14 PRINCIPAL CAUSKS OF MORTALITY IN yUEENSLAND 



Queensland is much the highest with 13-B, as against only 6'7 

 and 8-3 for England and the United States respectively. The 

 United States are highest with urinary diseases, 10-1 ; 

 Queensland and England being 5*8 and 5-2. In cancer the 

 United States are lowest with 4-9, the other two being nearly 

 equal with a little over 6 per cent. The larger number set 

 down to old age in England may be accounted for by the fad 

 that there will be a larger proportion of extremely old people in 

 that experience as compared with the other two. The com- 

 parison in regard to certain diseases shows the effect that mode 

 of life, apart from climate, may have in some respects. From 

 what we know, or imagine, of our "go-ahead" American cousins, 

 we should rather expect that their causes of death would not 

 run on parallel lines with our own, and we find that in diseases 

 relating to the brain and the digestion they are far ahead. 

 Adding together diseases of the digestive, nervous (including 

 suicide), and urinary systems, we get 24-1 for Queensland, 250 

 for England, and 38*6 for the United States. 



Kanakas. 

 As there has been a certain amount of discussion recently 

 concerning the mortality of the Polynesians in Queensland, 

 I have taken out the experience during the past 25 years. 



Total deaths. Ratio per 1000 living. 

 1875/79 .. 1708 74 



1880/84 .. 4064 102 



1885/89 .. 3207 75 



1890/94 .. 2126 51 



1895/99 .. 1461 36 



The ratios of the second and third periods were swelled by 

 the inclusion of the figures for 1884 and 1885, when, owing to 

 a serious epidemic of dysentery, followed by an outbreak of 

 pneumonia, the death rates ran up to 164 and 110 per 1000 

 respectively. Excluding these years, and taking the experience 

 for four years only in each of these two periods, the ratios will 

 run 74, 60, 49, 51, and 36. The lowest rate of 36 per 1000 is 

 still excessive, seeing that the rate for the European population 

 of the ages of the Kanakas, 15 to 45, is not more than 8 per 

 1000. One-half the deaths amongst the islanders are due to 

 tubercular diseases, and of the other half pneumonia and 

 dysentery are responsible for the greater part. 



Conclusion, 

 Although the only perfect comparison of mortality is that 

 based on exact ages of living and dying, still, what has been 



