I feel that some apology is needed from me for venturing to introduce for your consideration a subject which, however important from the standpoint of the national health, bears but little relation to the deeper scientific problems usually discussed at the meetings of this Association. I can only urge in excuse for my temerity the desirability of calling attention to the changes recently introduced in the registration of deaths with the object of obtaining greater uniformity in tabulation and consequently greater accuracy in vital statistics. The matter concerns every registered medical practitioner, whose statutory duty it is to furnish the information on which the Registrar-General builds up his instructive tables, and all must appreciate the endeavour to secure the object referred to. In asylums for the insane, where the death-rate is relatively very high, there is ample opportunity for supplying precise information, especially as in three out of four cases the cause of death is verified by post-mortem examination, thereby enhancing the reliability of the returns.