POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



859 



of every great dissemination of matter 

 where the different members of the mass 

 exercise a mutual attraction upon each oth- 

 er at a distance. M. Faye admits that in 

 the transformation of the nebula rotatory 

 movements would take place, and that trains 

 of matter analogous to the rings of Saturn 

 might be formed, and might break and give 

 rise to planets. These formations, he be- 

 lieves, could be divided, according to their 

 relations to the gravitation of the mass, be- 

 tween two zones, in the outer one of which 

 the revolutions would, by the regular opera- 

 tion of the laws of gravity, be retrograde, 

 while in the inner zone they would, under 

 the same laws, be direct. This is shown to 

 be possible by the following considerations : 

 The density in the original nebula increases 

 regularly from the periphery to the center, 

 as appears actually in several nebulfe with 

 which we are acquainted. It has been 

 shown by calculation that the force of weight 

 in a mass thus constituted increases, as we 

 depart from the surface, in the inverse ratio 

 of a power of the distance from the center. 

 This progression, however, soon reaches a 

 maximum, after which the weight is propor- 

 tional simply to the distance itself, till at 

 the center it is nothing. If we suppose 

 planetary rings to be separated from a neb- 

 ula of this nature, we may see that those 

 separating from the external region will be 

 of such a character that the motion of their 

 outer circumference will be more rapid than 

 that of their inner circumference, so that, 

 when it is reduced to a globe turning upon 

 itself, the globe will move in a retrograde 

 direction. In the rings found in the second 

 or inner region, on the other hand, the rela- 

 tive rapidity of the motion of the greater 

 and lesser diameters will be reversed, and 

 the rotation of the resultant globe will ne- 

 cessarily be direct. 



Infertility ia France. The population 

 of France has increased very slowly for sev- 

 eral years. Among nineteen principal states 

 of Europe, France stands the lowest in the 

 rate of growth, having shown an annual in- 

 crease of only 3 16 per thousand inhabi- 

 tants from 1861 to 1869, while such coun- 

 tries as England, Xorway, Scotland, and 

 Russia, show an increase of from 1294 to 

 13 "85 per thousand. The rate of increase 



has fallen from six per thousand in 1770- 

 '85, and has never since risen to that figure. 

 The smallness of the excess of births over 

 deaths, which is measured by the rate of 

 increase, is due solely to the paucity of 

 births; for the mortality has at no time 

 been excessive, and has diminished steadily 

 in the face of wars and epidemics, except 

 during the German war, since the beginning 

 of the century. It is not accompanied by a 

 diminution in the number of marriages, for 

 the proportion of marriages has not under- 

 gone any material variation during the cen- 

 tury, and was higher in the sixth decade 

 than in the first. Moreover, France out- 

 ranks in the proportion of marriages to the 

 whole population, and of marriages to the 

 marriageable population, some of the states 

 which greatly exceed it in the rate of in- 

 crease of population. M. A. Legoyt has in- 

 vestigated the subject, and assigns the in- 

 fertility thus shown to various moral, po- 

 litical, economical, and physiological causes. 

 The decay of religious beliefs is a cause, the 

 influence of which is shown in the tolerance 

 given to the voluntary limitation of fertility, 

 which is opposed by every religious system, 

 and the increase of illegitimate unions, abor- 

 tions, still-born, and infanticides. The un- 

 usually large proportion of persons who arc 

 just well enough off to be carefully provi- 

 dent is economically unfavorable to fertil- 

 ity. The popular opinion that poverty and 

 children go together seems to be confirmed 

 in France, where the poorer departments 

 are the more fruitful ones. Other econom- 

 ical influences are the tendency of pop- 

 ulation to cities, the increasing expenses 

 of living, and the system of dividing the 

 paternal estate among all the children, 

 which offers a standing temptation to the 

 parent to have only a few children, so that 

 each shall have as large a share as pos- 

 sible. The destruction caused by war op- 

 erates powerfully to cut down the popu- 

 lation. It is worse than pestilence, for it 

 takes away the best and most vigorous. 

 France has suffered much by wars during 

 the last century, and has lost heavily at 

 several periods, most notably during the 

 two years of the German war, when the 

 deaths considerably exceeded the births. 

 The statistics of the recruiting officers show, 

 however, that the vigor of the race has not 



