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only slightly exceeded that of males, this year the number of
female deaths doubled that of male deaths. The age groupings
of the males were five in group 35/44; 10, 10 and 14 in the next
three decennial periods, and nine over 75. Of the females three
were in the age group 25/34, five, 18, 24, and 29 in the next four
decennial periods, and 17 over 75. The commonest affected
sites amongst females were the breast 20; colon 14; stomach 13;
uterus 10; lung 6; and oesophagus five. Amongst the males the
stomach was the site of the lesion in eight; rectum and prostate
six each; and the lung five. The recorded death rate from cancer
per million living in England and Wales was 1,587; the corresponding
rate for the district was 1,000.
There were twenty suicides during the year (13 male and seven
female), giving a rate per hundred thousand population of 14,
being the same as that for the country as a whole in 1934 and a
local rate that year of 16. Coal gas poisoning was the method
chosen by four, three of whom were females, and cut-throat by
four, all males. Of the remaining males three used the railway
track; two lysol and two gun-shot; and one each drowning and
hanging.
Thirty-five deaths were due to violence (24 males and 11
females). Of this latter group six were due to falls of elderly
females and a further three to their being knocked down on the
road. Falls amongst elderly males accounted for four deaths and
motor-cycle accidents a further five. Five children of five years
and under had accidental deaths.
When the deaths are grouped together in age groups it is
noticeable that after the first year when the factors concerned in
infant mortality have ceased to operate, the death rates are low
up to 15 years. In the decennium 15/24 the most potent factor
as a cause of death is tuberculosis, which is still more powerful
in the next two decennial periods, but thereafter declines. In the
group 35/44, however, it no longer stands alone as a single factor,
but is associated with two other causes of death, viz., malignant
disease and heart disease—but, as contrasted with tuberculosis,
the influence of these two becomes more powerful in the succeeding
age groups. By the period 45/54 another factor is added, viz.,
cerebral haemorrhage, which exerts its influence to the end—and
deaths from bronchitis and pneumonia are more commonly found.
Degenerative changes in the kidneys appear after 55, as do also
circulatory changes other than heart disease.
No deductions can be drawn on the frequency of the distribution
of the deaths amongst the various age groups, particularly as
affecting the deaths of the aged. This for a number of reasons,
amongst them being the inaccuracy of the diagnosis and of more
importance, the manner in which the death certificate is completed.
Where more than one cause of death appears on the certificate,
the Registrar-General allocates the deaths according to certain