Dr. Stanislas Tanchou, a French physician who systematically documented rates of cancer in death registries, was the first to present the idea that there were diseases unique to civilized life.
--- Is "death registry" the same as "death certificate"? Does it mean he was checking how many people died of cancer?
Comments
A death registry is a big book that lists all the deaths in the area it is supposed to cover, with whatever detail the registrar requires, normally uncluding cause, I would imagine. On the other hand, each death would have its own separate certificate stored elsewhere, because a responsible person such as a doctor would have to have signed the certificate to make it legal, for purposes of estate or insurance, for instance. The registry is just a record, more for purposes of public health and population management, I guess.
He was picking out deaths from cancer, yes.