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21
THE ZYMOTIC DISEASES.
Before entering into details with respect to population,
births, deaths, etc., I propose to consider the sickness and
mortality from the principal diseases of the zymotic class, and
subjects naturally arising out of this topic
The " Class " of diseases called Zymotic comprises, in the
Registrar-General's arrangement of the "causes of death," six
"Orders." The first and second Orders ("Miasmatic" and
"Diarrhceal") include the diseases which the Registrar-General
describes as" the seven principal diseases of the zymotic
class," grouping, as he does, under the generic term " Fever,"
the three distinct fevers, "Typhus," " Enteric," and "Simple
Continued."
These zymotic diseases have a high interest for sanitarians,
arising out of the fact that they are admittedly of a more or
less preventible character; it being customary, moreover, to
regard the absence or the prevalence of certain of them as a
test of the sanitary condition of a district. But, without underrating
the importance of this test, it must be said that there
are limitations to its applicability necessary to be borne in
mind in drawing inferences from mere numbers. What I mean
may be best explained by an illustration or two founded on our
own local experiences within the last few years. Thus Measles
was prevalent in 1885, the deaths being considerably above the
average ; it was the zymotic disease that gave a special character
to the year. In the year 1886, on the other hand, the deaths
from measles were below the average ; but the lowered mortality,
regarded as evidence of the diminished prevalence of the
disease, was the result of its excessive prevalence and fatality
in the preceding vear. In saying this, I must not be thought
to ignore the fact that one epidemic of a zymotic disease may be
more severe than another ; or that the severity of an epidemic
may be influenced by the measures taken, or the neglect to take
any measures, to check the spread of infection. Again, the rate of