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17
Births.—Table VII gives particulars of the births registered
and notified in the district, and the births registered outside the
district. The total number of births belonging to the district was
1,171, and the birth-rate was 18.6 per 1,000 inhabitants, as compared
with 19.3 per 1,000 in 1922.
This is the lowest birth-rate recorded in the district with the
exception of that for the two years 1917 and 1918, when the birthrate
was directly affected by the war.
The birth-rate for England and Wales was 19.7, for London
20.2 and for the large towns including London 20.4. Forty-three
children were born out of wedlock; this number corresponds to an
illegitimate birth-rate of 36 per 1,000 births.
Deaths.—368 deaths were registered in the district; of these
11 deaths were of non-residents; 243 deaths of residents occurred
outside the district.
The total number of deaths belonging to the district is 599.
The nett number of deaths corresponds to a death-rate of 9.5
per 1,000 inhabitants, which is the lowest recorded death-rate for
the district.
The death-rate for England and Wales was 11.6 per 1,000, for
London 11.2, and for the 105 large towns, including London, 11.6
per 1,000 inhabitants.
Possibly these figures do not convey the facts in a very convincing
and vivid manner, but the reduction of the death-rate to
such a low figure denotes a vast amount of patient and ceaseless
work in many directions. Compared with 1913, a reduction in the
death-rate has occurred of 2 per 1,000 inhabitants, or a saving of
125 lives. There is an absolute reduction of 94 in the number of
deaths in 1923 as compared with 1913.
An inspection of the death-rates from different diseases shows
that this reduction has not occurred uniformly from all causes.
If we examine the causes of death in the last 10 years we find
that the death-rates from certain diseases such as Cancer, Heart
Disease, Bronchitis, Pneumonia and Tubercle have remained almost
stationary.
It is difficult to know how many mistakes are made in
diagnosis. One curious instance occurred last year. Early in
December a notification was received from a sanatorium that a
man aged 41 years had been admitted and was suffering from
Pulmonary Tuberculosis. He was in the sanatorium for a couple
of weeks only as at the end of December he had been discharged
from the institution, Evidently by this time the lung symptoms