113 



withstfintliug these disadvantages, the city mortality was not 

 so greatly in excess of the rural as in Tasmania. Nor is this 

 to be wondered at. A lilthy open sewer ruus through Hobart 

 Town, and after receiving its contributions of excrementitious 

 and other refuse matter from all the smaller sewers, and 

 numberless latrines that skirt its sides, discharges its black 

 and fetid gatherings into the Dcrwent. When the tide is in, 

 the accumulations at the lower end mix with the waters of the 

 river, and are at once carried off. But when the tide is out, 

 they are not immediately taken away, but form a broad, 

 sluggish stream, poisoning the air with their fever-laden ex- 

 halations. If tho excreta and other noxious matters which 

 are now thrown into the creek were applied to their proper 

 purpose, namely, the fertilisation of the soil, the health of 

 the city would be improved, the supply of food would 

 be increased, and a number of persons might find a 

 living in collecting the offensive substances, and converting 

 them into manure. The cases of typhoid fever and diphtheria 

 which have from time to time occurred in Hobart Town, 

 especially during the present year [see table O], ought to be 

 a warning of the danger of further delay in setting about im- 

 proving the sanitary condition of the principal towns. Dr. Hall, 

 in the remarks which he has at various times published, has 

 strongly urged this point ; and the figures which I have now 

 produced give additional weight to his warnings. 



But while the deaths in the towns are so much more 

 numerous than they ought to be, if all available means were 

 used to preserve the health of the inhabitants, it will be seen 

 that the rural rate is very low, only 9 24 per 1,000. And this 

 is much above the ordinary Tasmanian rate, the general death 

 rate having been unusually high in 1870 and 1873. For each 

 of the five years the rural rate was— 1869, 916 ; 1870, 9-98 ; 

 1871, 8-63 ; 1872, 917 ; 1873, 9-25. The mean of the three 

 normal years, 1869, 1871, and 1872, was 8'99. In Victoria, 

 in 1873, the rural rate is stated to have been 9'14. In refer- 

 ence to the higher town rate in Tasmania, it has been alleged 

 that it has been caused by the influx of sick people into the 

 towns for the sake of better medical treatment, and by tho 

 pauperism congregating there. What proportion of the excess 

 is due to the first cause, I have no means of ascertaining ; but 

 I am willing to admit that the greater age of many of the 

 paupers in Hobart Town and Launceston must operate un- 

 favourably in the comparison. Of the deaths 18 per cent, in 

 Victoria took place in hospitals ; in Tasmania, only 10*84 per 

 cent. In the insular districts of Scotland, where the mortality 

 is lowest, the death-rate ranges from about ] 3 to 18 per 1,000. 



A better criterion of the relative healthiness of town and 



