23 



for every 480 women. Therefore, if consumption were equally 

 an affection of both sexes, for every 517 males that die, there 

 should be 480 females ; but there are only 450. So that 

 phthisis attacks men more frequently than women, according 

 to the ratio 480 to 450, or 16 to 15. Men are to the extent of 

 one-fifteenth part more liable to this disease than women. 

 The same is found to be the case on application to the 

 English statistics. In 1876, 145 men died for every 135 

 women : so that the mortality among males ruled higher by 

 one-thirteenth to one-fourteenth part. This is not very 

 different from the one-fifteenth part observed out here. It has 

 been suggested by a writer (Dr. Bird) that this greater 

 susceptibility of men influences the comparative deathrate in 

 England and South Australia. Eor since men are more liable 

 than women, that country where the men preponderate will, 

 other circumstances being equal, show a heavier mortalitv. 

 ]S"ow, whereas the males predominate in this colony, in the 

 mother country the reverse occurs ; and therefore in con- 

 trasting the climates in regard to their desirability in this 

 disease, something should be subtracted from our mortality, or 

 added to that of England, so as to compensate for the effect 

 of the difference in the proportion of the sexes. This is theo- 

 retically true enough, but practically it may be ignored ; for I 

 find that if the proportion of the sexes in England were 

 altered so as to be the same as ours, there would be an increase 

 in the deaths from consumption of only 4"7 per million of 

 population. Thus with the English population and deaths 

 froni consumption as above, the mortality woiild be 2"0539 per 

 thousand. If the proportion of the sexes were the same in 

 England as here, and the number of women the same as in 

 1876, the men would be 13,388,495, the male deaths 28,506, and 

 the total deathrate from phthisis 2'0586, or an increase of only 

 about 4 - 7 per million of population. 



When such a fact as the above is elicited, the question 

 naturally arises, How does sex thus modify the deathrate ? 

 ^Vhj is it that men are more liable to die of consumption than 

 women ? Why should not women die rather than men ? Many 

 answers might be suggested. But our statistics furnish us 

 with an explanation, which I am inclined to adopt, namely, 

 the shorter duration of the reproductive function in females 

 than in males. The grounds upon which this theory rest will 

 be shown a little further on in this paper. 



2. Sex influences phthisis in South Australia in respect to 

 the duration of life. The mean duration of life among men 

 who die of consumption is 34 years and 3 months, and among 

 women 28 years and 11 months ; so that our females may be 

 said to die about five years and a half earlier than our males. 



