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* Up till the year 1880 the registration of Ireland was very defective. 

 I have accordingly abstained from comparing the two periods. 



Half a century ago, in the decade 1851-00, the 

 average annual mortality of England per 1000 

 persons was 22'4, giving an average life of 44 years 

 and 259 days. But so much more favourable 

 have the conditions of life become, that the average 

 life of the people of England has been lengthened 

 in the course of the half-century by 13 years and 

 281 days. 



If we possessed the mortality returns of the first 

 decade of the nineteenth century, they would in all 

 likelihood show that the present average life of the 



