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The rate thus varies from 5.9 in Morden and 6.8 in Beddington,
to 13.4 in Mitcham and 13.7 in Woodmansterne. It is
necessary to point out, however, that the death-rates of the
various parishes are not strictly comparable. Besides healthiness
of surroundings, death-rates vary considerably according to other
circumstances, such as sex and age-distribution, and occupation.
Thus, the death-rate of persons between the ages of 5 and 55
years is lower than the death-rate for all ages, and the deathrate
of females is lower than that for males. Consequently a
preponderance of persons between the ages of 5 and 55 years, or
of females, would lower the death-rate of the particular place in
which such preponderance exists, and vice versa. For example,
suppose two Districts, one of which, A, had from various causes
a preponderance of persons between 25 and 35 years, and the
other, B, had an undue proportion of old people over 65 years of
age, the death-rate of A would be lower than that of B, although
B's surroundings might be quite as healthy as those of A.
There are no data at all, whereby the age-distribution of
each parish can be estimated, but as regards sex-distribution,
while the District contained in 1891, 1102 females to every 1000
males, yet the proportion varied in each parish from only 926
females in Addington to as many as 1240 in Beddington, and
1410 in Wallington, to every 1000 males. This, however, is
quite sufficient to show that the death-rates of the various
parishes cannot safely be compared one with the other.