BY SIDNEY G. MARTIN, A. I. A. (lONDOn). 15 



submitted in this paper furnishes evidence that the mortality of 

 Queensland is favourable as compared with England ; and we 

 have seen that the general movement in regard to the more 

 important disease, is one of reduction. How the European race 

 will fare, as regards the attainment of extreme old age, will take 

 many years to show ; this 8tate is still so young, and the settle- 

 ment, in the North especially, of such comparatively recent date, 

 that we have not the facts yet for ascertaining what effect the 

 heat of North Queensland will have on the longevity of Euro- 

 peans. All that we can conclude at present is, that the indica- 

 tions are favourable as to the general healthiness of the country, 

 and as it becomes more settled, while sanitation and other 

 matters pertaining to the health of the people receive more 

 attention, it does not seem an extravagant expectation that 

 Queensland may become the sanatorium of Australia. We have 

 within our 18 degrees of latitude great diversities of climate, 

 ranging from the humid heat of the North to the dry summer 

 weather with cool nights experienced in the Downs country, 

 and we have the choice of the mild winter on the northern coast 

 or of the bracing weather of the elevated lands towards the west, 

 for so great is the elevation that even well within the tropics are 

 hard frosts experienced throughout the winters on the higher 

 table lands there. 



I would conclude my paper by expressing the hope that as 

 medical knowledge advances and municipal practice improves, 

 and as the residents learn to adapt their mode of life more to 

 the exigencies of the climate, some future writer may be able to 

 record the fact that the principal cause of mortality in 

 Queensland is old age. 



