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4
Under the head of the five principal Zymotic or
Infectious diseases, there was an increase in the number
of deaths in 4, viz., Measles, Scarlet Fever, Diptheria
and Fever, and a decrease in one, viz., Small Pox from
which there were only 3 deaths during the year against
20 the previous year; during the last 2 quarters there
were no deaths from this disease. Under the other 4
heads the mortality was nearly double that of the
previous year, when the deaths from these diseases were
exceptionally few, but was considerably lower than the
average for previous 5 years.
The average death rate of large towns still exceeds
that of country districts by about 4 or 5 per 1000
population living; this excess makes in the aggregate
a formidable addition to loss of human life in largo
towns, and indicates a proportionally large amount of
sickness with its invariable accompaniments of suffering
and pecuniary loss to the persons directly concerned,
with ultimate prejudice to the well-being of the community.
The causes of this greater urban mortality
are proper and urgent questions for the consideration
of the Public Health Authorities of towns. I am sure
that the simple aggregation of persons under good
sanitary conditions would not per se constitute a
sufficient ground whereupon to anticipate the creation
of disease and shortening of life; we have sufficient
evidence of this in the close approximation of the death
rates of the most sanitary favoured town districts, to
those of rural districts. Although over-crowding
is not the only cause of the greater mortality in towns,
still there can be no doubt but that the compressed
aggregation of human beings within limited areas,
caused primarily by the building of the largest possible
number of dwellings within the least possible amount
of space, followed by a similar packing process of the
occupants themselves in the several compartments of