(source: Official Journal No 33 of Saturday 18 March 1876, pages 4 and following - extracts)
(...) The number of deaths (in January 1876) is 30.25 above the average of the past year.
In January 1875 the deaths were 202; they happen to be 42 lower than those of January 1876.
They break down as follows by districts:
Districts | Total | Sexe | Population | Number of deaths | ||
M | F | Per 1'000 population | Per 1'000 population | |||
Neuchâtel | 59 | 34 | 25 | 20'261 | 29.1 | 29.7 |
Boudry | 34 | 16 | 18 | 12'176 | 27.9 | 26 |
Val-de-Travers | 35 | 20 | 15 | 16'554 | 21.1 | 24.6 |
Val-de-Ruz | 23 | 13 | 10 | 9'297 | 25.8 | 24.6 |
Locle | 34 | 23 | 11 | 17'416 | 19.5 | 22.9 |
Chaux-de-Fonds | 59 | 34 | 25 | 24'996 | 23.6 | 26.2 |
Canton | 244 | 140 | 104 | 100'700 | 24.3 | 25.7 |
Monthly avergae 1875 | 213.75 | 116.66 | 97.09 | - | - | - |
When this figure exceeds 17 deaths per 1,000 population, it may be admitted that much remains to be improved in the field of public and private hygiene.
According to age, they are distributed by districts as follows:
Districts
| ||||||||
Ages | Neuchâtel | Boudry | Va-de-Travers | Val-de-Ruz | Locle | Chaux-de-Fonds | Total | Monthly average for 1875 |
Stillborn | 1 | - | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 17.25 |
Bel one yr | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 57 | 57.3 |
Fm 1 to 5 yrs | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 14.1 |
Fm 5 to 10 yrs | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 2.75 |
Fm 10 to 20 yrs | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 9 |
Fm 20 to 30 yrs | 8 | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 15 |
Fm 30 to 40 yrs | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 17.15 |
Fm 40 to 50 yrs | 9 | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 4 | 17 | 16.5 |
Fm 50 to 60 yrs | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 18.4 |
Fm 60 to 70 yrs | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 20 |
Fme 70 to 80 yrs | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 18 |
80 and above | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7.5 |
Unknown age | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.8 |
Canton | 59 | 34 | 35 | 23 | 34 | 59 | 244 | |
Monthly average for 1875 | 48.05 | 26 | 33.5 | 19 | 33.4 | 53.8 | - | 213.75 |
Causes of death:
The number of stillborns forms the 8.1% of the total number of deaths and 5.7% of births in 1875, 8.2% and 5.9% for January 1876.
The number of children who died during the first year of life accounted for 26% of deaths and 19% of births.
In 1876, there were 17 deaths from senile marasmus. Of these, 7 were over 80, 1 in Neuchâtel (81), 2 in Boudry (1 in Colombier, 84 and 1 in France). Boudry, 82), 2 in the district of Val-de-Travers (1 in St-Sulpice, 85 years old and the other in Buttes, 86 years old); 1 in the Locle district (Les Ponts, 87), and 1 in La Chaux-de-Fonds (in La Sagne, 88).
Diseases caused more or less by poor hygiene and unsanitary conditions are:
Cause | January 1875 | Monthly avge 1875 | January 1876 |
Typhoid fever | 10 | 8.0 | 12 |
Acute rheumatism | 3 | 0.9 | 1 |
Diarrhea | 5 | 9.5 | 8 |
Seizures | 7 | 13.5 | 18 |
Pulmonary phthisis | 14 | 20.33 | 13 |
Anemia | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Alcoolism | 1 | 1.58 | 1 |
The group of diseases due more or less to the inclemency of the climate and the season and to the lack of hygienic precautions, appear in the table with the number of the following deaths:
Cause | January 1875 | Monthly average 1875 | January 1876 |
Pneumonia | 16 | 10 | 19 |
Bronchitis | 9 | 9.2 | 19 |
Pleurisy (1) | 2 | 2.25 | 2 |
Croup (2) | 1 | 1.33 | 3 |
Whooping cough | 2 | 1.41 | 1 |
Cerebral apoplexy (3) | 7 | 6.67 | 6 |
Influenza | - | 2.4 | 1 |
Peritonitis | 2 | 7.8 | 3 |
Acute enteritis (4) | 2 | 6.67 | 2 |
Bright's disease (5) | 3 | 1.42 | 1 |
(1) Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura. The pleura is a double membrane, one of which covers the lungs and the other adheres to the walls of the chest. The pleurisy can be acute or chronic, unilateral or bilateral.
(2) Croup is an infection that causes the trachea and larynx to swell. This is what happens when your child gets a cold.
Croup usually affects children from one to three years of age, but can affect children of any age; it lasts about five or six days.
(3) Apoplexy: abrupt cessation of brain activity due to an accident of blood circulation in the brain. It can cause immediate death.
(4) Acute enteritis: inflammation of the intestine
(5) Illness of Bright: former name of nephritis, diagnosed by Richard Bright