[Nosology and pathocenosis: contribution to the debate about causes of the decline in mortality].

"This work reminds us [of] the need to approach the study of mortality as a whole and insists upon the many factors having an influence upon its etiology. At the same time it suggests that more attention should be paid to the subjects of morbidity and the synchronical connections between illnesses.... The paper displays some results...based upon the death registries of Geneva [Switzerland] (1685-1844). Using the data for the years 1740-1759, the work studies the deaths and main death causes from the viewpoint of their gradual development [over] time, their periodicity and their distribution by age groups." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)