STILLBIRTHS. The recorded number of stillbirths in the District of Columbia during 1907 was 570. This is a falling off from the record of 1906 of 68 cases. The laxity of the present legal requirements, by which it is not necessary to make any report at all of stillbirths in those cases where the foetus delivered has apparently not passed the fifth month of utero gestation, has, no doubt, influenced the number of these returns. These stillborn children may be disposed of in any manner desired by those in charge of them and without any form of registration prior to such disposal. Such conditions seem to me a serious danger to child life, and if it were possible to obtain proper and correct statistics on the subject of stillbirths, the enormous number, without doubt, would excite surprise. Respectfully, WILLIAM C. WOODWARD, M. D., A. C. PATTERSON, M. D. Health Officer, District of Columbia. 71552-D c 1908-VOL 3——16 APPENDIX I. TABLE la.-Showing deaths and death rates in the District of Columbia during the calendar year 1907, arranged with reference to race and sex, and classified with reference to causes of death. Tubercle of the larynx. 27 Tubercle of the lungs. Tubercle of the meninges. .090 .156 .109 |