SAXONY. 



793 



Males. Females. 



Legitimate . 28472 26,625 



Illegitimate . . . 4,453 4,246 



Twin births, pairs of ma.es 293, of females 259; one of each 



Births of three at once 7; born dead, males 1 716, of females 



Total of births, males 32,925, of females 30,871; of males and 

 females 63,796. 



A comparison of the number of children born in 

 1837, namely, 64,593, with the total number of 

 inhabitants at the same time, namely, 1,652,114, 

 shows the fact of the birth of one child to .25-57 

 inhabitants. 



In 1837 the number born was greater by 13,529 

 than the number of those who died. In 1836 it 

 was greater by 18,532. 



The excess of males over females born was, in 

 1837, 5-27 per cent.; and, on an average of the six 

 years, 1831-37, it was 6-24 per cent.; that is, 

 there were born to 100 males 94*76 females, or to 

 100 females 105-56 males. Generally the annual 

 proportion of births of males to females is as 

 twenty-one to twenty; and the proportion of 

 deaths of male to female children as twenty-seven 

 to twenty-five, so that in the period of maturity 

 the sexes are nearly equal in number. 



Of the whole number born in 1837 the propor- 

 tion born dead was 4-61 per cent. ; in 1836, 4 76 

 per cent.; and the average of the six years, 

 1832-37, was 4-64 per cent. 



The number of twin births, in the same sexen- 

 nial period, was 4,835 ; the number of births of 

 three at once, forty-four ; in the year 1833 there 

 were fifteen. The proportion of male to female 

 children is, in the twin births, as 100 to 91-86. 



In 1837 the illegitimate children born were to 

 the legitimate as 1 to 6-2; in 1836 as 1 to 6-15; 

 and to the total number born as 1 to 7'2. On an 

 average of the six years the proportion of illegiti- 

 mate to the legitimate is as 1 to 6-33, and is 

 2-15ths of the whole number born. In the sexen- 

 nial period, 1836-37, there were, on an average, 5-5 

 illegitimate children to 1,000 inhabitants.* The 

 number of illegitimate births is found to be greatly 

 augmented by the existence of well-supported in- 

 stitutions for foundlings; and a remarkable con- 

 firmation of this assertion is furnished in the city 

 of Mayence, where the abolition of the foundling 

 hospital has been directly followed by an important 

 decrease of illegitimate births. 



Considering the number of births, with regard 

 to different months, it appears that the greatest 

 number, 6,002, occurred in January ; and the least, 

 4,470, in November ; and this remark is equally 

 applicable to the average of the six years. Indeed, 

 it is a fact confirmed by all carefully kept registers, 

 that the greatest numbers of births are found in 

 the first months of the year.f 



Of the 64,595 born in 1837, there were, 



Legitimate 

 Illegitimate . 



Males 



28,569 



4,602 



Female*. 

 27,059 

 4,365 



Tolnl 

 55,628 

 8,967 



In the same year there died 



" In Prussia, in 1837, there were born 518,392 legitimate 

 children, and 39,501 illegitimate; the latter being to the former 

 as 1 to 13. In France, according to the last census, the pro- 

 portion of illegitimate in the whole numbers of births was, in 

 the department of the Seine, 31 -3 per cent., that is, nearly 

 one-third. 



t Dr Guiette, of Brussels, having made some curious inves- 

 tigations respecting 1 the influence of day and night on human 

 births, has found that in nineteen years, out of 5,448 births, 

 2,949 occurred in the night, and 2,4~99 in the day. That the 

 greatest nmnbers were at 11 in the night (358); an>l at 2 in the 

 night (304), while the least numbers were at 7 in the morning, 

 in the afternoon. 



The proportion of the numbers born dead to the 

 whole amount of deaths is as follows : 



percent. |ier cent. percent. 



1832 5-9 1834 596 1836 6'63 



1833 5-5 1835 7' 1837 5'83 

 Annual average of the six years . 6-12 per cent. 



In the whole number born dead, the proportion 

 of males to females is as 100 to 7^"73. The pro- 

 portion of the number of illegitimate to legitimate 

 children born has been shown to have been as 1 to 

 6-2, or 16-13 per cent.; and with regard to the 

 number of each class born dead, that of the illegi- 

 timate is to the legitimate as 1 to 4'73, that is, 21 

 per cent. ; showing a rate of mortality greater by 

 5 per cent, among the illegitimate. The deaths 

 before the completion of the first year show 1 of 

 an illegitimate child to 5-08 legitimate ; and from 

 the first to the sixth year (commonly the first of 

 school-going) 1 to 9-08. Of legitimate children 

 the proportion born dead is 4-42 per cent., and of 

 illegitimate 5-8 per cent. 



The greatest proportion of deaths, in places 

 having above 1,000 inhabitants, has been 1 to 18-5 

 persons. And here it may be remarked, that the 

 statements exhibited in the works of some eminent 

 writers that the ratio of mortality is always greater 

 in the town than in the country population, is con- 

 troverted by the honourable director of the Saxon 

 society, who says that, many of his own observa- 

 tions serve to prove the reverse. That the great 

 advantages of pure air, athletic exercise, simple 

 food, and exemption from habits of luxury, are 

 often partially, if not wholly counteracted by the 

 inferiority or deficiency of medical attendance in 

 sickness, disregard of cleanliness, bad food, spirit- 

 uous drinks, and excessive labour. That only in 

 very large and densely populous cities the mortality 

 exceeds the medium ratio ; and that only in 

 wealthy villages it falls below the medium: while 

 throughout whole rural districts, where poverty 

 and destitution prevail, the rate of mortality, in- 

 stead of the general average of 1 in 34, is as high 

 as 1 in 12. However, the present returns for 

 Saxony exhibit results at variance with this asser- 

 tion, for of the total number of deaths in 1837, 

 namely, 51,064, 18,070 occurred among the in- 

 habitants of towns, comprising a population of 

 533,303 ; and 32,994 among inhabitants of villages 

 and rural districts, comprehending a population of 

 1,102,887 ; showing that the average ratio of town 

 mortality was 83 per cent., and that of the coun- 

 try scarcely 3 per cent. In England the town 

 and country populations are not separately regis- 

 tered. The returns of the last census in 1831, 

 confuse the numbers of inhabitants of towns with 

 those of the parishes of which they constitute a 

 part, so as to prevent the possibility of discrimina- 

 tion ; for, in many instances, the parishes are of 

 great extent. 



In general the proportion born dead is consider- 

 ably less in the country than in towns, especially 

 in large and densely populous capitals. 



In 1837, the proportion of marriages (13,546) 



