286 PARASITES OF MAX 



of one of our large hospitals has told me that of late years as 

 many as ten deaths might be reckoned as annually due to 

 hydatids in their institution alone. At a smaller hospital I 

 ascertained that the average was about four. Obviously, if these 

 estimates are correct, the Registrar- General's returns for the 

 United Kingdom do not record a tithe of the annual mortality 

 due to hydatids. Perhaps another half century will elapse 

 before the truth of my deductions be confirmed by the official 

 returns. For me, it must suffice to have pointed to the 

 desirability of securing more accurate records. 



By a curious coincidence I had only just sent to press the 

 sheet of this work recording the statistics of hydatid disease in 

 Australia (p. 123), when a paper dealing with the same subject 

 appeared in the ' Lancet/ I refer to the brief memoir of Dr 

 David Thomas, of Adelaide, South Australia, which was published 

 on the 1st of March, 1879. Dr Thomas writes as follows : 



" It is well known that Australia presents an extraordinary 

 prevalence of hydatid disease, but, as far as I know, no definite 

 statistics have been published to illustrate the fact. Conse- 

 quently, some months ago, with the kind assistance of the Hon. 

 W. Morgan, the present Chief Secretary of South Australia, I 

 endeavoured to procure reports from the Governments of 

 Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand, Tasmania, 

 and Western Australia, upon this question. Unfortunately, the 

 mode of registration of the causes of death in most of these 

 colonies was such as prevented the necessary replies being 

 supplied. However, it appears that in Tasmania no deaths 

 were returned from this disease in the ten years 1867-77. 

 During the greater part of the same period no separate classi- 

 fication of hydatid disease had been adopted in New South 

 Wales; but in 1875 four deaths were attributed to hydatids; in 

 1876, eleven were so returned. In Victoria, however, the 

 record of deaths from this cause is far more complete, and I 

 append a table based upon the returns from that colony. 



" One case, in which hydatid of the kidney was present, 

 accompanied by malignant disease of bladder, with stricture, 

 was not returned as a case of hydatid causing death. 



"During the decade 1867-77, 2*5 per 1000 deaths were due 

 to hydatid disease. In 183 out of the 307 cases the liver was 

 either solely or conjointly with other organs the seat of disease. 

 Holding the second place in frequency come the lungs in 71 

 cases, i.e. 53 simple and 18 complicated." 



