tlie amount o£ information obtained is not equal in all cases. 

 Thus I may dismiss AV^estern Australia very briefly. In March, 

 1878, the Colonial Secretary wrote that he regretted his in- 

 ability to supply information as to deaths from hydatid 

 disease, because "under the Registration Act or this colony, it 

 is not compulsory on individuals registering deaths to produce 

 the certificate of a professional man ; consequently, causes of 

 death in most instances are recorded in general terms, and it 

 would be impossible to render any return of the kind required, 

 there being no reliable data at command." As regards Vic- 

 toria, Xew South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Tasmania the case is different, 



YiCTOHiA. — Before giving you the statistics of the province, 

 I cannot refrain from expressing my admiration of the exhaus- 

 tive character of the returns, and of the promptitude with 

 w^hich they were supplied. The details or official records in Vic- 

 toria must be as near perfection as possible. In the first place, 

 let me remind you that by the census taken in 1881 the popu- 

 lation of Victoria amounted in round numbers to 862,000 souls, 

 of whom rather more than one half were males. The mean 

 annual mortality of the colony has lately been 13"5 per 1,000 

 inhabitants. And now as regards the number of deaths attri- 

 buted to hydatid disease. From the Eegistrar-Greneral's 

 returns, it appears that during the twenty years, from the 

 commencement of 1862 to the close of 1881, 581 persons died 

 from hydatids. Of these there were of males, 838 ; of females, 

 216 ; total, 581 ; and during the fourteen years, 1868 to 1881, 

 it appears that 2-98 per thousand of all the deaths in the 

 province were caused by hydatids. I will not inflict upon you 

 the details of the annual figures, but I wish to mention that 

 upon the whole there has been during these twenty years a 

 constant but somewhat irregular increase in the mortality from 

 hydatids with advancing time. This is particularly conspicuous 

 when we compare the four quinquennial periods embraced 

 within the twenty years. Thus : — I'irst quinquennium, 1862 to 

 1867, 59 cases ; second do., 1867 to 1872, 112 cases ; third do., 

 1872 to 1877, 182 cases ; fourth do., 1877 to 1882, 231 cases ; 

 total, 581 cases. This steady and gradual increase is evidently 

 due to one or both of two causes, viz., either hydatid disease is 

 becoming more prevalent in Victoria, or the Eegistrar-General 

 is being more accurately informed as to the true causes of 

 death. But of course it must be borne in mind that the popu- 

 lation of Victoria has increased greatly during these twenty 

 years. Thus : — Population of Victoria, 1862, 554,358 souls ; do., 

 1882, 862,316 souls. But then, in the last quinquennium 

 there were nearly four times as many deaths from hydatids 

 as in the first quinquennium, whilst the population was 



