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62
The year 1881 therefore compares most favourably
with the ten preceding years; and, indeed, the lowness
of the mortality in these cases, coupled with the increasing
knowledge of their nature and the determined perseverance
to exterminate them which exists at the
present day, lead me to hope that, in course of time,
a contagious disease will become a thing of the past.
Ages of deceased persons.—The mortality occurring
at the two extremes of life amongst all classes of persons
is a subject so interesting as to engage my serious attention,
and has been referred to in mostly all my former
reports. The deaths of infants under one year of age
Epidemic Death-rate.—In the following table the
deaths of the seven principal epidemic diseases are
contrasted with those of the preceding ten years.
The deaths from these diseases during the past year
were 71, being in the proportion of 1.93 per 1,000 of the
population, and 14.2 per cent. of all deaths.
Years.
1871
1872
| 1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
Small-pox
94
14
_
—
2
14
12
3
—
2
7
Measles
2
30
11
20
3
13
5
23
17
19
10
Scarlatina
20
6
2
33
22
13
4
12
12
21
15
Diphtheria
3
3
3
4
6
—
—
3
1
3
3
Whoopingcough
18
25
14
15
17
17
12
29
25
25
13
Typhus, &c.
10
11
10
6
2
5
4
5
9
4
3
Diarrhœa
31
39
25
27
22
24
18
26
17
36
20
& Cholera
—
—
—
—
—
—
2
—
2
—
Totals
178
128
65
105
74
86
55
103
81
112
71