154 Report <m the State of Disease in Scotland, 



The admirable system of registration of deaths in England and 

 Wales, by classifying the causes of mortality in every locality, has 

 already enabled those who direct its machinery to point out methods 

 of staying the hand of death. For example, in 1837, the first year 

 in which the registration act came into operation, the mortality from 

 Small-Pox, in London alone, amounted to about 1520 persons, equivalent 

 to a loss of 4J human beings daily. The attention of the Legislature 

 was drawn to this fact by the Registrar-General — and the result was 

 the enactment of the Vaccination Act, extending to England and 

 Wales, after which the mortality was reduced from 1520, in 1837, to 

 360, in 1B42, in the metropolis— and from 16,268, in 1838, to 10,434, 

 in 1840, over the whole of England and Wales. 



Such being the results of a registration act, it is important to 

 compare them with Glasgow, where no such legislative enactment is 

 in operation, as is shown in the following table: — (Reg. Gen. Rep- 

 Glasg. Mort. Bill.) 



DEATHS FROM SMALL POX. 



Mean, 377, or about one mhahitant daily, dies of small- 



pox in Glasgow. 



Thus, although the population of London is upwards of 6i times 

 that of Glasgow, the mortality, in 1842, from small-pox, was nearly 

 the same in the two cities. We believe there cannot be a doubt that 

 the remarkable diminution in the mortality from small-pox in London 

 is mainly attributable to the introduction of the vaccination act, and 

 that the extension of a similar law to Scotland would be attended 

 with the happiest benefits to the community. The total mortality in 

 Glasgow from all diseases being about 24 persons daily, the universal 

 adoption of vaccination would save from a hideously cruel death one 

 twenty-fourth of all who die. 



Another result, from correct registration, has been the deduction, 

 by vital statisticians, that in epidemic diseases, such as small-pox 

 and cholera, the influence of medical treatment, even when conducted 

 on the most judicious principles, is comparatively insignificant in 



