than in 1877, in which year the death rates generally were extremely low, and in Austria it was the same as in 1877; but in the remaining countries for which the returns are complete it was higher than in that year. in United 469. The death rate of the United Kingdom, according to the Death rate Reports of the Registrar-General of England, was as follows during Kingdom. each of the nine years ended with 1879. It will be observed that 1877 was the year in which the death rate was lowest : DEATH RATE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1871 тo 1879. 470. In every country the death rate is higher in towns than it is in the extra-urban districts. This circumstance, although no doubt partly attributable to the superior healthfulness and immunity from contagion prevailing in the latter, is also to a great extent due to the fact that hospitals and charitable institutions, which are frequented by patients from the country as well as by town residents, are generally situated in the towns; and further, that outside of charitable institutions many persons die who have come from the country on the approach of serious illness for the sake of the superior nursing and medical attendance to be obtained in town. In 1881, the death rate was somewhat higher in the country towns than in Melbourne and suburbs, but in both it was very much higher than in the country districts. following are the figures for that year: DEATHS IN URBAN AND COUNTRY DISTRICTS, 1881. The Death rates in town and country, 1881. Death rate in town and country, 1873 to 1881. 471. The number of deaths per 1,000 of the estimated population of the metropolitan towns (Greater Melbourne), the extra-metropolitan towns, and the country districts of Victoria is given in the following table for each of the last nine years: Normal death rate country. NOTE.-In 1875, and to a certain extent in the preceding and succeeding years, the death rate was swelled by epidemics of measles and scarlatina. 472. It will be noticed that in five of the years the death rate in in town and Melbourne and suburbs was above that in the other town districts; but in the other four years, including 1881, the death-rate in the extrametropolitan towns was the higher. The greater mortality in proportion to population prevailing in the urban than in the country districts is very striking in all the years. In the former the mortality was invariably much above the normal 17 per 1,000 persons living, whilst in country districts it was always very considerably below that rate. Death rates in Mel suburbs. 473. The following table shows the mean population, the number bourne and of deaths, and the proportion of the latter to the former in 1881, also the number of deaths to every 1,000 persons living during the period of ten years commencing with 1871 and ending with 1880, in each of the different municipalities and other sub-districts forming the component parts of the district of Melbourne and suburbs (Greater Melbourne). In order to render the rates of the various districts comparable as far as possible, the deaths in hospitals and similar institutions have been eliminated in the districts where they occurred, but are shown separately near the end of the table : Estimated DEATH RATES IN GREATER MelbourneE, 1871 TO 1881. Sub-districts. rate, 1881. 474. It will be observed that in 1881 the death rate in every sub- Low death district of Greater Melbourne, except Brunswick and Sandridge, was below the average of the previous ten years. 475. The only sub-district which had, according to the average of ten years, a higher death rate than 20 per 1,000 is the low-lying and still imperfectly drained locality of Collingwood; the next highest death rate prevailed in the neighboring city of Fitzroy, the next in the shipping town of Williamstown, and the next in the rural suburb of Essendon and Flemington. In 1881, the highest death rate was in the shipping town of Sandridge, whilst Collingwood and Fitzroy maintained the next highest rates; but the rates in Williamstown, and Essendon and Flemington, were comparatively low. The lowest death rate, both during 1881 and the period of ten years, was in the shipping; the next in the portion of the district not included in any city, town, or borough ; the next during 1881 in Kew; the next in Brighton; and the next in Hawthorn and St. Kilda. During the period of ten years, after the In order to compare the death rate with density of population, see also paragraph 86 ante. Includes the Melbourne, Alfred, Lying-in, and Children's Hospitals, the Immigrants' Home, and the Carlton Lunatic Asylum (closed in 1873)-all situated in Melbourne City; the Benevolent Asylum, which is on the boundary between Hotham Town and Melbourne City; the Metropolitan Lunatic Asylum, which is in Kew Borough; and the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum, which is in "Remainder of district." Census figures. Places in rate was lowest. which death highest and Sub-districts with death 17 per 1,000 shipping, the lowest death rate was in Kew and the "remainder of district"; the next in Brighton and St. Kilda; and the next in Brunswick. 476. The death rate of Greater Melbourne, taken as a whole, in the rates over calculation of which the deaths in charitable institutions are included, was a fraction over 19 per 1,000 persons living in 1881, and a fraction over 20 per 1,000 in the preceding period of ten years. During the lastnamed period the annual death rate was over 17 per 1,000 in 7 out of the 18 sub-districts, viz., Collingwood, Fitzroy, Williamstown, Essendon and Flemington, Sandridge, Richmond, and Hotham; but during 1881 it was over 17 per 1,000 in only three sub-districts, viz., Sandridge, Collingwood, and Fitzroy. In considering the death rate of the individual districts, the hospitals, asylums, &c., have been eliminated. Death rates in towns of United Kingdom. Deaths in each month. 477. The average mortality of Greater Melbourne is lower than that of most towns in the United Kingdom. In the following list, which shows the death rate of 23 such towns, the only towns with a lower average death rate than it are Portsmouth and Brighton: DEATH RATES IN TWENTY-THREE Towns of THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1873 TO 1877. Wolverhampton 24.74 478. The mortality of Victoria is usually highest in the first five months and in the last month of the year. The relative mortality of the various months fluctuates, however, in different years. According to the average of a series of years, the months in which most deaths occur appear to be January, March, April, and February, in the order named, but, in the year under review, the order of fatality was March, December, January, whilst more deaths occurred in May than in April or February. The number of deaths in each month of 1881, and their percentage to the total number in the year, also the percentage of the deaths in each month of the decenniad which preceded that year to the total number of deaths during the same period, will be found in the following table : different seasons. 479. In Victoria the summer is, especially to invalids and young children, Deaths at the most trying portion of the year. It is not astonishing, therefore, that most deaths occur during that period. Next to the summer the autumn quarter is the most fatal, probably in part owing to the circumstance that some who had become debilitated during the summer linger on for some months later. In the United Kingdom, on the contrary, the greatest mortality occurs in the winter, and the least in the summer quarter. A statement of the relative mortality of the different seasons in Victoria, according to the experience of the past year and the preceding ten years; in England and Wales, according to the experience of thirty-one years; in Scotland, according to the experience of ten years; and in Ireland, according to the experience of five years; together with the mean temperature in each quarter in Melbourne and Greenwich, will be found in the following table : RELATIVE MORTALITY OF EACH QUARTER IN VICTORIA, ENGLAND, The summer, autumn, winter, and spring seasons in Victoria approximate to the quarters ending on the last day of March, June, September, and December respectively; and in the United Kingdom to those ending on the last day of September, December, March, and June respectively. |