THE PRESENT EVOLUTION OF MAN — MENTAL 315 



shows, as between Foresters and Rechabites, a gain to 

 the latter of 5"7 years at age twenty. This is an 

 enormous advantage. It would mean on the 400,000 

 young men (about) who every year reach the age of 

 twenty, about 2,280,000 additional years of life; allow- 

 ing 39 '4 years of the mean after-time of each adult at 

 twenty, it would be equal to the addition to the popula- 

 tion of 57,360 men, with all the wealth which they 

 could create ! 



" 72. The London Grand Division of the Sons of 

 Temperance has had an average death-rate during the 

 eleven years 1880-90 of 5"29 per cent., the average age 

 at the end of 1885 being 323- years. The same low 

 mortality is experienced in other parts of the world. 

 An actuarial report on the Friendly societies of Auck- 

 land during five years showed the actual as compared 

 with the expected mortality to have been, among 8315 

 abstainers (Rechabites and Sons of Temperance) 71 "56 

 per cent., and among 49,698 non-abstainers, 98'34 per 

 cent. 



" 73. It must not be forgotten that there are a con- 

 siderable number of abstainers among the Foresters and 

 Oddfellows; if these were withdrawn the mortality of 

 the rest woiild be seen to be greater. There are also, 

 unfortunately, many who drink to excess, and their 

 mortality is highest of all. These two classes tend to 

 counterbalance each other, and hence the comparison is, 

 to a large extent, between abstainers and moderate or 

 medium drinkers. 



" 74. The Collective Investigation Committee of the 

 British Medical Association in 1888 published a series 

 of returns furnished by several medical men on the con- 

 nection between the age at death and habits with 

 regard to alcohol. The results obtained were that the 

 average age at death of males over twenty-five years of 

 age was as follows: — 



122 total abstainers ... ... 51'22 years. 



1529 habitually temperate ... 62*13 „ 



977 careless drinkers ... ... 59*67 „ 



547 free drinkers ... ... 57*59 „ 



603 habitually intemperate ... 52'03 „ 



