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viz., 850 in 1890, and 836 in 1891.* In 1891, when the
deaths were 29, the cases were probably 1400 to 1600. In
1890 measles was epidemic, and the deaths were 140 in
number. The disease was of a severe type, and, if we
assume a 3 per cent, rate of mortality, the cases were not
fewer than 4600, or more than five times as many as the
recorded cases of the eleven notifiable diseases. But this is
not all. The deaths were not evenly distributed over the
twelve months. On the contrary, 125 of them occurred
within a period of sixteen weeks (April 20th—-August 9th), 15
having taken place in the remaining 36 weeks, viz., 4 prior
to April 20th, and 11 subsequent to August 9th. These 125
deaths in 16 weeks, represent, at 3 per cent., 4160 cases, of
which, in round numbers, 630, 1600, 1260, and 670 occurred
in the four successive four-weekly periods. The lowest of
these numbers is equivalent to an average of 21 cases per
working day, the highest to 53 : numbers which would have
entailed an amount of inspecting and disinfecting work had
measles been a notifiable disease, which throws into the shade
our worst experiences of small-pox and all other infectious
diseases combined.
At Edinburgh the maximum number of cases was
notified in 1886, viz., 5833, of which 5220 occurred in 21 weeks
(February 21st—July 17th): the remaining 613 cases were
spread over the 7 weeks prior to February 21st, and the 24
weeks subsequent to July 17th; the largest number of cases
having been recorded in 17th to 22nd weeks (April 25th—
June 5th), viz., in the successive weeks, 310, 433, 352, 438,
284. and 297. The deaths were 178: in the 21 weeks
between February 21st and July 17th, the weeks of maximum
prevalence, 159 were registered, the remaining 19 having
been spread over the 7 weeks prior to February 21st, and the
24 weeks subsequent to July 17th.
* The notifications of measles at Edinburgh in the 12 years 1880-91 were
36,450, and 10,085 more than the notifications (26,365) from all of the other
notifiable diseases, viz., fever (typhus and typhoid), diphtheria, small-pox, and
scarlet fever.