by a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certifiedin Bristol, West Ham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Hull, Nottingham,Salford, and in 49 other of the 76 towns ; the proportion ofuncertified deaths, however, again showed a marked excessin Liverpool, Birmingham, Sunderland, and South Shields.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in eight of the principalScotch towns, which had been equal to 19 - 3 and19-7 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, declined

again to 17’ 5 in the week ending May 25th, but exceeded Ithe rate in the 76 English towns by 2 - 6. The rates inthe eight Scotch towns ranged from 12 9 in Paisley and13 - 4 in Aberdeen to 19-8 8 in Greenock and 21-0 in Perth.The 607 deaths in the eight towns showed a decrease of 78from the number in the previous week, and included 92which were referred to the principal epidemic diseases,against 106, 110, and 112 in the three preceding weeks.These 92 deaths were equal to an annual rate of2. 6 per 1000, which exceeded by 1.1 the rate

from the same diseases in the 76 English towns; ;they included 39 which were referred to whooping-cough, 28 to "fever," nine to measles, nine to diarrhoea,four to diphtheria, and three to scarlet fever, but not

any to small-pox. The deaths referred to whooping cough,which had been 40 and 52 in the two preceding weeks, de-clined again last week to 39, of which 33 occurred in Glasgow,two in Edinburgh, two in Dundee, and two in Paisley. The28 fatal cases of "fever," all of which were attributed tocerebro-spinal meningitis, showed a decrease of 13 from thenumber in the preceding week, and included 19 in Glasgow,five in Leith, and two in Dundee. The deaths from measles,which had been 12 and eight in the two preceding weeks,rose again last week to nine, of which four were registered inGlasgow and four in Edinburgh. The nine fatal cases ofdiarrhoea included five in Dundee and three in Glasgow ; thefours deaths from diphtheria occurred in Edinburgh; andtwo of the three deaths from scarlet fever in Glasgow.The deaths in the eight towns referred to diseasesof the respiratory organs, including pneumonia, whichhad been 107 in each of the two preceding weeks, de-creased to 83 in the week under notice, and were 13below the number in the corresponding week of last year.The causes of 15, or 2’ 5 per cent., of the deaths regis-tered in the eight towns during the week were not certified ornot stated; the proportion of uncertified deaths in the 76English towns during the same week did not exceed 1. 0 percent.

____

HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The annual death-rate in Dublin, which had been equal to24 - 0 and 26 - 7 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, declinedagain to 25’ 8 in the week ending May 25th. Duringthe first eight weeks of the current quarter the death-ratehas averaged 27’ 3 per 1000 ; the mean rate during the sameperiod did not exceed 15’ 8 in London and 17 7 in Edin-burgh. The 193 deaths of Dublin residents registered duringthe week under notice showed a decline of seven from thenumber returned in the previous week, and included 17which were referred to the principal epidemic diseases,against numbers decreasing from 29 to seven in thefour preceding weeks ; of these, 10 resulted fromwhooping-cough, six from measles, and one from"fever." These 17 deaths were equal to an annualrate of 2’ 3 per 1000, the rate during the same weekfrom the principal epidemic diseases being 1-4 in Londonand 1 - 8 in Edinburgh. The fatal cases of whooping-cough,which had declined from 15 to four in the four precedingweeks, rose again to ten last week ; while the deaths frommeasles, which had been three, six, and one in the tbreeprevious weeks, again increased to six. The 193 deaths fromall causes included 29 of children under one year and45 of persons aged upwards of 60 years, each of thesenumbers showing a decline from those returned in theprevious week. Six inquest cases and four deaths fromviolence were registered ; and 98, or more than one-half ofthe deaths, occurred in public institutions. The causes ofthree, or 1 - 5 per cent., of the deaths in Dublin last weekwere not certified; the percentage of uncertified deathsduring the week did not exceed 0 - 2 in London, while it was3.7 in Edinburgh. The 164 deaths registered in Belfast

during the week under notice included 20 which werereferred to cerebro-spinal fever or cerebro-spinal meningitis.

THE SERVICES.

KOYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.

THE following appointments are notified :-Fleet Surgeon :J. C. Fergusson to the Ariadne on recommissioning ; StaffSurgeon : S. T. Reid to the Antrim on recommissioning ;Surgeons : W. H. Hastings to the Antrim, and A. R. Thomasto the Ariadne on recommissioning.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Major David Stiell retires on retired pay (dated May 25th,1907).

’

Lieutenant-Colonel James S. Green is placed on temporaryhalf-pay on account of ill-health (dated May 22nd, 1907).Captain A. C. Duffey has been appointed to the Dublin

District. Major T. B. Beach has been appointed MedicalOfficer, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.