The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-03


one-sixth Of given generation, are still
alive. In other words, out of avery six
human beings living in England one is
scvcnty-llvc years old or upward by the
age OF eghty-vc, however, the number of
survivors has diminished to about one in
twenty-five. and according to this report
only about 900 in a million gain the aye OF
one hundred. Even this proportion being
more than one i'm fifty. is sufficiently aston
ishing. We need not say that these figures
represent the average state of things all
over England. the death rates in London be-
ing much less favorable to longevity, while
those in Manchester and Liverpool are il
appears. still higher.
As regards the death rate of particular
occupations, we note many paradoxical
though doubtless authentic statements.
The mortalityamong butchers, for instance.
Is greater than the average; and this is the
more singular because at the earlier ages,
from fifteen TO Twenty-Five the health Of
men engaged in this calling is better than
the normal standard. These two conflicting
facts would Indicate that butchers are
selected lives, which. nevertheless, in time
succumb to the hurtfu influences of their
healthy than butchers. and bakers after
middle life show Il more than average NOR
tally. The influence of occupation IS also
shown In the case of the blacksmith. who
is much less healthy than whcclwrights.
carpenters, and all those who work in wood.
So too. the death rate among chemists,
druggists, and dry goods clerks is consd-
crahly above the ordinary level. Some
classes Of mining are particularly danger
Gus, and as II rule miners lives wear out
more rapidly than metal workers, both
classes being far less healthy than those
engaged in outdoor labor. The extreme of
mortality seems 10 be reached In the Eng
lsh pottcrics. the death rate after the age
of thirty-nve being nearly double the aver
age. Next to pottcrs, it appears that the
keepers OF beer shops and public houses suf-
fer most from fatal diseases.
We learn that the clergy of all scots have,
as a rule. good health. but that the medical
profession. probably from contact with dis
ease and disturbed rest. shows up to the age
Of forty-iive II death rate much in excess Of
the usual quota. Tue health Of plumbers.
painters, and glaciers who formerly suffered
SO notably from metallic poisons, is said to
be much improved. But the most favorable
change is evinced by the wool. silk. and cot
ton manufacturing population, who no
longer suffer more than normal mortality.
English legislation seems to have done
much to amcliorate the condition of work
men in factories and mills. and especially to
Secure removal of delctcrious dusts An
equal gain in point of health is not re-
marked among tailors and shocmakers. and
those operatives in general who work up
goods at home. We are not, OF course sur
prised to hear that farmers and agricultural
labOrers are beyond comparison the healthi-
est classes in the English community
Among isolated facts Of peculiar interest
cited in this report. We observe that the
deaths ascribed directly to hunger in all
England during the past twelvemonth were
only seventy-seven, but these figures. We
need not say, AFFORD no sort II clue to the
number Of those whose constitutions were
slapped and whose lives were shortened by
prvatiOn 1t appears that in Liverpool the
death rate has the advantage over the birth
rate, the population there being kept up
and even augmented by continual immigra-
tion. Another curious point is the tact that
English women are now married at earlier
ages than We're their mothers, about quar-
ter of the brides Of England being set down
as under twenty-one. This circumstance
may account. to some extent. for another
fact, that while the birth rate has continued
much the same. the number of children born
in wedlock has increased. The mortality Of
unmarried men is above the average and
this is explained by the report on the
ground that it is chiefly invalid men that do
not marry II is certain that Of one hun
dred men surviving at the age of ffty-iivc,
only nine are bachelors, while among one
hundred women Of the same age eleven are
spinsters Finally, the report calls atten-
ton TO the singular fact that the number 81
medical men in England has not increased
in proportion TO the population, but, on the
contrary, has fallen OIL not less than twenty
per cent. in twenty years. We may add
| that the above deductions as to the health
OF different vacations, based on the statis-
tics OF the English people in the year 1877,
are found TO tally somewhat closely with Il
series of observations compiled IN an Italian
| city lust two centuries ago.