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deaths from the principal zymotic diseases, moreover, shewing
an excess to the number of 118, though only fourteen above
the corrected decennial average.
THE ZYMOTIC DISEASES.
Before entering into details with respect to population,
births, deaths, etc., 1 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
"Diarrhoeal") 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 special interest for sanitarians,
arising out of the fact that, being admittedly of a more or less
preventable character, the absence or the prevalence of certain
of them is regarded as a test of the sanitary condition of a
district. But, without under-rating 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, founded on our own local experiences within the last
few years. Thus, Measles was very prevalent in 1887 and
1888, the deaths being considerably above the average. In
1889, on the other hand, the deaths from measles were greatly
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
year. In saying this, I must not be thought to ignore the fact
that one epidemic of a zymotic disease may be more severe than