3527 
 15 B8 
 
 SOME 
 
 VITAL STATISTICS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OiLWILMINGTON, 
 
 v 
 
 \ 
 
 BY 
 
 L. P. BUSH. M. D. 
 
 Read before the Delaware State Medical Society, June. 1877. 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 
 
 — » ♦ « 
 
 Division. 
 
 Shelf. JVo 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 

 w^V 
 
 cr 
 
 SOME VITAL STATISTICS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF WILMINGTON. 
 
 By L. P. BUSH, M. D. 
 Read before the Delaware State Medical Society, June, 1877. 
 
 ^ v 
 
 v The object of this paper is to present to the Society some vital 
 
 statistics o** the City of Wilmington, as drawn from the Registry of 
 Deaths in that city. Unable to get time to analyze the whole Registra- 
 tion. I have taken several of the principal causes of mortality there, as 
 follows: — Typhoid Fever, Pneumonia, Diptheria, Cholera Infantum, 
 Marasmus and Inanition. Of these I have taken the record for the 
 past five years, 1872 to 1877. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to describe the topography of the City 
 of Wilmington — but I may state that west of Walnut street the city is 
 well drained, being high and rolling ; but east of that street it is nearly 
 flat. That eastern section contains about one third of the population 
 of the city. The whole city is supplied with Brandywine water, e 
 Brownville, which has been recently brought within the city limits. 
 What was called McDowellville, has been supplied with the Brandy- 
 wine water within four years — but a considerable portion of it (j{) 
 still use water from wells. 
 
 The population of Wilmington, according to the U. S. census for 
 5870, was 30,841, of which 27,630 were whites, and 3,: 1 colored. 
 
Estimating the increase since 1870, by the number of houses 
 erected, and at the rate of eleven persons to two houses, we have 
 38,000 persons at the beginning of the present year ; and an average 
 of the last five years would be 34,000. 
 
 Of this population there was the following number of deaths — • 
 January to January : 
 
 1872. 1873. I 874- 1875. 1876. 
 
 Whites. 604 543 570 721 529 
 
 Colored, 145 126 123 135 132 
 
 Total, 749 669 693 856 661 
 
 An annual average of 725. 
 
 This number includes the deaths in the Almshouse — -a large pro- 
 portion of whose inmates come from Wilmington. The proportion of 
 deaths to population in those years 1 in 47 inhabitants ; or 2.10 per 
 cent, of the whole population. 
 
 The deaths resulting from Typhoid Fever were as follows : 
 From March, 1872, to February, 1873, inclusive, 32 deaths. 
 From " 1873, to " 1874, " 26 
 
 From " 1874, to " 1875, " ! 5 
 From " 1875, to " l8 7 6 > " l8 
 
 From " 1876, to " ^77, " 17 
 
 In all, 108 deaths. Of these deaths 
 
 From 1872 to 1873, 28 were white, 4 colored, 
 From 1873 t0 l8 74, 22 " white, 4 colored, 
 From 1874 to 1875, 11 " white, 4 colored, 
 From 1875 to l8 76, 15 " white, 3 colored, 
 From 1876 to 1877, 14 " white, 3 colored. 
 Of these cases there were definitely reported as follows ; classed by 
 wards : 
 
 I 1 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 ! 3 
 
 |io 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 1 5 
 
 |I3 
 
 6 
 4 
 
 1 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 Wards. 
 
 27 
 
 1 " 
 
 8 
 
 6 ] 87 Deaths. 
 
 * Of the deaths not included in this estimate by wards, 3 occurred 
 in S. E. Wilmington and 4 in Brownsville, and the remainder were not 
 definitely reported. Indeed there is reason to believe that the mortu- 
 
 *Note. Discrepancies 111 figures occur from failure to report color. 
 
ary record of the city is not as full as it should be ; a defect which will 
 be remedied in future by the ordinance recently passed by the City 
 Council, regarding this point. 
 
