102 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. [No. 5

Birth-rates.—The birth-rates for 1886 were, as in previous years, considerably higher for Auckland and Wellington than for Christchurch and Dunedin. The rates given last year for 1885 have been found much too high for Auckland and Wellington, as the census returns show that they were calculated on too small populations, but, allowing for this error, the rates were still very largely in excess of those for Christchurch and Dunedin.

Death-rates.—The death-rates for 1885, given in last year's reports, have been proved by the census returns to have been too high for Auckland and Wellington and too low for Christchurch, the estimated population having been too small for each of the first-named boroughs and too large for the latter. The following rates for 1885 are the corrected rates calculated on estimates based on the census returns. The death-rates for Auckland and Christchurch were less in 1886 than in 1885, but that for Wellington increased considerably, the contrast between that and the rate for Dunedin being very great. The lower death-rates in Christchurch and Dunedin are no doubt partly due to the smaller birth-rates (owing probably to the departure from the boroughs of the younger married people), and the consequent absence of the deaths of a proportion of the children born, and also partly to the smaller proportion of deaths to every 100 births, especially in Dunedin.

Deaths per 1,000 of the Mean Population.

        1885.    1886.

Auckland 14·95 14·42
Wellington 14·89 17·02
Christchurch 14·87 13·31
Dunedin 12·57 12·69

Infantile Mortality.—The mortality of infants under 1 year of age was proportionately much heavier in 1886 than in 1885, the increase having been greatest in Wellington, the rate both in Wellington and Auckland having been exceptionally high. The following were the numbers of these deaths and rates for the two past years:—

Boroughs. Total Births. Deaths of Children Proportion of Deaths of
under 1 Year of Age. Children under 1 Year of Age
to the 100 of Total Births.
1886. 1885.

Auckland .. .. 1,161 .. 201 .. 17·31 .. 14·45
Wellington .. .. 979 .. 169 .. 17·26 .. 10·28
Christchurch .. .. 459 .. 69 .. 15·03 .. 13·43
Dunedin .. .. 649 .. 73 .. 11·25 .. 9·62

The mortality of children under 5 years of age and the proportion thereof to the mortality at all ages is herewith given:—

Boroughs. Total Deaths. Deaths of Children Proportion of Deaths of
under 5 Years of Age. Children under 5 Years of Age
to the 100 of Total Deaths.
1886. 1885.

Auckland .. .. 481 .. 259 .. 53·85 .. 51·04
Wellington .. .. 444 .. 221 .. 49·75 .. 37·17
Christchurch .. .. 204 .. 87 .. 46·65 .. 34·80
Dunedin .. .. 296 .. 103 .. 34·80 .. 29·83

Auckland is thus apparently the most unhealthy of these boroughs for infantile life, and Dunedin the most healthy.

Specific Febrile or Zymotic Diseases.—These diseases caused 20·63 of the deaths in 1886 against a percentage of 16·50 in 1885. The following are the diseases in this class that proved most fatal in each of the two past years:—

            1885.    1886.        1885.    1886.

Diarrhœal diseases .. 107 .. 159 Diphtheria .. 32 .. 20
Typhoid fever .. 26 .. 37 Whooping-cough .. 45 .. 31

Diphtheria was in 1886, as in 1885, most fatal in Wellington, 9 out of the 20 deaths in the past year having occurred there. Typhoid fever was most fatal in Auckland, having caused 17 deaths there. Wellington took second place with 13 deaths, while only 2 deaths from this disease occurred in Christchurch. Measles, which did not appear as a cause of death in 1885, caused 23 deaths in 1886; they were confined to Wellington and Christchurch. Of the 159 deaths from diarrhœal diseases, 148 were of children under 5 years of age, of which 76, more than half, occurred at Auckland.

Dietetic Diseases.—It will be observed that among the deaths in this class 12 are directly attributed to alcoholism and delirium tremens.

Constitutional Diseases.—The deaths in this class numbered 273, or 19·16 per cent. of the total deaths. Phthisis caused the deaths of 132 persons. Large as this number is, it is less than the number of deaths from this cause in 1885. Cancer caused the comparatively large number of 55 deaths against 41 in the previous year. These deaths in 1886 included those of 2 children under 5 years of age. The greatest mortality from cancer occurred in Dunedin.

Local Diseases.—These diseases constitute the largest class, they caused 573 deaths in 1886, or 40·56 per cent. of all deaths. Of these, the diseases of the nervous system caused 134 deaths. Among these, the larger proportion of deaths of children in Wellington from convulsions is very noticeable, 13 of such deaths of children under 5 years of age having occurred in that borough against 4 in each of the other boroughs. Diseases of the respiratory system caused 177 deaths; of these, 97, or more than one-half, were of children under 5 years of age. The highest proportional mortality from these diseases occurred in Wellington, and the lowest in Dunedin. The following proportions of these deaths to the 1,000 of population in each borough were as follows: Auckland, 1·91; Wellington, 2·03; Christchurch, 1·76; Dunedin, 1·46.

Violent Deaths.—There were 71 deaths in this class in 1886, of which 59 were deemed to be accidental and 12 to be suicidal. Twelve of the accidental deaths were from drowning; of these, 9 occurred in Wellington. The deaths from railway and tramcar accidents were 5 in number.

Wm. R. E. BROWN,
Registrar-General.

Registrar-General's Office, Wellington, 13th January, 1887.