MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 133 



convenient yearly liandbnok (Rvsiiinc statistiquG de VEmivrc du Japan), 

 containing the most inijioi-tant <1eiiio<ii'a])lii(' tables in a form readily 

 accessible to all, we luive a special volume of tables on the jNIovenient of 

 Population, the scope of which I may show by the table of contents : 



Table I. Births and deaths aceordiiiK to sex and actnal and legal residence. Marriages and 



divorces by actual and legal residences of parties. 

 Marriages by age of the bridegrooms. 

 Marriages bj' age of the brides. 

 Marriages by conjoint ages of parties. 

 Marriages b.v months. 



Marriages by civil condition i)rior to marriage. 

 Divorces according to ages of jjarties. 

 Divorces by months. 



Divorces b.v rnntnal consent and Ij.v decree. 

 Divorces b.v dnration of marriage dissolved. 

 Living births and stillbirths by i^ex and filiation. 

 Living liirths and stillbirths l.y sex and liy months. 

 Stillbirths by sex, filiation and duration of gestation. 

 Deaths by sex, year of birth and b.v age. 

 Deaths by sex and b.v year of birth. 

 Deaths by sex and b.v age 

 Deaths of'iidants and children niider fi>e years of age, by fex and filiation, with minnte 



classification of ages. 

 Deaths b.y sex, by causes (coiuUnstd fnii-i-national clas.sification) an.d by months. 

 Deaths' by sex, causes and months. 



All of these tables present the data for each district (do. fu and ken) 

 in Japan, and the facts are given with a precision and deflniteness much 

 greater than we are accustomed to. There are also a few subsidiary 

 tables showing omitted registration of birllis, deaths, stillbirths and 

 marriages for previous years, and incidentally illustrating the thorough- 

 ness with which the system is ke[)t up. 



In the United States we have mortality statistics alone for a few of 

 the states. In 1900 there were only nine of these registration states 

 whose returns of deaths were ac('e])ted by the IT. S. Census Bureau on 

 the very low standard of DO i)er cent t>f accuracy. No states and no cities 

 liad complete registration of births, -and few states had satisfactory mar- 

 riage and divorce statistics. We are thus far behind Japan in this es- 

 sential function of government. 



Not only do our vita! statistics lack in scientitic completeness in regard 

 to the scope of subjects included, but the degree of completeness of in- 

 dividual items is also very far from satisfactory. There is a lack of that 

 scientific conscience, if I may so call it, that feeling for and application 

 of accuracy for its own sake in registering the various details. In every 

 department there are depreciations of data or variations from full per- 

 fection of statement. A few marriages are not recorded owing to negli- 

 gence of the clergymen in making their reports; a fcAV divorces in one 

 county or another are "sui)pressed" or otherwise omitted from the record; 

 in some places a combination of a careless undertaker and a negligent 

 local registrar may be responsible for the omission of certain deaths; 

 everywhere the laws for the registration of births are ineflticient or are 

 poorly enforced. For these reasons, vital statistics in the United States 

 must be taken with a considerable degree of allowance for imperfections. 

 But the great bulk of these imperfections are not necessary, but simply 

 marks of careless or negligent administration. What we need is a fuller 

 appreciation of the imi»<u'tance of the correctness of vital data and the 

 cultivation of a higher ideal of oflicial honor and precision in their treat- 

 ment. 



It is for this reason that I have read this paper before the Academy, 

 as I believe that the interest and intelligent aid of the members of this 



