220 Mr. G. King and Dr. A. Newsholme. 



periods to form trustworthy averages, it is better to enlarge the rule, 

 and to redistribute the deaths slightly as between the adjacent 

 periods, while still arranging that the curve shall in general outline 

 follow the summits of the rectangles, and that the area of the curve 

 shall exactly equal the areas of the rectangles in the aggregate. In 

 Diagram No. 2 the correction of the curve on these principles is 

 shown, and it is this corrected curve which is repeated in Diagram 

 No. 3. How slight the correction really is becomes apparent when 



we state that it is equivalent to the transfer of only seven deaths in 

 the Scottish Widows' Society from the second to the first septennium. 



