608 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO I/IO. 



seek their food with danger) make a great havock of them, and that this loss 

 exceeds far that of the other sex, occasioned by diseases incident to it, as ex- 

 perience convinces us. To repair that loss, provident nature, by the disposal 

 of its wise Creator, brings forth more males than females; and that in almost a 

 constant proportion. This appears from the annexed tables, which contain ob- 

 servations for 82 years of the births in London. Now, to reduce the whole 

 to a calculation, I propose this 



Problem, a lays against b, that every year there shall be born more males 

 than females : to find a's lot, or the value of his expectation : — It is evident 

 from what has been said, that a's lot for each year is less than 4-; but, that the 

 argument may be stronger, let his lot be equal to ^ for one year. If he under- 

 takes to do the same thing 82 times running, his lot will be (4-)®% which will be 

 easily found by the table of logarithms to be -,-^^ -^^^ ^.^^ .^__ .^^— -o^-ow 

 But if A wager with b, not only that the number of males shall exceed that of 

 females, every year, but that this excess shall happen in a constant proportion, 

 and the difference lie within fixed limits; and this not only for 82 years, but 

 for ages of ages, and not only at London, but all over the world ; which it is 

 highly probable is the fact, and designed that every male may have a female of 

 the same country and suitable age ; then a's chance will be near an infinitely 

 small quantity, at least less than any assignable fraction. From whence it 

 follows, that it is art, not chance, that governs. 



There seems no more probable cause to be assigned in physics for this 

 equality of the births, than that in our first parents seed there were at first 

 formed an equal number of both sexes. 



Scholium. From hence it follows, that polygamy is contrary to the law of 

 nature and justice, and to the propagation of the human race; for where males 

 and females are in equal number, if one man take 20 wives, then 19 men must 

 live in celibacy, which is repugnant to the design of nature ; nor is it probable 

 that 20 women will be so well impregnated by one man, as by 20. 



