CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



51, 52. The wives of these classes live to like 

 ages, but the widows of labourers often live to 

 great ages in workhouses. Adult females die at 

 the mean age of 55 in London, and at that of 60 

 or 6 1 in all England, and the influence of occupa- 

 tion on their mortality, when unmarried, is less 

 striking, except that adult needlewomen die at the 

 mean age of 40. 



Dr Farr shews the comparative healthiness of 

 different industrial occupations in England, from 

 the mortality of males at and above the age of 

 20 in these industries in 1851, compared with the 

 persons enumerated in them at that census. 

 While the general rate of mortality in England, 

 1851, in loco males living at and above the age 

 of 20, was 20 ; that of 1000 farmers living was 

 28; shoemakers, 18 ; weavers, 17; grocers, n ; 

 blacksmiths, 18 ; carpenters, 19 ; tailors, 19 ; la- 

 bourers, 21 ; bakers, 17; miners, 15; butchers, 

 21 ; innkeepers, 20. Farmers live longest ; though 

 much exposed to the weather, they have pure air, 

 daily outdoor exercise, and good fare. Chiefly 

 from intemperance, irregular sleep, and contagion 

 from intercourse with all sorts of people, the 

 mortality of inn and beershop keepers, in all de- 

 cades of life, exceeded that of all the other 

 classes, except butchers of the ages 55^-65. From 

 intemperance, slaughter-house effluvia, and too 

 much animal food, the mortality of butchers was 

 far above that of any other class, except inn- 

 keepers, under the age of 65. Bakers of the ages 

 35 to 65, and miners and blacksmiths at advanced 

 ages, died in undue ratio. Tailors died in con- 

 siderable numbers at the ages 25 to 45. Each 

 occupation has its peculiar dangers and advan- 

 tages, which cause a nearly equal mortality in 

 many. Thus, the tailor is free from the explosions 

 so fatal to the miner, but wants the exercise of 

 the labourer. 



Mortality in the Army and Navy in Peace 

 and War. Soldiers, though picked men, living 

 in costly barracks during peace, are nearly as 

 unhealthy as the people of our worst cities, and 

 often almost twice so. Their excessive mortality 

 has been due to ill-ventilated and overcrowded 

 barracks and military hospitals, too great same- 

 ness of diet, and want of healthy exercise ; hence 

 the great expense in recruiting. While the mean 

 mortality of the English male population, of the 

 ages 15 to 40, is 9-7 in loco living, the average 

 annual mortality of the British army at home 

 and abroad, 1861-70, was 16-17 in 1000; of 

 British navy, 1856-72, 14 ; and of merchant- 

 seamen at sea, 1852-71, 21-3 ; of soldiers, 97 per 

 cent are between the ages 15-45; and the mean 

 age of the men in the three services is 26 to 28. 

 The dangers in the navy are 4 times, and in the 

 merchant-service 1 5 times as great as those on land. 

 Two in three deaths in the navy are from disease, 

 but, in the merchant-service, from injury and 

 accident, including drowning. The death-rate 

 in looo of the Austrian army was 31-5 in 1859 ; 

 12-6 in 1863 ; 18-4 in 1866 ; 6-4 in 1870. 



The annual death-rate, from all causes, in the 

 British army, 1793-1815, was 56 in 1000, but in 

 the troops in active service, 165. Nearly 3 in 

 7 of war-deaths occurred in the last three of the 

 23 years ; 49 in looo troops died yearly of 

 disease, while only a mean of 9-7 in 1000 males 

 of military age now die yearly in England. By 

 the war 1793-1815, the British population lost 



534 



8000 men in the prime of life yearly out of an 

 annual average of 198,000 soldiers, and 110,000 

 sailors. The British navy, 1793-1815, lost 176 

 yearly in looo ; but, 1820-40, only 16 yearly. 



The mean constant sickness in the British 

 army in the Peninsular campaigns was 209 in 

 looo men, only 15 in 1000 being laid up from 

 wounds ; and in the French army, 130 in 1000 

 were constantly sick. On an average in England 

 about 20 males in looo of military age are 

 constantly medically sick. In the Peninsula, 3 

 officers were injured in battle to 2 privates, but 

 only 2 officers died of wounds to 3 privates, and 

 8 officers died of disease to 5 privates. In ten 

 weeks, our army at Walcheren, 1809, lost 640 in 

 looo privates, and 181 in 1000 officers. In the 

 Waterloo campaign, 1815, the allies lost 159 in 

 looo men. In the British army in the Crimea, 

 October 1854 to September 1855, 37 in 1000 

 soldiers died, besides those killed in action ; 

 while only I in 13 of the hospital admissions, and 

 only i in 15 of the deaths, arose from wounds 

 or injuries, the rest being from disease, and in- 

 sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. At Boro- 

 dino, 1812, the French lost in killed and wounded 

 211 in looo men. On the average, 1861-70, in 

 looo British troops, 16-2 died annually at home 

 and abroad ; but only 9-4 in 1000 died at home ; 

 50-4 were constantly non-effective from sickness 

 at home and abroad, 46 at home, 30 in Canada, 

 and 8 1 in India. 



Accidents, Suicides, Gr*c. On railways in the 

 United Kingdom, 1840-43, I passenger was killed 

 in 944,550, and I injured in 22,160; in 1851-56, 

 I in 16,168,449, and I in 458,370 ; in 1871, i in 

 17,619,784, and i in 139,500 ; all in circumstances 

 beyond their own control, and exclusive of season- 

 ticket holders. The ratio of railway servants 

 killed and injured on the lines far exceeds that of 

 passengers. In 1872 there were almost daily 4 or 

 5 railway servants killed or seriously injured on 

 the railways in the United Kingdom. Around the 

 British Isles, 1851-56, a yearly average of 724 

 persons were lost by shipwrecks and ship col- 

 lisions ; in 1870, 774 were so lost, or I in 7 of the 

 persons imperilled in the shipwrecks or ship col- 

 lisions. Of our coal-miners, I in every 318 was 

 killed in the ten years 1851-60, and i in every 388 

 in the ten years 1861-70. In the three years 

 ending June 1872, in the streets of London, 

 382 persons were killed, and 6890 injured. In 

 England and Wales, 1861-70, the annual rate 

 of deaths by lightning was 6-50 in 10 millions 

 living. 



In England, 1858-71, the annual number of 

 suicides was very uniform, the variation being 

 from 62 to 73 in 1,000,000 of the population, or on 

 the average i in 15,000. In Scotland, 1870, there 

 was i suicide in 25,088 of the population. In late 

 years the yearly suicides were i to 92,375 inhabit- 

 ants in Sweden ; i to 8446 in Saxony ; i in 34,246 

 in Russia ; I in 15,000 in the United States. In 

 Paris, i suicide occurs in 2700 citizens ; in St 

 Petersburg and London, i in 21,000. Most Eng- 

 lish suicides are by hanging, fewer by cutting, 

 stabbing, and drowning, and fewest by poisoning, 

 shooting, &c. Many of the suicides in France are 

 by charcoal fumes. The suicide- rate in 10,000 

 men in Austro-Hungarian army is 8-5 ; in Prus- 

 sian, 6-4 ; in Belgian, 4-5 ; in French, 4-9 ; in 

 English, 3-8; and only 1-09 in the male civil 



