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not deem it necessary to hold inquests. The causes of death,
as registered, were: in one case each, ovarian tumour,
paralysis; old injury to spine; convulsions; alcoholism; bronchitis;
infantile debility; and piemature birth. The ages of
the deceased were 83, 75, 73, 50, 22, 3 months, 1 month, and
a few minutes, respectively.
.
The attention of the Metropolitan Sanitary Authorities
w as called, in 1887, to the subject of uncertified deaths, by the
Vestry of St. James, Westminster, that body being of
opinion that "no death should be registered unless the cause
thereof is certified either by a qualified medical practitioner,
or by the Medical Officer of Health for the District, or by
the Coroner upon inquisition." It it were meant that the
Medical Officer of Health should, as a part of his duty in
that capacity, inquire into and, if practicable, certify the
cause of death, I for one should respectfully prefer not to
come under any such obligation. It was stated that "at
present three to four per cent, of the total deaths are not
certified at all." The proportion of uncertified deaths has
steadily declined from 4 7 in 1879 to 2.8 in 1890. The percentage
varies within wide limits. In 1891 it was 1.0 per
cent, in London; 0.2 in Kensington; 2:7 in England and
Wales; ranging upwards to nearly 7.0 in Wales, where probably
certification is often impracticable, because, by reason of
the inaccessibility of the place of death, or remoteness from
a doctor's "residence, medical attendance cannot be obtained.
In such cases the suggested duty would be impossible of
performance by the Medical Officer of Health. It would
take up too much space to deal exhaustively with the subject,
but 1 may further remark, speaking now from my experience
in this Parish, that, practically, all of the uncertified deaths
are referred to the Coroner, and registration takes place only
after the Coroner's decision that inquisition is unnecessary.
The preliminary inquiry by the Coroner's officer is not satisfactory;
and it is probable that in many cases in which in