XXIV PROCEEDINGS, MAY. 



would be an absurd thing if in announcing their position to the world 

 they could not credit themselves with the advantages that had thus 

 been conferred on them. Coming again to the question of sanitary 

 work, he stated that in his paper he had shown that in death-rate 

 we were 70 per cent, worse in Hobart than in the country districts of 

 Tasmania. With that standard before them there was no need to 

 travel further to show how far human effort might reach in dealing 

 with preventible diseases. It had been said that sickness was more 

 reliable than death in showing the health of a community. He thought 

 there was not much in that, and he had formed his opinion by studying 

 the comparative number of deaths to cases in the public hospitals. In 

 the Tasmanian hospitals in 1883 the proportion of deaths to cases treated 

 was 8'05 per cent; in 1884 9'17 ; in 1885, 9'S4. There was scarcely more 

 than 1 per cent, of difference in the different years. Mr. Johnston 

 concluded by explaining a series of charts he had drawn on the 

 suggestion of His Excellency, showing the undulation of waves of disease 

 in different years. These dealt for the most part with England, and 

 showed that, notwithstanding the undoubted advance in sanitary 

 science and the improved condition of towns, the occurrence and viru- 

 lence of disease had been marked by an irregularity in different years, 

 which plainly indicated to Mr. Johnston's mind that they were not 

 entirely controllable by human effort, and that other influences must 

 have been at work. The diseases thus shown on his diagrams were 

 cholera, measles, small-pox, typhoid, and diarrhoea. (Loud applause.) 



The Hon. P. 0. Fysh moved a vote of thanks to those who had 

 taken part in the discussion of the paper. He said it must be argeeable 

 to find that in the diversity of opinion that had been expressed all 

 were working towards the same goal, and that in thinking that Mr. 

 Johnston did not attach sufficient importance to sanitary work they 

 were under a misconception. It must be exceedingly satisfactory to 

 know that there had evolved out of the discussion on this paper a deep 

 feeling in the mind of every gentleman present that the work which, 

 had been commenced with respect to sanitation was not a work which 

 they could afford to lose sight of, but were more deeply impressed 

 with the necessity of all those efforts which man could make to keep 

 down preventible diseases. (Applause.) They were indebted to Mr. 

 Johnston for having initiated the discussion, which had been a most 

 valuable as well as a most interesting one. He would be wrong if 

 he did not thank their President for the very interesting manner in 

 which he also had dealt with the subject. (Applause.) It was agree- 

 able for them to know that they had a President who would take some- 

 thing more than a perfunctionary interest in their proceedings. A? 

 President they would like to see him frequently among them. 

 (Applause.) There was one point he would like to mention that 

 had been omitted in the discussion. He would like to call Mr. John- 

 ston's attention to the frightful state of affairs that existed in the 

 colony in the years 1851-2-3. In 1851 they had a population of 

 59,000 people, with a normal death-rate of 1,000, That was very 

 nearly what their statistics for 1885 showed them to be now — about 

 15'40. But there came some disturbing cause in 1852 and 1853, which 

 those who then resided in this colony were never likely to forget. With 

 a declining population they had a death-rate which immediately 

 doubled. They had a population of 64,000 in 1852, with a death-rate 

 of 2,000, and in 1853 a population of 63,000, with a death-rate exceed- 

 ing 1,900. This had been due to some disturbing cause that had never 

 been satisfactorily explained. He had no doubt if Mr. Johnston would 

 look into the subject he would be able to supply them with some 

 valuable information about it. (Applause. ) 



