332 DR R. E. SCORESBY-JACKSON 



out the hotbeds of disease, clearing them of the products of animal and vegetable 

 putrefaction, and rendering them wholesome habitations for the human family : 

 just as in another sphere of usefulness it turns up the surface of the wide ocean, 

 preserving its waters from corruption, and imparting the very essence of life to 

 its creatures. 



Recapitulation. 



Such is a brief sketch of the first part of the subject which at the outset I pro- 

 posed to lay before the Society. I have before said, that this is by no means in- 

 tended to be an exhaustive treatise, and I repeat that I have not even exhausted 

 all the information which the tables and diagrams are capable of afibrding. In 

 both there is still abundance of materials for further research, even concerning the 

 influence of weather upon mortality from all causes of which alone I am now speak- 

 ing, which may be thrown into a variety of shapes for the purpose of elucidating 

 peculiar theories. I have done nothing more than examine the leading character- 

 istics of the subject ; and that without endeavouring either to propound or substan- 

 tiate any theory whatever. I am neither disappointed that my results do not always 

 coincide with those obtained by other investigators of cognate subjects, nor am I 

 gratified with the idea of raising opposite views. In some points, the results of 

 my inquiries harmonise with those of several observers in other countries, while 

 in some they are diametrically opposed ; but this does not at all imply a want of 

 accuracy, either on their part or mine ; it is quite competent for the results to 

 differ, and yet each be right regarding the particular locality to which he refers. 

 I have endeavoured to treat the investigation in the simplest manner, by merely 

 putting questions to the collected facts, and leaving them to supply the answers ; 

 and in the present recapitulation I would have it distinctly understood, that I do 

 not assert that these statements inviolably express the influence of weather upon 

 mortality in the towns of Scotland ; but I think it very probable that they do so 

 generally. It will be a matter of no small interest to learn from the circumstances 

 of the next six years whether the present suggestions are tenable or not. There 

 does not appear to me to have been during the six years from which the facts 

 are gathered any fluctuation of other external agencies worthy of particular atten- 

 tion. Sanitary improvements are occurring from time to time, and when they 

 are such as to affect a large community, a diminution in the death-rate should, 

 to a certain extent, be ascribed to them ; the other matters of importance, as the 

 price of food and the like, have already been given in a tabular form. It is pro- 

 bable, then, that in Scotland the death-rate from all causes is influenced by 



A. Temperature. 



1. Below 50° Fahr., the relationship existing between mean temperature and 

 the death-rate from all causes is inverse — the lower the temperature the higher 



