19G report — 1842. 



has been already stated, from some of the inhabitants being buried beyond 

 the limits of the town, the probability is that the deaths which are recorded 

 are not the whole deaths, and therefore the returns from the burying-grounds 

 may be considered incomplete, and make the proportionate mortality of this 

 town appear somewhat less than it really is. 



The average annual mortality in Aberdeen appears (Table LXXI.) to be as 

 1 to 4-9'72, or 2*01 per cent.; and it will be observed (Table LII.), that with 

 the exception of the ages at fifteen and under twenty years, there is an excess 

 of mortality at all the ages specified in the tables up to eighty years in Edin- 

 burgh over the proportion which takes place at these ages in this town. At 

 all the ages above eighty years, consequently, the greatest proportion of deaths 

 which take place in these towns is in Aberdeen. It is further shown (Table 

 LXXVI.), that in Aberdeen the deaths under twenty years of age amount to 

 0"8G per cent, of the population, and to 43*14 per cent, of the whole deaths; 

 and that (Table LXXVIII.) the deaths above twenty years of age amount to 

 1*14 per cent, of the population, and to 56"85 per cent, of the whole deaths. 



DISEASES. 



The tables commencing with No. XXXII. and ending with No. XLIX., ex- 

 hibit the number of fatal cases of disease that occurred in the different towns 

 during successive years, classified according to eighteen periods of life at which 

 they took place ; and show also the total number of deaths at each period, 

 and the proportions which these and the number of deaths, from the several 

 diseases, bear to the total number of deaths, and also to the population. It 

 will be observed, that our information on these heads extends only to three 

 years for Edinburgh and for Dundee*. Circumstances have prevented tables 

 of this description from being made for these towns for the years 1837 and 

 1838, as was intended. For the other towns, with the exception of Leith, 

 these tables extend to five years. It is to be regretted that the state of the 

 registers of Leith prevents tables of this kind from being made out for more 

 than two years ; and even these are not so complete as the others, owing to 

 no registers being kept for the burying-ground of Newhaven. The amount 

 of mortality in these towns, caused by the various diseases at different ages 

 during successive years, may be seen by referring to the tables. We may 

 here, however, notice some of the more marked results brought out in the 

 five following tables, No. L. to LIV., in which the results are brought for- 

 ward and comparisons are made for the several towns, on an average of 

 the different years for which these tables have been constructed. 



It will be observed (Table L.), that there is a proportionate excess of deaths 

 in Edinburgh over those in Glasgow, by the causes classed under the heads 

 "aged," "diseases of the head," " of the heart," " inflammation," and by those 

 diseases which are not distinctly brought out, as stated in the Appendix, but 

 which are classed under the head of miscellaneous diseases. The greatest 

 proportion of deaths by all the other diseases takes place in Glasgow. The 

 greatest excess of deaths in Edinburgh over those of Glasgow, appears to be 



siderably lower than in Glasgow. Fish is about one-third cheaper than in that town. The 

 wages of the working classes appear to he much the same as in other towns. There does 

 not appear to be too great a supply of labour for the demand for it. We have the authority 

 of Lord Provost Blackie for stating that, till the late severe depression of trade, no man who 

 was willing to work could be at a loss to procure employment. 



* These tables for Dundee have been constructed from extracts from the registers 

 of that town for the purpose. The data which have enabled us to extend the other 

 mortality tables for that town to five years, have been obtained from the Dundee Mortality 

 Bills, which have been very ably drawn up by W. B. Baxter, Esq. And the data from which 

 the other tables for Edinburgh have been constructed were obtained from the paper on Vital 

 Statistics, read to the Statistical Section of the British Association at Glasgow, by Mr. 

 Alexander Watt. 



