i. — is the deathrate of infants hlgher in south 

 Australia than it is in the other Colonies ? 



Dr. J. D. Thomas, at our recent discussion upon the subject, 

 affirmed that the South Australian rate is often exceeded in 

 other countries. 



With regard to its relation to that of the other colonies; I have 

 not heen able to glean any information beyond that supplied by 

 Mr. Hayter, in the "Victorian Tear-Book for 1876." 



From this it would appear that the infant deathrate per 

 1,000 births was — In Tasmania, 101 ; New Zealand, 102 ; New 

 South "Wales, 104 ; Queensland, 124 ; Victoria, 126 ; and South 

 Australia, 156. 



The rate here is higher than that of the other colonies, being 

 half as much again as either that of New Zealand, Tasmania, 

 or New South Wales. Allow me, however, to draw attention 

 to one other fact, that is, the healthiness of South Australia for 

 adults. I find in the same year -booh the relative deathrates per 

 thousand of the whole population of the various colonies thus 

 tabled i — New Zealand, 12 - 7 ; Tasmania, 14'6 ; South Australia, 

 152; New South Wales, 15"4; Victoria, 15-9; Queensland, 18"2. 



But I find after deducting from the total number of deaths 

 of all ages those occurring under one year, that with regard to 

 the rate of those over one year of age, the colonies stand in the 

 following relative position : — New Zealand, 9'5 ; South Aus- 

 tralia, 10'9 ; Victoria, 12'3 ; New South Wales, 12'6 ; Tasmania, 

 14'0 ; Queensland, 14 - 6. So that in the four years to the statis- 

 tics of which I am able to refer, there is for those over one 

 year of age only one colony more healthy than South Australia 

 — viz., New Zealand — and that this colony is considerably 

 more healthy than Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and 

 Queensland. Tasmania, which seems to be an unusually healthy 

 colony for children, seems to be an unusually unhealthy one 

 for adults, being almost as bad as tropical Queensland. 



It is some consolation to know that if we can discover some 

 means of getting infants through the first year or two of their 

 lives, we are able to afford them a better chance of living to 

 a good old age than any of the other colonies, with one excep- 

 tion, are able to do. I am, however, of opinion that the death- 

 rate of 156 per thousand will prove higher than the average ; 

 for in three years out of the five it was lower than this — e.g., 

 in 1873 it was 140 ; in 1876, 149 ; and 1877, 140. It was the 

 before-mentioned epidemics that raised the rate to such a height, 

 it being in 1874, 171 ; and in 1875, 181. I think it probable 

 that this epidemic of measles, coming as it did in the summer 

 time, was more fatal than it was in the other colonies, which, 

 I believe, it also visited. 



