Some values of death statistics / by Charles E. Paget.

  • Paget, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
Date:
[1887]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some values of death statistics / by Charles E. Paget. 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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    SOME VALUES OF DEATH STATISTICS.1 BY CHARLES E. PAGET, Medical Officer of Ecalth for tlie Westmorland Comb. San. District. General Remarks. The chief purpose of statistics is to provide accurate informa- tion of the values of facts. Individual facts form the ground- work of statistics, and for statistics of any one series of facts to be correct, the facts themselves must be of like kind: want of similarity between facts precludes the possibility of accuracy of statistics in respect of them as a class. When facts are similar and sufficient in number, statistics with regard to them are possible, and though these statistics may not lead to indications of great value, yet because they are true they are valuable in themselves. So far as the title of this paper is concerned, it refers to a class of statistics that at first thought must seem to be more free from error than many referring to other conditions of life, since the fact of death must be certain. But in the course of the paper it will be seen that however true this fact may be, there is great risk under many circumstances of statistics ot mortalities being mis-read and their values misunderstood. 1 A Paper read at the Wordsworth Institute, Cockermouth, January 3, 1887. F 2