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[Vol. VUL, No. 19 



THE HEALTH OF NEW YORK DURING 



SEPTEMBER. 

 The number of deaths which occurred in the 

 city of New York during the month of September 

 was 2,767, or 479 less than in the preceding month. 

 The deaths among children under five years of 

 age were 1,217 : as compared with August, this 

 represents a saving of 343 lives of children of this 

 tender age. This improvement in the public 

 health becomes still more evident if we compare 

 September with July. In the latter the total 

 mortality of this portion of the population 

 mounted up to 2,499, more than double that which 

 occurred during the former. This progressive 

 gain is mainly to be attributed to the lower tem- 

 peratures which prevail in the early autumn as 

 <;ompared with midsummer. In July, 240 persons 

 died in a single day, the 8th, while the largest 

 daily mortality of September was but 117, on the 

 27th. Diarrhoeal diseases claimed fewer victims 

 by 236 than in August, and 903 less than in July, 

 The deaths from consumption were 374, as com- 

 pared with 443 in August. The September mor- 

 tality from consumption was less than that of 

 any other month of the year. Diphtheria also 

 shows a diminution, the deaths from this cause 

 being but 85, while in August they were 104. A 

 similar reduction is noticeable in the deaths from 

 scarlet-fever ; 11 being recorded for September, as 

 against 15 in August. Taken as a whole, the con- 

 dition of the public health in the city of New York 

 during the month of September was most satis- 

 factory. That so few deaths should have been 

 caused by such diseases as scarlet-fever and diph- 

 theria in a population of one million and a half of 

 people is certainly a noteworthy event. 



The mean temperature for the month was 

 65.25° F. This was below the mean for the past 

 ten years, which was 67.04° F. The maximum 

 reached by the mercury was 87° F., on the 17th, 

 at 4 P.M. The average for the past decade was 

 88° F. ; so that, so far as its temperature was con- 

 cerned, September may be regarded as an average 

 month. The rainfall during the month was but 

 1.17 inches. That for the corresponding month 

 in 1885 was .41 of an inch ; in 1884, .21 of an inch ; 

 and in 1881, .97 of an inch. With these excep- 

 tions, the September rainfall has not been so small 

 since 1869 as it was this year. Indeed, the average 

 for ten years was 3.24 inches, while in one year, 

 1882, 16.85 inches of rain fell in the same month. 

 The rainfall for the month of June was 3.35 

 inches, a little above the average for that month 

 during a long series of years; in July, but a. 75 

 inches fell, the lowest for ten years, with the ex- 

 ception of 1881 ; in August, only .95 of an inch of 

 rain fell : and in September we had another exceed- 



ingly small rainfall. The total amount of rain, 

 therefore, which has fallen during the past three 

 months, has been much below the average ; and 

 yet, as will be seen by a study of the records of 

 the meteorological observatory at Central park, 

 the rainfall for the nine months of this year, 

 29.10 inches, does not differ much from the aver- 

 age of the ten years just passed, which was 30.97 

 inches. The following table gives the rainfall for 

 each of these months during the past ten years. 



ACCLIMATIZATION IN NEW ZEALAND. 



No country presents such a field for experi- 

 ments in acclimatization as New Zealand does, 

 and in none have the results of such experiments 

 been so marked. Previous to Captain Cook's 

 visits, no mammalia — with the exception of a 

 black rat and the dogs brought by the Maoris — 

 were to be found in these islands. That intrepid 

 navigator gave the natives pigs, and these animals 

 soon became wild in many places, and are still to 

 be found in the more inaccessible parts of the 

 colony. But they have never become so numerous 

 as to interfere in any way with settlement, — 

 a remark which also applies to the stray cattle 

 and sheep which have run wild in similar regions. 

 The native rat has long been extinct, having been 

 completely exterminated by the common brown 

 species, which was early introduced by ships. 

 The latter animals are extremely abundant, not 

 only in settled districts and towns, but even in 

 the remotest parts. They have probably had a 

 share in exterminating many of the ground birds, 

 such as native quail, which are not to be found 

 now at all. The food of those which swarm in 

 the back country must, however, be chiefly of a 

 vegetable nature, for they periodically migrate in 

 great numbers. The march of settlement is 



