The poverty of our vital statistics does not, however, permit us to 
analyze these figures as to the incidence of various infantile con- 
ditions and diseases causing death. In order to interpret their sig- 
nificance, we must resort to the statistics of foreign countries, most of 
which have complete and excellent systems for the registration of 
death returns. 
Inasmuch as in civilized countries similarly situated with respect 
to latitude the circumstances affecting mortality are approximately 
the same, it may be postulated that conditions shown to exist abroad 
are duplicated here. 
Owing chiefly to her falling birth rate, the state of infant mor- 
tality in France has for some years been a subject of acute interest 
both to her Government and to her medical profession. We find that 
the average infantile mortality rate of France has been 167 for the 
twenty-year period of 1874^1893. In 1900 this rate had fallen to 137, 
and contrary to what is usually the case was lower than this in some 
of her largest cities, such as Lvons (110), Bordeaux (102), and Paris 
( 101 ). 
In January, 1901, Balestre and Gileta de St. Joseph presented a 
memoir to the Academie de Medecine dealing with the infant mor- 
tality of France from the years 1892 to 1897, with special reference to 
the various causes of death constituting the total infant mortality 
rate.® 
Their analysis showed that in every 1,000 infant deaths under 1 
year of age no less than 385 were due to gastro-intestlnal disease, 171 
were due to congenital states of debility, 147 to disease of the respira- 
tory organs, 50 to acute contagious disease, 25 to tuberculosis, and 222 
to all other causes. This was the average for the whole country. In 
certain cities the death rate from gastro-intestinal disease was 
enormously increased, being 700 per thousand infant deaths in the 
city of Troyes in 1892. 
In 1905 Ausset published a report on the infant mortality of the 
Depart ement du Nord b practically confirming the figures of Balestre 
and Gileta de St. Joseph, and submitted the following table, which 
gives the number of deaths from gastro-intestinal diseases per thou- 
sand deaths in infants of less than 1 year of age in the Departement 
du Nord : 
° Rept. by M. Ferret, Revue d’ Hygiene et de Med. Infantiles, 1905, TV, 160. 
1 E. Ausset, Revue d’Hygiene et de Med. Infantiles, 1905, II, 433. 
