10 



B. Benjamin 



of males and females in the births of that period). All the 

 ordinates of Fig. 1 should therefore be almost doubled to 

 render it comparable with Figs. 2 and 3, though the general 

 shape is correct. 



English Life-Table No. 8. The first short period table 

 prepared by an actuary, George King, for the Registrar- 

 General and based on the deaths of 1910-12. 



English Life-Table No. 11. Based on the deaths of 1950-52 

 and prepared by the Government Actuary. 



The results 



The basic results of this analysis are : 



Senescent deaths 



It is clear that from a practical point of view Clarke was 

 right. The main change in the hundred years or so has been 

 the increase in the proportion of people attaining their 

 allotted term of lifespan, from about 40 per cent to 70 per 

 cent, while the shift in the peak has been a mere three or four 

 years for men and seven years for women. Judged by the 

 standard deviation the spread of the distribution has narrowed 

 a little but this is not a substantial change. If — and it is a 

 large question mark — this arbitrary distribution of "sene- 

 scent" deaths can be used as an indicator of the natural 



