Sessional_Paper_1898 — Page 277

273

as heat apoplexy, inflammatory diseases of the intestinal tract, diseases of the liver and malaria while pulmonary diseases also bulk somewhat largely in these returns. The death which was registered as due to Sporadic Cholera was that of a schoolboy who succumbed to an excess of unripe frait and ice- creams with which he had gorged himself on a very hot day, and I certainly think that the term Cholera should never have been applied to such a case which was clearly one of acute non-infectious enteritis.

UNCERTIFIED DEATHS.

The scheme of inspection of the large number of Chinese bodies in which the deaths are not cer- tified by a medical man, which was organised by me in the early part of 1896, has been carried on throughout the year, and this work was greatly facilitate by my appointment, last year, as Superin- tendent of Statistics in the Registrar General's Department; during the year, 485 dead bodies have been inspected, many of them by myself, and six deaths from Small-pox were thus discovered. More- over, by a personal interview with the relatives of the deceased in every case, I have endeavoured to arrive at a reasonably accurate cause of death, and the general mortality statistics may therefore, I hope, be regarded as somewhat more accurate than in former years, when it was the custom to enter as the cause of death, in these uncertified cases, whatever disease the person who came to register might choose to name. I should be glad, however, to see the scheme completed by the appointraent of a Chinese doctor, well trained in Western medicine, to the Sanitary staff, as suggested in my Re- port for 1896, who would personally inspect all these bodies and interview the relatives in their own houses, with a view to arriving at the real cause of death, for I believe that he would be able to secure far more accurate and reliable information from his own countrymen than either I or the Inspectors can hope to obtain. He would, moreover, prove a most useful ally in detecting the commencement of any outbreaks of infectious disease among the Chinese.

AGE DISTRIBUTION OF DEATHS.

The death-rate among the infant population still remains high, for these deaths represent no less than 20.7 per cent of the total mortality, as compared with 20 per cent during 1896 and 23 per cent during 1895. The infant death-rate among the non-Chinese inhabitants of this Colony during the year was only 120 per 1,000 which does not exceed the rate in England, but amongst the Chinese population this rate was no less than 593 per 1,000, which although still very high shows a marked improvement upon former years for in 1896 this rate was 745 and in 1895, 759 per 1,000. As stated in previous Reports these infant deaths are mostly due to diseases of a convulsive type, induced by the foul atmosphere which they are compelled to breathe in the dark and ill-ventilated dwellings of the poor, and although a material reduction in the number of these deaths has been effected by the sanitary improvements which have been carried out in the Colony during the past three or four years, yet a comparison of the infant death-rates of the Chinese and the non-Chinese communities will show that much yet remains to be done to improve the conditions of life under which the former are compelled to exist.

The following is a table of the age periods at which the several deaths occurred :—

Chinese, Non-Chinese,

Totals,

Percentages,

Under

1 month.

1-12 months.

1-5 years.

5-15

years.

15-25 years.

25-45 years.

45-60 years.

60 years and

over.

483 455 648

13 20

321

382

14

со

6

26

1.062 67

614

511

34

21

496 475 662 327 408 1,129 648 532 11

10.5

10.2 14.1 6.9 8.8 24.1 13.8 11.4 0.2

DEATHS AMONG THE CHINESE COMMUNITY.

CHEST DISEASES.

The total number of deaths among the Chinese from respiratory diseases was 1,116, as compared with 1,185 during the previous year; this represents a death-rate from these diseases of 4.7 per 1,000. As observed last year, the mortality from respiratory diseases is far heavier among the boat population than among the shore population, the rate amongst the former alone being 6.5 per 1,000, and amongst the latter 4.4 per 1,000.

Ages

unknown.

00 20

8

3