 It would be impracticable without more correct statistics of the 
 population of the several wards than I possess, to make a satisfactory 
 analysis of the relative proportion of deaths in the respective wards; 
 and even with that information, it would be difficult to account for the 
 disproportion which here appears; especially between the First and 
 Second Wards. 
 
 It may be noted that the population of the First Ward is about 
 twice as great as that of the Second ; but the First Ward has the ad- 
 vantage of the Second in that many of the houses are new and the 
 situation generally more elevated and dry, with better cellar drainage, 
 and less compactness of dwellings in the new portion, and a soil com- 
 posed mainly of gravel. 
 
 It will be perceived from the above statement that the annual 
 mortality of the white population from Typhoid Fever in Wilmington, 
 estimating the average number of that class at 30,000, was during those 
 five years, 1 in 1666.66, and of the colored people 1 in n n. 
 
 The proportion of the colored and white population is as 1 to 7.5 ; 
 and the proportion of deaths, 1 colored to 4. 5 white > showing a larger 
 mortality among the former; a' difference which ordinary hygienic 
 conditions would serve to explain. 
 
 Of the total mortality from this fever an average of those five years 
 gives 1 death to 1569 persons. For the year 1875, the proportion is 
 t to 1 888 ;• and that of Philadelphia for the same year, 1 in t 9 o 5 . In 
 the epidemic ot Typhoid Fever which prevailed in Wilmington from 
 October, 1847 to i8 5 i, inclusive, the whole mortality was 89 ; and as 
 the population at that time was about 12,000, the deaths were as 1 in 
 
 C40 inhabitants. 
 
 I may here state the annual number of deaths from this disease in 
 the city proper, for the seven years, preceding 1872, were as follows : 
 !86 5 . 1866. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1S71. 
 
 14 17- l 3- lI " r ^" 
 
 'it will appear from 'this statement that notwithstanding the great 
 increase of our population since 1865, with the exception of the years 
 1872 and '73, the number of deaths from this disease had scarcely 
 
increased. Whatever may be the causes of this fever, it thus appears 
 that during the long period from 1865 to 1877, tne y have been less and 
 less operative among our people; or at least, less fatal. 
 
 It would seem from the above statistics, that the cause of this fever 
 is not inherent in any section of the city, but spreads throughout ; and 
 hence the cause or causes must be general. 
 
 In the year 1838, some cases of Typhoid Fever occurred near the 
 Brandywine Springs, four miles west of Wilmington : from which point 
 the disease spread north and west several miles, through a high, well 
 drained and cultivated country, supplied by springs and wells ; chiefly 
 the latter. It seemed in part to have been extended by contagion, but 
 not exclusively. Nor has a sufficient explanation of that epidemic yet 
 been offered. If we refer it to the impurity or contamination of the 
 drinking water by the drainage from cess-pools, it may be replied that 
 the rain-fall from 1835 to 1840 was 49 inches, annuai average, nearly 
 8 inches more annually than for the next five years, and 4^ inches 
 more than from 1845 t0 ^50; so that it is evident that the concentra- 
 tion of the drainage impurities in the water must have been less in the 
 years of the prevalence of the disease than for ten years following, 
 when it had in a great measure subsided. No such visitation has been 
 experienced in that section, since that time. 
 
 And here, I would urge upon the members of the Society, the im- 
 portance of reporting to the Society's committee for the coming year, 
 the number of cases of this disease which comes under their observation, 
 and also the months of their occurrence, ages, occupation, color, sex, 
 cause as far as ascertained, together with the other facts requested by 
 the committee. This would be one step towards utilizing our experi- 
 ence for public benefit, and towards resolving the yet unsolved problem 
 of the chief cause or causes of this disease. Physicians in the country, 
 and in towns, unsupplied by public reservoirs, could add greatly to the 
 knowledge of the causes, and mode of prevention of this disease, so 
 much and so justly dreaded. 
 
