Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-05-07
For the Free Press and T.ar.z.
ls.msHt Registration Report: 1867.

No desllainE epidemic swept over the Stat
during the year. and yet the number Of death
was increased, and the increase rerta.ued 20 a Z
The Glasses ot disease save the violent Diuhther j
caused the death OF a., against go 10 1866
| about eue-hali were under Lr. year, Of age a aa
more u.al two-thiri, were under ZEN. TIL.
disease reached the climax Of its fatality In i8
| when 10 deaths were recorded. Since "a,
I period the number has gradually decreased I
now IT is hardly more fatal than many 9th er
diseases, and has ceased 20 De DREADED as q .. So
H.Ating epidemic Scarlatiul was the cause al
81 deaths, all under ten years Of age. % 1au ,h
sm1.er number than IN amy previous We DIP.
Solri4tua ~ Cluker Rash is now unlersr ,,.l
20 be u0u-eou,4g.ous. Il frequently makes IT,.
appearance In families and neighborhools. zone
Of whom have been exposed 10 10, an, j.
thoroughly amenable TO proper treatment The
fatality from Dysentery Is larger than Ia 1906.
lue hundred and seventv-f1ur deaths are re
corded, against lat in that year. One hundred
and one were under five years Of 8 -e. The
greatest mortality was iu August and Sc ptember.
the least ia November and December
The number II deaths from Feye n. If all
classes, was also larger than in 1850 IN that
year -, deaths were recorded; ia ! $50. 1Ss
The average annual number of deaths from this
cause for eleven years is 3l3 or f.G p r cent. Of
all deaths
The counties bordering on the Connecticut
river show the greatest mortality fir pm Fevcrs
Windsor, Orange, and Wiuiham IA nk highest
on the list. Next in order is the interior county
Of Washington, then Rutland in the southwestern
part Of the State, and then CALEDONIA on the
upper Connecticut. Chittenden. Addison. Ben
uingt0n and Franklin on the eastern shore Of
Lake lhamplaiu follow next in order; ami last
are Orleans, LamOille, Grand Isle and Essex
The largest proportion Of deaths from this
cause occurred in those months of the year
when the dense fors are most prevalent long
the borders Of the Connecticut and the LIKE.
Whether the prevalence and mortality Of ie, ers
in those localities depends upon the peculiar
condition Of the atmosphere, or the foul exl ala
tons arising from the staguant waters in the
coves and low lands adjoining those bod es of
water; or whether, as DR.. salisbury clliu To-
have proved, they arise from the sports of
DlimeliGe, a vegetable Of the lowest rider.
resembling upon the earth an incrustatic n Of
saline matter or brick dust; or whether rs DR..
Putnam, in Medical Transactions Of Vermont
for 1866, claims, 81 fevers arise from foul ex
ialations about our homes - are sub iects /
worthy Of study and invcsticat ion. !
from which importants results in sanit1ry [
point of view might well be expected
Forty deaths from Diarrhua are recorded: 81 /
# Cholera lntintum; - from Whooping Cough: /
from Cholera, one each in Franklin, Orange. |
Rutland, Washington, and Windham Counties
md two in Windsor County. Privation is ere
ilted with the death of three persons. hro in
franklin, and one in Orleans Counties Intern
'erance with one in Orange County. and Dele
lum Iremens with HoHe,-a gain of 200 per
ent from 1866.
But Of all the diseases which affiict the human (
ace no one proves destructive to so many lives
5 Consumption. An epidemic like Cholera or
liptheria, may sweep over the land and carry
Il many more IN a given year, but none can
ompare with Consumption in its annual
ayages. ear after year it invades about the
anne number of households, and consigns about
be same number Of victims to an early grave
/ takes the lead Of all the long line of causes
hitch arrest the current of life, not only in
ermont, but in tlreaiy-0Hc States Of the Union.
nd If We connect with it all other DESCRIPTIONS
lung disease, che census Of 1860 shows that
o other cause Is 50 fruitful in death. Durine-
ne year 1867, consumption caused the death of
" persons, or 2O.63 per cent. Of all the deaths
J the State Every county in the State Is re-
resented, and every month in the year. The
'erage annual number of deaths from this d.
'ase for eleven years is 100 or 1887 per cent
nd Of all tubercular diseases Sl2 or 20 Sc nor
mt
By counties the fatality was as follows -
indsor, Nlndham, Washington, Rutland Gale
)nla, orange, orleans, Franklin, Chittender
ADDISON, Lamoille Grand Isle
ssex, or II equally distributed nearly 80 TO
ch county, The months ranged as follows =
pril, March, May, September. August Decsrn-
II, October, November, January. Julv. June
sbruary. In 1866 the greatest number diel in
arch, and the least in October. The AVERAGE a
r each month is GAS. By far the largest pro-
'rton OF the decedents were between the aces {
~ and 40, showing that this disease COM T
es7s ITS work Of destruction in the prime and
sar OF life Beyond fifty the number of d
aths Is small. while there is only IN exceD-
NAL one at eighty. ,
The geographical distribution of consumption +
the population. '''-- :
Its distribution among the towns Of tho Stat =
'uld form an interesting subject for investig,-
m as bearing upon the opinion expressed bv
: H. l. Bowditch, of Boston. based mon
~ extensive observation that solI z,oj,,,,,e Is
lei among the causes Of CONSUMPTION in New az
grant, ana That localities quite near each
ier' anu even IN the same town and neighbour .,
Oh, may, chiefly from this cause. be possessed v
h other
Or. Bowditch's theory is a plausible one and "
strongly corroborated by inquiries made in
gland IN 1906 into the " effect of drainage
rks and other sanitary regulations designed to Il.
'mo'e the public health In the progress Of "a "a
inquiry 1t was found 81 that the driving Of a. a.
|, which has in most cases accompanied the III
ing OF main sewers in the improved towns, has
to the diminution, more or less considerable &c
phthisis'' Sc
similar Investigation of the localities where on
sumption Is most prevalent in this State, H
snt or might not corroborate the same opinion.
any event it is a subject worthy of the studv
The Physician, especially since the attention Of Tt
attention of the medical profession is now 50 m,
ongly turned in the direction of chance of tn
mate as possible remedy for the disease. frc
Essex, VT, April 1869. in