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causes was 303, and in 1870 it was 294, although the percentage
in that year was 119 per 1000.
The per.centage of deaths from affections of the heart and
great vessels was 54 per 1000, the highest having heen 67, and
the lowest 38, whilst the mean per.centage from diseases of the
respiratory organs was no less than 160 per 1000, the lowest
having heen 139, and the highest 191 per 1000 deaths from all
causes. The death rate from affections of the lungs and vocal
organs is so dependent on temperature that it is easy to
calculate the number of deaths beforehand, if the mean
temperature of each day in winter be given for two or three
weeks. I do not mean to say that the excessive mortality
which occurs from very severe weather in winter is confined to
affections of the respiratory organs, because I have shown in
other papers that it extends more or less to all the great groups
of disease.
Affections of the digestive and urinary organs produced an
average mortality of 60 per 1000, the highest having been 69,
and the lowest 52 per 1000 from all causes. The death rate
from premature birth and atrophy was 54 per 1000; the highest
was 76, and the lowest 42 per 1000 deaths from all causes.
The deaths from old age averaged 68 per 1000; the highest
ratio having been 79, and the lowest 48 per 1000. It will be
noticed that the rate for the last two years is much below the
average. The last group, viz., that of deaths from violence,
shows that the number annually registered varied as little as
for any other, the average having been 37—the highest 47, and
the lowest 24 in 1000 deaths from all causes.
Having now concluded our resume of the mortality tables
for past years, I shall proceed to briefly consider some of the
facts ascertained by the last and previous censuses.