The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-17
rHE CAUSES ~ nEarm.

THE CAUSES 49, DEATH.
Every year DR.. W. Farr presents TO 'hc Regis
tar-dcncrsl q statement ON the cllses OF death
iniEngland. The memoir Of 1867 has jus, been
Issued We learn from /: that the continued
ttvcr' ltyphus, typhia, anl typhma, killed
1921 Of the people in the year. The record, of
the Fever Hospital supply materials for an cstt-
ma:c Of the proportion Of the mortality to the
number attacked and upon this authority /, may
be taken tina, in the great battle with fever more
than 1000 OF the people Of England were de-
siroycd every year in the ten -lSiS-ISj7-
and above 10000 were severely wounded. bu.
recovered. The whole 800 probably averaged
about a months sickness, so that the average
yer population was about u, 100. They would
i ~ hospitals, with 100 beds each, and require
in every year about 4 900 900 days sub istence.
Typhus and rehpsing fever Oyphinia), like the
pythogcnic fever typhi), are lit up by a specific
zymot!c matter which Is generated when human
beings are badly fed, aud crowded together IN an
inadequate supply Of fresh air.
The seeds OF the disease can only be got rid Of
by yiglant sanitary police, and by the etltctual
destruction OF yphiuc, It's existing leaven. Scar
latina was fatal in the year % 1884 persons
which is nearly the average. Malignant sore
throat (cynaRche mdligna) Is allied to scaratina
the same reason diphtherii, which was not At first
recognized as novel form of disease in England
was coriouuded with sore throat. Tue deaths by
diphthcria were 9jS7 in 1859, which was the cen
TIRE of the epidemic, but had declined 10 1903 in
1862. Together these disCases-sCarlatina sore
throat aud iphthcria-dcstrOycd above 10000
lives annually IN tho eight years 1888 81. The
deaths from mallpoX were GifO in 1858, and fell
progressively 10 1928 in 1862 l2 PIP persons died
nom wboopng.congh in lSG2-its mortality is
never low.
Influenza had subsidized but it is undoubtedly
often cunfoundfd with bronchitis or pneumonia,
which are its frequent scIucls or complications;
li,ll2 died If darrhUa, which is often the result
OF zymotic poison allied to those OF cholera aud
dy sentcry. Thanks to the progress Of cultivation
aud drainage, our deaths from aEle and remit
tent fever are fen, only 2l in million living in
1862. rheumatism is allied to these affections,
and remains after they have disappeared proving
fatal generally by fixing on the membranes OF
important organs. Seventy three people died OF
priyaton (staryatiOn), Al of deliriym trcmeas
and 2i6 Of intcmpeTance in other forms Para
site diseases diminish with the progress OF clean
illness. One hundred and ffty-siX persons chiefly
children, died OF worms. Worms enter the body
through water generally, and sometimes through
diseased meats
Should arrangements he made to dispose of the
sewage of towns, and 10 supply houses with
pure water we may hope 10 see death by worms
diminish There was only one death from hydro
phobia in the year. But zymotic poisons rs dan
gerous as mad dogs are still allowed to be kept In
I
which they prOwl in the light Of day and ia the
darkness of the night with impuuity 10 destroy
mankind. In 1867 ZymOtic diseases carried of
4'55l in every thousand Of the population. The
second great class of eases-Con,titutonal dis
eascS-werc not far behind. Allowing for the in.
crease OF population, the proportion of deaths by
cancer has steadily increased, while drDpsy and
modification have declinedi but this is partly
due to improvements in medical diagnosis.
Deaths which would have been returned under
the head Of drop'y are now traced 10 organic
changes of the heart and kidneys.
A common sequence Is rheumatic fever, heart
membranes injured, circulation obstructed
dropsy. But in the constitutional class Of dis
eases phthisis (consumption) is the chief The
mortality by phthisis has fallen from 81 year
per thousand living in lS50-5i, to 2'jSj in 1856
62; but the deaths by bronchitis, with which in
the chronic state phthisis is liable to be CON
founded, have increased more than the deaths by
phihl fell. Bronchitis comes under the third
class Of discases-namely, local diseases, which
comprise fOuT-tenths of the total deaths in the
country, arising chiefly from affections OF the
vital organs of the head and chest. Uniting the
respiratory diseases with phthsis to get rid of
any antiquities OF nomenclature, the mortality
from the TWO groups of chest disease Is found in
creasing from $50 in thousand of the populR-
tion per annum in lSj0-54 20 5'S9j per annum in
1893 81, more than quarter OF ail the deaths in
England.
II is question of great interest what has led to
this recent increase Of mortality from inilamma-
ton Of the airpaSsages and air cells of the lungs.
nervous system Drain, spinal marrow, nerves.,
25,2S6 were from the convulsion of infancy, In
which the symptoms of disease are obscure.
Brights disease has increased greatly in the last
ten years, but perhaps only in appearance, arising
from change due 10 the diffusion of pathological
knowledge. Fatal stone cases have decreased
but disease arising from Inflammation or irrita-
ton of the mucous membranes involved have
grown more fatal; these are the evils to be
Obyiated In using crushing Instruments. A bold
operation 10 now practised for ovarian dropsy
and Mr.. Spencer Wells considers that 1876 of the
women who died in the year might have been
saved by surgery. Six deaths In 1862 were
ascrlbed to fright, seven to grief, 20 rage, aud
forty -four to melancholy. We have now reached
the fourth class Of diseases-the deYeopmental
the diseases incident TO the birth, development,
nutrition, and decay Of man. In this class are
GS, $40 deaths.
The great majority of them are from debility
and Old age but of all the 429O 900 deaths in 1862
the causes OF which are specified, only 261SO !
were from old age. The deaths of women IN
becoming mothers (including metria) were 3077
in 1862. In series of these deaths from l8i7 to
1862, the numbers commence with GO deaths of
mothers to 10000 children born alive, and end
only with 43. About a thousand mothers sur
Nived in 1862 who would have perished had the
mortality remained the same as II was in lSi7.
The improved registration Of births accounts for
only portion of this apparent rate Of decrease.
Last come the violent deaths Of the year. l49i
in number, 743 In every 10000 persons. About
one death In every % Is by violence But the
bulk Of them are the result Of accident or ncgli-
gencc. The deaths by burns and scllds fell 10
27O1, but by due precautlOn the number of these
fearful deaths might be still further reduced. The
accidental deaths by poison have fallen 70 2G2.
The suicides were 1917, GIL Of them by the rope
II persons were executed, II were killed by light
ming. This statement the mortality of the year
suggests several questions OF interest; some Of
them will be discussed in a supplemental volume
which Is IN preparation at the Register OAce,
showing tie results OF the registration Of the ten
years lying between the two last censuscs.