FECUNDITY. 125 



the whole, in a town where thirteen children out of 

 twenty-nine do not live to twenty-one it follows 

 that in three generations, or the space of a century, 

 the population would be reduced to half its num- 

 ber." 



Mr. G. R. Porter, in his " Progress of the Nation," 

 says, " Frequently, and indeed almost always, in old- 

 settled countries, the proportionate number of births 

 decreases with the advance of civilization and the 

 more general diffusion of the conveniences and luxu- 

 ries of life." * 



Other writers speak of the generally acknowledged 

 influence of the plethoric condition of the system that 

 prevails among the wealthy, in producing diminished 

 fecundity. It does not, however, follow from the 

 facts stated that privation and want are favorable to 

 fertility, as the reverse is true. It is a well-known 

 fact that famines not only diminish population by an 

 increased death-rate, but also by a diminution of the 

 birth-rate. 3 



In the absence of those special conditions that an- 

 tagonize the procreative functions, the greatest fecun- 

 dity may be expected when the food-supply is suffi- 

 cient for the wants of the system, and active habits of 

 life conduce to a healthy performance of the various 

 organic functions. 



There are facts that seem to show that an improved 

 condition of the system, resulting from a better food- 

 supply after a period of privation and even of disease, 



1 The last three quotations have been copied from Walford's " In- 

 surance Cyclopaedia," vol. iii., pp. 185, 190. 



2 Walford, " Insurance Cyclopedia," vol. iii., p. 163. 



