124 HUMAN LONGEVITY. 



races of Europe ; and, as we have already said, these extreme 

 cases form a sort of index to the average sought for.* 



We have not space to pursue this comparison in detail 

 through the several races and nations of modern Europe and 

 Asia, though the materials we now possess are ample for the 

 purpose. Of these races, variously commingled indeed in 

 their present nationalities, the Teutonic and the Sclavonic 

 are the most considerable; derived, as modern philology 

 teaches us, from a common Asiatic source, yet with wide 

 separation by intervening time. European Eussia best ex- 

 pounds all that relates to the Sclavonic race. In the 

 subjoined note we give a few particulars, drawn from the 

 registers of this empire, and also from those of some of the 

 Teutonic nations of the north of Europe.f They confirm 

 the result of general equality, both as to the medium dura- 

 tion of life, and as to longevity by excess. The medium 

 annual mortality varies materially indeed in different coun- 

 tries, still more in detached localities; but such diversities 



* "We have attempted, but without success, to obtain some distinct evidence 

 as to the comparative longevity of mulattos, quadroons, &c. The common 

 belief is that they are short lived, and that such breeds soon cease to be prolific. 

 But more and better attested details are required before we can reach any 

 certain conclusions. 



f For Eussia, the returns of 1842 are before us. From these it appears 

 that the mean annual mortality in that empire is fully 3| per cent, (in the 

 provinces which include the basins of the Wolga, Don, and Dnieper, con- 

 siderably more), a very high ratio compared with the 2 3- per cent, of England ; 

 but in some part explained by the great mortality of infants in Eussia. These 

 tables do not give detailed specification of ages above 90 ; but they record for 

 several years the number of deaths of males upwards of 90, giving a mean of 

 more than 5,000 for each year, or probably 10,000, had females been included. 

 This stands in large proportion to the population ; but as at the date of 90 years 

 before these returns, there was no system of registration in Eussia, their accu- 

 racy admits of much doubt. In Austria, including Lombardy, in 1842, 446 

 persons died at ages above 100, out of about 460,000 deaths. 



In the Prussian States, in 1841, 786 males and 890 females died at ages 

 upwards of 90. In Norway, in 1845, when the population approached 1,200,000 

 there were found to be 19 males and 22 females above 100. "We could have 

 wished for some specification of the actual ages here, Norway being reputed to 

 afford examples of extreme longevity. 



