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Statistics. "Relations between mortality of infants and high 



temperatures." By Dr. E. van Everdingen. (Communicated by 



Prof. C. H. Wind.) 



In the ''Statistische mededeelingen uitgegeven door hot bureau van 

 statistiek der gemeente Amsterdam" the other day a treatise appeared 

 as N ü 19: "Kindersterfte in Nederland (in de jaren 1881— 1905)" by 

 Prof. Dr. R. H. Sai.tet and Mr. Ph. Famcenburg. 1 ) The authors point 

 to the fact of the existence of a distinct maximum in the mortality of 

 children under one year of age in the summer-months, and try to 

 find among others a relation between the amplitude of this maximum 

 in different places and in different periods", and the monthly means 

 of temperature at neighbouring places in the same periods. The 

 result is rather negative; hence they write as follows: 



" Also from the chronological comparison of the mortality of 

 infants and temperatures, as given by us here for Zealand and the 

 town of Groningen, we are only able to draw a negative conclusion. 

 If in a single case we may speak of parallelism, in the majority of 

 the cases no direct relation between temperatures and mortality or 

 infants can be traced. In so saving we do not imply that we have 

 proved the statement, that the mortality of infants should be in- 

 dependent of the condition of the air. On the contrary, the diagrams 

 we gave furnish the most evident proofs of a relation between the 

 condition of the air in the summer and the mortality of infants. 

 But it is not the height of the temperature which regulates this 

 mortality. As we remarked before, in our opinion the probability 

 remains, that the temperature-fluctuations of the summer — diurn 

 or interdiurn — are the causes which exert an obnoxious influence. 

 The data concerning these fluctuations fail however and cannot in 

 our opinion be replaced by data about temperature-frequencies, which 

 the Meteorological Institute would be able to furnish. We cannot 

 but with a single word refer here to the theory which connects the 

 summer mortality of babies with the presence in this season of a 

 larger number of insects, bearers of disease-germs. Positive facts 

 enabling to further investigate this matter are lacking at present. 



Hence there is reserved here a vast Held of' research for the 

 zealous investigator of the future. 



i) A gerraan translation of this treatise appeared under the title: "Statistische 

 Mitteilungen des Statistischen Amies der Stadt Amsterdam N n . 19. Kindersterblich- 

 keit besondeis in den Niederlanden, bearbeitet von Prof. Dr. H. II. Saltet and 

 Dr. Ph. Falkenburo. 



