xist, to compare its death-rate with the average of the
state, or with the average rate of some other county which contains a
large city. This fact is plainly brought out by the statistics in Table
II, from the several sanitary districts into which the state of New York
is divided, as shown on the map, Fig. 1:--

TABLE II. SHOWING VARYING DEATH-RATES IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF NEW YORK
STATE

======================================================
| DEATH RATE IN
SANITARY DISTRICTS ---------------------------
| 1901-5 | 1906 | 1907
------------------------------------------------------
New York State | 17.1 | 17.1 | 17.5
Maritime | 19.0 | 18.2 | 18.4
Hudson Valley | 17.2 | 17.0 | 18.2
Mohawk Valley | 15.5 | 16.3 | 16.6
West Central | 15.0 | 15.6 | 16.6
Lake Ontario and Western | 14.9 | 15.5 | 15.9
East Central | 14.9 | 15.4 | 15.9
Southern Tier | 14.4 | 14.7 | 15.6
Adirondack and Northern | 13.9 | 15.1 | 15.3
======================================================

_Death-rates in New York State._

[Illustration: FIG. 1.

MAP OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHOWING THE SANITARY DISTRICTS]

The Maritime District includes the four counties of New York City and
comprises about half the population of the state. Its population is
almost entirely quartered under distinctly urban conditions, in some
parts with a congestion not equaled in any other city of the country. It
would naturally, therefore, have a high death-rate, and that it is no
higher than it is makes it a matter for congratulation. And yet the rate
in New York City is higher than in the other principal large cities of
the world. For example, the rates for the five-year period 1900-1904 in
Berlin averaged 18.3, in Paris 18.2, and in London 16.9, New York being
19.4 for the corresponding period. The excess in New York is due in part
to local conditions and in part to a less active oversight in matters of
public health. Similarly, the Hudson Valley District, which embraces the
large cities along the Hudson, has a higher death-rate than the state
average, whereas the other six districts have low rates, chiefly because
of the large proportion of agricultural land and small towns. The last
district should be noted particularly, since its rate is remarkably low
an