i AL STATISTICS OF T1IK SOU I 11IENDS. 1 55 



5th. The worn* «>t often employed in other than 



domestic labour, and mothers can devote time and attention 

 to the bringing up of their children. 



Besides here are other causes which tend to keep up 



if average duration of life, viz. : — 



1st. There are few early marriages, and the number of 

 births does not more than replace the deaths; thus, as there 

 are fewer children, the number of deaths of children must be 

 relatively smaller than in the country at large. 



2nd. The Society of Friends contains an unusually large 

 proportion of females, and as women live longer than men, 

 the average age at death is thus slightly increased. 



3rd. The relative number of Friends following unhealthy 

 or laborious occupations is considerably less than in the 

 country at large. 



But, on the other hand, Friends are not distributed over 

 country in the proportion of the population, an undue 

 proportion of them live in large and unhealthy towns, such 

 as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Bradford, whilst there 

 is a deficiency in the rural districts. On this account, there- 

 fore, the average duration of life is less than it would be if 

 Friends were distributed as favourably as the population of 

 the country at large. 



The records of births, marriages, and deaths in the Society 

 of Friends have been kept with great accuracy for a long 

 % period ; and a small publication, " The Annual Monitor," 

 is regularly issued, containing the names, ages, and residences 

 of all the members who die in Great Britain and Ireland each 

 year. The names of children, however, who die under one 

 year are not inserted separately, but a summary of them is 

 appended. This little book is not official ; but the informa- 

 tion contained is supplied to the editors by all the different 

 -trars. The tables appended to this paper, embracing 

 the years 1842-55 inc re compiled from "The Annual 



