27 



oxcopt 1841, which h;ul tlic docimals hiss. The 20 j^oars' moan is \ \-'.\(\ ahovo 

 the ])rcHont niuuth. 



OzuiLC moan, noiAvithstanding so many unfavorable atmosplioric conditittns, 

 was +'00 abovo tho iiioiil.h'H average, being 0"1)(». To the jinMhuiiinaiKH) of 

 briH!Z(!3 from tlio ocean points of the com|)ass, we owe this rnniarkal)hi |)iirity. 

 Nevorthehisa, March 1S(»;5, owing to its coj)ious rain-fall, had more than one 

 degree more for its ozone mean. TJio range of the present mouth was from 

 maxinuim 8"5, to mininnun 5. 



Elect rkit II had 21 jiositive indications, with a maximum tension of '75. 

 Negative had 3'J reconlN, with a maximum teimion of 0'5. Tlicre was only one 

 day, the 14th, on which electricity was " nil." 



The (kal.hn for this mouth exceed in mimbcn- those of any March during the 

 previous .seven years; Imt the })rcvious four montiis wcw all below the 

 aveiage, and tho total (hyiths in the first <[uarter of 1SG4 is less by 30 l-7th 

 than the average of the corresponding (piarters of the previous seven years. 

 ]n the following table the deaths aro arranged in groups of age.s. and con- 

 trasted with those of tho mininnun March, and tho previous maxinuun, a.s 

 well as that of tho foregoing mouth of February : — 



Tho deaths under fivo years of ago aro 38, or rathor more than lialf of tho 

 total mortality. February had less tha/n one third, but March, 1858, liad nearly 

 two-thirds. March 1859, tho minimum year, had exactly one-half of tho total 

 deaths under fivo years of ago. 



In tho Xi/mofic c/aHs of DismMn, the deaths wore 3.5. Tho greatest propor- 

 tion of these (2()) were bowel comi)l.iints. The preceding month of February 

 had only 3 deaths in tho Zynu)tic clas.s. 



In the Comtitutiorutl claim tho deaths wore eight, two of them from con- 

 sumption, but neither native born Tiusmanians. 



In tho class of Local Diseases tho total was 19 ; of those eight iK'longed to 

 tho order of Diseases of the Jimin atxl JVerrous System \ fcmrto tlio t'i)riil((tory 

 S i/sf em ; two only to tho Jiesf)irator>/ Si/sleiri; two to tho Digest ire S//stem; 

 two to the Urinary System, ; one to tho Jieproduetivc System. ' In the class of 

 Developmental Diseases, tho deaths were eight, two of them from old ago, 

 resptjctively 80 and 88 years old. 



In tho class of Violent Deaths, &c., the deaths were three. Tho Inquests 

 wore five. In tho first week of tlio mouth 12 deaths took place ; in tho second 

 week 20 ; in the third 18 ; in tlio fourth 10 ; on tho last three days 7. On five 

 days of the month there was not a single death. Tho greatest number on 

 any day, was 5, on tho 18th and 24th. The greatest number on any throe con- 

 secutive days, was 12, on the 9th, 10th, Uth, and 24th, 25th, 2()tli." The most 

 fatal period of tho month, was, the six days, Gth to 11th inclusive, when 21 

 deaths occurred. 



The registered hirths were .58, being 21 loss than March, 1803, had. 



J n all tho registration districts of Tasmania, tho deaths registered for tho 

 quarter ended 31st March, 1804, aro only 340. 1803. liad 390 ; 1802, 387- 

 1801, 397 ; 1800, 440 ; 185!), 451 ; 18.08, 497 ; tho average of the six years being 

 427, or nearly 20 per cent, more than the first (piartor of tho present year 

 had. Tho gradual diminution of deaths yearly, in this the most fatal season 

 of the year to life, is a remarkablo f act ; particularly when considered in rela- 

 tiim to the annually increasing proportion of the Tasmanian born constituents 

 of tho total population, to the rest ; and, also, tho absolute numerical incroaso 

 on tho whole. Tho inforenco to be legitimately drawn from these facts, is, 

 that tho rate of mortality in the native born jiopulation will be very nni(;h less 

 thnn that of thoir British parents, and very much less than that of Briti.sh 

 children of corresponding ages. The deaths then, in this, the usually most fatal 

 quarter of tho year, aro for tho whole island, at tho very low rate of about 14.] 



