40 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
ascribed to hunger, cold, and starvation; to the crowded 
courts, ill-ventilated dwellings, and noxious atmos¬ 
phere, In the midst of which the parents exist and the 
children are born; not to mention the improper food 
upon which they are fed; but we surely have not, or 
.ought not io have, to lament the existence of any such 
prolific causes of death here, -with a climate un¬ 
equalled, with employment for double our population, 
with wajges high, and food abundant and cheap—and 
yet we find our infantine mo tali ty exceeds that of Lon¬ 
don over 5 per cont. When we reflect on this fact, wo 
can come to no other conclusion than that this large 
surplus mortality arises from causes over which we 
have control, and may he made to disappear with tho 
advance of the population in the social scale. 
Wherever thero is an aggregation of human heinrs, 
there will also be found prolific sources of disease ; let 
us see then, how the density of our population stands 
as compared with Loudon, and how the health of this 
city ought, .comparatively, to be affected. 
The Census Commissioners of England, in theirre- 
port on the census of 1851, calculated 160 square yards 
to each person in the metropolitan district (or 30*25 
persons to an acre), comprising tho whole of London 
with its suburbs, embracing portions of the three coun¬ 
ties of Kent, Surry, and Middlesex; whilst in Sydney 
thero aro 1G6 square yards to each person, or 29*16 
persons to an acre. 
Again, in tho city of London, there are 27 square 
yards to each person, or 179 persons to an acre; equal 
to five times more than Sydney. Upon this theory, 
therefore, our tables ought to exhibit a very differen result 
Nor can London at all compare with Sydney in point 
of elevation and free circulation of air, which consti¬ 
tute tlie chief elements of health; nor yet as regards 
the natural purity of the water from which the supplies 
of tho two cities are derived. Whether by reason of 
leaden condnctors or cisterns, we poison the water in its 
course to our dwellings, is a matter which concerns 
every head of w family, and should be made the subject 
of minute investigation, for the poison of lead is highly 
diffusible, and is found to bo peculiarly acted upon by 
the water which supplies Sydney, whether drawn from 
wells or from the reservoir at the Lachlan Swampr 
It may happen, too, that tho impurities of our cess¬ 
pools may, from imperfect drainage, percolate through 
the soil and contaminate tho water drawn from wells 
within the city; than this, no moro prolific source of 
disease can be found, and it is a matter deserving the 
most careful attention on the part of the City authori¬ 
ties, as well as of every person obtaining this great ne¬ 
cessary of life from such sources. 
It may be urged that wo receive contributions to our 
mortality from the country districts as well as extra- 
neouslv from England and elsewhere, and doubtless 
there is ground for such an argument—the salubrity of 
our climate does attract invalids from home, and the 
advantages of the valuable government and other cha¬ 
ritable establishments for the relief of the sick and 
needy, have the effect of inducing many, who aro 
heyvnd the reach of medical aid, or have no means of 
procuring it, to visit Sydney to seek relief. In cousi- 
dering this important question, therefore, th f e effect pro¬ 
duced upon tlie mortality returns from these causes 
cannot of course he ignored ; hut it may be questioned 
whether similar causes are nut found to have a mere un¬ 
favourable effect upon the mortality tables of the vast 
metropolis of England; for I believe that the siek and 
dying, received into the hospitals of London from the 
foreign shipping alone, contribute in a much higher de¬ 
gree to swell up the tables of die one, than do our In¬ 
firmary and Benevolent Institution to increase the 
return of the other. 
But be this as it may, I fear it is impossible to escape 
the conclusion that the great sacrifice of life, whether 
infantine, or adult, which is exhibited in the tables 
placed before you, is the result of a sinful degree ef 
neglect and recklessness, which call for the most earnest 
consideration on the part of those to whose hands are 
entrusted the education, the moral training, and the go¬ 
vernment of the people. 
I commenced this payer by deprecating the deduction 
of hastv inferences from the facts recorded in the course 
of a single year’s registration; the conclusion which 
they force upon us is not favourable either in a social ot 
sanitarv point of view, and it will be well to wait the 
result of further investigation before we attribute arbi¬ 
trarily to any one cause an evil wnichmay have had its 
origin in many, and may be found evanescent. 
It cannot be argued "that any defect in the registra¬ 
tion law, or che mode in which it has boon brought into 
operation can havo produced the results that have been 
brought out; lor every death that may have escapri 
registration only aggravates the evil; and surely it is 
enough to have shown that with the advantages which 
Sydney enjoys by position and elevation, the deaths ini 
year, marked by no extraordinary exciting causes, 
should have exceeded those of the metropolis of Eng¬ 
land, with its two and a half millions of inhabitants, ia 
a year marked by the ravages of a fatal cholera epi¬ 
demic. 
This fact should awaken us to a proper appreciation 
of this jjreat sacrifice of human life, and to the earnest 
application of remedial measures. 
Table showing the Deaths from various causes registered in Sydney (Central Office) during each of the twelve 
months from 1st March, 1856, to 28th February, 1857. 
Causes op Death. 
185C. 
March. 
April. 
X 
rf 
s 
June. 
July. . 
August. 
© 
2 
.3 
01 
U1 
October, 
November 
u 
01 
a 
a 
o 
o 
ft 
. £ 
o P 
21 
•"3 
[ £ 
3 
© 
Total. 1 
1 
Zymotic Diseases. 
12 
22 
21 
21 
15 
12 
15 
15 
10 
22 
16 
10 
191 
Sporatic Diseases: 
2 
Of Uncertain Seat .. 
11 
22 
12 
21 
18 
11 
13 
15 
30 
15 
14 
1991 
3 
Of Ncrvons System . 
17 
24 
19 
13 
14 
12 
13 
22 
20 
32 
28 
22 
224! 
4 
Of respiratory System .. 
5 
21 
27 
18 
17 
17 
24 
23 
16 
20 
19 
40 
23, 
5 
Of Circulatory Svstem . 
14 
1 
3 
4 
5 
4 
3 
3 
2 
2 
3 
4 
iij 
6 
Of Digestive Organs ., 
3 
28 
21 
8 
15 
13 
8 
12 
12 
32 
40 
30 
ssg 
7 
Of Urinarv Organs.. 
17 
1 
2 
i 
1 
a 
8 
Of Generative Organs. 
2 
1 
3 
3 
i 
1 
3 
1 
17 
9 
Of Locomotive Organs . 
2 
1 
2 
i 
2 
4 
3 
i 
2 
o 
is! 
ro 
Of Integumentary System. 
Old Age . 
3 
4 
4 
3 
5 
5 
2 
4 
2 
34 
12 
External Causes . 
2 
11 
4 
9 
6 
9 
8 
10 
5 
18 
7 
9 
102 
Unspecified . 
2. 
5 
6 
9 
3 
1 
6 
... 
4 
5 
8 
2 
51 
.Total ficm all oauses. 
80 
129 
131 
104 
100 
96 
97 
103 
90 
162 
143 
!j 
•o 1 
O 1 
