632 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



ing the year, and in 1876 the number had gradually risen to 17 per 

 1,000. So that, in spite of large cities and the greater difficulty of 

 supporting families, the growing tendency to settled and more regular 

 habits is exhibited in the larger number of marriages. The result is 

 an increasing number of births in proportion to the population. In 

 1841, 512,158 children were born, being 32*2 per 1,000, while in 1870 

 the number was 887,464, or 36*6 per 1,000, which is an increase of 

 about twenty-five per cent. The deaths, on the other hand, remained 

 nearly stationary, being 21-6 per 1,000 in 1841 to 21-9 in 1876. The 

 ratio of deaths to births, therefore, stood as 1 to 1^49 in 1841, while in 

 1876 it was as 1 to 1'74. 



The preponderance of young families, however, ought to make the 

 death-rate very much higher, as the mortality at the young ages is very 

 large. Since it remained nearly unchanged, while the marriages and 

 births increased, it would indicate that the average duration of life 

 was being extended. For special localities like large cities, it is well 

 known that sanitary measures and other causes are producing constant 

 improvement ; but there are many counteracting conditions to be con- 

 sidered. With an improved system of registration and more frequent 

 enumerations of the people, data will be obtained for computing and 

 comparing life tables at shorter intervals, and there can be no doubt 

 that, in spite of increasing difficulties, the beneficial influences of 

 higher civilization will be found to tend to a steady prolongation of 

 human life. 



Recurring after this digression to the experience of life-insurance 

 companies, we will compare English Life Table No. 3 from twenty 

 years upward with the two tables most in use, the Actuaries' Experi- 

 ence Table No. 1 and the American Experience Table. The percent- 

 ages are given, in preference to the number of living and dying for 

 each period : 



