This paper describes the prevalence patterns of both suicide and parasuicide (`attempted suicide') in Edinburgh during 1970. Doctors in a random sample of Edinburgh general practices provided information on all known parasuicides, whether or not they were admitted to hospital. A psychiatrist investigated all suspicious deaths, including accidents, reported to the Crown Office in order to detect cases of completed suicide. The comparative analysis presented here is believed to be the first using general practice data on parasuicide and psychiatrically evaluated data on suicide, in the same population at the same time.