42 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



prove the actual fact of death but to prove the time and cir- 

 cumstances, the cause of death, the duration of the last illness, 

 the place of interment, etc. 



A\'hile death registration is progressing faster than birth 

 registration, there are still eleven states in which no authentic 

 record is kept of deaths. Of this number. I regret to say is 

 our own state of Illinois. There is at present upon the statute 

 books of the state, a law providing that all births and deaths 

 shall be registered, but providing no adequate machinery for 

 carrying out these provisions. The result is, that outside of 

 Chicago and a few of the other large cities, there is today in 

 Illinois no record of either births or deaths worth considering. 

 How many people died from tuberculosis last year in Illi- 

 nois? No body knows. Hoav many people died from typhoid 

 fever? How many babies died under three years during the 

 past year? How many people died of preventable diseases? 

 Is the death rate increasing or decreasing? Xo one has any 

 idea nor can they know, until a law is pased which will pro- 

 vide for registration of births and deaths in accordance with 

 the methods used in other states. 



tint the registration of births and deaths has more than a 

 legal and sanitary value. Good health either of the individual 

 or of the community, is today a business asset. That com- 

 munity which has the lowest death rate and the lowest pro- 

 portion of illness and disability from preventable diseases, is 

 the most desirable for residence, for the investment of capi- 

 tal and for the establishment of manvifacturing enterprises. 

 This fact is just beginning to he realized. Consequently, the 

 accurate registration of births and deaths as the only means 

 by which the death rate of a locality can be determined should 

 be of the utmost interest and concern to all business men of 

 a community. An illustration of this occurred a few years 

 ago in a southern state. A land improvement company in 

 one of the largest southern cities was putting forth special 

 efforts to interest northern capitalists and manufacturers, 

 looking for suitable sites. A prominent northern manufac- 

 turer was shown a tract of land which exactly suited his 

 ^purposes, and was prepared to invest a large sum of money 

 in purchasing the land and still more in erecting a large fac- 

 tory. After all the other conditions has been discussed, he stat- 

 ed that the only reason he hesitated, was fear that that partic- 

 ular portion of the state was unhealthful and that it would 

 not be safe for him to take his family and make his home in 

 the southern city. The representative of the land improve- 

 ment company indignantly insisted that the locality was one 

 of the most healthful in the country, whereupon the northern 

 manufacturer asked for the death rate for that section of the 



