On some of the causes of the high rate of mortality in Greenock : with an account of their origin, as well as of the measures which have been taken, and are still required, for their abatement or removal / by James Greenock.

  • Wallace, James.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On some of the causes of the high rate of mortality in Greenock : with an account of their origin, as well as of the measures which have been taken, and are still required, for their abatement or removal / by James Greenock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ON SOME OF THE CAUSES OF THE HIGH RATE OF MORTALITY IN GREENOCK, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIK ORIGIN, AS WELL AS THE MEASURES WHICH HAVE BEEN TAKEN, AND ARE STILL REQUIRED, FOR THEIR ABATEMENT OR REMOVAL. BY JAMES WALLACE, M.D., &c. [PAPER PREPARED FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW, SEPTEMBER 24, I860.] The unenviable position which Greenock has ac- quired in the mortality tables of the Registrar- General for Scotland is a sufficient excuse for my venturing to appear before this Association. This position, I have no doubt, is already so well known to not a few now before me, that I might at once proceed to an exposition of the causes which have in the main led to it. For the sake, however, of those who have been paying but little attention to this matter, and more especially those who have come from a distance, I shall, before doing so, give a gene- ral resumfe of the mortality returns of Greenock com- paratively with those of the other large towns in this division of the kingdom. This will be taken chiefly from the tables of the Registrar-General, but partly also from other documents to which I have had access. Commencing then with 1855—the first year of the registration in Scotland—I find that out of an estimated population of 37,626 there died 1,364, being at the rate of 3.62 per cent, or 1 in 28 ; the proportion for Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aber- deen, Paisley, Leith, and Perth, being respectively 1 in 33, 1 in 40, 1 in 39, 1 in 46, 1 in 36, 1 in 52, and 1 in 41; so that Greenock was in that year nearly twice as unhealthy as Leith. Iu 1856, again, 1857 and 1859, Greenock stood equally high, an exception occurring only in 1858, when Glasgow exhibited the highest proportion of deaths, in consequence of an epidemic of scarlatina. But this will be best seen from the following table :— Table showing the Comparative Mortality in Greenock and the other large towns of Scotland for the five years ending Dec. 31, 1859. 1855. 1856. 1857. 1858. 1859. Estimated Populat’n Deaths. Rate. Estimated Populat’n Deaths. Rate Estimated Populat’n Deaths. Rate. Estimated Populat'n Deaths. Rate. Estimated Populat’n 1 Deaths. Rate | 1 in j 1 in 1 in 1 in 1 in Glasgow... 359,369 10,637 33 366,937 10,280 35 374,505 11,373 33 382,073 11,469 33 388,537 10,832 35 Edinburgh 172,061 4,258 40 174,658 4,136 42 I 177,260 3,783 47 179,863 4,190 43 182,464 3,703 49 Dundee. . 87,163 2,183 39 89,947 2,453 32 90,731 2,242 44 92,515 2,332 39 94,299 2,270 41 Aberdeen. 77,031 1,668 46 77,982 1,659 47 78,933 1,724 45 78,840 1,613 48 79,429 1,676 47 Paisley. ... 48,103 1,323 36 48,236 1,098 44 48,269 1,440 33 48,302 1,275 38 43,335 1,185 40 Greenock. 37,628 1,364 28 37,676 1,237 30 37,724 1,268 29 37,772 1,085 35 37,820 1,420 26 Leith 34,611 663 52 35,209 826 42 35,807 747 46 36,405 791 46 37,003 699 53 Perth 26,893 644 41 27,256 • 559 48 27,619 784 35 26,397 665 39 26,499 560 47 So far, then, as the general results go, Greenock is proved to be the most unhealthy of the eight prin- cipal towns of Scotland. Nor will this appear less striking wrheu certain groups of diseases are taken that while in 1857 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Paisley, Leith and Perth, had a mortality from this source of 1 in 111, 1 in 286, 1 in 289, 1 in 225, 1 in 106,1 in 187, and 1 in 105, Greenock had