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315 females (12 males and 13 females being illegitimate). The
birth-rate was, therefore, 10.08 per 1,000 of the population, as
against 10.95 in 1935.
The birth-rate for England and Wales for 1936 was 14.8.
The total number of births actually registered in the district
during the year amounted to 562.
MORTALITY.
General Mortality and Death Rate.—The nett number of
deaths accredited to this district was 631, an increase of 70 as
compared with the previous year.
This gives a corrected death-rate of 9.66 per 1,000 of the
population, an increase of 0.82 on the rate for the previous year,
which was 8.84. This rate is still appreciably below that for
England and Wales (12.1 for 1936).
As compared with 1935, there were increases of 22 deaths from
cancer, 13 from heart disease, 11 cerebral haemorrhage, 16 from
pneumonia and other respiratory diseases, 10 from tuberculosis and
5 from influenza. There were decreases of 2 deaths from puerperal
sepsis, 6 from congenital debility and premature birth and 12 from
violence, including suicide.
Much more disturbing than the increase in deaths from cancer
is the rise in the tuberculosis and respiratory diseases mortality.
The deaths from cancer occurred almost entirely in aged persons,
and, although death may seldom be a welcome phenomenon, its
advent is less tragic in those whose lives have already run the
allotted span. Far different is the picture where the victim is
young or in the prime of life. There is tragedy in most poignant
form, a life cut short by disease which should have been preventable.
The increase in deaths from pneumonia and allied respiratory
infections can be partly explained by the onset of the influenza
epidemic during the latter part of 1936, but no such explanation
can be accepted in the case of the tuberculosis mortality. This
matter receives further attention later in the Report, and at the
moment it need only be stated that the figures regarding tuberculosis
mortality and morbidity remain one of the most unsatisfactory
features of our vital statistics.
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