368 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the extreme demand has led to more systematic methods of ob- 

 taining it ; and whereas the total annual collection of pelts gath- 

 ered by the Hudson Bay Company had not exceeded a few dozens, 



the figures have suddenly risen till the 



annual collection now is counted by thou- 

 sands. 



With the last remnants of the merci- 

 lessly slaughtered bison still in our mar- 

 kets, and the air filled with the protesta- 

 tions of theorists as to what 7night have 

 been done to preserve those noble herds 

 that thronged our prairies, we have history repeating itself under 

 our very eyes in the case of the musk ox, and it is not venturing 

 too rash a prophecy to state that the present ratio of increasing 

 the catch will exhaust the supply within a decade. 



OUR POPULATION AND ITS DISTRIBUTION. 



LESSONS FROM THE CENSUS. III. 

 By CAEEOLL D. WEIGHT, A.M., 



UNITED STATES COIIMISSIONEB OF LABOR. 



THE population of the United States June 1, 1890, as ascer- 

 tained at the eleventh census, exclusive of white persons in 

 the Indian Territory, Indians on reservations, and Alaska, was 

 63,622,250. This figure, considering the imperfections of the sys- 

 tem under which it was ascertained, is quite satisfactory. It 

 bears out the reasonable estimates made prior to the enumer- 

 ation ; it does not bear out unreasonable estimates. Barring in- 

 adequate counts in a few localities, which will occur under any 

 system, I believe the statement of the population of the eleventh 

 census io be fairly accurate for the whole country ; it is certainly 

 within a very small percentage of accuracy— a percentage which 

 would largely disappear, but not wholly, under a census taken in 

 accordance with the system outlined in the preceding articles of 

 this series. Whether accurate or inaccurate, it is not worth while 

 to quarrel with it ; it must be accepted, and the political business 

 of the country and all considerations carried on in accordance 

 with it. 



At the first census, taken in 1790, the population of the United 

 States was 3,929,214. The following brief table shows the popu- 

 lation at all the censuses, the positive increase during the inter- 

 vening decades, and the percentage of increase : 



