VOL. LXIV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 497 



the burials, during the same period, are 127, or 12.7 yeariy. Hence the pro- 

 portion of annual births to inhabitants is nearly as 1 to 42, and burials nearly as 

 1 to 48a. During 1772, only Q persons died in this parish; hence the propor- 

 tion of deaths to the living, this year, is less than 1 in 68. These facts must 

 appear most astonishing to any one who reflects, that in the largest towns, such 

 as London, 1 in 20|- dies annually; and that in towns of a moderate size, as 

 Leeds, 1 in 21 f; that in Northampton and Shrewsbury, either of them less 

 than Chester, 1 in 26a dies yearly. These facts, relating to this parish, are true, 

 beyond a possibility of doubt; and yet they are so very extraordinary, that one 

 cannot, without further inquiries, apply to the whole town, by analogy, the ob- 

 servations which were made on only a small proportion of the inhabitants. How- 

 ever no peculiarity of air, water, or any other obvious circumstance, can be sup- 

 posed to render this parish more healthy than the rest of the town. How far 

 these facts have been accidental, the following, and other collateral inquiries, 

 will discover. 



For the last 8 years, preceding 1772, there have been 385 births, and 375 

 deaths annually in Chester. The number of deaths this year, excluding those 

 who were killed by the dreadful explosion of gunpowder, is 37Q; so that, pro- 

 bably, the conclusions drawn from tables, which have been executed with great 

 care and fidelity, will not be liable to any considerable errors; and such errors, 

 by continuing this account for a period of years, will most effectually be cor- 

 rected. The following observations are offered as a small specimen of the con- 

 clusions, that may then with more certainty, be deduced from such a register of 

 mortality. From such bills, which distinguish the ages at which the inhabitants 

 die, it appears, as far as one year's observation may be trusted, that, taking the 

 whole town, 1 in 31.1 dies annually. This proportion, of deaths to the living, 

 is probably too high, because the births, on an average, exceed the burials; a 

 fact, which affords another proof, that the place is uncommonly healthy. Other 

 facts amply confirm this observation. 



Half the inhabitants, born in London, die under 2-|- years old; in Vienna, 

 under 2; in Manchester, under 5; in Norwich, under 5; in Northampton, 

 under 10; in Chester, this year, above half who died were 20 years old. Of all 

 the children born in this city, 1 in 5-|- lives to above 70, and 1 in 154- attains 80 

 years of age; whereas in Northampton, only 1 in 21^; in Norwich, 1 in 27; 

 and in London, 1 in 40 lives till 80. In the Hotel Dieu, a large hospital in 

 Paris, above 1 in 5 dies, of all that are admitted ; in St. Thomas's and St. Bar- 

 tholomew's, in London, 1 in 13; in the Chester infirmary, since its first institu- 

 tion in 1755, till 1772 inclusive, only 1 in 25^. 



But the annexed table, at one view, shows the comparative state of health, 

 between this and some other towns of different magnitudes. It is curious to 



VOL. XIII. 3 S 