 If it be true, that one chief cause of this, and other Zymotic 
 diseases is to be found in the impurities of the water we drink, how 
 important is it that we should know it, in order to control the cause. 
 We have, until recently, sought for its origin chiefly, if not exclusively 
 in the impurities of the atmosphere, within and without doors; in per- 
 sonal uncleanliness ; over-work, whether of body or mind, and other 
 
5 
 
 li' e agencies. And these causes cannot be ignored ; for it must be 
 apparent that as the winter months advance, and the houses of the 
 people are more and more closed, and ventilation becomes less and less 
 a fact; when the chambers of the sleeping population are shut in to 
 keep out the cold, and with the same effectiveness keeps out the air : 
 when multitudes go unwashed during the whole winter, sending off 
 from their bodies heavy and pernicious exhalations, we must be satisfied 
 that these factors are not without their importance in the production of 
 these diseases. It had doubtless been long an insalvable riddle, to 
 many other physicians besides myself, that the prevalence of Typhoid 
 Fever did not at all correspond with the existence of the above men- 
 tioned conditions, so long considered as the main remote causes of it. 
 I well remember, that on one of the last visits of the late Dr. Samuel 
 Jackson, of the University of Pennsylvania, to this city, a man who 
 had all his life been studying this disease, and wiio was among the very 
 first to recognize its existence in Philadelphia, he remarked, that he was 
 often utterly at a loss to specify a satisfactory cause or causes of this 
 disease. 
 
 In view of these considerations, we may feel ourselves prepared to 
 consider the present theory, which yearly gains strength, that one great 
 cause of Typhoid Fever may be found as much in what enters our 
 stomach as our lun^s. 
 
 Since the attention of physicians has been called to this subject, 
 numerous facts have been brought forward which show the great power 
 for evil that is exercised by the water we drink. And here we find 
 something to help us understand the existence of this fever in high and 
 well-drained districts, inhabited by thrifty and wealthy farmers, whose 
 fields and barns show every evidence of high agricultural cultivation. 
 The drinking water of those farms is usually drawn from wells sunk 
 long before the subject of hygiene occupied the thoughts even of phy- 
 sicians, except in a very general way. From the inconvenience which 
 arises from privies when placed too remotely from the house, they often 
 occupy a situation very near the pumps, and hence render the water 
 liable to be impregnated with the drainage from the cess-pool. The 
 distance to which this percolation extends, varies greatly, being depend- 
 ant upon the nature of the soil, and the relative depth and situation of 
 wells. From too to 200 feet, under favorable circumstances, has the 
 drainage from a privy been ascertained to extend, by showing itself in 
 
the drinking well. Besides the unpleasant impression produced by such 
 facts, the danger to health and life is far more serious than is usually 
 supposed or believed. It is especially so after long droughts, when the 
 water in the wells becomes low, that the consequences of these impuri- 
 ties show themselves. At other times, when the flow of water, and con- 
 sequent dilution are great, but little inconvenience may be experienced, 
 for long periods, or not at all. But there is a point ot saturation by 
 this septic matter, which is sometimes reached at length, and then the 
 anti-hygienic results develop themselves unexpectedly, and unaccount- 
 ably, if not carefully investigated. 
 
