View report page

126
Although much benefit has already accrued from
the present system it is in many respects imperfect,
seeing that some deaths, more particularly those of
infants, escape registration altogether. It is however
in the matter of the certification of the causes of death,
which is the most important branch of vital statistics,
that there is the greatest need of improvement. Owing
to the loose phraseology employed, vital statistics
are deprived of much of their value, one and the same
disease commonly appearing under various names.
The chances of error and the want of exactness
are further increased from the duty of investigation
being intrusted to persons ignorant of the names and
nature of disease. With the adoption of a uniform
system of classification, and greater precision of nomenclature,
greater accuracy of the record would be secured,
and more correct views obtained of the character, the
prevalence, and the modifications of disease.
The most unsatisfactory feature however of the present
system is, that in many cases the cause of death
is not certified at all. In the more remote parts of the
country many old persons, and young children, in
consequence of neglect, or of the difficulties of communication,
die without any medical attendance
whatever, whilst in large manufacturing towns it is
often the case, that the attendant during a fatal illness
is an unqualified practitioner, who is precluded from
giving any certificate of the cause of death.