i8 



THE CAVENDISH LECTURE 



tion. To deny that, Gentlemen, is after all to deny the progress 

 of medical science. You know in a general way that the death- 

 rate, corrected for age, has fallen enormously in this country. 

 But I should like to place before you its actual history. 



You see (Figs. 6 and 7) at once the three great periods in the 



GENERAL HEALTH . 



150 1^5 



J. ROnUST 



50 25 -85 -50 



ROBUST NORMALLY HEALTHY 

 MOTHER 



1 1 r 



75 -\Q0-\1b 



150 -175 

 DELICATE 



Fig. 4. — Diagram to illustrate fall in health of son with fall in health of 

 mother. Note anomalous position of sons of delicate mothers. 



history of our English death-rate : (i) The period of stability, quite 

 uninfluenced by factory legistation, 1835-1865 ; (2) the period of 

 sanitary science, 1 866-1 891, with its continuous fall in the death- 

 rate ; (3) the period of modern medicine, 1891-191 1, with still 

 further acceleration in the fall. I think we can be quite confident 



