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82
1903
The distribution of the disease throughout the year, and in the subregistration
districts, was as stated in the following Table.

TUBERCULAR DISEASES.
Tuberculosis of the Lungs or Phthisis, Tuberculosis of the Brain, Tuberculosis of
the Larynx, Tuberculosis of the Abdomen or Tabes Mesenterial, and General
T uberculosis.
These diseases are generally known as the Tubercular Diseases, and taken
in the aggregate, they caused 632 deaths, as compared with 672 in the preceding
year, and were equal to a death-rate of 1.85 per 1,000 of the population;
they also represented over 13 per cent. of the mortality from all causes, they
form, therefore, a considerable factor in the annual death returns. They have,
of late years, become of more consequence, because they are known to proceed
from a well-defined cause, namely, the Bacillus Tuberculosis, or as it is
frequently called, after its discoverer, the Bacillus of Koch.
Phthisis or Tuberulosis of the Lungs.—This disease, commonly
known as Consumption, caused 493 deaths, or slightly over 10 per cent. of the
mortality from all causes, and showed a decrease of 64 deaths when compared
with the corrected average of the preceding ten years. It is satisfactory to
find that during the last four years there has been a steady, although not a
considerable, decline in the recorded deaths. For instance, in 1900 they
numbered 602, falling to 545 in 1901, and still further declining to
515 in 1902; while in the year under consideration they dropped to 492. Of
these deaths 291 occurred among males and 201 among females; while 29
were those of children under 5 years of age, and 463 of persons above
that age.