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The rate arrived at in this way is called the corrected death rate,
and is not only indispensable for purposes of comparison, but is
actually a truer index to the health of a district than is the recorded
death rate. The process whereby this factor is found is a laborious
one, and I owe it to the kindness of the County Medical Officer,
Dr. C. W. F. Young, that I am enabled to apply it to our death
rate for this year, and, in this way, bring it into true comparison
with that of the country as a whole.
The factor for correction for Edmonton is found by Dr. Young to
be 1.01785 and the corrected death rate is, therefore, (15.8x1.01785)
= 16.08 per 1,000.
The death rate for England and Wales is 16.2, and that for the
76 great towns 17.2. The death rate for London is 16.1.
Although, when judged by this standard, the health of Edmonton
may be considered fairly satisfactory, it will be seen that there is an
increase on the recorded death rate of 1903 of 2.1 per 1,000. It must
be remembered, however, that the death rate of 1903 (13.7) is the
lowest ever recorded in the district, and that the present year's rate
may be looked upon as the result of a return from very exceptional
circumstances to those that more nearly approach the normal. I
refer in particular to the meteorological aspects of the two years;
the downpours of 1903 being in favour of a low incidence of the
epidemic diseases, whilst the long period of hot, dry weather in 1904
favoured their spread. On referring to Table IV, pages 50-51 which
sets out the causes of death, and comparing it with the same table
for the preceding year, it will be seen that the greatest increase in
the number of deaths for 1904 is to be found amongst those infectious
diseases that tend to become epidemic. Especially has this been
the case with summer diarrhoea, which, in itself, yields an increased
death rate this year of 1.7 per 1,000, over that of the same disease
in 1903.
Conditions of weather, however have not been alone in augmenting
our mortality returns. Owing to the regrettable lack of employment