338 Mr. Lubbock on the Comparison of 



Portugal 5.14. Bohemia 5.27. 



Lombardy 5.45. Sluscovy 5.25. 



and in several of the southern departments of France above 5. 



In the territory of the two Sicilies tlie ratio in 1828 according 

 to the Report of the Secretary of State was 5.716 : 1. 



This ratio is increased by two causes, either by the pro- 

 lificness of the sex, or by the prevalence of concubinage. In the 

 report above alluded to, the ratio of the marriages to the popu- 

 lation is 1 : 154, in England it is i : 123, which difference is 

 sufficient to account for the difference in the ratio of the births 

 to the marriages without supposing the former of the two causes 

 indicated above to exist. 



If the ages at which deaths take place, and the number of 

 births were accurately registered in a great empire, the proba- 

 bilities of life would be known with the greatest accuracy, the 

 multitude of the observations destroying any small sources of 

 inaccuracy, and the number of the population ( = 2p„„x&„) would 

 be known far more accurately than by the laborious process of 

 actual enumeration, for in a large district the effect of migra- 

 tion would be wholly insensible. It seems indeed worthy of 

 consideration whether it might not be possible to publish annually 

 the Bills of Mortality for every parish in the empire, as is now 

 done in London and in some great towns. If this were done, 

 many interesting questions in science would be determined, the 

 comparative healthiness of different districts and of different 

 periods of the year would be ascertained, and great light might 

 be thrown upon the efficacy of the manner in which different 

 diseases are treated. So many questions in which property is 

 involved, "are connected with the accuracy of the parish books, 

 that it seems extraordinary that greater attention is not paid to 

 their exactness. 



