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67
fact of the same nature as those classed as
"diarrhœa." This is almost certainly the case in
the third quarter of the year, when the deaths
from the causes mentioned are in excess of the numbers
for the other quarters of the year. Diarrhoea
is only a symptom of a diseased condition, and
it is becoming a common practice to certify deaths
which in former times would have been certified
"diarrhoea," as if it were a disease, as "gastroenteritis,"
etc. The quarterly variations in the
numbers of deaths from these causes are shown in
the following Table. To determine the approximate
proportion of deaths transferred from "diarrhœa"
to other causes, it will be necessary to get out the
figures for as long a succession of years as possible,
but time will not allow of this being done for the
present Report.

The diseases dealt with above constitute the
Seven Principal Zymotic Diseases, and it is from
the deaths due to them that the zymotic death-