HH62/1/ABERD/29

Transcription

[Page] 28

populated. Over the whole district the total density of
population in only .065 persons to the acre, or 15.3 acres
for every person. The Vale of Alford, a fine tract of
country lying in an amphitheatre of hills, is the most
fertile part of the district.
Alford is in the fortunate position of having the lowest
zymotic death-rate of any district in the County. This
position is due to several causes, which will be commented
upon in a subsequent part of this Report. As in the other
districts of Aberdeenshire, diphtheria adds a considerable
quota to the death-rate. The death-rate from diphtheria
is .277 per 1000, as against .184 each from enteric fever,
scarlet fever, and diarrhœa respectively.
The death-rate from phthisis alone is also a low one, .832
per 1000, coming next to Huntly, which stands with .727.
The total tubercular death-rate is 1.294, which is thus .369
in excess of the total zymotic rate.

The following Table shows the position of the rural part
of the County as a whole, and the various districts
separately, in relation to the death and birth rates - (1) of
the whole of Scotland, and (2) of the Mainland Rural
Districts of Scotland, as given by the Registrar-General
in his returns for 1891:-

[Table inserted]

On the whole, to judge from these statistics, the District
of Alford occupies a good position, and, in some respects, is
fortunately situated, as regards the incidence of disease.

The following Table shows the parishes embraced in the
district, with their acreage, their population in 1881 and 1891,
with increase or decrease, and the death-rate in each parish


[Page] 29

in 1891. As an interesting comparison, I have added in the
last column the average death-rate in each parish during
the ten years from 1861-1870 (inclusive):-

TABLE A.

[Table inserted]

Table B shows the death-rate (i.e., the number of deaths
per 1000 of the population) in the whole district during
the years from 1881 to 1891 (inclusive):-

TABLE B

[Table inserted]

  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

CorrieBuidhe- Moderator, elxosn