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28
Alcoholism.
In 1 case death was certified to be due to alcoholism, and 8 persons
died from cirrhosis of the liver, a disease usually attributed to the
consumption of alcohol. The total number of deaths recorded as due
to alcohol was, therefore, 9, as compared with 18 in 1913, but this is
certainly an under-statement of the total mortality that may be directly
attributed to this drug.
A true return of the mortality from Alcoholism and Venereal
disease will not be forthcoming until some radical alteration takes place
in the method of death certification. I feel sure that if the system of
notification of births was extended to the notification of deaths, and the
medical attendant was required to notify deaths and their causes to the
Medical Officer of Health, we should have a much more reliable guide
to the death-rate from causes such as Alcoholism and Venereal disease.
Organic Heart Disease.
This accounted for 97 deaths, as compared with 104 in 1913.
Diseases of the Respiratory System.
The total mortality from these diseases was 115, as compared with
145 in 1913. Twenty-one deaths occurred in children under five years
of age, and 59 in persons aged from 65 and upwards.
Of the total deaths, 45 were due to bronchitis, 59 to pneumonia,
and 11 to other diseases of the respiratory organs.
Violent Deaths (excluding Suicide.)
Twenty-five deaths were classified under this heading, as compared
with 21 in 1913. Two were due to poisoning, 2 to burns, 6 to falls, 5
to injuries caused by being knocked down by motor vehicles, 1 to injuries
caused by being knocked down by a railway train, 1 to syncope induced
by bathing, 1 to a machinery accident, 1 to shock following a severe
operation necessitated by an accident that occurred on a barge, and 6 to
suffocation. Of the 6 deaths due to suffocation 4 were those of children
in bed with their parents; the children's ages being 2 days, and 8, 9
and 11 weeks respectively.