A Comparative View of the Mortality of the Human Species, at All Ages / And of the Diseases and Casualties by Which They Are Destroyed or Annoyed. Illustrated With Charts and Tables

by William Black

There are between eighty and ninety diseases and casualties enumerated in the London bills, which, in the subsequent comments, I have disentangled into their separate genera. But, to prevent the possibility of aberration, after the chart of London diseases, I have added a correct Medical Chart of all the principal diseases and casualties with which mankind, in every part of the earth and ocean, are afflicted or harrassed. This will operate as a check and correction to the public registers; and by this, the defects and errors in the London bills will be apparent; and it will serve as an index to our future commentaries. But objections and difficulties occur in our researches for collateral information and illustration from hospital records. The reasons are glaring, why, in the latter, diseases should be less fatal; and in this respect, cities should have the advantage of the country. We cannot therefore apply hospital registers as a general criterion to a nation. Whenever authentic and systematic records of diseases, recovery, and mortality, are kept in hospitals, domestick as well as military, and annually published, whatever may be alledged respecting the importance and demerits of such institutions, the community, at all events, will derive much useful information.

[A CHART of all the Fatal Diseases and Casualties in London, during 75 Years;]
Beginning from 1701, and ending with 1776.

Collected from the London Bills of Mortality, and arranged into Five separate progressive Periods of Fifteen Years each.

The Total Amount of the Five Periods, or Seventy-five Years Mortality, is added together in the Sixth Column.

DISEASES AND CASUALTIES.	Fifteen Years, from 1701 to 1717.	From 1717 to 1732.	From 1732 to 1747.	From 1747 to 1762.	From 1762 to 1777.	Total Amount of Seventy-five Years Mortality, from 1701 to 1777.
Ague	80	198	82	99	109	574
Fevers. Malignant, Spotted, Scarlet, and Purple	50,955	53,330	57,995	45,621	48,594	256,085
Small Pox	22,219	34,448	29,462	29,165	36,276	151,570
Measles	1,972	2,618	2,858	3,099	3,319	13,866
Quincy, Sore Throat	226	169	287	306	309	1,297
Pleurisy	384	602	811	407	321	3,525
Rheumatism	368	447	310	175	128	1,468
Gout	313	645	769	803	1,010	3,236
Consumption	42,541	49,680	66,009	61,749	68,949	288,928
Chin Cough, Hooping Cough, Cough	116	632	1,692	2,755	4,252	9,573
Asthma and Tissick	5,090	7,938	9,460	5,699	6,154	34,341
Apoplexy and Suddenly	2,228	3,013	3,287	3,271	3,353	15,152
Palsy	332	550	621	1,021	1,020	3,544
Lethargy	105	126	116	105	74	526
Meagrims	13	10	—	—	—	23
Headach	21	32	6	18	—	77
Lunatick	412	513	777	1,126	1,048	3,876
Spleen and Vapours	53	52	20	—	—	125
Rising of the Lights	1,219	1,239	197	30	10	2,074
Stoppage of the Stomach	4,139	2,557	2,286	304	179	9,465
Vomiting and Looseness	820	682	248	134	120	2,004
Cholic, Gripes, and Twisting of the Guts	13,668	11,032	3,739	1,475	796	29,710
Flux	178	200	—	252	341	971
Bloody Flux	133	248	167	94	93	745
Worms	697	662	161	115	56	1,691
Jaundice	1,261	1,798	2,032	1,729	2,089	8,909
Gravel, Stone, and Strangury	789	868	700	421	429	3,205
Diabetes	37	48	19	16	5	125
Dropsy and Tympany	11,626	15,430	16,036	13,410	14,038	70,506
Livergrown	76	95	75	23	—	269
French Pox	917	1,372	1,663	997	1,016	5,965
Scurvy	63	28	14	59	42	226
Evil	1,020	519	426	197	198	2,360
Leprosy	19	53	69	39	15	1,915
Rash	77	128	47	59	24	341
Itch	—	—	42	31	11	84
Childbed	3,560	3,894	3,412	3,005	3,186	17,057
Abortion, and Stillborn	8,746	10,231	8,793	8,820	10,241	46,831
Chrisoms and Infants	850	315	606	—	—	1,771
Miscarriage	—	—	47	56	49	152
Convulsions	91,660	114,718	111,966	85,196	89,221	492,761
Headmold-shot, and Water in the Head	609	2,374	2,013	1,022	337	6,355
Teeth	18,478	25,199	20,274	13,978	11,918	89,847
Thrush	839	1,191	1,512	1,391	1,101	6,034
Scald Head	9	15	29	22	—	75
Rickets	3,916	1,383	954	112	104	6,569
Inflammation	8	67	698	894	1,394	3,061
Imposthume	790	694	387	191	84	2,130
St. Anthony’s Fire	—	73	36	63	69	241
Gangrene and Mortification	1,071	2,857	3,362	3,083	3,023	13,438
Canker	138	181	123	77	61	580
Cancer	1,041	1,059	774	682	719	2,475
Sores and Ulcers	695	485	402	253	236	2,071
Fistula	360	202	210	134	119	1,025
Bursten and Ruptures	310	309	304	163	140	1,226
Swelling and Wen	6	—	47	49	37	139
Killed by Falls, Bruises, Fractures, and other Accidents	828	917	926	1,084	1,065	4,820
Self-Murder	445	667	693	555	509	2,869
Murdered	135	109	147	71	77	539
Stabbed, Killed, Wounded, Shot, &c.	15	32	13	—	—	60
Executed	—	—	495	495	1,020
Drowned	907	1,193	1,444	1,718	1,781	7,043
Burnt	90	54	90	127	132	493
Scalded	19	36	45	51	40	191
Stifled, Suffocated, and Smothered	13	34	62	90	68	276
Overlaid	817	1,180	1,293	414	95	3,799
Found dead	388	557	668	336	133	2,082
Grief	—	267	—	87	77	421
Frightened	8	14	8	13	2	45
Surfeits	685	131	59	31	27	933
Starved	—	17	96	53	57	223
Excessive Drinking	19	267	678	189	69	1,222
Bleeding	87	69	57	70	114	397
Poisoned	2	7	7	24	10	40
Bit by Mad Dogs and Cats	—	3	14	15	6	38
Bedridden	—	104	—	56	105	265
Aged	27,341	34,708	30,058	25,109	22,032	139,248

A MEDICAL CATALOGUE of all the principal Diseases and Casualties by which the Human Species are destroyed or annoyed.

Fevers. Intermittent, quotidian, tertian, quartan, species and varieties.

—— Remittent, Continued, and Eruptive; remittent, and the species, nervous and putrid, miliary, inflammatory, small pox natural and inoculated, measles, scarlet fever, some cutaneous eruptions, mixed and anomalous fevers, plague, sweating sickness.

Fevers with topical inflammation of the brain, of the fauces, including angina inflammatory and putrid, pleurisy, and peripneumony, inflammations of the heart, diaphragm, liver, spleen, stomach, intestines, kidneys and ureters, bladder, peritoneum, erysipelas, acute and chronic rheumatism, regular and irregular gout. Internal suppuration and gangrene.