36 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENXE 



time and place, and of the parentage that we have always be- 

 lieved ourselves to be? 



It is a singular thing that the American people, coming 

 as we do from various European nationalities, all of whom 

 have some form of birth registration, and most of whom are 

 proud of their immediate ancestry, should have almost 

 completely disregarded, until recently, the importance of re- 

 gistering births and deaths. In a few of the older New Eng- 

 land states, this subject has long been regulated by laws. New 

 Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Mass- 

 achusetts have had some form of registration since about 

 1850. Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia had similar 

 laws at that time, but the disorganization during and imme- 

 diately following the Civil war put a stop to such efiforts, and 

 it is only in recent years that any interest on this subject has 

 been aroused in the South. In 1880, registration of deaths 

 was only enforced on 17 per cent, of the population of the 

 United States, and as late as 1906, less than 48 per cent, of 

 the population of the entire country was subject to any ef- 

 forts to register deaths of human beings. In the remaining 

 52 per cent, no more legal or official recognition was made of 

 the death of a human being than was made in the case of a 

 dog, or a cat, or a horse. They died and were buried, and 

 that was all there was to it. No record remained to show 

 when or where they died, what was the cause of their death 

 or wh^re their body was deposited, except such personal re- 

 cords as might be made by immediate relatives. 



This situation, and the lack of reliable records has fre- 

 quently been discussed in medical and scientific bodies. As 

 far back as 1848. the year following the organization of the 

 American Medical Association, a standing committee on reg- 

 istration of births, deaths and marriages, reported, urging the 

 adoption of proper laws by all of the states. In the transac- 

 tion of the American !\Iedical Association, the American 

 Public Health Association, the Conference of State and Pro- 

 vincial Boards of Health, and similar organizations, will be 

 found frequent references to this subject, yet in 1880, after 

 thirty years of effort, deaths were recorded in only 17 per 

 cent, of the population, in 1906 in only 48.5 per cent, and in 

 1912, there were still nearly 40 per cent, of the population 

 without any registration of deaths, while today, forty out of 

 forty-eight states make no record of births. 



In 1906, at the annual Conference on Legislation of the 

 American Medical Association, a committee was appointed 

 to draft a model bill for introduction into state legislatures. 

 This committee reported in December of 1907. presenting the 

 draft of a bill suitable for adoption by individual states pro- 



