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VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6529 birthsand 4146 deaths were registered during the week endingAug. 15th. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had declined in the three preceding weeks from 24’8to 21-4 per 1000, further fell last week to 19’9. In Londonthe rate was 19 7 per 1000, while it averaged 20’1 inthe thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates in thesetowns were 13 in Huddersfield, 13’7 in Bradford, 14’3 in8wansea; and 15’4in Halifax ; the highest rates were 23 5in Manchester, 24’2 in Birmingham, 26’9 in Portsmouth,and 27’1 in Wolverhampton. The 4146 deaths included1009 which were referred to the principal zymoticdisease-!, against 1560 and 1202 in the two precedingweeks ; of these, 625 resulted from diarrhoea, 117 frommeasles, 86 from whooping-cough, 84 from diph-theria, 52 from "fever" (principally enteric), and 41 fromscarlet fever. The lowest death-rates from these diseaseswere recorded in Halifax, Birkenhead, Swansea, and Ply-mouth, and the highest rates in Gateshead, Hull, Brighton,Portsmouth, and Wolverhampton. The greatest mortalityfrom measles occurred in Derby, Brighton, Oldham. Ports-mouth, and Gateshead ; from scarlet fever in Oldham;from whooping-cough in Cardiff, Salford, West Ham, andHuddersfield ; from "fever" in Sheffield ; and from diar-rhoea in Bolton, Brighton, Portsmouth, Norwich, Preston,and Wolverhampton. The 84 deaths from diphtheria in-cluded 59 in London,7 in Birmingham, 6 in West Ham, and 3in Liverpool. No fatal case of small-pox was registered in anyof the thirty-three large towns. There were 22 cases of small-pox under treatment in the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitalsand in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital on Saturdaylast, the 15th inst., against 37, 28, and 22 at the end of thethree preceding weeks; 2 new cases were admitted duringthe week, against 6, 0, and 5 in the two preceding weeks.The number of scarlet fever patients in the MetropolitanAsylum Hospitals and in the London Fever Hospital atthe end of the week was 3368, against 3207, 3279, and3369 on the three preceding Saturdays ; 378 new caseswere admitted during the week, against 321, 360, and366 in the three preceding weeks. The deaths referred todiseases of the respiratory organs in London, which hadbeen 142 in each of the two preceding weeks, declinedto 135 last week, and were 39 below the corrected

average. The causes of 48, or 2’1 per cent., of the deathsin the thirty-three towns were not certified either by a regis.tered medical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes ofdeath were duly certified in Portsmouth, Bristol, Bradford,Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and in ten other smaller towns ;the largest proportions of uncertified deaths were registeredrn West Ham, Leicester, Salford, and Sunderland.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had declined in the three preceding weeks from 18’3to 15 per 1000, rose again to 16’1 during the week endingAug. 15th, but was 3 8 per 1000 below the mean rate duringthe same period in the thirty-three large English towns. Therates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from 7’0 in Leith,and 12-6 in Greenock to 20’5 in Perth and 20-7 in Paisley.The 469 deaths in these towns included 28 which were

referred to diarrhoea, 20 to measles, 11 to whooping-cough, 9 to diphtheria, 3 to scarlet fever, and 2 to " fever,"In all, 73 deaths resulted from these principal zymoticdiseases, against 93 and 80 in the two preceding weeks.These 73 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 2-5 per1000, which was 2’4 below the mean rate last week fromthe same diseases in the thirty-three large English towns.The fatal cases of diarrhoea, which had declined in the threepreceding weeks from 51 to 37, further fell to 28 last week,of which 13 were recorded in Glasgow, 6 in Dundee, and 4 iuEdinburgh. The deaths referred to measles, which had been33 and 16 in the two preceding weeks, rose again to 20 lastweek, of which 17 occurred in Glasgow and 2 in Dundee.The 11 fatal cases of whooping-cough were within 2 of thenumber in the preceding week, and included 8 in Glasgow I,and 2 in Paisley. The 9 deaths from diphtheria considerablyexceeded the number recorded in any recent week, and in-cluded 3 in Dundee, 2 in Glasgow, and 2 in Edinburgh. Thefatal cases of scarlet fever, which had been 3 and 5 in the

