BY SIDNEY G. MARTIN, A. I. A. (lONDOn). 5, 



nature, for these, so far as I have seen them, have given the 

 ratios of deaths to the whole population, while I have worked 

 out my ratios on the basis of the population at consumptive 

 ages, viz. : — 15 years to the end of life. As the deaths amongst 

 Polynesians from this disease have been given separately by the 

 Registrar-General only since 1877, I have worked out results 

 for four quinquennia only, so that I might leave that race 

 completely out of botli deaths and population. The numbers 

 and ratios refer therefore exclusively to Europeans and the 

 Asiatic races which, unlike the Polynesia»is, show a mortality 

 little difi'ering from that of the Europeans. The figures are as 

 follows for males and females respectively : — 



It will be noticed that there is a marked difference in the 

 movements as between the males and the females ; while the 

 latter show a continued reduction, and are now one-third less 

 than they were in the first quinquennium under notice, the 

 male rate was almost constant for the first three periods, and 

 during the last period showed a reduction of less than a fifth as 

 compared with 1880/84. This difference seems to me to be 

 not without some significance, especially when taken in 

 conjunction with a similar condition found in the English 

 comparison, for whereas the mortality from this disease was 

 practicallv the same for both sexes in the decennium 1861/70, 

 viz. : — 24-7 and 24-8 per 10,000 living at all ages for males and 

 females respectively, the rate was reduced 20 years after to 18-5 

 for males and 16-1 for females, the reductions being 25 per 

 cent, for the former as against '65 per cent, for the latter. The 

 more recent figures for the year 1898 make the reductions 

 39 per cent, and 54 per cent, respectively. Aij investigation 

 that was made some years ago into the records of the Brompton 

 Hospital for chest complaints showed that while male 

 consumption was more common than female as regards the 

 London district, the cases where there was a family predisposition 

 to the disease showed a greater ratio amongst females. This 

 was accounted for by the more sedentary and less invigorating 

 life of the females, and to this I should add that in view of the 



