Statistics Of Sickness

Six hundred thousand persons die in tbe Unitod States every year, six liundred thousand futierais move in proccssion to the grave, and three million mourners go about the streets. This is the conclusión at whieh ïïo must arrive, assuming the population of tbe country to be only twenty-íive milIiou8, (and it is doubtlcss nmeh more tban that,) and applying to that population the mean death-rate deduced from calculations. The vital statistics of England show that for each death there oecur about tweuty-eight cases of of sickness, or tvvo years of perpetual sickness. From which it resulta that these six hundred thousand deaths which take place in the Umtcd States every year, are accompanieil by sixteen million eight hundred thousand cases of sickuess, or one million two hundred thousand years of sickness ; that is, one million two hundred thousand persous are perpetually sick. Now every eiilightoned and candid pln'sician will teil us that at least one half of these deaths and one half of tfi ,s sickness is unneeessary and preventable, and is produced by the violation of the laws of health, either in regard to the air we breathe, the food we eat, or the elothing we wear. The highest English authority upon Physiology says that the average annual mortality of Engbind "is just doublé that to which it niight be reduced" by proper atttut ion to hygiëne; that "only 198,000 (of the annual deaths) are inevitable, the reraaining 198,000 being preventable." But so far as we have the data ncoesi sary for raaking the coinparison, it apI pears that the standard of health and the length of üfe in this country are lower than in Eogiand; the inortality theie beiüg about 22 in evory 1000 inhabitants annually, while in the United States it is about 21 per 1000. Therefore we may, without exaggerntion assume tbat one half of the entire sickiK'ss and mortality whieh prevails in the United States is avoid.'iblo; or, in other words, that, not leas than three hündrcd thousdnd persons die unneoessary and preventable doaths every year.