316 HEVORT 1871. 



That the' still-births in Cxlasgow during the three years ending 1852 were cal- 

 culated by the late Dr. Strang to have aniouuted to 1 in 12, or iipwards of 8 per 

 cent.* 



That in France their proportion amounts to bet-ween 4 and 4^ per cent., and in 

 Paris to about 7^ per cent. 



That the ordinary proportion among legitimate children is reckoned to be from 

 1 in 18, to 1 in 20 of all births, and among illegitimate children three times greater. 

 That many more males are still-born than females, viz. 140 to 100, and that 

 still-births are more frequent in first than in subsequent pregnancies. 



The paper also referred to the difhculty of defining the term " still-birth ; " to the 

 opinion of medical practitioners that tlie registration of still-births ought to be 

 confined to children born " Viable," or with a capacity to live ; to the Memorial 

 addressed to the Registrar-General of Scotland by the Royal College of Physicians, 

 Edinburgh, in 1858, in favour of the registration of still-births ; and to the sup- 

 posed prejudice in the upper and middle ranks of society against such registration. 

 The paper concluded with the following statement : — 



" Prejudice or no prejudice, the question to be decided is simply this : — Is it ex- 

 pedient that these births should be registered ? While I wish to speak with great 

 deference on a subject respecting which a lawyer is probably not so well qualified 

 as a medical practitioner to express an opinion, and notwithstanding the very 

 decided views to the contrary of my esteemed frieud the Registrar-General 

 of Englandt, I have no hesitation in saying that I have long thought that the 

 proposal of the College of Physicians should be carried into effect as a matter of 

 public policy. 



" In his able pamphlet on ' The Law of the Coroner, and on Medical Evidence in 

 the Preliminary Investigation of Criminal Cases,' published in 1855, Dr. Craig, of 

 Ratio, says, ' Another apparent step in advance is an enactment in the New Scotcli 

 Registration Bill, which came into full operation on the 1st of January, 1855, 

 where in cases of new-born children exposed or found dead, or in cases of persons 

 found dead, a report is to be sent to the Procurator Fiscal, who, ' in case of a Pre- 

 cognition,' is to report to the Registrar before he can enter the case in the register. 

 The birth and burial, however, of still-bom children are not to be registered ; and 

 thus every facility is afibrded for concealment of pregnancy, and for the crime of 

 child murder.' 



" In the interests of medical science, moreover, I think it cannot be doubted that 

 the births in question ought to be duly recorded ; and now that we have in each 

 of the three portions of the United Kingdom a national system of registration, 

 more or less perfect, the facility of doing so is very largely increased. It is no 

 doubt desirable that a uniform procedure should be observed in the three kingdoms. 

 Already, however, in various important respects, the three systems of registration 

 materially dilTer ; and, accordingly, in the matter in question, it might perhaps be 

 worth while to make the experiment, in the first instance, in the comparatively 

 small sphere of North Britain, leaving England and Ireland to follow, if the expe- 

 riment should prove a success. Whether or not fresh legislation would be neces- 

 sary is, I think, open to question. Speaking generally, it appears to me that the 

 registration of still-births is not excluded in the existing statute. W'ere it'other- 

 wise, the regulation relative to the non-registration of still-births would be alto- 

 gether unnecessary. If, however, the form of registration to which I shall pre- 

 sently allude were to be thought expedient, it would probably require the inter- 

 vention of the Legislature, in the shape of a short supplementary Act. 



"As to the mode of practically carrying out the registration of still-births, I am 

 quite prepared to offer a few suggestions. On the assumption that the medical 

 faculty are agreed upon what ought to be regarded as a still-birth, and that it is 

 found feasible to give inteUigible instructions upon the subject to the Registrars — 

 upwards of 1000 in number — the first point to be determined is, the rci/ister in 

 ivhich the entries ought to be made. As I have already stated, the practice in 

 * Probably too high an estimate. 



t See printed paper, dated Gth July, 1869, entitled ' Ecmarks submitted to tlie Consi- 

 deration of the Eoyai Sanitary Commission by the Ecgistrar-Qeneral of England rnd 

 Wales.' 



