HH62/2/LANARK/68

Transcription

[Page] 67

persons per acre; while in Avondale it is least, with 0·13
persons per acre.
The parishes are grouped for administrative purposes
into three divisions, named respectively - First, Second,
and Third.
The First Division includes the Parishes of Avondale,
East Kilbride, Glasford, and Stonehouse, having a popula-
tion of 13,567, and an area of 72,976, or an average density
of 0·18 persons per acre; the Second includes the Parishes
of Blantyre, Bothwell, Cambuslang, Cambusnethan, Dalserf,
Dalziel, and Hamilton, having a population of 88,141, and
an area of 61,087 acres, or an average density of 1·44
persons per acre; while the Third includes the Parishes of
New Monkland, Old Monkland, and Shotts, having a popula-
tion of 41,301, and an area of 52,717 acres, or an average
density of 0·78 persons per acre. (See Tables X. and XI.)
As was pointed out in the case of the Upper Ward, but
which, indeed, scarcely requires referring to, this average
density is, to some extent, a hypothetical one, as in every
parish there are more populous villages or towns where the
density is as great almost as in a large town.

Births. - In the landward portion of the Middle Ward
District there were registered during the year 1891 five
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three births (5,853), or a
birth-rate of 40·9 per 1,000 of the population. That this is
an exceptionally high rate may be judged from a compari-
son with the birth-rate for Scotland for 1891, which was 31·3.
Of these 5,853 births, 3,032 were males and 2,821
females, contrary to the usual rule, by which the majority
of children born are females. Three hundred and nine
(309) were illegitimate, or a proportion of 1 in every 19
births - a proportion which compares very favourably with
other parts of the kingdom.
The birth-rates in the various parishes ranged from 24,
in the Parish of Avondale, to 47 per 1,000, in the Parish of
New Monkland.

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Calculated according to divisions, the rates were 27·5 in
the First, 41·8 in the Second, and 43·3 in the Third.

Deaths. - The deaths from all causes during the twelve
months under consideration numbered 2,908 - rather less
than half the number of births, and equal to a rate per
1,000 of 20·33. This is not by any means a favourable
death-rate, and greatly exceeds the 17 per 1,000 which Dr.
Farr estimated as a normal death-rate for a population
partly urban and partly rural.
Among the parishes, Blantyre has the highest death-
rate, viz., 23·25; Bothwell coming next with 22·80; while
Glasford has the lowest, 12·14 per 1,000.
According to divisions, the rates are 16·28, 19·51, and
21·34 per 1,000, in the First, Third, and Second respectively.

Ages at Death. - As the details of the Census are not
yet published, it is impossible to give the rate of persons
dying at various age-periods in terms of the number of
persons living at these ages. This it is proposed to give in
future reports, as such information is absolutely necessary
in order to judge correctly of the relative mortality of
different districts.

Infantile Mortality. - In the landward portion of the
Middle Ward District, 752 deaths, out of the total of 2,908,
were in infants under 1 year. Stated in terms of the
infantile population - that is, practically, the number of
births during the year - the infantile mortality rate is 128
per 1,000 births. In the First Division it was 77; in the
Second, 136; and in the Third, 122. Considerable im-
portance attaches to the infantile death-rate as affording
evidence of the sanitary condition of a community, and,
judged by this standard alone, the Middle Ward, as a
whole, occupies a very fair position.
Among the parishes, Blantyre is in the unenviable
position of having the highest infantile mortality, viz., 159
per 1,000 births, and at the same time the highest total