Causes of Death.

Manawatu Herald, 14 March 1899, Page 2

Causes of Death.

An interesting return is published in last week's Government " Gazette " giving elaborate detailed inforrmtinn regarding the death ratn for tho year. Local diseases claimed the largest number of victim*, thf total amounting to 45 94 of th^ whole. Under this heading are included diseases of the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urin" ary and reproductive systPHH, aff.-c* tiona of the organ 3of special sense and of locomotion. Theso have been further subdivided, and show lhat there were 80 deaths attributable to premature birth, 92 to old age, 63 to apoplexy, 158 to heart disease, 98 to pneumonia, 89 to bronchiti?, 40 to epilepsy, 82 to syncope, 49 to enteritis and 81 to Bright* disease. These were the most prolific causes of death in this section. Seventyfive persons met their end by acci* dent — of whom 12 were drowned, 7 run over by vehicles, 8 died from scalds, and 7 (infants) were suffocated. Shooting seems to have been the favourite form of suicide, 8 persons choosing that method of making their exit from the world. Of the remaining 16 who took their lives, 8 (all in Auckland) did so by cutting their throats, 5 by hanging, 4 by poison, 2 by opening an artery, and 1 each by dynamite and jumping from a bridge. Various forms of phthisis carded off 208 people, and 101 succumbed to diarrhoai. The deaths from cancer increased iv the chipf towns from 129 in 1897 to 160 in 1898. The latter number is 726 of the deaths for the year from all j causes. — N.Z Tim«B. I