86o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



diminished, and that the mean length of life 

 has been prolonged since 1815. 3Ien and 

 women marry at a later age than formerly, 

 diminishing by sevei'al years the time dur- 

 ing which they can have children, and, con- 

 sequently, the number of children they can 

 have. The host of women who are em- 

 ployed as nurses must suspend child-bear- 

 ing while they are so employed. Young 

 men are withdrawn from the possibility of 

 marriage during their most vigorous age by 

 the long period of military service ; marriage 

 itself is discouraged by the complicated and 

 expensive processes the parties have to go 

 through; and increasing alcohoHsm con- 

 tracts the reproductive powers of both 

 sexes. 



Statistics of Suicide. Professor Mor- 

 selli, of Milan, in his " Etude de Statistique 

 Morale " (" Study of Moral Statistics "), gives 

 an analysis of the statistics of suicides in 

 the countries of Europe, compiled from offi- 

 cial reports, which reveals the important 

 facts that the number of suicides is increas- 

 ing, with only a few exceptions, in all Euro- 

 pean countries, and that it increases more 

 rapidly than the population. The facts are 

 set forth in a table showing the number of 

 suicides in the several countries, in each of 

 the seven periods of five years, from 1841- 

 '45 to 1875. Except in the three Scandina- 

 vian states and the kingdom of Saxony, where 

 there seems to have been a slight temporary 

 decline, the table shows a progressive in- 

 crease, and in all cases, except the four men- 

 tioned, the number of suicides is greatest for 

 the last period, 1871-75. Such statistics as 

 Professor Morselli has been able to collect 

 since 1875 show continued " enormous ag- 

 gravations," particularly in Denmark, Fin- 

 land, England, Belgium, France, Bavaria, 

 the kingdom of Saxony, Prussia, Germany, 

 Austria, Galicia, and Bukowina, the cantons 

 of Neufchatel and Geneva, and Italy. A 

 comparison of the number of suicides in the 

 latest period with the number at earlier 

 periods shows an increase of 183 per cent. 

 in Sweden since 1816 ; of 57"7 per cent, in 

 England since 1836; of 322 per cent, in 

 Prussia since 1816; of 308-8 per cent, in 

 Austria since 1821 ; of 651-9 per cent, in 

 Galicia and Bukowina since 1821 ; and a 

 greater or less percentage of increase in 



other countries. A part of the increase is 

 doubtless only apparent, and due to the 

 greater perfection of the later statistical 

 reports, but a great real increase remains 

 to be accounted for. Professor Morselli ar- 

 ranges the influences which may predispose 

 to suicides under the heads of cosmic and 

 natural, ethnic, social, and individual. In 

 the first class, climate, technical conditions, 

 the phases of the moon, days, and hours, 

 exert no perceptible influence, but an in- 

 crease of suicides seems to accompany the 

 monthly rise of temperature. The influ- 

 ence of race is not well defined, except, 

 perhaps, feebly in the Germanic race. As 

 for social influences, the inclination to sui- 

 cide does not appear to be determiued by 

 the degree of civilization or of general in- 

 struction, by moral conditions (as to the 

 prevalence of crime and natural births), 

 nor by political and economical conditions. 

 As for religion, Protestants seem as yet to 

 kill themselves oftcner than Eoman Catho- 

 lics, and still more frequently than Jews, 

 in the countries where the three religions 

 are represented in proportions of any im- 

 portance. Density of population is without 

 appreciable effect ; but suicide is more fre- 

 quent in cities than in the country. So far as 

 individual influences are concerned, women 

 kill themselves three or four times less fre- 

 quently than do men ; suicide increases with 

 age to the extreme limit of life ; marriage 

 exerts a very marked preventive effect, while 

 celibacy and widowhood favor suicide. In- 

 quiries into the motives for suicide have not 

 brought satisfactory answers, for it is hard 

 to get the truth told about them, and offi- 

 cial reports must be accepted with reserve. 

 In France, higher, more generous motives 

 are attributed to women than to men. 



Mr. John Gould. Mr. John Gould, F. 

 R. S., an eminent British ornithologist, 

 who died early in February, was born in 

 September, 1804. The appointment of 

 his father, as a foreman in the Royal 

 Gardens at Windsor, gave him an oppor- 

 tunity of beginning the preparation for 

 the work of his life by studying British 

 birds in a state of nature. In 1827 he was 

 appoint Curator to the Museum of the Zo- 

 ological Society in London. Here he pub- 

 lished, under the title of "A Century of 



