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IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
ing the rates of the whole state. The decrease in the 
general death rate due to disease most frequent in the early 
years of life, on the one hand, and in the increase in the 
rates due to this disease occurring generally in advanced 
ages, on the other, mean also increased longevity. Physi- 
cians in studying vital statistics are more interested in the 
causes of death than anything else. Now t the causes of 
death are so skillfully and thoroughly classified that much 
valuable information can be obtained from the study of 
vital statistics especially those of large cities. I have at 
my disposal a chronological summary of Chicago mortality 
covering a period of 60 years, issued annually by the 
department of health for Chicago. Besides Dr. Arthur R. 
Reynolds, the commissioner of health for Chicago, issues a 
bulletin once a week which is mailed to all physicians in 
Chicago, and to many others who are interested in this line 
of work. In it comparisons are made with the previous 
week, and with the corresponding week one year ago. At 
the end of each month, and of each year comparisons are 
again made and averages determined. We learn from 
Chicago statistics that there has beeh no Asiatic cholera in 
the city for 30 years, and that mortality from cancer is 
rapidly increasing. While mortality from cholera infantum 
and from diphtheria has greatly decreased during the last 
few years. The mortality from tuberculosis continues to 
gain ground; influenza, generally known as La Grippe, did 
not appear in Chicago until 1890, when a general epi- 
demic in this country prevailed. The greatest mortality 
from this disease occurred in 1895, and the mortality was 
twice as great in 1901 as in the year 1902. The percentage 
of deaths from pneumonia is steadily increasing from year 
to year. The table illustrating the statistics for smallpox 
shows that the worst epidemic occurred in 1874 when the 
percentage of mortality was per cent. In 1894 the 
mortality was 4^ per cent, in 1895 there were no deaths re- 
ported from this disease in Chicago, and since that 
year there have not been more than a dozen deaths 
from this loathsome disease. Contagious diseases and 
