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78
1903
Cancer or Malignant Disease. This disease stands almost alone in
showing a persistently increasing mortality. In the report for 1902 it was
deplored that the return for that year, 326, was the highest hitherto recorded.
That return is, however, now only second to the return for 1903, when as many
as 350 deaths, equal to the high rate of 1.03 per 1,000, occurred. Everywhere
the tendency of the disease has been to steadily increase, and locally its deathrate
has risen from 6.8 per 10,000 in 1891 to 10.3 per 10,000 in 1903. Although
the figures given below were presented last year, they are again printed
for general information, for unfortunately there are few people who are not
directly or indirectly interested in this disease, a cure for which they are
loudly calling.
Years.
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
Deaths.
218
219
238
239
266
291
304
Deaths per
10,000 Pop.
6.8
6.8
7.3
7.2
7.9
8.5
9.0
Years.
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
Deaths.
283
270
303
289
326
350
Deaths per
10,000 Pop.
8.4
8.0
9.9
8.6
9.5
10.3
This is a truly alarming return, which becomes not less so when it is known
that the death-rate among males is 9.61 per 10,000 and 10.96
per 10,000 among females. The death-rate in England and Wales as given in
the last published report of the Registrar-General is 6.91 per 10,000 among
males and 9.85 per 10,000 among females. These death-rates, which relate to
the year 1901, are the highest on record.
The returns of these deaths are so important that the following table
showing the relative frequency of the organs attacked has been prepared, and
the dread fact may be gathered from it that very few of them escape its
attack, although the female generative organs, the breast and the womb, suffer
the most frequently.