PROCEEDINGS, APRIL. iii 



Monthly Notices of the Royal Astrcnomical Society, Vol. XLVII,, 

 No. 3.— From the Society. 



Naturhistorisches Museumfor Haa:iburg,1883. — From the Department. 



Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. XX., 1887. — From 

 the Department. 



Report of the Sydney Free Public Library for 1885 6. — From the 

 Department. 



Report of the Mining Registrar for the quarter ending 3Ist December, 

 1886. The Goldfields of Victoria.— From the Mines Department. 



Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand, taken for the night 

 of 2Sth March, 1886. Pb.- Population and Dwellings. Pt. II.— Ages 

 of the People. — From the Government. 



Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

 showing the progress of the work done during the year ending with 

 June, 1885. Pt. — Text. Pt. II. — Sketches. — From the Department. 



Sixth annual report of the State Mineralogist, p.p. 1 and 2, for the 

 year ending June, 1886. — From W. Lulan, 



Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XIV., pt. 1, Nov., 

 1886.— From the Society. 



Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, Vol. 

 XXII.— From the Society. 



Transactions of the Royal Astronomical Society. New series, vol. 

 III., pt. III. and IX,— From the Society. 



Victorian Year Book for 1885-6, by H. H. Hayter, C.M.G.— From the 

 Author. 



Vir-rdhaudlungen der Gesellschaf t. Filr Erdkunde zu Berlin. Band 

 XIV., No. 1, 1887.— From the Society. 



Victorian Naturalist. (Cur. Nos. )— From the Society. 



PAPERS. 



A paper entitled "How far can the general death-rate for all ages 

 be relied upon as a comparative index of the health Or sanitary 

 condition of any community," by Mr. R. M. Johnston, F.L.S. 



Mr. Johnston in opening stated that the question as to the state of health 

 or sanitary condition of a community is of the utmost importance to 

 all, and especially so to those who are responsible for local sanitary 

 provision, and hence it is often asked, how far is the general death- 

 rate of any year to be relied upon as a test of either the health or 

 sanitary condition of any place or country. Mr. Johnston stated that 

 it was his intention to demonstrate that nevertheless the general 

 death rate of any one place, though in itself due to a combination 

 of many complex causes, may be used as a fairly reliable local 

 index to health and sanitary condition, although a most faulty index 

 as regards the comparative health or the condiuon of different localities. 

 The dominant influences which determine the total death-rate he 

 placed as follows : — 1st. The proportions living at various age groups ; 

 climate, migration, birth rate, cosmical or obscure influences, etc.; 

 density of population, sanitary condition, health, etc. Now, of these 

 important influences, which together combine to make up the total 

 death-rate, the first three, though chiefly affecting it, are not in tlie 

 slightest degree connected with either health or sanitary conditions. It 

 is also obvious, he went on to say, that, so far as any one locality is 

 concerned, many of the conditions enumerated are more or less constant ; 

 while as regards different localities, and especially countries widely 

 apart, nearly all the conditions came into play as disturbers, and 

 hence it is that the general death-rate of any one locality may be a 

 fairly reliable comparative index of its health and sanitary condition 

 from year to year ; while as regards longer periods, or widely separated 

 localities, comparisons by the indication of a general death-rate are 

 often fallacious or misleading. Much prejudice, he stated, existed in 



