Inquiry into some points of the sanatory state of Edinburgh : the rate of mortality of its inhabitants since 1780; their average duration of life; the differences in the rate of mortality among its different classes, and among the married and single; and its comparative eligibility as a place of residence, and for the education of children / by James Stark.

Date:: 1847

Credit: Inquiry into some points of the sanatory state of Edinburgh : the rate of mortality of its inhabitants since 1780; their average duration of life; the differences in the rate of mortality among its different classes, and among the married and single; and its comparative eligibility as a place of residence, and for the education of children / by James Stark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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$it will account for the whole, but, in the present state of our know- ledge, it is better to take the facts with the above explanation, and trust to future observation for the correction of the error, if it be one. It may certainly happen that though a town be in itself highly salubrious, and this salubrity be demonstrated by the small pro- portion of deaths among children, the adult population, from their peculiar habits, (as of intemperance, for instance,) may be cut off in as great a proportion as in a very unhealthy town. It becomes, therefore, a matter of high importance to ascertain whether the increased mortality affects all classes alike, or is limited to the lowest class of the inhabitants. With the view of ascertaining this point, the deaths were ar- ranged into four classes: 1st. Gentry and professional men; 2d. Merchants, master tradesmen, and clerks; 3d. Artisans, domes- tic servants, and soldiers; 4th. Labourers, porters, and paupers. As very many, however, of the third class become paupers as they advance in life, it was found that a considerable vitiation of results was obtained by separating these two classes, so that though the tables were originally prepared keeping these two classes se- parate, it was found more convenient to regard them as one class. The following table, therefore, exhibits the proportions which the results at the under-mentioned five periods of life bear to the total deaths in each class. Table VII. Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Class. per 1000 per 1000 per 1000 per 1000 per 1000 deaths un- deaths un- deaths un- deaths betw deaths above der 1 year. der 5 years. der 15 yrs. 15 & 60 yrs. 60 years. 1. Gentry and ) professional, J 72 140 204 383 413 2. Merchant, &e. 127 263 326 400 273 3. Labourers, ) artisans, &c. \ 241 427 483 357 160 The above table renders it at once apparent that the greatest proportional mortality in Edinburgh occurs among the poorer classes, and that at every age the chances of life are greatly in fa- vour of the first class. This table also strikingly illustrates the truth of the axiom formerly alluded to, that the less the propor- tion of deaths among children under 15 years of age, and the greater the proportion of deaths above 60, the greater is the healthiness of a locality or of a class. Thus of children under 1 year, the highest class in Edinburgh loses 72 only out of the 1000 deaths in that class. The merchant class, at the rate of 127 out$

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