The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1885-09-30
COMFORT AND LONGEVITY
nov wealth LsuEthsu, che Average Life
-TehsmSnt, -EpIdemlea

seienee.
Josef Vorod Is the director OF The
bureau oi statistics in Budapest, and be
ha apparently brought to his work a
mind we'll adapted TO the difficult task
ol handling figures in bulk. The essay
which he presents 10 Us under the above
llile was Rad in September last hafore
.the Association Of Hygiene in Bsrlln,
aud IN II be has confined himself % q
few points only. He has endeayored to
dulefmine The influence which the
yarying pecuniary conditions OF
3llie, with their attendant priv.
ileges and ptivations, have upon
the longevity Of the people Of his city.
For convenience he recogni 'es four
Selnsses, according to their endowment
in worldly goods; those who arc very
lflch at one end Of the category and
those who suffer from ab ect pow.
! efty II the other. Between these ex.
tromes lie the great mass Of the people,
I whom 10 divides into the middle class
/ and the orlinary poor.
/ He dos not claim that hi figures
4 possess an absolute mathematical value.
.fbe,ause he Conld not determine the
9rumbef ol living individuals IN each
4 clllsory but by excluding children
under ) years Of age, and taking the
average age Of those dying during q
period Of ! years, he found that the
rich class averages 81 years Of life, the
middle class averages 4B years III
months Of life, the poor class averages
II years . months oflife From this 1t
Is obvious that the possession Of wealth,
and the resultant exemption from pri.
yatlon, lOngthen the average life nearly
ten years.
Tho second point which ho studied
was the relation existing between cpl.
demic infectious diseases and the pc.
cuniary status Of the different grades Of
the community. Upon this point ho
finds that poverty does not exercise q
uniform influence upon the occurrence
Of these diseases; indeed, viewing them
as q whole, the well.endowed. excepting
the very richest are more seriously al:
aicted than the poor.
Viewing the infectious diseases sep
arately be finds that cholera. small. .pOv,
measles and typhus, are more prevalent
among the poor, while diphtherla.
Group, whooping cough and scarlet fever
are more prevalent among the rich.
Consumption and pneumonia claim the
poor, and brain troubles attack the rich.
In view Of legislative action regarding
theab0deS Of thepoo RoroSi nextstudied
the influence Of basement tenements
upon tho occurrence Of epidemics, and he
found thai, taking infectious diseases as
whole, they are 20 per cent. more fro
quGnt In the cellar than the elevated
tenementS. The cellar residence, how
ever. does not favor all dieaSeS alike.
Measles and whOoping.cough are very
prevalent there, Group less 80, while
diphlheria and srarlet-ieyer are 10 pcr
cent less frequent among cellar inhab.
itants than among those most lOftily
housed This Is in accordance with sta.
tiStics from other places, and notably
from Boston, where epidemics Of
diphtheria have swept over tho finest
part ofthe ely and have left the low
sections and collar regions almost
exempt
Lastly, Forosi considers the influence
NJ crowding upon epidemicS To OBJ.
tain standard, he noted the number
ofrooms in Oarh house, and tho number
of people occupying them. Combining
these figures, he obtained the average
number Of persons per room. A pos
session Of one or two persons TO each
room was taken as normal, whllo three,
four and five persons per room were
considered Overlooking. He found that
the intensity Of some infectious dis.
eases was notably increased In tho
crowded tenUmentS. This increase
amounted to sBi per cent. for measles
in houses Inhabited by more than fiye
persons por room, Whooping cough
Is like these greatly intensified BY
Crowdlng. On the other hand, ii does
not appear that scarlet fever and diph.
theria arc similarly IA ored by the in.
creased number Of people in tho house.
These are rather surprising conclusions,
and may find their explanation when
We discover the manner In which these
various diseases are transmitted from
person to person.