Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-05-07
Disease and Death in the Census.

Luz btCOuu tOluut vi tuc CcucuS
just issued, contains the prevalence of certain
diseases The Springfield Republican de-
scrbes them at length. Tue . first illus
trates the existence of the great scourge o.
the country, consumption, which c,rried of
in 1870, 60, ,896 people, out Of 492 263 deaths
more than pneumonia (40,Ol2) or any
other disease. The existence Of the disease
is marked by five shades of blue, with clear
white making six grada ions. There is lit
tie patch in the Allcghanies, at the southern
end of West Virginia, and including a few
counties in that State, and in old Virginia
where there are less than $50 deaths of con-
sumption among 10000 deaths All the
Florida peninsular and part Of central Geor-
gia enjoy the same distinction. There is a
small patch in central New York, of the
next shade, where the proportion to the
IL, 900 is from $50 to $50. But all the
northeastern States are darker All New
Eugl.nd is terribly blue, over 1000 to the
10000, except a patch. A large part oi
W isconsin, Iowa, and north western Illinois
is blue. Minnesota ranges from go to
| 400, or is quite white. California contains
considerable white and light shaded territory
but there is an ominously blue patch north
and south of the Sacramento and around
San Francisco.
The next map, colored orange, represents
malarious diseases and leaves New England
mostly white. All Massachusetts, New
Ham pshire, and Rhode Island are white. i. e
have less than 100 deaths in 10, 900 from
this cause. A patch including the north
western corner of Connecticut and part oil
New York, another surrounding the south
end of Lake Champlain, another around
Burlington, another on the Maine coast, and
another on the northwestern corner of Maine
comprise all the malarial regions in New
| Eugland, and in none of these does the ratil
| exceed over 100 to the 10000. Nearly al
the South and West have as great a propor-
| ton, and at least half of the SJuth a greater
Northern Florida, the eastern corner OF South
Carolina, and portion of Texas, back oil
Galveston, are the only portions OF the couu'
| try suffering more than |, 400 malarial deaths
| to the 10 900. The third map covers euteriC
| (bGwel), cerebro-spinal, and typhus fevers
| This group OF diseases is scattered curious J
and indescrlbably. New E lgland has three
shades lin red) the lighteSt being Massachu-
setts, east OF Worcester, northern Rhode Is
| land, the southwestern quarter OF Vernon,
and Caledonia County, wnere the deaths are
| from $50 to $50. Western Massachusetts
| and nearly al Connecticut AMI the bulk ol
New England is a shade darker, with from
$50 to 900 deaths Northern New Hamp.
shire, the northeastern projection of Yer
mont, and a portion of southern New Hamp-
shire and Maine are redder yet, and have
J from 900 to l.400. In general, the west and
north are redder than the south, although
the reddest patches are found only in the
SOUTH All Florida and large tracts throug b
the southwestern States are quite white OF
only lightly sha led. There are some singu-
lar compensations for instance, the eastern
corner of South Carolina, golden with mala-
rial disease is quite free from these terrible
fevers. The fourth map covers intestinal
diseases (diarrhea, dysentery, enterltis) otuer-
wise than fevers In this, too, althou gh the
greenest patches are in the South, there is in
general less color there than in the North.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont are
but lightly dyed and central-northern Yer
mlnt very lightly. But there is rough
triangle based on the Sound, covering nearly
all Connecticut, all central Massachusetts,
including the river Counties, and piercing up
into New Hampshire a little, within the
bounds of which the deaths from this group
| of diseases reach a proportion of from 55t
| to 900 in 10000.
These maps, if continued aud verified BY
| later censuses, will destroy a vast deal o
popular superstition and local prejudice
We already begin to feel our faith in the
sanitary properties of" count air, back
woods lite,' and ' bracing climate - waver
These maps on the whole seem to favor the
South, but we presume very large proper
ton of the deaths among the colored popu.
lation escaped enumeration entirely, espe
cially as the enumeration was not complete,
for some months after the expiration OF The
| year which it was meant to cover and th,
average darkey mind would not recollect s
far back accurately. The same remark ap
plies with less force to the whole country
In fact, the mortality tables in the work ar
based on the suppostion that forty-one pei
| cent of the deaths escaped enumeration. -