THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



409 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



THE POPULATION OF THE 

 UNITED STATES IN 1910 

 Preliminaey announcements have 

 been made of the population of the 

 states and of some of the cities as 

 determined by the thirteenth census. 

 The population of continental United 

 States is 91,972,267, as compared with 

 75,994,575 in 1900, an increase of 21 

 per cent. This is the smallest rate of 

 increase hitherto recorded, but is prac- 

 tically the same as for the preceding 

 decade. The accompanying chart shows 

 the percentages of increase, those prior 

 to the first census of 1790 being some- 

 what rough estimates. Apart from 

 drops at the time of the war of revolu- 

 tion and the civil war the percentage 



remained very constant for two centu- 

 ries, but in spite of the large immigra- 

 tion it has dropped in the past fifty 

 years from 35 to 21. 



It is unsafe to make any prediction 

 from such figures but it is clear that 

 the increase in population has been 

 maintained by immigration and by a 

 falling death rate, and it is doubtful 

 whether these factors will continue to 

 make up for the declining birth rate. 

 In 1820 there were 489 children under 

 16 years old among each thousand of 

 the white population — that is, about 

 half were children. In 1900 the num- 

 ber of children had fallen to 356 and 

 in New England to 291. Or, to put the 

 matter in another form, there were in 



i I ! 



I I I I 



8 S 3 S 



I I 

 8 S 



I I I L 

 0000 



5 3 5? 



Pbbcentaoe of Increase in the Population of the United States bt Decaosb 



FBOM 1650 TO 1900. 



VOL. LXXVIII. — 28. 



