200 



SCIEN'CE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 18T 



THE HEALTH OF NEW YORK DURING 

 JULY. 



The month of Jiily has the highest mortahty of 

 the year, its deaths running up to the startling 

 figure of 4,198, an excess of 1,436 deaths over the 

 month of June. This represents a daily average 

 throughout the month of more than 135. The 8th 

 of the month was characterized by the greatest daily 

 mortahty, 240, which has occurred since 1886 set 

 in, and it is more than probable that this will not 

 be exceeded during the entire twelve months. 

 More than one thousand of the monthly increase 

 was due to diarrhoeal diseases ; and, of children 

 under five years of age, 1,125 more died than in 

 the preceding month. If this fact is borne in mind 

 in reading the remarks made elsewhere on the 

 failure to provide funds for the summer corps of 

 physicians to visit the tenement houses, the gross 

 outrage of this neglect will be better appreciated. 

 The sudden and fearful rise of the mortality 

 curves as rej)resented in the chart is very striking. 

 It will be remembered that in tlie early part of 

 the year the lines of scarlet-fever and diarrhoeal 

 diseases were so nearly coincident that at times 

 they could not be distinguished, and that atten- 

 tion was then called to the fact, that, as summer 

 approached, these lines would gradually separate, 

 until in midsummer we should find them at a 

 great distance from each other. That time has 

 come : while scarlet-fever has on no one day of 

 July caused more than two deaths, in one single 

 day, the 8th, 92 persons succumbed to diarrhoeal 

 diseases. Consumption caused 439 deaths, an in- 

 crease of 6 over the preceding month ; and diph- 

 theria, 133, but 3 more than in June. 



July was a month in which the temperature did 

 not vary much from the average of the past ten 

 years. The mean was 74.83° F. During the past 

 decade this was exceeded six times. The max- 

 imum was 94° F. This was reached on the 7th at 

 3 P.M., and again on the 30th at 4 P.M. In July 

 of 1885 the mercury touched 99, the highest since 

 1870. Eain fell on thirteen days of the month, 

 but only to a shght extent, except on the 10th, 

 14th, 16th, 21st, and 27th ; and the total rainfall 

 for the month was but 2.75 inches, the lowest for 

 ten years with the exception of 1881, when but 

 1.25 inches fell. 



THE COMMITTEES OF THE AMERICAN 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The reports of the committees of the American 

 association were in general as unsatisfactory this 

 year as heretofore, notwithstanding the new rule 

 that all committees not reporting should be dis- 



charged. The usual report in regard to progress 

 in obtaining proper legislation on the registration 

 of births, deaths, and marriages, was made by Mr. 

 E. B. Elliott, which amounted to little more than 

 stating that Mr. Elliott had conferred with several 

 members of congress. No one doubts the desira- 

 bility of such registration in this country, and every 

 one must hope to see it carried into effect at some 

 not distant day. The committee on standards of 

 stellar magnitudes stated that they had received 

 reports of some observations made in compliance 

 with the requests of last year ; but, as some of them 

 are still incomplete, it is deemed best to extend to 

 July 1, 1887, the period within which the results 

 may be received at the Harvard college observa- 

 tory. Nothing could be stated by the committee 

 on the International scientific congress ; but the 

 committee was continued, and it is hoiked that 

 some action will be taken at the meeting of the 

 British association now in progress. The report 

 on indexing chemical literature is refei-red to 

 imder our account of the meetings of that section. 

 The committee on the International congress of 

 geologists reported the proceedings of the Berlin 

 meeting, and announced a fourth to be held in Lon- 

 don in 1888. It asked authority to add the name of 

 the association to an invitation to hold the next 

 session in this country. The committee on ana- 

 tomical nomenclature was continued, and Dr. 

 Frank Baker was appointed in place of Dr. Leidy, 

 ineligible on account of not being a member. The 

 committee on health and diseases of plants was dis- 

 charged as having accomiilished its object. The 

 committee on postal laws in regard to transmission 

 of biological specimens through the mails reported 

 with a copy of a petition to the postmaster-general, 

 and of a proposed law which failed to pass the late 

 session of congress. It is interesting to note in 

 this connection the recent experience of a member 

 of the Entomological society of Belgium, M. de 

 Selys. M. de Selys found it necessary, when he 

 sent to a friend in America some specimens, to fill 

 out blanks in triplicate, stating that he sold these 

 specimens to his friend in America at a given price. 

 It was only after considerable correspondence back 

 and forth with the authorities in Belgium that this 

 method was adopted as the only one by which the 

 specimens could be passed through the American 

 custom-house. The committee on physics-teach- 

 ing reported that they deemed it desirable that no 

 formal report should be made until they could 

 confer with a corresponding committee of the In- 

 ternational educational association. The other 

 committees were discharged according to the rule. 

 Among the proposed amendments to the constitu- 

 tion was one substituting the word ' council ' for 

 the words ' standing committee.' 