 Enough perhaps has been said to stimulate attention to this sub- 
 ject, in the hope that we may be led to examine further into the evi- 
 dences of this agent as one cause of Typhoid fever and other zymotic 
 diseases. The only instrumentality by which this, and kindred sub- 
 jects can be established if true, or discredited if false, is that of Phy- 
 sicians. It is and always has been our province to do a great deal for 
 the community for which we receive neither thanks or reward, except 
 we have it in the consciousness of doing good. Under the influence 
 of ignorance upon these subjects of health and hygiene, and of preju- 
 dice against them, as at variance with the teachings of their limited 
 and defective observation and experience, we need not expect much 
 assistance from the people generally, but rather opposition ; until after 
 repeated and long continued efforts, and the demonstration of facts, 
 to the meaning of which their eyes have been opened, they are brought 
 to appreciate that there may be value, and can at least be no harm in 
 encouraging the dissemination of these truths. At the last meeting of 
 our Legislature the Committee appointed by the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation, in conjunction with a like Committee from this Society, pre- 
 pared a bill for the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and 
 also one for the establishment of a State Board of Health ; but as an 
 illustration of what has just been said, that body could not see the 
 necessity for their enactment, and they were indefinitely postponed. 
 It is to be hoped that when our State Representatives convene again 
 they may take a more favorable view of the matter and that these bills 
 may become a law. But in order to do this we must show our appre- 
 ciation of the value of these subjects by our endeavors to impress them 
 upon the minds of our Representatives and the people, whenever op- 
 portunity offers, and it must be made to appear to them that in this- 
 
matter it is not Physicians that art? to be benefitted, but the people, 
 whose interests they, the Legislature, are elected to maintain ; and 
 that not in subjects political and material only, but also in those which 
 pertain to their comfort and their very existence. It is very true that 
 the faithful execution of such laws as these involve no inconsiderable 
 amount of time and inconvenience to Physicians— but as before said, 
 this is a duty incumbent upon us, and inherent in our profession, and 
 which we are bound to be ready to perform. Thus acting, we show 
 ourselves to be worthy successors of that noble army of philanthro- 
 pists, who have, from the days of Hippocrases spent time, ease, and 
 life in the cause of humanity, by labouring to evolve light from dark- 
 ness, truth from error, and to diminish the amount of suffering entailed 
 upon man by reason of transgression of the laws of his physical and 
 moral nature, which are the laws of God. 
 
 The next disease the statistics of which will be presented is Dlp- 
 theria. This is a disease whose presence in Wilmington is bounded by 
 the year i860, when the first case was reported to the Register of 
 Deaths. From the year 1847, wnen the Registry was commenced, to 
 the year i860, but nine deaths were reported from throat disease, none 
 of them under the name of Diptheria. From i86oto 1865, inclusive, 
 there occurred 71 deaths from this disease, and for the succeeding six 
 years the deaths were 46. 
 
 i860. 1861. 1862. i36 3 . 1S64. 1865. 
 
 20. 
 
 18. o 20. 4. 9. 
 1866. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871 
 
 7. 8. 10. 7. 
 
 8. 6. 
 
 During the five years from march, 1872, to March, 1877, the 
 number of deaths from this disease as reported, was 61, of which 52 
 were whites and 9 colored persons, tabulated as follows, by Wards : 
 1 1 ^ I 3 1 4 [ 7TM~7 1 8 1 9 "Wards. 
 
 „ "j 5 1 9 J 3 I 11 J 3 I 1 J 16 1 1 Deaths. 
 
 The increase of this Zymotic disease since the year i860, before 
 which time it was almost unknown, shows that the causes producing it 
 must be more active than previously. What are those causes ? There 
 is an increase of population, two and a half times, and a consequent 
 
increase of compactedness ; in i860 the population being 21,508; 
 now 38,000 ; but" on the contrary, with the increase of population 
 came an increase of warm and dry dwellings, small and close together 
 it is true, but attended with an improvement in the means and mode 
 of living. 
 
 There has been also an increase of manufactures along the Brandy- 
 wine by several hundred per cent, and a consequent increase of refuse 
 maierials thrown into the water since i860. But by the analysis of 
 Messrs. Booth and Garrett, and of Prof. Aikin, in 1863, and that of 
 Prof. Wolf, of Delaware College, this year, the quantity of organic 
 and saline matter seem to be about the same in character and quantity 
 then as now. There has been also a great improvement in the hy- 
 geinic condition of the city by street paving, and by the filling up of 
 ponds and sloughs in certain sections. 
 
