t !>KVK AXI> W'MB. VITAL STATISTICS OP. 



1'KAK AXP IH-MB. VITAL STATISTICS OF. 



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reported, namely, 62 per cent, were of acquired deafness, an extraor- 

 dinary revelation if this result may be taken to represent the propor- 

 tion* throughout the deaf and dumb population of that country, and 

 one that should lead to further investigations. As a country, the 

 United States approximate* more nearly to Germany than any other, 

 bowing an average of 42 per cent of acquired deafness, thus : 

 Ohio nearly 51 per cent, Illinois 45, Hartford 44, Indiana 42, Ken- 

 tucky 40, New York 38, and Philadelphia 36 per cent These proportions 

 are for the different district* whence the respective institution* are 

 supplied with pupils. 



Thin great prevalence of acquired deafness in Germany and the 

 United State* may now be usefully compared with the proportions in 

 the United Kingdom, and with other parts of Europe. Ireland, the 

 country par extdtmet of the congenitally deaf, presents us with only 

 II per cent, of acquired deafness, and with 82 per cent, congenital, 

 the other 1 per cent being of uncertain origin. The four northern 

 counties uf England, represented by Newcastle-upon-Tyne, show a 

 proportion of 33 per cent of the pupils of acquired deafness ; Liver- 

 pool, representing portions of Lancashire, Cheshire, and a large floating 

 population from various places, exhibits 26 per cent of its cases of 

 acquired deafness ; the Yorkshire Institution, operating chiefly within 

 that county, has also had 26 per cent of its cases of this class, and 

 3 per cent uncertain ; London and Exeter show an equal ratio, 

 namely, 24 per cent ; the former not only provide* for the metropolis, 

 but also receives pupils from all parts of the kingdom, while Exeter 

 is limited to the four western counties ; Birmingham receives children 

 from the midland counties chiefly, and shows that 22 per cent, of 

 them were not born deaf. Glasgow obtains about half its pupils 

 from Lanarkshire, and the others from all parts of Scotland, and shows 

 that 20 per cent, of its number were not congenitally deaf, while 

 Belfast differs but little from the Commissioners' Report for Ireland, by 

 witnessing that only 1 4 per cent of it* pupils became deaf after birth. 



We are thus made aware that the average of acquired deafness in 

 Great Britain is 25 per cent, while Germany has more than double 

 that proportion, and the United States of America show a ratio of 

 42 per cent The average for Europe, excepting Ireland and Germany, 

 is the same as for Great Britain, but offers the following anomalies : 

 Belgium, St Petersburg, the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg and Nancy 

 (France) vary from 20 to 22 per cent, only ; the Duchy of Modena, the 

 Paris Institution, and that of Groningen show respectively 25, 28, and 

 31 per cent, while Tuscany and Copenhagen each present 39 per cent. 

 of acquired deafness. 



These result* suggest several questions for further inquiry ; they can- 

 not be accidental ; variations so great must have adequate causes. If 

 geographical position could have any influence, it might be adduced 

 that the United States and Germany are both continental, while 

 Ireland, with result* so opposite, is insular ; but Great Britain is also 

 insular, and present* the medium ratio between the two. The Anglo- 

 Americans, the Germans, the Britons are all of the same mixed 

 Teutonic race; the Irish have in them the Celtic element; the 

 iaothermals which pass through the United States also enclose Ger- 

 many, the south of Ireland, and the south of England. The popula- 

 tion* are subject to similar diseases, and have equal advantage* of 

 medical aid in cases of illness yet deafness supervenes upon one or 

 other disease twice in Germany for once in Yorkshire, twice in the 

 United State* for once in Glasgow, four tune* in Connecticut (Hart- 

 ford) for once in Ireland, and three times in the North of England 

 (Newcastle) for once in Ireland. Brighton, representing the counties 

 of 8u**ex, Hampshire, and Kent, present* a similar result to NewcatUe- 

 oo-Tyne. Why there should be two coses of acquired deafness in 

 Tuscany and Belgium for one at St. Petersburg, or why Belgium, 

 iUelf below the average, should have two for one in Ireland, is a curious 

 matter for future research. 



The deaf and dumb are found chiefly among the poor in England, 

 and it U probable that deafness will diminish from the great attention 

 now given to this class, whether within or out of unions; in this 

 respect the very poor are better cared for than those just above them, 

 who never seek parochial aid ; probably better, in the matter of medical 

 altrndano*, than the well-to-do scattered rural population, and this cir- 

 cumstance alone will tend to prevent the supervention of deafness from 



disease or accident, brings up the proportion of deaf-mute* to the whole 

 population to very nearly the same ratio which is found among our- 

 selves. In this county of Lancaster it is 1 in 2045, and for the whole 

 white population of the United States it is 1 in 2152." The thirty- 

 tilth Annual Report of the New York Institution compares the United 

 States in this respect with Europe : " In Europe generally, the chances 

 of the birth of a deaf-mute child are more than twice as great as in the 

 United States, or 615 in a million against 278 in a million ; but the 

 chances of the loss of hearing after birth, are in Europe generally much 

 leas than in the United States, namely, 154 in a million there, and 2J in 

 a million here ; while in Ireland this proportion is only 80 in a million." 



The Commissioners' Report on the status of disease in In-l.ui.l. 

 supplies a hint respecting acquired deafness which ought to be 

 regarded with special attention : " Comparing the congenital with 

 the acquired cases, we find some remarkable differences, caused by 

 localities. In the former class, the proportions are 1 in 1872 in the 

 civic, and 1 in every 1517 in the rural; whereas in the latter the reverse 

 obtains, that class being in the proportion of 1 in 9519 in the civic, 

 and 1 in 11,749 in the rural the congenital form of disease existing 

 most amongst the rural population ; and that acquired after birth 

 prevailing most in crowded cities and towns, where children and young 

 persons are particularly exposed to accident*, scrofulous affections and 

 deleterious influences arUiug from density of population, unwholesome 

 food, impure air, and insufficient sewerage. Moreover, the population!) 

 of cities and towns being in great part recruited by immigration from the 

 rural districts, the deaf and dumb are more likely to remain with their 

 friends in their native homes than those possessing speech and hearing." 



Respecting the diseases on which deafness followed, we have the 

 following information from various institutions ; the heads adopted by 

 Mr. Toynbee, though too few, have been adhered to in Tables V. and 

 VI., among other reasons from the immense variety of causes assigned 

 for the malady in other tables, but in Table VII. the heads of the 

 Census Commissioners for Ireland are followed : 



TABLE V. 

 Disuses on WHICH DEAFNESS HAS SUPERVENED. (UNITID KINGDOM.) 



TABLE VI. 

 DISEASES OH WHICH DEAFNESS HAS SUPERVENED. (UNITED STATES.) 



