THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 149

The following table shows the increase or decrease in each borough during the year:---

| | | BIRTHS. | | | DEATHS. | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| | | 1874. | 1875. | Increase + Decrease - | 1874. | 1875. | Increase. | |
| | | | | Numerical. | Rate per Cent. | | | Numerical. | Rate per Cent. |
| Auckland | ... | ... | 625 | 536 | - 89 | -14.2 | 207 | 468 | 261 | 126.1 |
| Thames | ... | ... | 266 | 244 | - 22 | - 8.3 | 100 | 150 | 50 | 50.0 |
| Wellington | ... | ... | 570 | 695 | +125 | +21.9 | 265 | 285 | 20 | 7.5 |
| Nelson | ... | ... | 224 | 228 | + 4 | + 1.8 | 75 | 159 | 84 | 112.0 |
| Christchurch | ... | ... | 518 | 570 | + 52 | +10.0 | 268 | 323 | 55 | 20.5 |
| Dunedin | ... | ... | 917 | 996 | +79 | + 8.6 | 412 | 426 | 14 | 3.4 |
| Hokitika | ... | ... | 140 | 138 | - 2 | - 1.4 | 47 | 74 | 27 | 57.4 |

Although the Auckland and Hokitika Hospitals are situated outside the boundaries of the respective
boroughs, yet the deaths in them have, for the sake of uniformity, been included in this Report. The
following were the deaths in each of the three stated hospitals in 1875:-Auckland, 103; Wellington, 27;
Thames, 24. Returns from the other hospitals have not yet been received.

The total deaths, in the boroughs, of children under 1 year amounted in 1875 to 18 per cent. of the
births, against 14.6 per cent. in 1874; the actual numbers of such deaths having been 477 in 1874 and 580
in 1875, or an increase of 103. Notwithstanding this increase in the rate of infant mortality, the deaths of
children under 1 year only amounted to 30.8 per cent. of the total number of deaths at all ages, against
34.7 per cent. in 1874.

The rates of infant mortality in each borough were as follow:--

DEATHS OF CHILDREN UNDER ONE YEAR TO EVERY 100 BIRTHS.

—the lowest death rate of infants during 1875 having been in Dunedin, and the highest in Auckland.
In 1875 measles was more or less epidemic in all the boroughs; but in Dunedin the mortality from that
cause occurred chiefly in 1874.

The following table shows the deaths in the boroughs, during 1874 and 1875, from certain diseases :---

| | Measles. | Dysentery and Diarrhea. | Typhus and Typhoid Fever. | Phthisis. | Diseases of Respiratory Organs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 1874. | 1875. | 1874. | 1875. | 1874. | 1875. | 1874. | 1875. | 1874. | 1875. |
| Auckland | | 69 | 43 | 50 | 5 | 25 | 17 | 34 | 30 | 57 |
| Thames | | 18 | 11 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 26 |
| Wellington | | 11 | 57 | 37 | 12 | a28 | 32 | 14 | 21 | 21 |
| Nelson | | 11 | 6 | 10 | 2 | b5 | 12 | 19 | 8 | 16 |
| Christchurch | | 5 | 35 | 26 | 25 | 49 | 20 | 21 | 33 | 47 |
| Dunedin | | 33 | 39 | 39 | 9 | c19 | 42 | 42 | 51 | 60 |
| Hokitika | | 2 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 13 |

Typhus Fever—a, 1 case; b, 3 cases; c, 2 cases.

Typhoid fever was most fatal in Christchurch; in that borough, in Wellington, and also in Auckland
this disease caused a largely increased number of deaths over those in 1874. The deaths from diphtheria, which
amounted to 44 in 1874, only amounted to 21 in 1875, the highest number (12) having been in Dunedin.
The deaths from that cause in Christchurch amounted to 4 in 1875, against 21 in 1874. Deaths from
diseases of the organs of circulation were most numerous in Dunedin (31) and Auckland (30), the total
number of such deaths amounting to 98.

The death rates per 1,000 of population compare unfavourably with the rates in 1874; but in institut-
ing a comparison it should be borne in mind that there has been a greater or less increase to the popula-
tion in the various boroughs from the settlement in them of immigrants, the numbers of whom cannot,
however, be ascertained; but the somewhat incorrectly low estimate of the population in consequence of
such arrivals not being added would not account for the exceptionally high death rates in some of the
boroughs.

The estimated population of the boroughs is based upon the increase by births over deaths since the last
census was taken.

The relative death rates, as ascertained in 1874 and 1875, are as follow:--

PROPORTION OF DEATHS TO THE 1,000 OF POPULATION.