 If there is a change in any respect unfavorable to the health of 
 the city it would seem to be in the water we drink. Whatever stress 
 may be laid upon the impurities from the factories, it is quadrupled by 
 those which are swept into the Brandywine by every heavy rainfall 
 from the hillsides and valleys, consisting of earthy and excrementitious 
 substances. 
 
 One important fact maybe observed. During the years 1847 to 
 1851, when the typhoid fever prevailed as above remarked, to an 
 alarming extent among us, almost no deaths from throat disease are 
 recorded, showing that the causes of these diseases are not identical. 
 This conclusion also seems justifiable from the additional fact that the 
 mortuary record of the two diseases here, after the establishment of 
 the Diptheria among us, bear no especial relation to each other. 
 
 The proportion of colored and white cases is 9 of the former to 
 52 of the latter, which is nearly : to 6. This is a disease which chief- 
 ly affects children under 10 years of age, and is most prevalent in the 
 cold months. In 1873 no death occurred from June to October; in 
 1S75 an d 1876 none from March to September, inclusive. 
 
 Of all the Acute Diseases, Cholera Infantum stands at the head of 
 the list of mortality. Originating in the high thermometrical range of 
 June, July and August, it hurries through its devastating course, and 
 leaves behind it a multitude of slain innocents. No sex or station of 
 life is exempt from its power : but its chief spoils are among the child- 
 ren of poverty and ignorance. In the same five years, during the 
 
9 
 
 months of June, July, August and September, were 168 deaths, an 
 annual average of 33 3-5, of which 143 where whites and 25 colored. 
 Of these, 102 died in July — a fearful mortality when we consider that 
 these subjects come chiefly from that portion of the population under 
 three years of age. 
 
 The proportion in these cases of colored to white, is 1 to 5.7 — 
 showing a greater mortality in the former than in the latter ; when 
 compared with Typhoid Fever and Diptheria. 
 
 The relative mortality by wards is as follows . 
 
 *. 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 i 
 
 7 1 
 
 8 1 
 
 9 Wards. 
 
 39 1 
 
 7 
 
 20 | 
 
 '5 , 
 
 21 
 
 ^3 1 
 
 9 
 
 | 2 o 
 
 4 Deaths. 
 
 Besides these, were a number of cases residence not reported. 
 
 From the year i860 to 1872, inclusive, the deaths were as follows 
 from Cholera Infantum : 
 i860. 1861. 1862. 1863. 1864. 1S65. 1866. 
 
 22. 
 1867. 
 
 1868. 
 
 12. 
 1869. 
 
 14* 
 
 1870. 
 
 21 . 
 1871. 
 
 19. 
 
 1872. 
 
 15. 32. 26. 23. 28. 43. 
 
 Of Croup, the following is the simple record of deaths 
 
 Months 
 
 a 
 
 Feb. 
 March. 
 
 ft 
 
 <! 
 
 2 
 
 <6 
 
 5 
 
 1 — 1 
 
 
 ft 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Q 
 
 
 1871. | 1 | 1 
 
 1 | j j i 1 
 
 | | 
 
 | 4 
 
 *&7 2 - | j 3 | 3 
 
 | | | | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 
 
 2 | 17 
 
 1873. | 1 | 1 
 
 2 | oj 2 | oj 1 { 2 | | 4 
 
 1 1 13 
 
 1874. | 1 1 2 j 
 
 I | 3 | O | OJ T 1 O | 6 | 2 
 
 2 | 18 
 
 1875- 3 1 3 1 1 1 ° 
 
 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | 1 | | 1 | 15 
 
 1876. 
 
 '1 
 
 3| 3 
 
 O 
 
 OJ O 1 1 I 1 o| 2 1 2 | O | 12 
 
 Of Marasmus and Inanition the same five years give a result of 
 153 deaths — or 30 3-5 annually, of which 122 were whites, and 31 
 colored. Showing a greater proportion of blacks (viz: 1 in 4.) than 
 in Cholera Infantum. 
 
