Scottish Accident Rate Higher 100 Years Ago

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27860, 7 January 1956, Page 9

Scottish Accident Rate Higher 100 Years Ago

(Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON. Jan. 6. Fatal accidents were proportionately higher in Scotland in 1855 than in 1954. according to the British Medical Journal. The journal published vital statistics from the hundredth annual report of the Registrar-General of Scotland. The statutory registration of births, deaths, and marriages began in Scotland on January 1. 1855. The hundredth report said that in 1855. 57 people in every 100.000 in Scotland were killed in accidents (not including suicide). The figures for 1954 were 46 people in every 100.000. The Qegistrar-General attributed this drop to the large number of oil lamps, candles, and unguarded fires in 1855. "The comparison of figures is rather surprising, considering the increase of new lethal agents, such as road traffic.” he said. Other points made in the report were:— The expectation of life in 1855 was 42 years for males and 44 for females,

compared with 65 and 70 in 1954. Infant mortality rates were 138 a thousand births in 1855 and 31 a thousand in 1954. Total deaths from the main epidemic diseases in 1855 were 10.060; the comparable figure for 1954 was 35. The 1855 report commented that there were more deaths from diseases of the digestive organs among males than females, probably owing to the "much larger quantities of ardent spirit which the men consume.” The present report finds that the Exchequer has gone far towards removing this ground of complaint.