Chap. V.] CIVILIZED NATIONS. 109 



taken during 1853, that the unmarried men throughout 

 France, between the ages of twenty and eighty, die in a 

 much larger proportion than the married: for instance, 

 out of every 1,000 unmarried men, between the ages of 

 twenty and thirty, 11.8 annually died, while of the married 

 only 6.5 died. 22 A similar law was proved to hold good, 

 during the years 1863 and 1864, with the entire popula- 

 tion above the age of twenty in Scotland : for instance, 

 out of every 1,000 unmarried men, between the ages of 

 twenty and thirty, 14.97 annually died, while of the mar- 

 ried only 7.24 died, that is, less than half. 23 Dr. Stark re- 

 marks on this : " Bachelorhood is more destructive to life 

 than the most unwholesome trades, or than residence in 

 an unwholesome house or district where there has never 

 been the most distant attempt at sanitary improvement." 

 He considers that the lessened mortality is the direct re- 

 sult of " marriage, and the more regular domestic habits 

 which attend that state." He admits, however, that the 

 intemperate, profligate, and criminal classes, whose dura- 

 tion of life is low, do not commonly marry ; and it must 

 likewise be admitted that men with a weak constitution, 

 ill health, or any great infirmity in body or mind, will 

 often not wish to marry, or will be rejected. Dr. Start 

 seems to have come to the conclusion that marriage in 

 itself is a main cause of prolonged life, from finding that 

 aged married men still have a considerable advantage in 

 this respect over the unmarried of the same advanced age ; 



on the Mortality of the French People," read before the Nat. Assoc, for 

 the Promotion of Social Science, 1858. 



22 Dr. Farr, ibid. The quotations given below are extracted from the 

 same striking paper. 



23 I have taken the mean of the quinquennial means, given in The 

 Tenth Annual Report of Births, Deaths, etc., in Scotland,' 1867. The 

 quotation from Dr. Stark is copied from an article in the ' Daily News,' 

 Oct. 17, 1868, which Dr. Farr considers very carefully written. 