 Of Pneumonia we find a mortality of 91 in those 5 years — 60 
 
 whites and 31 colored. In the N. E. section, 23; N. W., 9; S. E., 
 
 14; S. W., 19. These figures show wheie the danger to the sons of 
 
 Africa come from — not so much from his stomach and bowels as from 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 his lungs, the proportion of deaths from this disease of white to col- 
 ored being scarcely 2 to i. 
 
 This is an appropriate remark, for while, as a class, the colored 
 people are worse housed and fed, and less cleanly than white day labo- 
 rers generally are, yet these causes should operate equally upon them 
 in the production of Cholera Morbus, as in Phthisis and Pneumonia. 
 But as such is not the case, we say that these facts go to prove that 
 that class are peculiarly subject, in a fatal degree, to diseases of the 
 respiratory organs. 
 
 The only remaining disease to be mentioned is Phthisis. The 
 whole mortality from this disease in the same years was 418 — of which 
 325 were white, and 93 colored; the proportion being 3^ of the 
 former to 1 of the latter ; and the ratio of deaths to population 1 in 
 81 persons. In the successive years, commencing with 1872, the deaths 
 from this cause, were 75, 87, 70, 96, and 90; a mean annual mortality 
 of 83.60 ; which is at the rate of 10.75 P er cent - of the whole mortali- 
 ty. In this, and in all other reports of special diseases here made r 
 the deaths in the Almshouse are not included. The deaths per cent, 
 from Phthisis to the whole mortality of the following places, is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Rome, 9 per cent. 
 
 Naples, 8 
 
 New York, 1 866-' 70, 13.7 
 Brooklyn, 1868, . 14.84 
 San Francisco, 1877, 1 3-5° 
 Philadelphia, " 13.16 
 Wilmington, '72-' 77, 10.75 
 Boston, . . . . 14.17 
 
 These are but a few of the results which might be obtained from a 
 thorough analysis of the mortuary record of our city. As the first at- 
 tempt however, to condense them it will form a foundation for some 
 more patient worker in these statistics ; while we await the time when 
 the municipal authorities will have learned the importance to the com- 
 munity and to the city, of a complete annual report of its vital statis- 
 tics, and will provide a competent person to prepare such report. 
 
 The mortality of the city from 1850 to 1876 was as follows 
 
 Paris, 
 
 13.4 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 Belgium, 
 
 16 
 
 t i 
 
 (< 
 
 England, 
 
 12 
 
 i i 
 
 1 i 
 
 Frankford, 
 
 2 5 
 
 " 
 
 ti 
 
 Vienna, . 
 
 20 
 
 a 
 
 i ( 
 
 Berlin, . 
 
 !75 
 
 1 t 
 
 I I 
 
 Geneva. 
 
 9-7 
 
 is 
 
 it 
 
 Turin, 
 
 9 
 
 t t 
 
 It 
 
 Venice, . 
 
 9 
 
 it 
 
 It 
 
II 
 
 Whole No. 
 
 W: 
 
 Col. 
 
 
 Whole No. 
 
 W. 
 
 Col. 
 
 296 
 
 224 
 
 72 
 
 1864. 
 
 478 
 
 413 
 
 65 
 
 35i 
 
 289 
 
 62 
 
 1865. 
 
 469 
 
 4c 2 
 
 67 
 
 355 
 
 265 
 
 90 
 
 1866. 
 
 439 
 
 346 
 
 93 
 
 358 
 
 273 
 
 85 
 
 1867. 
 
 45 6 
 
 383 
 
 73 
 
 420 
 
 318 
 
 102 
 
 1868. 
 
 538 
 
 470 
 
 68 
 
 422 
 
 339 
 
 83 
 
 1869. 
 
 494 
 
 424 
 
 70 
 
 461 
 
 37r 
 
 90 
 
 1870. 
 
 5 2 4 
 
 45 6 
 
 68 
 
 5io 
 
 425 
 
 85 
 
 1871, 
 
 534 
 
 434 
 
 100 
 
 423 
 
 320 
 
 103 
 
 1872. 
 
