The Weather in Relation to Health. 357 



what might have been anticipated. Dr Ross afterwards gave 

 the weather conditions and mortality rates for the various months 

 of the year, and summing these up he remarked that taking 

 the months with deaths beyond the number expected, viz., 

 January, February, July, August, October, and December, and 

 the months with deaths below the number expected, viz., March, 

 April, May, June, September, and November, he found, on 

 contrasting their climatic conditions, that the difference between 

 the two sets of months was not very great. The months with 

 deaths beyond the expected number all had a low barometer. 

 Four months had low mean temperatures, two had high mean 

 temperatures, one had a low rainfall, one an average rainfall, 

 and four high rainfalls. Of months with deaths below the 

 expected number three had low barometer readings; two high, 

 one average. The mean temperature in three of the months were 

 low ; in two, average ; in one, higher than the average. The 

 rainfalls were low in three months, high in two, and about the 

 average in one. The greater number of deaths from zymotic 

 causes occurred in the first quarter of the year, and were due to 

 the prevalence of whooping cough in January and February. 

 Of nineteen deaths during the year, fourteen occurred in the 

 first quarter, and of these fourteen, nine were in January. Only 

 one death was due to typhoid or enteric fever, and it occurred 

 in December. Influenza was also prevalent during the first 

 quarter, and was most fatal then^ there being ten deaths in that 

 period out of fourteen during the year. From consumption, or 

 phthisis, there were 99 deaths altogether; and of these, 50 

 occurred in May, June, July, and August, the warmer part of the 

 year. Twenty-eight occurred in the first four months, and 

 twenty-one in the last four. These figures showed that consump- 

 tion, though a debilitating disease, was not necessarily most 

 fatal in the colder part of the year. There were 176 deaths 

 traceable to circulatory, and 114 to respiratory diseases. The 

 highest number of circulatory deaths in any one month occurred 

 in March, when there were twenty-three. In January and 

 October 20 were recorded. The lowest number was seven, 

 recorded in July, there being ten in June and ten in September. 

 From respiratory causes the highest number of deaths occurred 

 in January, when there were 19, and in December, when there 

 were 16. The lowest rates were in April, June, July, and 



