LIFE ASSURANCE. 



110 AT. 





fclUix el tU* MBBM* nn-mHI* in it* being niceiiiry w 



Ik* I-1H *>'* who die in any one year die t uniform interval* 

 At-oman-a* that yar ; 10 that, one with another, they enjoy half of 

 Acer rwr of death. The mean duration of life i* then constructed aa 



r r*r of death. ._ 



follow* : Let n he the number living at the age in question, of whom 

 let A. t, 4. Ac., be left at the end of .ucceasive yean. Then a- 6 die 

 m the Ant year, enjoying among them 1 (o-i) year* of Ufe, while b 

 (woo urvive) enjoy the whole year. Consequently the a pel-sons 

 oioy, in UM flnt year of the calculation, 6 + J (0-6), or } (a -t- 6) year* ; 

 andiimlUrly It may be prored that they enjoy l(& + e), !( + "), *c., 

 In the Moond, third, *c.. year*. If these be put together, the result is 

 t> + * + + rf + ,etc., which , divided by a, gives for the average quantity 

 of yean enjoyed by each individual, 



1 4 + r-f rf + ftc, 

 8* 



or the rule i. add together the number* left at every age above 

 that given, divide by the number alive at the given age, and add half 

 a year. . 



If it be judged advinable to make the preceding result a little moro 

 mathematically correct, diminish the preceding result by the 12 n-th 

 part of -I. fMoRTAUTT, LAW or; Ur. MOIVRE'S HYPOTHESIS.] 



LIFE ASSUKANCK. or INSURANCE. [REVERSIONS.] 



LI VK BOAT. A life-boat is a boat constructed with great strength 

 to mist violent thocks, and at the same time possessing sufficient 

 buoyancy to enable it to float though loaded with men and filled with 

 water. Such boat* are maintained at most of the ports of this 

 kingdom, always ready to put to eea when vessel* are seen in danger of 

 shipwreck, and provided with means for being conveyed to the shore 

 and launched as rapidly as possible. 



As early as the year 1785, a patent was granted to Mr. Lukin for a 

 Ufa-boat with projecting gunwales and holluw coses or double sides 

 im.lrr them, as well as air-tight lockers or enclosures under the 

 thwart* : then contrivances increased the buoyancy of the boat, ami 

 the air-tight COM* under the gunwales, by their weight when raised 

 hove the surface of the sea, and their resistance when depressed 

 beneath, greatly prevented rolling. Mr. Lukin B boat WAS strong and 

 buoyant, but it was liable to be disabled by having the sides staved in. 

 A batter was Mr. Gnotbead), invented in 1780. This boat had five 

 thwarts, or seats for rowers, doubled-banked, to be manned with ten 

 oar*. It was cased and lined with oork, which gave it such buoyancy 

 that it would float and be serviceable though so damaged by hard 

 knocks * to be almost in pieces ; and this U an accident which the 

 oftnaM and elasticity of the cork is well calculated to prevent. Great- 

 Bead's boat, by the year 1604, when the Society of Arts voted the 

 Inventor their gold medal and 50 guineas, had saved nearly 300 lives 



Flf. 1. Sheer Plan. 



from vessels wrecked near the mouth of the Tynemouth haven. In the 

 year 1807 Mr. Wilson produced a life-boat, for which he received the 

 gold medal of the Society of Arts, although in fact it* principle <li'l 

 not differ much from that of Lnkin's. 



During the next forty years, numerous other life-boats were intro- 

 duced or proposed for introduction ; but all of them were wanting in 

 some or other of the requisite* <|u:diti.--<. In 1850 the Duke of 

 thumberland, as a means of lessening the terrible loss by shipwreck on 

 the eastern coast, offered a prize for the best model of a life-boat 

 fewer than 280 plans and models were sent in, which were all patiently 

 examined by a committee appointed by his Grace for that purpose. 

 About 50 of the models were afterwards sent to the Great Kxhihition 

 in 1851. The examiners drew up a list of all the good qualities of a 

 life-boat, and noted down the rank of each of the 280 plans in reference 

 to each quality j and then a summary of these partial results, gave an 

 aggregate result for each boat, which determined the amount 

 claim to the place of honour. Tested in this way, the prize wa 

 awarded to Mr. Beeching, of Yarmouth, as the constructor of the life- 

 boat which combined the largest number of good qualities. It affords 

 a curious comment on this mode of arriving at a judgment by 

 and competitive examinations, that the examiners did not really a.L.pt 

 any one of the 280 plans, although the prize was awarded t.. Mr. 

