57o 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



PREVALENCE OF THE PLAGUE IN 

 INDIA 



From January 1 to March 16, 1907, 

 there have been 254,033 deaths from 

 plague in India, a marked increase 

 upon the returns for the 1906, when 

 the deaths from plague for the whole 

 year amounted to only 316,550. The 

 number of deaths from plague in In- 

 dia during the years 1904, 1905 and 

 1906 were respectively 1,023,815, 946,- 

 558 and 316,550. The number of 

 deaths from plague in India from Jan- 

 uary 1 to the middle of March during 

 the years 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907 

 amounted to 253,903, 316,801, 70,761 

 and 254,033, respectively. The num- 

 ber of deaths during the current year 

 are therefore, to the middle of March, 

 somewhat above the number in 1904 

 during the year, when over 1,000,000 

 died of plague; they are, however, con- 

 siderably fewer than the deaths which 

 occurred during the corresponding 

 period of 1905, but this does not hold 

 for the latter part of March. The out- 

 look is, therefore, not hopeful. Since 

 plague appeared in India in the au- 

 tumn of 1896, the number of deaths 

 from the disease in India to March 16, 

 1907, has been 4,767,141. 



These facts, for which The British 

 Medical Journal is the authority, are 

 appalling. Even in India, a human 

 life may be assumed to be worth 

 $1,000, and it seems probable that the 

 expenditure of $4,767,141,000 by the 

 British government, partly spent on 

 definite measures in India and partly 

 on scientific investigation would for- 

 ever abolish the plague and possibly 

 control all epidemics. There is now 

 much political unrest in India, and this 

 might not be allayed even by the aboli- 

 tion of the plague. But the present 

 liberal government and its secretary of 

 state for India should appreciate their 

 responsibilities and their duty. 



THE POPULATION OF THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



The Census Office issued some time 

 ago a ' Statistical Atlas,' prepared un- 

 der the supervision of Mr. Henry Gan- 

 nett, geographer of the twelfth census, 

 which gives many interesting tables and 

 plates, illustrating the progress of the 

 United States in population, vital 

 statistics, agriculture and manufac- 

 tures. We reproduce here a diagram 

 showing the increase of population dur- 

 ing the last century in the United 

 States and in the principal countries of 

 Europe. 



The growth of population here, com- 

 pared with that in European countries, 

 is most striking. Only Russia has a 

 curve at all comparable to that of the 

 United States, although the German 

 empire shows similar tendencies during 

 the past decade. The vast population 

 of European Russia, which has about 

 doubled in sixty years, shows a very 

 constant increase, and this will be ac- 

 centuated should the death rate be 

 reduced to the proportions normal in 

 other countries. The results of the in- 

 crease of the people of Russia will 

 probably be the most important factor 

 in the history of Europe during the 

 coming century. Great Britain has 

 maintained a constant increase, and it 

 may be an unwarranted assumption to 

 suppose that this will soon be checked 

 by the decreasing birth rate and the 

 physical deterioration due to pre- 

 dominant town life and factory employ- 

 ment. The slow growth of the French 

 population during the century and its 

 present stationary condition, the birth 

 rate being almost as low as the death 

 rate, give much anxiety in that coun- 

 try. There were in 1903 about 20,000 

 fewer births than in 1902, and 32,000 

 fewer than in 1901. In some depart- 

 ments the birth rate is far below the 

 death rate; thus in 1903 there were in 

 Gers 3,333 births and 4,792 deaths; in 

 Lot-et-Garonne, 3,946 births and 5,718 

 deaths, etc. 



The curve showing the increase of 



