R. Ll. Gwilt in his paper “Mortality in the Past Hundred Years” (T.F.A. vol. 24, p. 40) reviewed the trend of mortality in six countries over the period 1850 to 1950. In their paper to the XVIth International Congress of Actuaries (Vol. II, p. 379) J. L. Anderson and the writer reviewed the trend in 17 countries over the period 1937 to 1956. Both these papers indicated some of the factors which cause variations in mortality rates, but it is felt that a study of the mortality variations over a short period in one country might yield further information.