The theory and practice of hygiene (Notter and Firth) revised and largely re-written / by R.H. Firth.

  • Notter, J. L. (James Lane), 1843-1923.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The theory and practice of hygiene (Notter and Firth) revised and largely re-written / by R.H. Firth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    804/1096 (page 762)
    CHAPTER XVI. VITAL STATISTICS. An accurate basis of facts, derived from a sufficient amount of experience and tabulated with the proper precision, lies at the very foundation of hygiene, as of all exact sciences. It is desirable, therefore, that all persons interested in sanitary science should know what data are at their disposal, how to collect them, and how to use safely the various facts placed before them. Probably no single cause has contributed more to the attention now paid to questions of Public Health than the careful collection of the statistics of births and deaths, and of the causes of death, which have been collected and published by the Eegistrar-General's Office during the past fifty years. These collections of figures and facts are usually spoken of as vital or health statistics, because they are so intimately associated with the various problems relating to the health and chances of life which the community enjoys. So valuable has been the work done, that we are now able to determine with some precision the causes and limits of mortaHty, and, by the study and analysis of the collection of facts known as vital statistics, to apply them as tests of the health of the communities to which they refer. The cliief vital statistics, bearing upon pubHc health, relate in detail to past and present facts concerning populations, age and sex distribution, births, marriages, deaths, diseases, duration of the hours of occupation and general social conditions, such as the health of each class of the community as judged of by the expectation of life at given ages. Statistics of sickness, apart from mortality, have as yet not been attempted, chiefly on account of the difficulty in collecting the data with accuracy. Population, as the natural basis of all vital statistics, necessarily demands preliminary consideration. Our knowledge upon this point in each place ia Great Britain depends primarily upon the census returns which have been made regularly and with increasing care every ten years since 1801. The following table gives the results of each successive census, and shows the enormous increase in the population of England and Wales, and of London, in the present century :— Population of England and Wales and in London in each Census. Year of Enumeration. Persons in London to 100 in England and Wales. England ond Wales. London. 1801 8,892,536 958,788 10-78 1811 10,164,256 1,138,746 11-20 1821 12,000,236 1,378,853 1,654,870 11-49 1831 13,896,797 11-91 1841 15,914,148 1,948,293 12-24 1851 17,927,609 2,362,105 13-18 1861 20,066,224 2,803,847 13-97 1871 22,712,266 3,253,785 14-33 1881 25,974,439 3,815,544 14-69 1891 29,002,525 4,211,452 14-52