The Star. FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, 1874.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 2038, 18 September 1874, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, 1874.

Ttphtis fever of a malignant character is still rife atnopg us, striking down its victims aB well in the bouses of the. rich as in the hovels of the poor; with' merciless impartiality." This statement was made by Dr Earle, a correspondent of the Lyttelton Times, in* a letter published in that journal a few mornings ago., -Such . $n _< assertion, coming too from a medical man, ought at once to be confirmed, if true, or contradicted, if untrue. It diight to be confirmed if true, because in' all probability it is within our power to remove the cause of bo grave an evil. It ought to be contradicted if untrue, because while it remains unchallenged, it raises, a, feeling of insecurity and discomfort among our families, and, moreover, is calculated to brand Chrtßtt'hurch ' 88 an r urih'ealtny "town throughout the . length and breadth of the colony. .Taking this view of the matted, "we ai once, after the perusal of Jpr Earle's letter, took B^eps to ascertain the correctness or otherwise of his allegation that , malignant typhus fever is rife in Christehurch'; and now, on very good authority, we are in a position to state, that at least half a dozen doctors in good practice in the city have neither of them met with a single case of; typhus'. If this fearful scourge is rifej : sur,ely some must succumb to it. Dr Earle affirms that "it is striking down its victims * ,■* . *. * with merciless impartiality." If people die, their deaths are registered, together with the cause of decease. Let ub turn then to the official record of deaths, and trace it back. for. six months. How many deaths do we find, recorded ? Not a single one. Yet, if typhus is bo fatal, so malignant, surely one death would have occurred. There is, however, not one. The inference is plain. Either typhus d,9 eB uot exist, or, if this pest is "rife among us," then bur medical practitioners are bo Bkilful as to prevent death in every instance. The latter conclusion is complimentary to the doctors, but the former seems the more reasonable. It may be suspected by some, however, jthat what j I)r Earle calls typhus fever,; ,Ghriatchurch practitioners have some other name for. To persons- having ''an acquaintance with the subject; the distinction between " malignant typhus " and " ordinary fever " is quite clear, but the general public will care little what the name of a fatal disease is so long as it is fatal. But let us take the return of deaths for six months, and ascertain how many persons have died during that period in Christchurch from fevers of all hinds. The number was nine but of a

population within the town belts of, ..lajj. 1.UUP.0. ... ._Wfuce.we— to enter - into the proportion of deaths to population in the enormous area ot' country termed by the Registrar " the Chrisfcchurch District," the result would be. still more comforting. During the sis mouths ended Aug. 31, the number of deaths registered from typhoid or enteric fever for the Christchurch District — the tract of country bounded by the.Tiv.erß Waimakariri and Selwyn, exclusive ot the City of Christchurch — was eight,- and during the same period six occurred in the Christcburch hospital. The probability is, that a large proportion, perhaps one half of these cases, were contracted on shipboard, or through residence with persons suffering from fever so arisen. Thus, although we set out only with the object of demonstrating the fact that a particular kind of fever is not " rife in our midst, striking down its victims as well in the houses of the rich as well as in the hovels of the poor with merciless impartiality," we arrive at the still more welcome conclusion, that fevers of any kind are not frequent causes of death in this part of the province of Canterbury.