4 o6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



animation. On all these matters, when called upon, he gave his 

 services cheerfully, and did thorough work. He was present as a 

 representative of Great Britain at the several statistical congresses 

 which have been held at intervals in the various capitals of Europe 

 since the custom was begun, in 1851. At the Statistical Congress held 

 at the Hague in 1869, he made a report upon coinage and metric 

 weights and measures, in which was embodied a recommendation for 

 an international system of metric coinage, with a strong argument in 

 its favor. 



" The forty years of Dr. Farr's life preceding his retirement from 

 the public service in 1879," says the "Lancet," "were spent in unremit- 

 ting statistical labor. It is impossible to doubt either the value of his 

 work, or of its influence upon public opinion in health matters, prepar- 

 ing the way for and making possible the sanitary legislation of 1872 

 and 1875, which is already so favorably influencing the health and lon- 

 gevity of the English people. We know, however, of no complete list 

 of his contributions to statistical literature." Besides the papers al- 

 ready mentioned in this sketch, we find, referred to in articles of which 

 he is the subject, a paper in the "Lancet" "On Benevolent Funds 

 and Life Assurance in Health and Sickness " ; a pamphlet describing 

 a system of Government life assurance ; a paper in the " Transactions 

 of the Royal Society " on the " Construction of Life Tables " ; the ar- 

 ticle on " Vital Statistics " in McCulloch's " Statistics of the British 

 Empire" ; and papers on the "Finance of Life Insurance," the "In- 

 come Tax," the " Valuation of Railways," and the " Valuation of Rail- 

 ways, Telegraphs, Water Companies, Canals, and other Commercial 

 Concerns, with Prospective, Deferred, Increasing, Decreasing, or Termi- 

 nary Profits." The language of his papers was always characterized 

 by lucidity, simplicity, and common sense, and, notwithstanding the 

 supposed aridity of the subjects, often rose into eloquence and impres- 

 sive presentation ; and his influence on public opinion in health mat- 

 ters is believed by the " Lancet " to have been " in great measure due 

 to his picturesque style of writing, which invested dry facts with popu- 

 lar interest, although it laid him open at times to depreciatory criti- 

 cism from those who believe that the style of statistical literature and 

 reports should be characterized by the soberest dryness." 



In 1879 Major Graham, the registrar-general, Dr. Farr's superior, 

 resigned his office. Public opinion indicated Dr. Farr as his legitimate 

 and only fitting successor ; but the Government overlooked the prin- 

 ciple of civil-service selection and appointed another person, who was 

 not known to have any special qualifications for the trust. Dr. Farr 

 therefore wrote to Major Graham a letter of resignation of his own 

 position, saying : " Having learned from you that Sir Brydges Hen- 

 niker is to be the new registrar -general, and thus having lost all 

 chance of being your successor, I shall be glad if the Lords of her 

 Majesty's Treasury will allow me to resign my appointment, and will 



