194 report — 1842. 



portion of deaths under twenty years of age in Glasgow, to the total deaths, 

 is 55-95 per cent., whereas in Dundee it amounts to 57'52 per cent. 



It will also be observed that at the higher ages there is an excess of deaths in 

 Edinburgh over either Glasgow or Dundee, with the exception of those above 

 ninety-five years of age, at which ages the excess of deaths takes place in Glas- 

 gow and Dundee. Table LXXVIII. shows that 1 -4d per cent, per annum of the 

 population of Glasgow die above twenty years of age, and that 1*02 per cent, 

 of the population of Dundee die above that age ; 44-04 per cent, of the whole 

 deaths taking place in Glasgow above that age, and 42*4-7 per cent, in Dundee. 



It is plain, therefore, that as the proportion of deaths at the different ages 

 under five years, under twenty, and above twenty years of age, to the whole 

 deaths, leads to the belief that Dundee is a less healthy town than Glasgow, 

 and that the deaths at the two former age3, to the population, show that 

 Glasgow is the least healthy of the two towns, the inference to be drawn is 

 either that those deaths which take place beyond the limits of Glasgow, and 

 in which burial takes place within the limits, exceed the number of those 

 cases in which death takes place in the town, and the burials elsewhere, or 

 that the opposite of this is the case in Dundee. 



It is to be regretted that we are unable to give tables of mortality and of 

 marriages for the town of Ayr. As that town is so similarly situated in many 

 respects to Perth, a very interesting and useful comparison might have been 

 made of the relative amount of the marriages and deaths in these towns. 



There is a very considerable difference between the local circumstances of 

 Perth and those of Glasgow or Dundee. This town is chiefly dependent on its 

 connexion with the rich agricultural districts that surround it ; it has some 

 factories of flax, woollen and cotton, but these are of inconsiderable extent*. 

 Of the towns for which we have constructed tables, Edinburgh approaches 



* Of the population of Perth there are ahout 900 adults employed as hand-loom weavers, 

 and a considerable portion of them produce a fabric somewhat peculiar to themselves ; and 

 as the manufacture of this species of goods has not fallen off so much as the goods manu- 

 factured in Paisley, the weavers have been comparatively well off in this district lately, many 

 of them making from 10*. to 12». per week; some of them, however, do not make half so 

 much. The wages of the ordinary labourer are rather lower than in some other towns ; the 

 price of food, however, is considerably lower. The 41b. loaf retails at Id., whereas at Glas- 

 gow it is 'id., and till very lately 10(7. ; and all other kinds of food seem to be cheaper than 

 at Glasgow. On inspection, it does not appear that there is so much of that extreme desti- 

 tution and utter wretchedness which is to be met with in some other towns. The houses of the 

 poorer classes are better, and the rents more moderate than elsewhere. Some of the lodging- 

 houses for the poor, though better than in some other towns, are certainly capable of im- 

 provement; but, generally speaking, good beds, blankets and sheets are provided, and con- 

 siderable attention seems to be paid to their cleanliness. It does not appear that there are 

 so many lodgers crowded into one room as at Aberdeen, Dundee, or Glasgow. 



Perth is a fine, open, well-aired town. With regard to drainage, it possesses great advan- 

 tages in the command of a fine stream of water, which enters at the north-west part of the 

 town, and is there divided into three branches, passing through different portions of the 

 city, carrying off the impurities which are thrown into it from various parts of the town by 

 surface drains. The improvement of covered drains, as contemplated by the Lord Provost, 

 must still further add to the comfort and health of the inhabitants. The greatest attention 

 is paid to the scavenger department of the police, and the manure is carefully removed to the 

 outskirts of the town. Accumulations of this kind are unknown in any part of Perth. 



As the county of Perth is well known to be a wool-growing country, it may be mentioned 

 that great encouragement has been extended by the Lord Provost and magistrates to the 

 woollen manufactures, and various premiums have been offered to those who may introduce 

 or increase these manufactures ; and as the county town should form a very suitable mart for 

 these manufactures, a wool fair has lately been established under the same auspices, and it has 

 been very successful. 



"Without entering into further detail, it may be stated that Perth, without being subject to 

 a high state of prosperity or of adversity, possesses many advantages which tend to promote 

 the comfort and well-being of the inhabitants. 



