170
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 9

Births.—There was an increase of only 41 in the total number of births in all these boroughs in 1891 on the number in 1890. The increase in Auckland amounted to 12, in Wellington to 33, and in Dunedin to 2 only. In Christchurch there was a decrease of 6. The number of births in each of the five past years is herewith given :—

Boroughs. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891.
Auckland .. 1,076 .. 1,021 .. 907 .. 849 .. 861
Wellington .. 984 .. 989 .. 910 .. 972 .. 1,005
Christchurch .. 449 .. 393 .. 366 .. 360 .. 354
Dunedin .. 644 .. 548 .. 563 .. 535 .. 537

The birth-rate on the population was highest in Wellington, 32·40 per 1,000. The following were the rates for the the years stated :—

Auckland .. .. .. .. .. .. 34·80 .. 28·65 .. 30·09
Wellington .. .. .. .. .. .. 37·52 .. 34·51 .. 32·40
Christchurch .. .. .. .. .. .. 29·95 .. 23·99 .. 21·82
Dunedin .. .. .. .. .. .. 27·82 .. 22·89 .. 24·00

Deaths.—The deaths in these boroughs in 1891 amounted altogether to 1,331, an increase of 131 on the number in 1890. The proportions to the population were greater than in 1890, except in Dunedin. The rates for that year have been calculated upon corrected estimates of the populations founded upon the census results. The following are the stated rates for 1890 and 1891 :—

Deaths, 1890. Deaths, 1891.
Number. Per 1,000 of Population. Number. Per 1,000 of Population.
Auckland .. .. .. 336 11·34 .. 390 13·63
Wellington .. .. .. 386 12·64 .. 453 14·60
Christchurch .. .. 163 11·04 .. 185 11·40
Dunedin .. .. .. 315 14·20 .. 303 13·54

In the Boroughs of Wellington and Auckland, in which the death-rates on the whole of the population were highest in 1891, the births were, in proportion to population, more numerous than in Christchurch and Dunedin. As the mortality among infants is always very great compared with that among the rest of the population, a high birth-rate increases considerably the death-rate. If the number and deaths of infants under 1 year of age be excluded, the mortality among the rest of the population was in the following ratio to the 1,000 living :—

Auckland.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·91
Wellington .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·02
Christchurch .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8·83
Dunedin .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·45

—the death-rate of persons over 1 year of age having been highest in Dunedin, next so in Wellington, and lowest in Christchurch.

At the higher rates, the mortality in these boroughs compares favourably with that in each of the capitals of Australia and Tasmania, in which the death-rates in 1889 were as follow :—

Deaths per 1,000 of Population.
Sydney .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14·93
Adelaide .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15·50
Brisbane .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18·10
Melbourne .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19·63
Hobart .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 21·19
Perth .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 22·25

Infantile Mortality.—The rate of infantile mortality was highest in Auckland in 1891. In all the boroughs this mortality was greater than in 1890. The following shows the proportion of deaths of children under 1 year of age to the 100 births in each of the past five years :—

Auckland .. .. 14·40 .. 11·36 .. 10·80 .. 9·89 .. 13·36 .. 11·96
Wellington .. .. 16·16 .. 10·41 .. 12·42 .. 9·77 .. 12·14 .. 12·18
Christchurch .. .. 12·25 .. 13·23 .. 13·11 .. 11·94 .. 12·71 .. 12·65
Dunedin .. .. .. 10·09 .. 7·30 .. 9·59 .. 8·22 .. 9·87 .. 9·01

The rate of mortality among infants appears thus to be generally highest in Christchurch and lowest in Dunedin.

The following shows the proportions of deaths of children under five years of age to the 100 deaths at all ages :—

Auckland .. .. 57·46 .. 42·78 .. 39·45 .. 32·74 .. 37·95
Wellington .. .. 49·18 .. 35·90 .. 40·64 .. 32·38 .. 34·22
Christchurch .. .. 36·19 .. 34·41 .. 35·98 .. 34·97 .. 29·19
Dunedin .. .. .. 28·62 .. 20·15 .. 28·85 .. 17·14 .. 26·73

Specific Febrile or Zymotic Diseases.—These diseases caused 262 deaths in 1891, against 182 in 1890 and 186 in 1889. The most fatal in this class were the following :—

Diarrhœal diseases .. .. .. .. .. 116 .. 80 .. 87
Typhoid fever .. .. .. .. .. 19 .. 49 .. 33
Whooping-cough .. .. .. .. .. 3 .. 7 .. 65
Diphtheria .. .. .. .. .. 16 .. 8 .. 9
Influenza .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 .. 44

Of the deaths from whooping-cough, the number of which was so largely increased, 27 occurred in Wellington and but 2 in Christchurch. The mortality from influenza was greatest in Dunedin and least in Auckland. The following gives the number of deaths from each of these diseases in the four boroughs in the past two years :—

Diarrhœal Diseases. Typhoid Fever. Whooping-cough. Diphtheria. Influenza.
1890. 1891. 1890. 1891. 1890. 1891. 1890. 1891. 1890. 1891.
Auckland .. .. 25 45 .. 15 9 .. 19 .. 2 1 .. 3 3
Wellington .. .. 34 26 .. 20 19 .. 27 .. 5 2 .. 1 14
Christchurch .. .. 9 8 .. 2 1 .. 7 .. 3 3 .. 1 11
Dunedin .. .. 12 8 .. 12 4 .. 17 .. 1 5 .. 1 16

It will be observed that the mortality from typhoid fever was much less in all the boroughs, except Wellington, in 1891 than in 1890. Of the deaths from diarrhœal diseases in 1891, all but 5 were of children under 5 years of age.

Constitutional Diseases.—The mortality was somewhat less from these diseases in 1891 than in 1890—254, against 269 deaths. Cancer caused only 71 deaths, against 77 in the previous year. Phthisis was also less fatal, having caused 112 deaths in 1891, against 124 in 1890.

Local Diseases.—These diseases caused 622 deaths in 1891, an increase of 74 on the number in 1890. The chief increases were : 13 in the number of deaths from diseases of the circulatory system, 30 in the number from diseases of the respiratory system, 12 in that from diseases of the digestive system, and 19 in the number from diseases of the urinary system. Diseases of the respiratory system were proportionately to population most fatal in Auckland, and least so in Christchurch. Of these, bronchitis and pneumonia caused the largest number of deaths—34 in Auckland, 39 in Wellington, 15 in Christchurch, and 35 in Dunedin : about 44 per cent. of the total number having been of children under 5 years of age. Deaths from diseases of the circulatory system were, in proportion to population, most numerous in Christchurch, and least so in Dunedin ; the proportions for Auckland and Wellington were about the same. The principal causes of death among the diseases of the urinary system were : Bright’s disease, with 16 deaths, against 8, and cystitis, with 13 deaths, against 3 in 1890.

Violent Deaths.—54 deaths in this class occurring in the four boroughs were registered in 1891, an increase of 2 on the number in 1890. Of these, 45 were accidental—13 having been from drowning, and 3 from railway or tramway accidents ; 9 deaths were suicidal.

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

Registrar-General’s Office, 26th January, 1892.