No. 589

(Results are parts in 100,000)

Received from Dr. F. A. W. Rivet, health officer, Green Island; date received, November 7, 1900; source, From the Green Island water-works;" how labelled, as above. Appearance: Color, greenish yellow tint; turbidity, slight; sediment, none. Odor at 100 degrees F., very slight; chlorine in chlorides, 0.80; free ammonia, 0.2370; albuminoid ammonia, 0.0100; nitrites, trace; total solids, 15.20; loss on ignition, 6.80; behavior during ignition, blackened, disagreeable odor; mineral matter, 8.40; remarks, unsatisfactory quality.

Dated at State Board of Health Laboratory, Albany, N. Y., November 12, 1900.

CONCLUSION

In addition to the above, various other articles of minor importance which have been submitted to me during the year have been examined and reported upon, and many letters of inquiry concerning food and drugs, butter colors, the coloring of wines and fruit juices, manufacturing processes, analytical methods, etc., have been answered and the information supplied or advice given to the writers. The only expense of the work of the laboratory for the year has been the salary of the director, and during the last five years, through lack of funds available for this purpose, the average expenditure for salaries, cost of samples and collection of same, traveling expenses, laboratory fittings, supplies, books and sundries has been $1693.50. For this sum a good deal of necessary and useful work has been done, as past reports it is thought will show, but until such time as special and adequate appropriation is made for providing suitable laboratory facilities and assistance, and for properly carrying on the chemical work of the Board, no extended investigations can be undertaken, and much work must be left undone which ought not to be neglected, and which it is the duty of the Board, under various laws, to perform.

Respectfully submitted.

WILLIS G. TUCKER

Director State Board of Health laboratory

ALBANY, N. Y., January 1, 1901

Sanitary Condition of the State and Summary of Mortality Reported During the Year

BY F. C. CURTIS, M. D.

There were 128,468 deaths from all causes reported during the year in the Monthly bulletin; besides which 2,086 death returns were received too late to appear therein, making the total mortality of the state for the year 130,554. With these additions the death rate for the year is 18.3 per 1000 population, estimating the population of the state at 7,110,000. This represents an average longevity of about 55 years.

The following tables show the deaths, as classified in the Monthly bulletin, for the current year and for the nine years preceding, covering the 10 years, 1891-1900, and the mortality, of the sanitary districts into which the state is divided.* It is noted that the number of deaths is greater than in either of the preceding years. The increase above the average of the series is in typhoid fever, measles, acute respiratory diseases, diseases of the digestive, urinary and circulatory systems, cancer, violence and unclassified diseases. There is decrease in acute diarrheal diseases, scarlet fever, diphtheria; also in infancy and old age.

*Maritime district: Includes New York, Brooklyn, Long Island, Staten Island and Westchester county. Hudson valley district: All the counties on either side of the Hudson river, except Westchester, to and including Albany and Rensselaer. Adirondack and Northern district: The northern section of the state-the counties of Washington, Warren, Hamilton, Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis. Mohawk valley district: Schenectady, Schoharie, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer and Oneida counties. Southern tier district: The seven counties along the southern border of the state. East central district: Sullivan, Delaware, Otsego, Madison, Chenango, Onondaga and Cortland counties. West central district: Cayuga, Tompkins, Seneca, Schuyler, Ontario, Yates, Livingston, Genesee and Wyoming counties. Lake Ontario and Western district: Oswego, Wayne, Monroe, Orleans, Niagara and Erie counties.