The geographical distribution of heart disease and dropsy in England and Wales.

  • Haviland, Alfred, -1903.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The geographical distribution of heart disease and dropsy in England and Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    Norfolk, constitute the Eastern Counties Division; whilst Wiltshire, Dorsetshire,^ Devonshire, Cornwall, and Somersetshire, compose the South Western Counties, Division. The West Midland Counties Division is composed of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, AVorcestershire, and AVarwickshire. The' North Midland Division includes within its boundaries Leicestershire, Rutlandshire,] Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire. Cheshire and Lancashire form] the North Western Counties Division. The Three Ridings of Yorkshire are each considered a registration county, and united form the Yorkshire Division. The Northern Counties Division is made up of Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. The eleventh and last division, that of Monmouthshire and Wales, includes all the Welsh Counties and Monmouthshire. It will be evident on referring to a map whereon these divisions are marked out, that a natural system was neither thought of nor attempted when the scheme was adopted. Although there are two purely coastal divisions, there is not a single division that deserves to be called midland. The Eastern Counties and the North Western Division are good specimens of the former, but it will be seen that the North Midland is as much coastal as midland, and that the West Midland reaches to the Bristol Channel, whilst the South Midland extends to the Wash. With however all these disadvantages, these divisions will still answer our purpose, inasmuch as their subdivision into counties and districts will correct the errors which may arise from so artificial a system. SECTION III. The Geographical Distribution of Heart Disease and Dropsy in the eleven Registration Divisions. If we take a map whereon the eleven divisions are marked out, and colour each with different shades of blue and red according to the mean average annual rate of mortality to every 10,000 persons living, we shall find that six will be rec? or below the average, and five blue or above the average. The red or healthy divisions (as far at least as regards Heart Disease) are—I. London: IV. The Eastern Counties: VII. The North Midland: IX. Yorkshire: VIII. North Western; and XI. Monmouthshire and Wales. These red divisions are all contiguous, and form an arch from the north of the river Thames to the north of the river Severn. The blue or unhealthy divisions, or those in which the mortality from Heart Disease is greatest, are the V. South Western: II. The South Eastern; HI. The South Midland: VI. The West Midland: and X. The Northern Counties. Such a simple map as the one I have now described, draws our attention to several facts, which will have to be analysed in the sequel. 1°. Not one of the divisions is coloured so as to indicate either the greatest or least mortality; there must therefore be some parts of each blue division having a low rate of mortality, and in some parts of each red division a high rate. How these parts are disposed, and by what laws they are governed, can only be seen in the next stage of our inquiry. 2°. AVe see that all the six red divisions have an extensive sea-board, excepting London, which however lies on the bank of the largest tidal river in our country.