18 GENERAL DEATH-EATE FOR ALL AGES, ETC. 



A Relative Health Standard might be fixed similarly for 

 comparison between different countries, by combining age 

 groups under 60 by the same fixed values and by eliminating 

 CEc Thus : — ARa + BR6 ^ 



p — A~+"'R — =ti-'oi' Helative HeaUli otondarQ. 



If the death-rates for Australasia be compared by these 

 methods, the following would be the results for each 

 Colony : — 



Death-Eate per 1,000 Persons Living. 



All Ages. " Health Standard " 



^ ^ ^ (Ages under 60.) 



Absolute. Actual. Relative. Actual. Relative. 



Xew Zealand ... 1885 16-20 1076 11-54 9-61 9-59 

 Tasmania ... 1885 20-74 15-40 13-75 1059 10-77 



South Australia 1885 17-67 12-48 12-91 10-74 10-81 



Victoria 1885 21-48 14-73 15-49 12-23 12-84 



New South Wales 1884 19 99 15-88 15-55 13-23 13-32 

 Queensland ... 1885 26-04 19 58 21-09 18-48 18-68 



As regards the value of these five standards as comparative 

 indices of health and sanitary condition, there can be no 

 doubt of the superiority of the Actual and Relative Health 

 Standards, and the following may be taken as the order of 

 their respective values as health indices : — 



1. Actual Health Standard (ages under 60). 



2. Relative Ditto Ditto. 



3. Relative Death-Rate for all ages. 



4. Absolute Ditto Ditto (Hayte\''s method). 



5. General Total Death-Rate for all ages. 



Thus there are five methods for effecting comparison, 



1. The Total Death-Rate for all ages, which makes no allowance 



whatever for the varying proportions of age groups. 



2. Hayter's Absolute Death-Rate for all ages, giving an 



arbitrary fixed value of 1,11 and 3 to ages living 0-5, 

 5-60, 60 and over, respectively ; superior to total death- 

 rate, but defective inasmuch as the arbitrai-y fixed values 

 do not approximate to the average mean of the actual 

 proportions of the several age groups, and because it 

 ignores the distui'bing element of old age in com- 

 parisons regarding health and sanitary condition. 



3. "The Relative Death-Rate" for all ages, giving a fixed 



value of 3,16 and 1, for ages 0-5, 5-6, 60 and over, 

 respectively, based upon the actual average proportions 

 of the several age groups living, but defective as a 

 standard of health, by including the old age element. 



4. " The Relative Health Standard " for ages under 60, 



giving a fixed relative value of 3,16 to the two groups 

 Q 5 and 5-60, and so approximating to actual living pro- 

 portions. This method eliminates the old age element, 



