Observations on the mortality of the Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society, from 1815 to 1845 / by James Begbie.

Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the mortality of the Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society, from 1815 to 1845 / by James Begbie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    4 the kidneys were more or less diseased, and in the female the uterus was invariably in a morbid condition.1 Of the 5 deaths from cholera among the insured of the Society, 3 only occurred during the epidemic of 1832. The first in the case of a gentleman aged 67, residing in Fisherrow—the second in the case of a medical man, aged 52, residing in Edinburgh—and the third in the case of a spirit-dealer, aged 34, resident in Dalkeith. The fourth death occurred in Calcutta, in 1837, in the person of a military officer, aged 52 ; and the fifth (reported cholera) in 1838, in that of a gentleman aged 33, resident in England. We have thus only one death from genuine cholera under 50 years of age; the others occurring at a period of life when it is well known recoveries were extremely rare. Erysipelas has proved fatal in 8 instances in the experience of the Society, and has been associated with several internal affections which have been the cause of death; more particularly with diseases of the brain and its membranes, and disorders of the liver and bowels. Considering the frequency of this association, the disposition of the disease to recur from time to time, and its origin in depraved digestion, and defective assimilation, I apprehend that those who have been affected by it, cannot be considered as eligible subjects of life assurance. In one of the 8 fatal cases, long continued headache had preceded the last illness, and in other two biliary derangement was particularly observed. I lately advised the rejection of a life in whom the affection of the skin was asso- ciated with symptoms of diseased kidney. In regard to the second class of the causes of death—those con- nected with diseases of uncertain seat—there is nothing which calls for particular observation. Debility and dropsy are the principal agents, the former in persons advanced in life, the latter in those of various ages, and apparently unconnected with any peculiar habit or constitution; but the documents in the possession of the Society show that in one instance there had been an attack of inflamma- tion, the seat of which is not specified, and in another an attack ol erysipelas, previous to the admission of the parties. It is due to the memory of my distinguished predecessor, the late Dr Duncan, and to the care and caution at all times exercised by the Board of Directors to say, that facts such as these were sure to meet with the attention they demanded, at the time of application. The third class embraces a large share of those diseases which in their fatal results occasion the greatest loss in the business ol life assurance. Next to diseases of the chest, those of the head are the most frequent and fatal. In the experience of the Equitable Society it is found that, next to natural decay and old age, apoplexy is the most fatal agent, the former yielding 14, the latter 12 per