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diseases which are the chief causes of death, &c.
The common practice, therefore, of quoting the deathrate
of a place irrespective of these considerations is
singularly fallacious; and it is exemplified in the
fact that the average death-rate in England has
remained pretty constant during the last thirty years
or more, notwithstanding the progress of sanitation,
and the beneficial effects of it on the public health.
MORTALITY OF MALES AND FEMALES.
The relative mortality of males and females in the
City is shown in the third table of the Appendix,
from which it appears that in the Western district
of the City 107 males die for every 100 females; in
the Eastern, 115 for every 100; and in the City
proper, 130. In the entire City the proportion is 118
males for every 100 females. This is a very large
proportion, seeing that in all England it is only 101.
It appears, too, that the proportion is gradually increasing,
for 30 years ago the average number was
but 107 males for every 100 females: even ten years
ago it was but 110 to 100. The chief increase is in
the Central district, which contains the largest proportion
of males engaged in shops and warehouses.
But taking the number of each sex in the population,
it does not appear that the mortality is in either
case excessive, for during the last five years the
death-rate of males in the City has been 24.8 per
1,000, and of females 24.4; whereas last year it was
only 21.8 for males, and 19.5 for females. In all