Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-10-18
VERMONT VITAL STATISTICS

tUry-senlfoant Changes in the Causes
Of Death.
IA paper read by DR.. II. d. Holton at |
the meeting of the American Health |
Association, Section Of Vital Statistics,
at Atlantic City, n. il
1t is not necessary to more than allude |
to the fact that vital statistics are the
basis upon which state and municipal !
sanitation rest. This was early recog- |
nized by the colonies, as has been pointed |
out by Chaplin. Virginia, In 1851, required
that ministers and church wardens should
report marriages births, and deaths. In
1889 the colony of Massachusetts adopted
registration regulations, and seven years
later the Plymouth colony followed its
example. Various municipalities required
reports of vital statistics.
In 1856 the legislature of Vermont placed
on the statute book a law requiring the
reporting of all marriages, births, and
deaths. The school district clerks were
required to visit every home in their re-
spective districts in January and to make
careful inquiry as to the number of births
and deaths that had occurred in the
| home during the year previous and report
| the same to the town clerk. Ministers
and magistrates were also required to re-
| port all marriages. The town clerk was
| to transmit all of these reports to the
| secretary of state, who was required to
] receive SuCn returns ana, with SuCn as
| sistance as might be voluntarily rendered
| to him by an authorized committee of
! the Vermont Medical society, prepare
! such tabular results as might render
! them of practical utility and report there
| on to the legislature. This method of
| registration continued for IL years. I'm
! perfect it was in it's methods, valuable
! data were preserved. In 1898 the regis
! tration law at present in operation was
passed although there have been slight
amendments made to perfect its opera
! ton. No body of a human being can be
| buried, removed, or cremated without the
| local health officer first issues a permit
for that purpose. The physician last in
| attendance upon a deceased person must
| Immediately fill out certificate of death
and, within SO hours, deliver the certih-
| cate to the family or undertaken.
The blanks for all certificates, under the
act. are furnished by the state board of
health The certificate of birth must be
| made by the physician or head of the
family and returned, within 10 days, to
the town clerk, who receives and retains
| in his office, as the permanent record Of
the office the certificates of marriages,
births and deaths. He is supplied by the
state board of health with abstract sheets
on which he must return, semi-annually,
| a copy of each certificate to the secretary
of the board. We hope soon to secure an
amendment requiring the returns to the
state board to be made monthly. The
accuracy IF the returns by this method
~ q, tdenccd FIRST In Mat the iii-aSe..a.2ed
| causes of death are less by two-t thirds
than under the former act; second, that
! all deaths are returned as no body can
be buried without permit based upon
the certificate of death. Regarding the
returns of births the case is quite diff
ferent. The careless physician neglects
! to return his births until the town clerk
, notifies him of his delinquency, although
, he receives 25 cents for each birth and
, death certificate returned. 1 am per-
suaded that, in many instances, the doc
tor who sits down weeks, and perhaps
months, after a birth to make up his
returns fails to remember some of them
! hence, they do not get reported. There
, are now only eleven states that have a
/, similar act requiring all marriages, births
and deaths to be reported.
One of the first missions of this section
should be to urge upon the remaining
; states that they adopt similar laws to the
: end that we may have uniformity
: throughout the nation. Agitation to show
: the Importance of this registration should
: be continued until every state secures the
: required legislation.
with the standard required by the CEN
- sus bureau we may reasonably expect
: that this section will be a very material
power in bringing the vital statistics OF
| the whole country much nearer a state OF
: reliability and desired perfection. To this
end the international classification OF
causes of death should be revised during
or before 1910
The sanitarians of the country are to
| be congra tuated upon the success that
| has attended their labors to better the
| hygienic conditions under which we live
today. The prevention of communicable
n diseases and the better sanitary conditions
surrounding us have made ii possible fol
a much larger number of persons tC
o1tl V,exh q, fta MI
die period Of life, the mortality from some
organic diseases has increased The
:, strenuous life" has much to do with this
~ increasing death rate from both organic
y heart disease and apoplexy. We neet
=, most emphatically, to call halt in thu
- wild rush for wealth and the furious
- auto speed taken to extract, with light
ming celebrity, fleeing, superficial pleasure
l., from its possession. In short, we need t
70 return to the "simple life" cutivatini
:, a broad, unself1sh philanthropy in effort
:" to relieve the unfortunate and distressed
:, helping them to reach higher planes o
"a mental and moral life, making 1t possibl
", | for them to live in sanitary homes ant
- be surrounded by pleasant healthy, up
Ia lifting influences, rather than those tina
- tend to physical and moral degradation
- In the small state of Vermont, wner
~ -. there Is a greater equality OF environ
- ment and methods of living than in
~ | large municipality, or in states will
-. a greater diversity OF general conditions
l., the vital statistics show more accuratel
- the result of sanitary improvements.
- is interesting to learn from our registra
- ton OF fifty years just what changes hav
~ taken place in this rural commonwealth
- in the causes of death. We find in com
- pairing the first registration report, mad
- in 1857, with the last. for 1906, tnai
es taking the deaths from the communicate
% diseases of typhoid fever, measles, scar
a. letina whooping cough and tuberculosis
~ in this state, there were in 1857, III
~, deaths, or one to every 266 Of the in
- habitants In 1906 there were 61S, c
- only one to every ST. OF the inhabitant
-, In 1857 tuberculosis alone caused tn
. death Of S4S, or one in $40. In 1906 III
- deaths from this disease were 4SS, onl
a. one in 772 Typhoid fever, in 1857, cause
~ ~ 1859 deaths, one in 1858. In 1906 ther
~ were only 20 deaths, being one in 500
There has been an increase in certai
ar diseases, as there has been througnoJ
- the country. In 1857 cancer caused
: deaths, only one in 4,301 persons.
. 1906 it added to the death roll 2S7, bein
"a one in 1918. Pneumonia, in 1857, lie
~, with 1877 deaths, making one in l,92
~ In 1906 there were $50 deaths, or one
- sos. In 1857 organic heart trouble de'
ss troyed only 1876, being one in 2,512 pei
"a sons. In 1906 there were reported fro
III | haipp In G0