MAR. 7.]
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
863
The degree of infantile mortality is perhaps best shown in the proportion of deaths of children under 1 year of age to every 100 births. For 1906 and 1905 the proportions at the chief centres are,—
Auckland (including suburbs)
Wellington
Christchurch
Dunedin
1905.
9·15
9·62
8·90
6·71
1906.
8·58
7·19
7·44
7·26
Again, the percentage of deaths of children under 5 to the total number of deaths is—Auckland, 28·13; in Christchurch, 23·00; in Wellington, 24·03; in Dunedin, 22·27.
Excluding suburbs, and dealing with the deaths at all ages in the four cities or central boroughs only, the rates for 1906 are found to be lower than in the previous year at Wellington and Dunedin, but higher at Auckland and Christchurch. The figures for five years are given :—
Deaths, 1902.
Per 1,000 of Population.
Deaths, 1903.
Per 1,000 of Population.
Deaths, 1904.
Per 1,000 of Population.
Deaths, 1905.
Per 1,000 of Population.
Deaths, 1906
Per 1000 of Population.
Auckland (excluding suburbs)
.. 17·21 .. 12·97 .. 11·11 .. 12·15 .. 12·51
Wellington
.. 12·58 .. 11·30 .. 10·75 .. 10·55 .. 9·45
Christchurch
.. 12·24 .. 11·39 .. 10·50 .. 10·76 .. 11·12
Dunedin
.. 11·86 .. 14·77 .. 13·59 .. 11·13 .. 12·70
Omitting the deaths of infants under one year, and calculating the rate on the population of one year of age and upwards, one of the boroughs shows a lower rate for 1906 than for the previous year.
Deaths per 1,000 of Population, excluding Infants under One Year of Age.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
Auckland (excluding suburbs)
.. 12·86 .. 9·45 .. 9·24 .. 9·39 .. 9·84
Wellington
.. 9·54 .. 8·84 .. 8·42 .. 7·80 .. 7·68
Christchurch
.. 9·03 .. 8·83 .. 7·87 .. 8·46 .. 9·34
Dunedin
.. 10·35 .. 13·61 .. 11·90 .. 9·64 .. 10·76
Subjoined is a table showing the rates of infant mortality in the four cities for each of the past five years, together with the mean rates for the period.
Deaths of Children under One Year to every 100 Births.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
Mean of Five Years.
Auckland (excluding suburbs)
.. 15·41 .. 12·08 .. 6·93 .. 10·13 .. 9·92 .. 10·89
Wellington
.. 12·97 .. 9·28 .. 9·55 .. 10·02 .. 7·11 .. 9·79
Christchurch
.. 13·32 .. 10·49 .. 10·36 .. 8·60 .. 7·24 .. 10·00
Dunedin
.. 8·60 .. 7·27 .. 8·74 .. 7·21 .. 7·76 .. 7·92
Specific Febrile and Zymotic Diseases.—The mortality from these diseases was lower at three of the four centres in 1906 than in the previous year. The total deaths in this class were 115 for 1905 and 133 for 1906.
Deaths from Febrile and Zymotic Diseases.
Auckland and Wellington and Christchurch and Dunedin and Total.
Suburbs. Suburbs. Suburbs. Suburbs.
1905
.. .. .. 45 .. 34 .. 27 .. 9 .. 115
1906
.. .. .. 42 .. 22 .. 23 .. 46 .. 133
Of the above, influenza caused most deaths in 1906 at the four centres taken together, the total number being 33. Diarrhoeal diseases came next with 29 deaths, typhoid fever 14, diphtheria 13, whooping-cough 12, measles 10, scarlet fever 4, and other zymotic complaints 18.
Comparison of the deaths for each city, including suburbs, shows,—
Zymotic, &c., Diseases.
Diarrhoeal Diseases
Influenza
Typhoid Fever
Measles
Scarlet Fever
Diphtheria
Whooping-cough
Other Zymotic Diseases
Auckland.
1905. 1906.
21 16
3 11
7 5
.. ..
2 2
3 2
.. ..
9 6
Wellington.
1905. 1906.
12 2
3 6
2 4
.. ..
3 1
4 5
.. ..
10 4
Christchurch.
1905. 1906.
9 8
4 9
1 ..
.. ..
.. 1
.. 2
1 ..
12 3
Dunedin.
1905. 1906.
2 3
3 7
.. 5
.. 10
.. ..
1 4
1 12
2 5
Parasitic Diseases.—Hydatids were fatal at Dunedin (1 death).
Dietetic Diseases.—These numbered 25, 6 being due to scurvy or malnutrition, 16 to alcoholism, and 3 to delirium tremens.
Constitutional Diseases.—The deaths at the four towns numbered 511 in 1906. The first in importance of these diseases, and of all causes of death, is tubercle. The figures for 1905 and 1906 show 211 and 232 deaths for each year respectively.
Phthisis and other Tubercular Diseases.—
Phthisis.
Other Tubercular Diseases.
Auckland and Suburbs
.. 37 .. 12
Wellington
.. 28 .. 14
Christchurch
.. 44 .. 10
Dunedin
.. 47 .. 19
156 .. 55
Phthisis.
Other Tubercular Diseases.
40 .. 12
49 .. 11
28 .. 14
59 .. 19
176 .. 56
The mortality from tubercular diseases for 1906 is 9·3 per cent. of the total deaths at the four boroughs and their suburbs from all causes.
Deaths from cancer rose at the chief towns from 191 in 1905 to 217 in 1906. The latter number is 9 per cent. of deaths for the year from all causes.
The number of deaths from cancer at the four chief towns and their suburbs for each of the last five years was as under :—
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
Auckland and suburbs
.. 44 .. 37 .. 45 .. 35 .. 49
Wellington
.. 37 .. 47 .. 44 .. 47 .. 53
Christchurch
.. 25 .. 33 .. 38 .. 49 .. 60
Dunedin
.. 59 .. 62 .. 57 .. 60 .. 55
165 .. 179 .. 184 .. 191 .. 217
Diabetes shows 36 deaths in 1906, against 32 in 1905.
Developmental Diseases.—There were 285 deaths in this class, of which 125 were from premature births, 151 from old age, and 9 from other causes.