i6o 



Eugene Rollin Corson 



Thotigh there is no great disparity the figures are in favor of 

 the whites. The tenth census states: "In that part of the 

 country in which the color distinction is made they caused 

 among the colored 67.6 and among the whites 43.8 per 1,000 

 from all deaths from specified causes. ' ' 



I have thus far attempted to show the various pathological 

 lines by which this high mortality among the colored is 

 reached. Of its incompleteness I am only too painfully 

 aware, for we have not yet the figures which can enable us to 

 draw very sharp lines. The attempt has been made in the 

 tenth census, and however much we may admire the evidence 

 of work and care in the elaborate tables and maps, we feel 

 that much is still lacking, and especially so on the question 

 before us. I believe that a collective investigation among the 

 physicians practicing in large colored communities would be 

 the best method at our command at present, and it is 

 this belief which has prompted me to give my own expe- 

 rience in a typical southern city of a sufficient population to 

 draw fairly reliable conclusions from. This method seems to 

 me less liable to error than the more superficial view of a 

 large geographical area, with many gaps to be filled in. 



I introduce here a table I gave in my first paper of the con- 

 solidated mortuary record of Savannah from 1854 to 1886 in- 

 clusive, which, with some allowances, gives a fair idea of the 

 state of affairs in our city. 



CoNSOWDATED Mortuary Record of Savannah, Ga., from 



1854 TO 18S6 INCI.USIVE. 



From 1854 to 1870, and from 1870 to 1879, "O reliable census is attain- 

 able ; conseqnentl}' I have estimated the increase of population pro rata 

 yearly during said interims, and have computed the annual ratio of 

 deaths per 1,000 of population upon this status. Although not ni^mer- 

 ically correct, the estimates are nearly enough so to give valuable sta- 

 tistical information. 



