Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1880-09-21
Death Rate of the Rich and the
Poor,

An important paper on the compara-
| tive mortality of the rich and the poor
was read at the recent meeting Of the
| American Medical Association. The
author, DR.. Charles Robert Drysdalc, of
London, began by pointing out the
achievements of sanitary science during
recent years. Yet, with all these ad-
vantages, ii was found that the death
rate in London had rather increased than
, diminished, having been 22'2 per | 900
in 1855, 22'3 in 1876, and % in 1877. In
all England the rate had remained dcn-
tically the same for three decades, name
ly, 22'35 per 1000 The point Dr. Drys-
dale attempted to clucidate was, that the
great cause Of this non-imprOyemeut re-
sided in the mass Of Indulgence which,
now as always, was instrumental In pro-
ducing large crop Of premature deaths
IN all densely populated States. NJ.
Nillerme the distinguished Partisan ply
sician, and several OF his able c0llaborA-
tors on the Journal HyGicEe PubIiQge had
contributed some valuable facts to the
argument. Thus, 1t had been observed
in France that persons between the ages
Of 40 and i6 die, If in easy crcums,anc-
es, in the proportion of S'3 per | ,OOO
while, If poor, they died at the rate Of
18 Z per ! GOO. That ia, the mortality
between these ages was twice and n half
as large among the poor as II was among
the wealthy. 1t was found, too, that in
Paris, between the years 1917 and 1876,
inhabitant In every 10 died IN the
Twelfth ACCOMPLISHMENT, which IL peo-
pied IN great part by the poor; while In
the Second Ayrondisscmeut, inhabited
by the wealhlcr classes, sthe deaths for
the same period were only one In every
90. VI. Garnicr, Of Paris, In 1857, speak-
ing of the mean life IN large English
manufacturing city, had found that II
was only u years In the quaricre lnhab-
tied by the poor against y among the
higher classes. VilIcmc calculated that
the probable life Of the infant Of
weaver ut MulhOuse was as low as one
year aud six months, while that " the
baby Of the proprietor of the factory
was 20 years. Dr, Drysdulc cited from
pamphlet written In 1877 upon the
dwellings Of the Wagcs-recriylng classcs
In Paris some further suggestive figures,
from which II appeared that death rstc
which Was the mean Of the whole popl,-
latiou Is alwayg misleading. Thus, In
part of snb-disirltt IN London, COM
prlslng houses In good condition, the
death rate did not exceed il'3 IN every
1000, while there were adjacent dwell
iugs In the s0mc sub-dsrlrt In which
the death rate had risen 10 38 per l,OOO;
and It was now reported that there were
particular districts I'm London where the
death rate wHs 30 per 900. ON the
o'her hand, the average death rate Of The
whole population was only 81 per l,OOO
In 1873, and had icarrely deylalcd from
that lgure since. If such statistics were
insufficient hc would refer 10 The re-
searches of Auspll, who collected the
statistics Of iS,0A children Of The opt-
lent classes In England, including pro-
fcselonal men, the nobility, and gentry.
II appeared from Aniclls tables that,
among these classes, the death ratio WIS
only SOIj per 200 for children under y
year old, while for MI clnasps taken to-
gclhcrlt was 100. Dr. Little foundihe
ratio In Berlin, n city Of extreme poyer-
" among the working classca, 10 be oc-
caslonally ~ high ~ 800 per 900, In
conclusion, DR.. DryslHle referred to the
statistics Of New Zealand IVA romarka-
bic confirmation Of Ansell's tables. IN
New Zealand, of late ycara, the wages
of lrborcrs had been very high, aud the
profits Of capital large, with meat only
3D. n pound, 40 that n ahorcr WIS able
to secure plenty of food without undue
anxiety. The result wns death rate
Of only 1919 per l,0OO--a fact mainly
due TO the absence Of an indigent AMI
badly puld class. In England and
Wales, with the snine death rate, some
900. 900 lives would he sated every year
In passing, Dr. Drysdalc took ocrnslon
10 dissent from the view thnt alcolol II
the grcnt cause Of evil. In modern Statrs.
--Scicaiifc Auefiodn.