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six years by 4 per 1,000; that the per centage of deaths of children
under one year to the total deaths was likewise above the average,
as was the per centage of deaths of children under one year to the
registered births; that the per centage of deaths of children under
five years to the total deaths was 47, being less than the average
of the last six years; and that the total number of deaths in public
institutions was somewhat above the average. For detailed information
regarding the causes of the mortality in the District, I
beg to refer you to Table IV. in the Appendix.
By referring to it you will find that of 1,314 deaths, 724—or
more than one-half—were those of children under five years of age.
Zymotic diseases, viz., Measles, Scarlet Fever, Whooping Cough,
and Diarrhoea, killed 242 of such children, the total deaths from
these causes during the year having been 287. Ninety-two deaths
of children under 5 were attributed to diseases of a constitutional
character, such as Consumption and Hydrocephalus, the total
deaths from such causes having been 233. Two hundred and seventythree
deaths, out of a total of 581 from Local Diseases, were those
of children under five years of age; and of 152 deaths from
Developmental Diseases, 100 were those of children of a similar
age. We here again encounter that great infant mortality, which
it is my duty to bring to your notice year after year, and which, in
my opinion, should be very much reduced. Of course improved
dwellings and prosperous times would aid materially in bringing
about a reduction in the infant and general death rate, but I regard
the dissemination of sanitary knowledge among the people as
indispensable to such a result.
How is this to be effected ? There is no doubt that the various