I30 



Eugene Rollin Corson 



It will be seen here that the still-births are more than three 

 times as numerous among the colored as among the whites, 

 but that there is virtually no difference in the returns of pre- 

 mature births. It must be remembered that with premature 

 births they can more easily evade the law, and that thej' will 

 avoid reporting their cases whenever they can. It is onl)' ne- 

 cessity which compels many to get a burial permit. Nat- 

 urally, therefore, these figures must be far from the truth. 



According to the Tenth Census, vol. XII, p. LXXV, 

 ' ' The proportion of deaths reported as due to infanticide is 

 highest among the colored population, being 14 out of each 

 100,000 deaths from specified causes, while for the whites in 

 "the same regions it is 5, and in the large cities 3, and in the 

 rural districts 5 per 100,000." The poor returns from the 

 rural districts account for the last figure which, of course, is 

 incorrect. And again : " It will be seen from table 75 that the 

 proportion of infants reported as still-born is much greater in 

 the cities than in the country, decidedly greater among those 

 of German than among those of Irish parentage, and some- 

 what greater among the colored race than among the whites. 

 A certain number of cases reported as still-born are really 

 cases of infanticide." 



From the nature of the case the returns must be especially 

 imperfect ; the mortality from child-birth naturally calls 

 for mention here. By far the largest portion of the colored 

 employ midwives, only calling in a physician when there is 

 dystocia, and even then they wait till the eleventh hour, en- 

 dangering the life of both mother and child. These mid- 

 wives are usually dirty, ignorant, and meddlesome, often 

 changing a natural presentation into an unnatural one, im- 



