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1274 VITAL STATISTICS. special attention which has been devoted to these cases much ,Improvement has in the meantime resulted. Dr. Wilson has submitted to the executive committee of the county council an instructive report upon tuberculosis in the county of Lanark, and he has communicated with the county veterinary inspectors in reference to the extent of bovine tuberculosis. One officer reports that as a result of superintending the disposal of some 3000 carcasses, chiefly of dairy stock, he found that fully 25 per cent. were tuberculous. Another reports that, in his opinion, the disease exists to the extent of about 20 per cent. A third inspector reports that in some of the large dairies one-third to a half, and at times the whole of the herd, are affected. The experience of Mr. John Spier, of Newton Farm, Cambuslang, is extremely interesting. He supplies milk from such cows only as have stood the tuberculin test. During the past two years he has tested some 200 cows for his own use, the cows ranging from three to seven years of age; and although he purchases the very best class of cows he finds fully 30 per cent. react to the tuberculin test. Mr. Spier has tested stock for other persons, and he has found a few stocks almost free, while a good many have almost the whole number affected. Dr. Wilson gives an interesting account of the methods of testing and the process of exclusion ,practised in Paris, and of Professor Bang’s experience with a Danish herd. From an account by Mr. James Wilson of the Castlecraig herd of the Aberdeen Angus cattle, it seems that "the spread of the disease has been completely arrested," the only alteration in the management of the herd being the annual testing and the separation of the unsound from the sound. As Dr. Wilson observes, these tests are most encouraging provided tuberculin can be absolutely relied upon as a test. VITAL STATISTICS. HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS. IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6829 births and 3822 deaths were registered during the week ending Nov. 6th. The annual rate of mortality in these towns, which had been 16.9 and 17 6 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further rose last week to 18’1. In London the rate was 18’5 per 1000, while it averaged 17’9 in the thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates in these towns were 11’2 in Croydon, 11’5 in Leicester, 12-1 in Derby, and 13 9 in Bristol; the highest rates were 21’5 in Wolverhampton, 21.8 in Oldham, 22-1 in Burnley, and 234 in Liverpool. The 3822 deaths included 412 which were referred to the principal zymotic diseases, against 429 and 463 in the two preceding weeks; of these, 128 resulted from measles, 82 from diphtheria, 64 from diarrhoea, 51 from "fever" (principally enteric), 46 from scarlet fever, and 41 from whooping - cough. The lowest death-rates from these diseases were recorded in Birkenhead, Salford, Croydon, Brighton and Nottingham, and the highest rates in Preston, Halifax, Burnley, and Wolverhampton. The greatest mortality from measles occurred in Gateshead, Manchester, Blackburn, Halifax, and Wolverhampton ; from " fever " in Huddersfield and Gates- head ; and from diarrhoea in Oldham, Blackburn, and Preston. The mortality from scarlet fever and from whoop- ing-cough showed no marked excess in any of the large towns. The 82 deaths from diphtheria included 59 in London, 5 in Cardiff, 3 in Wolverhampton, and 3 in Birmingham. No fatal case of small-pox was registered - during the week under notice either in London or in any other of the thirty-three large towns; and no small- pox patients were under treatment in any of the Metro- politan Asylum Hospitals on Saturday last, the 6th inst. The number of scarlet fever patients in these hospitals and in the London Fever Hospital on the same date was 3680, against 3725 3685, and 3682 at the end of the three pre- ceding weeks ; 339 new cases were admitted during the week, against 440, 342, and 416 in the three pre- ceding weeks. The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory organs in London, which had been 279 and 326 in the two preceding weeks, further rose to 363 last week, but were 37 below the corrected average. The causes of 42, or 1-1 per cent., of the deaths in the thirty-three towns were not certified either by a registered medical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certified in Portsmouth, Nottingham, Oldham, Brad- ford, and in nine other smaller towns; the largest pro- portions of uncertified deaths were registered in Swansea, Liverpool, Blackburn, and