two preceding weeks, declined again to 3 last week. The2 deaths referred to different forms of fever showed a furtherdecline from recent weekly numbers. The deaths fromdiseases of the respiratory organs in these towns, which hadbeen 68 and 70 in the two preceding weeks, declined againto 59 last week, and slightly exceeded the number in thecorresponding week of last year. The causes of 35, ormore than 7 per cent., of the deaths in these eight townslast week were not certified.

HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin, which had been 27’4 and 24 0per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further declined to21’6 during the week ending Aug. 15th. During the pastseven weeks of the current quarter the death-rate in the cityhas averaged 24’9 per 1000, the rate during the same

period being 21-7 in London and 15’3 in Edinburgh.The 145 deaths registered in Dublin during the week undernotice included 25 which were referred to the principalzymotic diseases, against 31 and 38 in the two pre-ceding weeks ; of these 16 resulted from diarrhoea, 4 fromscarlet fever, 4 from enterie fever, 1 from whooping-cough,and not one either from small-pox, measles, or diph-theria. These 25 deaths were equal to an annualrate of 13’7 per 1000, the zymotic death-rate during thesame period being 4’7 in London and 1-9 in Edinburgh.The fatal cases of diarrhoea, which had been 22 and 29 inthe two preceding weeks, declined again to 16 last week.The 4 fatal cases of scarlet fever exceeded the numberrecorded in any recent week. The deaths referred to entericfever, which had been 2 and 3 in the two preceding weeks,further rose to 4 last week. The mortality from whooping-cough was below that recorded in any recent week. The145 deaths in Dublin last week included 42 of infantsunder one year of age, and 30 of persons aged upwardsof sixty years; the deaths both of infants and of elderlypersons showed a further decline from the numbers recordedin recent weeks. Six inquest cases and 4 deaths from violencewere registered; and 30, or more than a fifth, of thedeaths occurred in public institutions. The causes of 12, ormore than 8 per cent., of the deaths in the city last weekwere not certified.

THE SERVICES.

ARMY MEDICAL STAFF.

THE following Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonels to beSurgeon-Colonels :-James Lane Notter, M.D., vice T. F.O’Dwyer, M.D., promoted; and Henry Comerford, M.D., viceJ. L. Notter, M.D., seconded for service as Professor of

Military Hygiene at the Army Medical School. Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Peter John McQuaid, M.D., retires onretired pay.

INDIA AND THE INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICES.

The following appointments are announced :-Surgeon-Lieutenant C. R. Bakhle has been appointed to act as

Civil Surgeon, Jacobabad, in addition to his own duties;Surgeon-Captain S. E. Prall has delivered over charge of theKarwar Gaol ; Brigade - Surgeon - Lieutenant - Colonel S. M.Salaman and Surgeon-Captain J. Jackson have respectivelydelivered over and received charge of the Yerrowda CentralPrison. The services of Surgeon-Captain Bawa Jiwae Singh(Bengal), are placed temporarily at the disposal of theChief Commissioner of Burma. Surgeon-Captain G. F. W.Ewens (Bengal) whose services have been placed temporarilyat the disposal of the Government of the Punjab, isappointed to officiate as SupeIintendent of the MultanCentral Gaol.

ARMY MEDICAL RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

Surgeon-Captain Alexander Duncan Fraser, M.D., to beSurgeon-Major. Surgeon-Lieutenant Arthur David Ducat,1st London Volunteer Rifle Corps, to be Surgeon-Lieutenant.

YEOMANRY CAVALRY.

Berks : Surgeon-Lieutenant J. H. Waters, M.D., to beSurgeon-Captain.

VOLUNTEER CORPS.VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Artillery : 6th Lancashire: William Hughes Murdoch,M.D., to be Surgeon-Lieutenant (dated Aug. 19tb, 186.