 761 
 
 616 
 
 145 
 
 453 
 
 362 
 
 9 1 
 
 1873. 
 
 663 
 
 543 
 
 120 
 
 434 
 
 338 
 
 96 
 
 1874. 
 
 6 93 
 
 57o 
 
 123 
 
 421 
 
 343 
 
 78 
 
 1875- 
 
 75 6 
 
 721 
 
 x 35 
 
 472 
 
 39 6 
 
 76 
 
 1876. 
 
 661 
 
 5 2 9 
 
 132 
 
 489 
 
 412 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 
 
 1850. 
 1851. 
 1852. 
 
 1853- 
 1854. 
 
 1855- 
 
 1856. 
 
 1857. 
 1858. 
 1859. 
 i860. 
 1861. 
 1862. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Previously to 1865 the number of interments from abroad were 
 included in the death rate by an oversight of the several Registrars. 
 The number varied from none to 1 2 burials per month. 
 
 From the Vital Report of the City of Richmond, for 1876, it ap- 
 pears that the population was, of white people 42,830, of colored 
 people 32,170. 
 
 Of the white population there was one birth to 40.36. 
 " " colored " << << one " " 36.72. 
 
 Of the white " " <• one death " 57.57. 
 
 " " colored " ". " one " " 35-54- 
 
 That the whites gained by births over deaths, 317 
 
 That the colored lost by deaths over births, 29 
 
 The colored people form so large an item in the population of 
 both Richmond and Wilmington, (though far greater in the former 
 than the latter) that a fact such as that just mentioned is interesting 
 and important ; but from the want of a record of births in Wilmington, 
 it is impossible to make any approximation to a true estimate of the 
 gains or losses. 
 
 Hence we see the importance of a record of births ; and not of 
 births only, but also of marriages. It is impossible without all of these 
 to ascertain the inherent vitality and prosperity of any community. 
 We know that our population is increasing ; and that knowledge was 
 perhaps sufficient a hundred years ago ; but it is a fact unworthy of an 
 intelligent community that it is satisfied with the gross knowledge of 
 
12 
 
 an increase, without knowing bow, or whence it comes ; and whether 
 the lives of its citizens could not be prolonged, and thus the strength 
 and prosperity of the people be greatly increased. Independent of the 
 personal affliction which death induces, it is often an irreparable loss 
 to the community, when a person fitted by education and experience 
 for usefulness, is hurried out of the world by preventable causes, which, 
 however unseen they may be, are none the less potent for evil. Large 
 sums of money are expended annually by the public to fit our children 
 for citizenship ; is it wise to overlook the careful investigation of causes 
 which will shorten their lives, and deprive the public of their services ? 
 These remarks are appropriate not to Wilmington merely, — for 
 that city has a Board of Health, long established, but not without ma- 
 terial defects, and the Vital Reports are insufficient as just stated, — but 
 the whole State has need of a waking up to the importance of an in- 
 telligent supervision of the interests pertaining to the health of her 
 citizens. Important as the political concerns of a State may be, and 
 are, they are not the only public interest to which the people should 
 devote "their attention. 
 
 Assuming that a record of births should be kept, and that it will 
 be kept, and the sooner the better, the following is suggested as the 
 most feasible plan. The points to be ascertained are as follows : Date 
 of birth, sex, color, alive or still-born, name, name and nation of 
 father, ditto of mother. 
 
 The proper person to obtain thes^ facts is the Assessor, to whose 
 labors it would add but little, and who could readily get all these data 
 even to the name, which the Physician could seldom obtain at the time 
 of birth. Besides, many children are born when no Physician is 
 present, nor even a midwife, and consequently no report would be 
 made, whereas all these could be gathered up by the Assessor. 
 
 A dime or less for each case would compensate the officer for his 
 trouble ; would add very little to the expenses of the city or county, 
 and would greatly enhance the knowledge as well as the credit of the 
 community.