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Show . \)() ACCLIMATION; OR TIIE INFLUENCE OF TAIJLE SliOW.lNO 't'HE NUMBER OF DEATJIS, FOR EACII YEAR, AMONG TIIFJ COLOltlm POPUf,A'L'ION O:E' CfiARLESTON, WI'l'li SOME 011' TilE CAUSES OF Dl!JA1'll, ANll 'l'llE!lt LONQl.!JVITY. TIAU. 0 ~~ ~ ~..; t§ AOE/l. tt ~ r,:il ·B t!~ [ t ~~~ :§ ·a .-3 "" ~ .~ ~ jJ 8 ~ ~ :s jg [!! ~ '"'· ~ ;Jl~ ~ .~d 8 .!l ~ ~ .9 8 rr'"" ~~~ ~ ~ ·--· --· --· --· --· -· --· --· -- 4 4 8 ... 84 68 15 9 2 . ... 1 4 5 ... SJ2 70 21 0 2 . ... 8 3 (j "i j 25 5() 21) 5 2 .... 7 7 10 2!) 75 20 9 4 124 7 8 12 ... 40 91 23 6 1 . ... 8 3 13 ... 44 118 26 10 10 .... 0 18 30 1 64 138 89 13 7 809 8 18 ... 58 188 26 12 8 .... 5 14 16 55 140 40 13 4 612 J 4 10 ... 56 118 34 18 8 . ... 1846.. ......... ... 349 JR47.. ............ 330 1848.............. 810 184\J.............. 36() 1850.. ...... ...... 482 1861.............. 68!l 8 11!62........ ...... 721 3 1R53.. ...... ...... 088 20 JR54.............. 756 42 1855.. ............ 68G 4 Among the causes of death, we have selected only those which belong particulal'ly to the climate, and those which press most on tho blacks. It appeal't~ that very few di d from bowel complaints or marsh fevers; nord tho whit s hero sufl:cr much more feom any of these, except yello~ fever. l!,ifteen of the colored p oplo di d one year from yellow io~ r; but, doubtless, they were mo!:!tly mulattoes. A good many dt from mm·asmus- most of which cases arc ~crofula; but the term is often used witJ10ut a very definite meanJng; and we hav , therefore, not put it in the above table. Trismus nascentium an~ tetanus fot·m a very largo item- an average of 42 1:o~· annum; b~mg ~bout 7 to 1, c?mparocl to tho whites. >:rho great-st. outlot of bfc w1ll be fouud m the organs of respiration. Tho rat~o of those, to dea,tlts from all causes, is, among tho color d populattOn, 19.3 per cont.; and, among tho whites, the cl aths from disoases of tho r spiratory organs give a ratio of 17.8 per cont. It Hhould be rem::u·ked, that the mortality from tbis class of d' 1 . . 1scaso , among w utes, 1n tho tables of Cl1arloston, is really groat r than it ~:~hould ~e;. for many port:~ons como from tho N Ol'th to harleston, to romam 01 thor p t'llHtnontly or for a short time, on nccount of weal lungs or actual. phthisis, and di there-thus giving a p rcentago of rlcaths, from tlus cause, larg r than would be account d for by local .ausos. Tho co~ored I opulation, on tho contra.ry, is a native an<I :hx~d class. Tlns colored population, too, suffi'rs more than the whJt s fe m typhus and all pidomic diseases, exc pt y llow fever. But ?no ~f tho most remarkable features in this table, is tl10 O'rcat 1ongovtty of tho. blacl. a. Whil tho whites, in a nearly equal a~grogato of populatwu, gwo but 15 deaths uotweon 90 aud 100, and 'but OLIMA'l'E AND DISEASES 0N .!\fAN. 301 1 death above 100 years, the blacks, for tho same period of ton years, give 101 deaths between 90 and 100 years of ago, and 38 deaths over 100 years! Thoro have been many disputes about tho compamtivo longevity of races; but all the statistics of our outhcrn "tatcs would ~:~corn to p1·ovo, tha-t tho ncgl'ocs arc tho longest-lived race in tho worl<l; and if a longevity of any other race can be shown, equal to tho blacks of Charleston, we have boon unable to :find tho statistics. On a review of tho tables of mortality fl'om Chal'loston, it will u seen that tho average mortality of tho coloJ·cd population, for the last ton years, is 1 in 43.6-about the same ratio as tho eighteen previous years. When it is romombcrod that this is oxclnAivoly a laboring cla>~s, and inchtdin()' a cousidcrahlo proportion of fl'o colored population, it cannot but excite out· wond r. It proves two points: 1. That the black races assimilate readily to om· climate; 2. That they arc hero in a more favorable condition than any laboring class in tho world. It should, perhaps, be remarked, tl1at, in a warrn climate, a pauper population aud laboring class do not sufrcr fl'Om tho want of protection against cold and. it!:! di oases; whi ·h, at the Not·tb, cause, among those classes, a lar•.,.o proportion of their mortality. Even in tJ1c sickliest parts of our Sou.thern tat s, thot·o arc more examples of longevity, among tho whites, than at·c soon in cold climates; for tho reason, I presume, that tho fc bloncss of ago ofl:'ors little r sistanco to tho rigor of nol'thcrn climates. This, however, <.l.ocs not prove that the average duration of lifo is greatct· South . than Nol'th.24 v'Vo have, thus far, called attention almost exclusively to two oxtl' mes of tho human family, viz., tho white and black races; and, except i ncidontally, have said little abottt tbc intcrmouiato races, and. tho in(lucncc of the climate and di!:!oases of America upon them. We now propose to take a glance at th o points; and must cxprcsH our r grot, at the outset, that our statistics and other m ans of information here become much loss satisf~Ldory. We arc 11ot, however, wanting in facts to show, tbtLt tlJO clement of race hoi' , ar; olsowhoro, plays a conspicuous part. We have already alluded to tho fact, that tho negt·oos arc almost entirely exempt ii·om tho influence of yeLLow fevel'; and, at one time, supposed that the suscopLibility to this disease was nearly in dil'oct ratio to tl1o Jhimoss of complexion; but this i<.l.oa, as we shall sec, requires modification. 24 lf the city of Chn.rlcston givos so low n. rnto of mortr1lity as 1 in 43.6 for· tho bluckH and mllln.ttocs, it is prosumn.blo thn.t tho mrnl districts throughout tho South will give a much lower !'!Ito than in towns. Negroes suffer muoh lo~s from oonsumpLion in tho oolllltry than in towns. |