92 REPORT — 1844. 



nary hands. The consequence is that after they have paid their rent and other ne- 

 cessary outgoings, they have little left for the purchase of victuals : one family was 

 mentioned, consisting of a man, his wife and seven children, who had to subsist for 

 three days on a half-quartern loaf. They are in great want of clothing, and are rarely 

 able to buy new apparel. 



On the relative Liability of the two Sexes to Insanity. 

 By John Tiiurnam, M.D. 



The author thought that the opinion which appears to have recently been formed, 

 that insanity is more prevalent amongst women than amongst men, .had originated in 

 an erroneous method of statistical analysis. Dr. Esquirol, who was inclined to this view, 

 was at great pains in collecting information as to the proportion of existing cases of 

 insanity in the two sexes, and it was found that taking the average of different coun- 

 tries the proportion was 37 males to 38 females. It should however be borne in 

 mind, that in all European countries the proportion of adult females in the general 

 population exceeds that of males. According to the census of 1841, in England and 

 Wales there was an excess at all ages of 4 per cent., and at all ages above 15 or 

 20 years the excess was about 8 per cent. From 20 to 30 years of age the excess 

 is as much as 12 per cent. Assuming only a like liability of the two sexes to in- 

 sanity, it would be expected that there was a much greater number of cases of insanity 

 among women than men. With some exceptions, however, which were accounted 

 for by local circumstances, the author did not find that to be the case. He pointed 

 out another fallacy in the method of investigating this subject, in consequence of the 

 existing cases being made the basis of the calculation instead of the occurring cases. 

 He showed that the mortality amongst insane males in public asylums exceeded that 

 amongst insane females. At the York Asylum the mortality of the males was nearly 

 double that of the females. The consequence is, that out of equal numbers attacked 

 the existing cases of insanity in women accumulate much faster than those in men, 

 and that they necessarily are much more numerous as compared with the occurring 

 cases. In order that the comparison of the occurring cases should be a strictly accu- 

 rate one, the proportions of the two sexes attacked with insanity for the first time at 

 the several ages should be compared with the proportions in which the two sexes at 

 the same ages exist in the community in which those cases occur. On this principle 

 the writer had prepared a table, showing the numbers and proportion of each sex out 

 of 71,800 cases. It appeared that out of 48,143 cases admitted into thirty-one various 

 asylums, there were 25,601 males and 22,502 females, consequently there was an 

 excess on the part of the males of 13'5 per cent. In nine of the English county 

 asylums the numbers admitted were 7641 males and 6803 females, there being con- 

 sequently an excess of males of 12 per cent. 



The proportion of men admitted into asylums being thus shown to be higher than 

 that of females, whilst the proportion of men in the general population, particularly 

 at those ages when insanity most usually occurs, is decidedly less than that of women. 

 Dr. Thurnam inferred that men are actually more liable to disorders of the mind than 

 women. From a just consideration of the differences in the physical and moral con- 

 stitution, as well as in the general prevailing external circumstances of the two sexes 

 in civilized communities at the present day, it was, he thought, a priori, highly pro- 

 bable that men should possess a somewhat greater liability to mental disorders than 

 women. He observed that not only are women less liable to these disorders than 

 men, but when afflicted with them the probability of their recovery is greater, and that 

 of their death very considerably less. After recovery, however, the probability of a 

 relapse or of a second attack is perhaps somewhat greater in women than in men. 

 The writer introduced a number of statistical facts with reference to the patients in 

 the York Retreat, in illustration of his subject. 



On the Financial CEconomy of Savings' Banks. By J, W, Woollgar, F.R.A.S. 



The author observed that this subject had acquired a sudden interest by reason of 

 the scope which the new act gives to the directors of these establishments, tooecono- 

 mise the management for the benefit of depositors. The question now for managers 



