956 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 860 



mouthshire. In seventy-seven of the largest 

 towns, including London, the birth-rate aver- 

 aged 24.9 per 1,000; in London the rate veas 

 23.9, while among the other towns it ranged 

 from 14.5 in Hastings, 15.1 in Hornsey, 16.0 

 in Bournemouth, 16.Y in Halifax, and 18.3 in 

 Haudsworth (Staffs), to 31.5 in Merthyr 

 Tydfil, 33.6 in St. Helens, 35.3 in Coventry, 

 35.9 in Swansea, and 41.8 in Ehondda. 



The excess of births over deaths during the 

 quarter was 80,447, against 83,784, 68,281, and 

 85,256 in the corresponding quarters of the 

 three preceding years. From a return issued 

 by the Board of Trade it appears that the pas- 

 senger movement between the United King- 

 dom and places outside Europe resulted in a 

 net balance outward of 70,973 persons. There 

 was an outward balance of 46,076 English 

 passengers, 1,185 Welsh, 11,473 Scottish, 

 4,002 Irish, and of 8,812 foreigners, while 

 there was an inward balance of 575 British 

 Colonial passengers. 



During the three months under notice the 

 deaths of 143,141 persons were registered, 

 equal to an annual rate of 15.9 per 1,000, or 

 1.7 per 1,000 less than the average rate for 

 the corresponding quarter in the ten preced- 

 ing years. The lowest county death-rates 

 last quarter were 13.3 in Middlesex and in 

 Esses, 13.5 in Kent, 13.6 in Leicestershire, 

 13.7 in Northamptonshire, and 13.9 in Wor- 

 cestershire; the highest rates were 18.2 in 

 Herefordshire, 18.5 in Devonshire, 19.0 in 

 Monmouthshire, 19.6 in the North Biding of 

 Yorkshire, and 20.2 in Carmarthenshire. In 

 seventy-seven of the largest towns the cor- 

 rected death-rate averaged 16.8 per 1,000; in 

 136 smaller towns the rate was 15.4 per 1,000, 

 which was also the rate in the remainder of 

 the country. The crude death-rates in the 

 seventy-seven towns ranged from 7.6 in King's 

 Norton, 8.5 in Hornsey and in Handsworth 

 (Stails), and 10.4 in East Ham, to 19.2 in 

 Oldham, 19.3 in Dewsbury and in Swansea, 

 19.4 in Liverpool, 20.0 in Sheffield, 20.7 in 

 Coventry, and 23.1 in Middlesbrough; in 

 London the death-rate was 15.8 per 1,000. 



The 143,141 deaths from all causes last 

 quarter included 12,535 which were referred 



to the principal infectious diseases; of these, 

 6,147 were attributed to measles, 2,631 to 

 whooping-cough, 1,439 to diarrhoea and arte- 

 ritis (among children under two years of age), 

 1,369 to diphtheria, 515 to scarlet fever, 421 to 

 enteric fever, 9 to small-pox, 2 to typhus, and 

 2 to pyrexia of uncertain origin. 



The rate of infant mortality, measured by 

 the proportion of deaths among children 

 under one year of age to registered births, 

 was equal to 115 per 1,000 or 15 per 1,000 less 

 than the average rate in the ten preceding 

 first quarters. Among the several counties 

 the rates of infant mortality last quarter 

 ranged from 88 in Sussex, 91 in Surrey, 93 in 

 Dorsetshire, 94 in Hampshire and in Buck- 

 inghamshire, and 95 in Hertfordshire, to 130 

 in Cornwall, 138 in Cumberland, 144 in the 

 North Biding of Yorkshire, 145 in Monmouth- 

 shire, and 164 in Carmarthenshire. In 

 seventy-seven of the largest towns the rate 

 averaged 115 per 1,000 (being equal to the 

 rate in the country as a whole), and ranged 

 from 57 in Hornsey, 65 in Wallasey, 79 in 

 King's Norton and 80 in Hastings and in 

 Great Yarmouth, to 149 in Sheffield and in 

 Eotherham, 151 in Grimsby, 158 in Black- 

 burn, 165 in Dewsbury and 186 in Middles- 

 brough. 



The death-rate among persons aged 1 to 65 

 years was 8.7 per 1,000 of the population 

 estimated to be living at those ages. In the 

 seventy-seven large towns the death-rate in 

 this age-group averaged 9.4 per 1,000, and 

 ranged from 3.5 in King's Norton, 4.1 in 

 Hornsey, 4.2 in Handsworth (Staiis), 5.8 in 

 Ipswich, 6.2 in Leicester, and 6.3 in Bourne- 

 mouth, to 12.2 in Oldham, 12.3 in Coventry 

 and in Liverpool, 13.4 in Sheffield and 15.1 in 

 Middlesbrough. 



Among persons aged 65 years and upwards 

 the rate of mortality last quarter was 104.6 

 per 1,000; in the seventy-seven towns the 

 death-rate in this age-group averaged 111.9 

 per 1,000, the lowest rates being 69.0 in King's 

 Norton, 76.5 in Handsworth (Staffs), 85.8 in 

 West Bromwich and 87.0 in Norwich and in 

 Devonport; and the highest rates, 140.0 in 

 Swansea, 143.0 in Huddersfield, 144.2 in 



