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which has already in these few short months, not only made good
the losses of war and epidemic disease, but is threatened at the same
time with an overflowing increase in numbers, based on the principle
of ' To him that hath shall be given,' and is merely a question of
elementary arithmetic ?
"Look at a not too distant future, when the death-rate,
particularly the infant death-rate, will be negligible, when venereal
disease will only be remembered for the horrid pictures that were
wont to embellish the text-books; when tuberculosis is dead or
dying ! What is going to happen then?
"Perchance an occasional outburst of influenza or measles
or some ridiculously inadequate epidemic to relieve the everaccumulating
pressure.
"Something is bound to burst—but what ? We can only
hope that the law which holds sway in so many biological processes
—that after a period of acceleration, there shall follow a period of
deceleration, due to exhaustion of the substrate or to the inhibitory
effect of re-action—products— may not fail us ere it be too late. It
is a wonderful stride that medicine has taken along the path of
prevention and mastery of disease, but by its side there stalks
a shadow—is it of pestilence or is it of war ? *-
There is a slight discrepancy between the numbers given on
Table 3 and the figures published by the Registrar-General.
The numbers of births included in the Registrar-General's
figures are those registered during the calendar year, and are
corrected, for inward and outward transfers.
Table 3 includes the births notified during the year and those
registered in the district, but not notified, together with the births
belonging to the district, but registered outside.
The Registrar-General's figures are those of births belonging
to the district that were registered during the year. The figures
in Table 3 are based mainly upon the notifications received during
the year.
The number of births registered in the district was 1,442—
740 males and 702 females.
In addition 99 births belonging to the district occurred outside
the area.
The total number of registered births belonging to the district
was 1,541—792 males and 749 females. Of these 34 males
and 26 females were born out of wedlock.