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34
The rates of mortality as they are generally cited, when the
population is accurately determined, are for all the cities in the
weekly tables below the true rates ; and when the differences in
the rate in two cities are great, it is certain that this cannot be
explained by any difference of the ages of the two population.
A sustained rate of mortality above 17 in 1000 always implies
unfavourable sanitary conditions : the London rate of 24 is
moderately good ; any rate above 30 implies sanitary conditions
highly destructive to human life.
And when any city experiences a higher rate than the average
it should always be a matter of serious inquiry and concern to
its citizens.
As to the significance of weekly rates of mortality the
following propositions may be laid down :
1. These rates calculated in the usual way express facts;
and higher rates than usual in a town show that from some
cause or other, the deaths are frequent, and vice versa.
2. These rates are below the true rates in all the towns of
the United Kingdom, in consequence of the great excess of *
births over deaths; which has the effect of increasing the
proportion of the population living at ages when the
mortality is below the average.
3. The' excess of immigration over emigration operates in
the same direction.
4. An excess of females in a town reduces its general rate
of mortality.
5. There is an influx of patients into Hospitals in towns,
but this is probably more than counterbalanced by the
retirement of consumptive immigrants into the counties of
their birth to die.
6. A sudden and large addition of births in a single year
would have the effect of slightly raising the general
mortality in that year; but the supposition of such an
addition in English cities is baseless: the law here is a