90 
in the words of Dr. Addison, “ one blade of the destroying 
shears is forged at home, without it the other cannot do its 
work.” 
By improvements in the construction of dwellings, by 
thorough cleanliness, and other hygienic precautions, we 
may hope to place our crowded populations in at least as 
favourable a condition as the Swedes were 50 years ago, 
and epidemics may be once more made to observe their 
regular times and seasons. 
We shall then moreover be armed with all the power 
that proverbially comes to those who are forewarned, and 
if we cannot arrest the progress of an epidemic we shall be 
able to take our measures to mitigate its ravages. We can 
then prepare our disinfecting armaments and our reception 
houses and hospitals for isolation, with some hope of a 
favourable result, and possibly at some future time it may 
be practicable to ensure a milder type of disease, or even, 
as in the case of small-pox, to substitute some allied and 
less fatal disease, which shall by anticipation rob the virus 
of the food upon which alone it can subsist. 
Letter of Dr. Berg. 
Dear Sir, 
I am sorry that I cannot give you the wished for informa- 
tion such as you needed. 
The forms for the registration of the causes of death have since 
1749 often been changed, sometimes totally obstructed. 
The ecclesiastical registrars in the country are not always able 
to make a correct diagnosis. Only for such diseases whose natures 
are generally known by the country people the information from 
older times can be supposed of some value. 
There are to be distinguished three periods in the accom- 
panying list of deaths. 
The first from 1861 to 1874, where the numbers have real 
value. 
