(Physicians will confer a favor by sending for this department items of news of more or less general interest: such as relate to society activities, new hospitals, education, public health, etc.)
ALABAMA
Health at Birmingham.
—Telegraphic reports to the U. S. Department of Commerce from sixty-five cities with a total population of about 30 million, for the week ending January 5, indicate that the highest mortality rate (47.3) was for Birmingham, and that the mortality rate for the group of cities as a whole was 19.5. The mortality rate for Birmingham for the corresponding week last year was 20.5, and for the group of cities, 13.7. The highest infant mortality rate (290) for the week ending January 5 for these cities was for Birmingham. Caution should be used in the interpretation of weekly figures, as they fluctuate widely. The fact that some cities are hospital centers for large areas outside