Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Cancer in New South Wales / by George Lane Mullins. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![in every 2,448; while for both sexes one death occurs in every 2,401. The subject of age and sex will be discussed further when treating of the par'ts of the body affected. IV. Birthplaces, Nationality, &c. Probably the most interesting part of an inquiry into the etiology of any disease in a new country is that bearing upon the nationality of the victims. It is usually the custom to ignore this factor, and to group together all the deaths from any given cause, as th.ough they all occurred among the native-born population. I have already shownf that the Australasian- born population is not subject to phthisis, at any rate in Queensland and New Zealand. It now remains to be seen whether the high death- rate from cancer is due to the prevalence of the disease among the native-born population of New South Wales. I have been able to ascertain the places of birth of 1,009 persons, viz., 553 males and 456 females, who have died of malignant disease of various parts of the body during the years 1893-94. They are as follows :— Place of Birth. Males. Females. Total. England and Wales 198 161 359 Ireland 115 136 251 Australasia... 107 !I8 205 Scotland 71 38 109 Germany ... 2.5 9 34 China ' !) 0 9 France (i 0 6 India :! 3 6 Sweden ,S 2 5 U.S. America 3 1 4 Canada 1 1 2 Russia 2 0 2 Holland 2 0 2 Switzerland 1 1 2 Channel Islands ... 1 1 2 Isle of Man 1 1 2 Portugal 0 1 1 Austria 0 1 1 Denmark ... 1 0 1 Belgium 1 0 1 Nova Scotia 1 0 1 Mauritius ... 1 0 1 Norway 1 0 ] Ceylon 0 1 1 Cape Colony 0 1 1 Total 55.^ 456 1,009 For the sake of convenience, the total number may be taken as 1,000, when the total for each country will, by merely placing a decimal point before the last figure, represent the f Australasian Medical Gazette, August, 1895. percentage of deaths from cancer. For example, England and Wales represent 35.9 per cent., Australasia 20.5 per cent., and so on. On grouping these figures together, we find that the United Kingdom claims over 71 per cent, of the victims ; the Australasian colonies (including New Zealand and Fiji) 20-3 per cent., Germany 3-4 per cent., while all the other countries together are represented by about 5 per cent. Now, at the time of the census enumeration in 1891, the natives of the United Kingdom resident in New South Wales represented 23.50 per cent, of the population; Australasians, 72-29 percent.; Germans, -85 percent. ; and all other countries taken together 3-36 per cent. The following table will, perhaps, make this more clear :— Birth-place. Percentage of Population. p. C. of Deaths (.Cancer). United Kingdom 23-50 71-2 Australasia 72-29 20-3 Germany ■85 3-4 All other countries ... 3-36 5-1 100-00 100-00 We see, therefore, that the United Kingdom shows a large excess in the cancer victims, as also does Germany, while Australasia is repre- sented by a very small section of its natives. The following statement shows that cancer I may fairly be considered to be an uncommon disease among the Australian-born inhabitants of New South Wales. Among the English-born male inhabitants there is one death annually among every 966 ; among the Irish-born, one in 686; among the Scotch, one in 648; among the Germans, one in 558 ; while among the Australian-born there is one death in every 7,746. For the female j^opulation the results are equally satisfactory. English, 1 in 736 ; Irish, 1 in 522; Scotch, 1 in 726 ; Germans, 1 in 574 ; Australasians, 1 in 8,242. For both sexes the figures are :—E nglish, 1 in 858; Irish, 1 in 598; Scotch, 1 in 674 ; Germans, 1 in 562 ; Australasians, 1 in 7,984. It may naturally be objected that most of those who come to the colonies from other countries have reached the cancer age at the time of their arrival here, and that this circum- stance favours the Australasian figures unduly. We may therefore reckon the deaths as divided among those who have arrived at the age of 21](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21484260_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
