I should enter more fully Into this subject, but that it belongs more to 

 the department of political economy than to that of physiology. 



Do the calculations on the probabilities of human life present results 

 applicable to the generality of cases, and is the mean duration of exist- 

 ence nearly the same with all men, in all countries and climates ? The 

 shepherd of the Pyrenees, who lives happy in the innocence of a pastoral 

 life, breathing the pure air of his mountains, is he, in this respect, sub- 

 ject to the same laws as the inhabitant of populous cities, exposed to the 

 inconveniences attending numerous collections of men ; inconveniences 

 which, viewed in a philosophical point of view, or which greatly over- 

 rated, have so often furnished a text to the meditations of philosophy, 

 and to the idle declamations of oratory*. 



Does life experience a progressive diminution, in proportion to the 

 duration of the world, and to say nothing of the time preceding theflood, 

 when, according to the Book of Genesis, men lived several hundred years, 

 -'* .. i i. .. , . .. .. ... j. i - - - 



* In order to answer these questions in a satisfactory manner, it would be necessary 

 to have tables of mortality kept with care in the different countries and climates of the 

 globe. The religions and superstitions of the East, of all Africa, and of a great part of 

 America, oppose invincible obstacles to these researches, independently of those re- 

 sulting from the state of civilization, and the policy of the various governments of these 

 countries. Judging 1 , however, from the results already before us, the northern king- 

 doms of Europe appear to be those in which mankind enjoys the longest term of exist- 

 ence. The tables of mortality of the empire of Russia, for the year 1811, gave in 

 828,561 individuals deceased belonging to the Greek church, 947 who had reached an 

 hundred years and upwards ; amongst whom were 83 of 115 years of age, 51 of 120, 21 

 of 125, 7 of 130, 1 of 135, and another who had reached 140. m 



According to the abstract of the population returns of Great Britain in 1821, the num- 

 ber of individuals in England, aged from 90 to 100 years, was 9.90 in every 20,000 ; and, 

 of those aged 100 and upwards, 34 : the" general mortality was 1 in 67. In Scotland, 

 those aged from 90 to 100 was 14.13, and 100 and upwards 1.03, in every 20,000. In 

 Wales, the number of persons aged from 90 to 100 was 17-97, and of those aged 100 

 and upwards, 50 in 20,000 : the mortality was 1 in 69. 



The maximum longevity was found to be in Scotland in the shire of Ross and Cro- 

 marty. Here the proportion of individuals aged from 90 to 100 was 34.39 to the 20,000, 

 and of those aged 100 and upwards 9.22. In the shires of Inverness and Argyle, the 

 proportion of persons aged from 90 to 100 were 32.49 and 29.84, respectively, to* 20,000. 

 In 1811, the population of Scotland was 1,865,900 ; in 1821 it was 2,135,300. 



The first actual enumeration of the inhabitants of England and Wales was made in 

 1801, and gave a population of 9,168,000, and a mortality of 1 in 44.8. The second was 

 made in 1811, and gave a population of 10,502.900, and a mortality of 1 in 50. The third 

 and last, which took place in 1821, has given an enumeration of 12,218,500, and a mor- 

 tality of 1 in 58. 



It appears from these returns, that the healthiest counties in England and Wales are 

 Pembroke, Sussex, Cornwall, Cardigan, and Monmouth, the mortality in these being 1 

 in about 71 ; and that the least salubrious are Middlesex, Kent, Surry, and Warwick, the 

 mortality being in these 1 in about 50. It is not easy to explain altogether the differ- 

 ence in salubrity in the different countries. Locality is, doubtless, an important agent. 

 Cities and large manufacturing towns modify greatly the ratio of mortality in a particu- 

 lar district. This is well illustrated with respect to "London. In 1700, the annual mor- 

 tality of this city was 1 in 25 ; in 1750, 1 in 21 ; in 1801, and the four preceding years, 1 

 in 35 ; in 1810, 1 in 38 ; and in 1821, 1 in 40. 



It must be evident that the increase or diminution of the population of a district, as 

 well as the mean term of life in it, must depend upon the nature of the climate and soil, 

 its mean elevation and temperature, the state of its civilization and cultivation, pursuits 

 of its inhabitants, and means of subsistence. The government and religion of a country 

 also exert no inconsiderable controul on the mean duration of human life, and increase 

 of its population. Together with these already mentioned, many other causes of a 

 moral and physical nature may be adduced, as influencing, in no slight degree, the ex- 

 tent, of population, and the salubrity of a district or country. Copland* 



