vital statistics

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The learned Judge commended Mr. Winch for this course,and said that the plaintiff had no other course to take thanthe one he had adopted in vindicating his character andtreatment. He said he should no doubt have found averdict for the plaintiff. His lordship further empliasisedhis remarks by giving costs on the High Court scale, althoughthe amount claimed might have been sued for in the CountyCourt.

We offer Dr. Miller our hearty sympathy and congratu-lations. He has acted with credit to himself and done areal service to his profession, for although he has recovered Ihis debt with costs, he has done so at considerable loss to Ihimself, both as regards time and money.

I

MALCOLM MORRIS INDEMNITY FUND.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN twenty-eight of the largest English towns 5323 birthsand 3937 deaths were registered during the week endingJuly 13th. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had been 16’7, 17-3, and 17 per 1000 in the pre-ceding three weeks, further rose last week to 21’5. During!the thirteen weeks of last quarter the death-rate in thesetowns averaged 18’2 per 1000, and was 2’1 below the meanrate in the corresponding periods of the ten years 1879-88.The lowest rates in these towns last week were 12-9 inHuddersneld, 14-5 in Wolverhampton, 15’9 in Brighton,16’0 in Norwich, and 1G4 in Bristol. The rates in theother towns ranged upwards to 28’1 in Leicester, 30 3 inSunderland, 30’5 in Preston, and 31’8 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The deaths referred to the principal zymoticdiseases in these towns, which had been 400, 473, and 700in the previous three weeks, further rose last week to.)44; they included 640 from diarrhoea, 104 from measles,80 from whooping-cough, 43 from scarlet fever, 38 fromdiphtheria, 39 from "fever" (principally enteric), and notone from small-pox. These zymotic diseases caused thelowest death-rates last week in Bristol and Norwich, andthe highest rates in Sunderland, Salford, and Preston. Thegreatest mortality from diarrhoea occurred in Preston,Bradford, Leeds, Leicester, Salford, and Sunderland; frommeasles in Halifax, Hull, and Preston ; from whooping-cough in Bradford, Plymouth, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne;from scarlet fever in Salford, Huddersfield, and Plymouth ;and from "fever" in Birkenhead. The 38 deaths from

diphtheria included 25 in London and 3 in Manchester.

Small-pox caused no death in any of the twenty-eightgreat towns; and no small-pox patient was under treat-ment at the end of the week either in the MetropolitanAsylum Hospitals or in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital.The number of scarlet-fever patients in the MetropolitanAsylum and London Fever Hospitals at the end of lastweek was 602, against 559, 569, and 576 on the precedingthree Saturdays; 91 cases were admitted to these hospitalsduring the week, against numbers increasing from 33 to 73 inthe previous four weeks. The deaths referred to diseases ofthe respiratory organs in London, which had been 109 and 143in the preceding two weeks, rose again last week to 158, butwere 46 below the corrected average. The causes of 91,or 2 3 per cent., of the deaths in the twenty-eight townslast week were not certified either by a registered medicalpractitioner or by a coroner. All the causes of death wereduly certified in Hull, Leicester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,and in four other smaller towns. The largest proportionsof uncertified deaths were registered in Bristol, Sheffield,and Bradford.

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HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had been 18’4 and 21-3 per 1000 in the precedingtwo weeks, declined again to 18’6 in the week endingJuly 13th; this rate was 29 below the mean rate

during the same week in the twenty-eight large Englishtowns. The rates in these Scotch towns ranged lastweek from 9’5 and 13’1 in Perth and Dundee to 22’3 inGlasgow and 23’3 in Paisley. The 476 deaths in the eighttowns showed a decline of 69 from the number in theprevious week, and included 37 which were referred to

diarrhoea, 24 to whooping-cough, 19 to measles, 7 to"fever" (principally enteric), 3 to scarlet fever, 7 to

diphtheria, and not one to small-pox; in all, 91 deathsresulted from these principal zymotic diseases, against 79 9and 81 in the preceding two weeks. These 91 deaths wereequal to an annual rate of 3-6 per 1000, which was 1’6below the mean rate from the same diseases in the twenty-eight English towns. The deaths attributed to diarrhoea,which had been 17 and 22 in the preceding two weeks,further rose last week to 37, and exceeded by 29 the numberin the corresponding week of last year. The 24 fatal casesof whooping-cough corresponded with the number returnedin each of the two preceding weeks, and included 16 inGlasgow and 5 in Dundee. The deaths from measles, whichhad been 21, 24, and 26 in the previous three weeks,declined last week to 19, of which 8 occurred in Glasgow,8 in Aberdeen, and 2 in Leith. The 7 deaths referred to"fever" showed a considerable increase upon recent weeklynumbers, and included 4 in Glasgow and 2 in Edinburgh.The deaths from the principal diseases of the respiratoryorgans, which had been 71 and 80 in the preceding twoweeks, declined last week to 56, and were 16 below thenumber in the corresponding week of last year. The causesof 48, or more than 10 per cent., of the deaths registeredduring the week in the eight towns were not certified.

HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin, which had been 23’2 and22’8 per 1000 in the preceding two weeks, further declinedto 16-3 in the week ending July 13th. During the thirteenweeks of last quarter the death-rate in the city averaged23’6 per 1000, the mean rate during the same period being16-0 in London and 16-6 in Edinburgh. The 110 deathsin Dublin showed a further decline of 44 from the numbersreturned in the previous two weeks; they included 5 whichwere referred to diarrhoea, 4 to "fever" (typhus, enteric, orill-defined), 2 to whooping-cough, and not one either tosmall-pox, measles, scarlet fever, or diphtheria. Thus thedeaths from these principal zymotic diseases, which hadbeen 15 and 8 in the previous two weeks, rose againlast week to 11; they were equal to an annual rate of1 6 per 1000, the rates from the same diseases being 4-3in London and 2 2 in Edinburgh. The fatal ca.rs ofdiarrhoea, "fever," and whooping-cough showed an increaseupon the numbers in the previous week. The deaths ofinfants and of elderly persons were fewer than those in theprevious week. Two deaths from violence and 2 inquestcases were registered; and 36, or nearly a third, of thedeaths occurred in public institutions. The causes of 8,or nearly 8 per cent., of the deaths in the city were notcertified.