NOTES 



383 



of personal influence or of prize-hunting ; and probably as much 

 impartiality and care is bestowed upon the allotments as is 

 possible in this world. 



During the twelve years from 1 901- 12 inclusive, fifty-six 

 prizes have been allotted to citizens of fourteen different 

 countries. So far as we can ascertain the nationalities are 

 correctly placed in the following table. In this we have entered 

 the numbers of recipients of each country which have received 

 each class of prize ; and have compared the total prizes received 

 by each country with the population of that country — the com- 

 parison being expressed in a common rate per 100,000,000 of 

 people. The populations are taken from the Census figures in 

 1910 or 191 1, given in the Britannica Year Book for 1913 — 

 except in those countries where there has been no census, and 

 where the population is "estimated." The countries are 

 arranged in the order of their success in obtaining prizes. 



Comparative Table of the Scientific and Literary Nobel Prizes 



AWARDED DURING TWELVE YEARS, igol TO I912 



It is obvious from statistical considerations that the Rate 

 Column cannot be considered very exact for the smaller 

 countries, especially when they have received only one prize ; 

 and there may be some subconscious desire to give a prize to 

 nations, especially the smaller ones, which have not yet received 

 one. There has also been some outcry in Sweden upon this subject. 

 In these cases, a single prize will obviously affect very greatly 