Preston. l ! HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS. The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns, which had been 20’3 and 19’9 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further declined to 18’8 during the week ending . Nov. 6th, but exceeded by 0’7 per 1000 the mean rate during the same period in the thirty-three large English towns. The rates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from 104 in Leith and 11-9 in Perth to 21-7 in Paisley and 26’2 in Greenock. The 560 deaths in these towns included 18 which were referred to scarlet fever, 16 to whooping-cough, 14 to diarrhoea, 12 to measles, 5 to "fever," and 5 to diphtheria. In all, 70 deaths resulted from these prin- cipal zymotic diseases, against 86 and 79 in the two preceding weeks. These 70 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 2’3 per 1000, which was slightly above the mean rate last week from the same diseases in the thirty-three large English towns. The fatal cases of scarlet fever, which had been 4 and 12 in the two preceding weeks, further rose to 18 last week, of which 10 occurred in Edinburgh and 5 in Glasgow. The 16 deaths referred to whooping-cough ex- ceeded by 1 the number in the preceding week, and included 12 in Glasgow and 3 in Aberdeen. The fatal cases of measles, which had increased from 3 to 8 in the four preceding weeks, further rose to 12 last week, of which 6 occurred in Glasgow and 6 in Greenock. The 5 deaths referred to different forms of "fever," showed a slight further decline from those registered in recent weeks, and included 3 in Glasgow, where 4 of the 5 fatal cases of diphtheria were also recorded. The deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs in these towns, which had been 144 and 137 in the two preceding weeks, rose again to 142 last week, and were 12 above the number in the corresponding period of last year. The causes of 27, or nearly 5 per cent., of the deaths in these eight towns last week were not certified. HEALTH OF DUBLIN. The death-rate in Dublin, which had been 21’2 and 28’2 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, declined again to 21’5 during the week ending Nov. 7th. During the past five weeks of the current quarter the death-rate in the city has averaged 23’4 per 1000, the rate during the same period being 16’9 in London and 18-6 in Edinburgh. The 144 deaths registered in Dublin during the week under notice showed a decline of 45 from the number in the preceding week, and included 12 which were referred to the principal zymotic diseases, against numbers declining from 39 to 8 in the six preceding weeks ; of these, 8 resulted from fever," 2 from diphtheria, 1 from whooping-cough, and 1 from diarrhoea. These 12 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 1’8 per 1000, the zymotic death-rate during the same period being 2’5 both in London and in Edin- burgh. The deaths referred to different forms of "fever," which had been 7, 6, and 0 in the three preceding weeks, rose again to 8 last week. The fatal cases of diphtheria, which had been 1 in each of the two preceding weeks, rose to 2 last week. The mortality from diarrhoea was below that recorded in any recent week. The 144 deaths in Dublin last week included 21 of infants under one year of age and 30 of persons aged upwards of sixty years; the deaths both of infants and of elderly persons showed a marked decline from the numbers recorded in the pre- ceding week. Five inquest cases and 3 deaths from violence were registered ; and 51, or more than a third, of the deaths occurred in public institutions. The causes of 5, or more than 3 per cent., of the deaths in the city last week were not certified. VITAL STATISTICS OF LONDON DURING OCTOBER, 1897. In the accompanying table will be found summarised complete statistics relating to sickness and mortality during October in each of the forty-three sanitary areas of London. With regard to the notified cases of infectious disease in the metropolis last month, it appears that the number of persons reported to be suffering from one or other of the nine diseases specified in the table was equal to 16’0 per 1000 of the population, estimated at 4,463,169 persons in the middle of this year. In the three preceding months the rates had been 11-2, 10’2, and 13-3 per 1000 respectively. Among the various sanitary areas the rates were considerably below the average in Paddington, Hammersmith, Chelsea, St. George Hanover-square, Westminster, Holborn, and Lewisbam; while they showed the largest excess in Clerkenwell, Limehouse, Poplar, St. Olave Southwark, Rotherhithe, Battersea, and
