48 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



metaphysical prepossessions, looks at society as a system amenable to 

 direct cause and effect. To a great extent his accurate reckonings 

 serve to give more force and point to the conclusions of rough expe- 

 rience ; to a great extent, also, they correct old ideas and introduce 

 new aspects of social law. What gives to the statistical method its 

 greatest scope and power is, that its evidence and proof of law applies 

 indiscriminately to what we call physical, biological, and ethical prod- 

 ucts of society, these various effects acting and reacting on one 

 another. A few instances may be given to show the existence of the 

 relations in question, without attempting to show their precise nature, 

 or to trace the operation of other determining causes. 



Thus, for instance, the mode of life affects its length. Statistics 

 show that the mortality of the very poor is about half as much again 

 as the mortality of the very rich ; while, as to the influence of pro- 

 fessions, it appears that, in Germany, only 24 doctors reach the age of 

 70 as against 32 military men and 42 theologians. The propensity to 

 theft bears a distinct relation to age ; thus the French criminal statis- 

 tics estimate the propensity to theft between the ages of 21 and 25 

 as being five-thirds as much as between the ages of 35 and 40. The 

 amount of criminality in a country bears a relation, indirect and as 

 yet obscure, but unmistakable, to its education, or rather to its want 

 of education. In France, in 1828-'31, the constant percentage of 

 accused persons was about as follows : could not read or write, 61 ; 

 imperfectly, 27; well, 12. The comparison of this group of numbers 

 with those taken lately in England shows a great change of propor- 

 tion, evidently resulting from the wider diffusion of education ; but 

 the limitation of crime to the less-educated classes is even more strik- 

 ing : cannot read or write, 36 ; imperfectly, 61 ; well, 3. Again, for 

 an example of connection of physical conditions with moral actions, 

 we may notice a table showing how the hours of the day influence 

 people who hang themselves (" Phys. Soc," ii., 240). The maximum 

 of such cases, 135, occurred between six and eight in the morning; 

 the number decreased slightly till noon, and then suddenly dropped 

 to the minimum ; there being 123 cases between ten and twelve 

 o'clock, against only 32 between twelve and two o'clock. The num- 

 ber rose in the afternoon to 104 cases between four and six, dropping 

 to an average of about 70 through the night, the second minimum, 

 45, being between two and four o'clock in the morning. Here it is 

 impossible to mistake the influences of the periods of the day. We 

 can fancy we see the poor wretches rising in the morning to a life of 

 wdiich the misery is beyond bearing, or can only be borne till evening 

 closes in ; while the temporary relief of the midnight sleep and the 

 mid-clay meal are marked in holding back the longing to self-destruc- 

 tion. Madness varies with the season of the year: the maximum 

 being in summer, and the minimum in winter (p. 187) ; a state of 

 things which seems intelligible enough. Again, it is well known in 