 Beeching. Mr. Peake, the master shipwright at Portsmouth, wh 

 one of the committee, designed a boat which compri>cd many of the 

 features of the competitive boats, and added others suggested by his 

 experience ; and this boat, gradually improved in later yairs, is the one 

 which now constitutes the recognised English model : it is adopted, to 

 the exclusion of all others, by that highly useful body, the "Life-Boat 

 Institution;" many boats on the same construction have been 

 Hussia, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and the colon 



We copy from the ' Companion to the British Almanac,' for 1860, a 

 brief description of Peake's life-boat in the latest stage of its develop- 

 ment. The boats are of two sizes. One is about 82 feet long, 8 feet 

 wide, 4 feet deep, weighs 40 cwt., costs 1561., and is worked by 10 oars ; 

 the other is about 28 feet long, 7 feet wide, 3 feet deep, weighs -' 

 costs 126?., and is worked by 6 oars. Although there is only one rudder, 

 the boat is nearly alike at both ends ; air-cases and chambers an* pro- 

 vided in various parts of the interior ; while ingenious ; 

 are made for getting rid of any water which may have < -it, <<! the 

 boat. It is generally allowed that the boat possesses in a high degree 

 these eight qualities great lateral stability ; speed against a heavy 

 ' sea; facility for launching ; ease in taking the shore ; immediate self- 



discharge of any water entering it ; facility of self-righting if 

 '. great strength of construction ; and (towage-mom for a inn, 

 i passengers. Some features of the construction may be understood 

 from the annexed cuts. In/;/. 1, representing a vertical longi: 

 section of the boat, DD are the end air-cases; 1, 2, 8, 4, 6, an' 



rig. S. Body Plan. 



Fin. 4. MIdhip !- 



i division* ; the dotted lines show the position and dimension* of 

 UM air-chamber* within-boord, and the tubes through "which any 

 hipped waUr i* got rid of. In jty. 2, representing a deck-plan of the 

 boat, A A, an the deck ; B , th* relieving tubes (6 Inches in diameter) ; 

 0, UM aid* air caw* ; I> l>, the end air-chamber*. In Jig. 3, which i- 



midship transverse -wet ion, A A, an aeotion* of the side air-oases; 



a, UM nltaring tube*, bond through *olid ma**ive chocks of wood ; 

 c c. an (pace* beneath the deck, filled near th* miil-lnp portion with 

 olid chock* of light wood ; while D i* a section of a small chami.-l. 

 having a pump in It, by which any leakage-water can be pumped out 

 by on* of th* crew whilrt afloat. In fg. 4, the exterior Mr**' <>> 



i Mctiotw, at different dlntanoe* from *t*m to f..ni. in rhown. 



The mod* of managing UMM boot* will b* b**t d**cribed in 

 tWm with th* Kottonal Life Boo* A*>oUtin-oriirinally called, when 



eUblihed in 1824, the Royal National Institution fir th,' Prwrvv 

 tion of Life from Shipwreck. The objects sought to bo attained by 

 thi* body were to grant fund* for making life-boat**, bont houses, and 

 life-buoy*; to axsist in training boatmen and coast to aid 



hip* in diitreu ; to interchange the fullest information, with c.oi 

 bodie* and local committees, concerning life-saving appliance* ; an. I to 

 reword by money, medals, and votes of thanks, those who \. 

 aid to thin* in distress, or to porwinx escaping from mien ships. 

 During a course of 31 years, i usivc. ihi* 



ociety was instrumental in saving tin* livnn of '"i'l'l per*.-! 

 wrack not that th* work wax all ilonc* by thin In -titution : bul 

 it took it* share in a scrip* of woll-plann<*d <*tlort I " the 



reiult. In 1864 cam* int<> opur.ition an A. : ri'lating t<> ni-irh mt hips 

 and mnrchant a*am*n (17 ft 18 Vie*, cap. 104 : " An Act to ammd and 



