1 Dean Emeritus, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Data for this article, as in previous reports, are drawn principally from the Monthly Vital Statistics Report, published by the National Center for Health Statistics. The international data come from the Demographic Yearbook and the quarterly Population and Vital Statitics, both published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations, and the World Health Statistics Report, published by the World Health Organization. All the United States data for 1974 are estimates based upon a 10% sample of material received in state offices between two dates, one month apart regardless of when the event occurred. Experience has shown that for the country as a whole the estimate is very close to the subsequent final figures.