220 REPORT — 1861. 



they did, very marked contrasts in different regiments. Having quoted returns to 

 show that a manifest diminution had taken place in the mortality and sickness of 

 the army, Dr. Farr continued by saying that, upon examination, it had heen found 

 that the great causes of the excess of deaths in the army were completely under 

 control in all ordinaiy circumstances ; and as they varied, their eflPects varied. If 

 the measui-es that had been begun were completed, there was no doubt of the result ; 

 and if the causes of disease were studied under the new system of observation esta- 

 blished by Lord Herbert, improved means of guarding the mechanism of the human 

 frame woidd be discovered, and would accumulate year by year. As instances of 

 the remarkable improvement in the health of the ai-my in the United Kingdom, it 

 may be mentioned that, while the annual muuber of deaths to 1000 of strength 

 during the years 18-37-46 was, in Infantry regiments, 17"9, in the Foot Guards 

 20'4, in the Royal Artillery 1.3'9, and in Dragoon regiments 13'6, the mortaUtv fell 

 in the year 18.59 to 7-6 in Infantiy regiments, to 9'1 in the Foot Guai-ds, to 80 in 

 the Royal Artillery, and to 8-0 in Dragoon regiments. 



On Sanitary Improvements. By Mrs. Fisoisr. 



On the General Results of the Census of the United Kingdom in 1861*. By 

 James T. HAitjriCE, F.S.S., Assistant Commissioner of the Census in England. 



The author commenced by describing the machinery which had been used for 

 collecting the census in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Channel Islands. 

 In England, .30,862 enumeratoi-s were employed : in Scotland, 8075 ; in Ireland, 

 5096 men of the constabidary force, 15 of the Coast Guard, and 17.3 of the 

 Dublin constabidary ; and in the Channel Islands, 50 supeiintendents were 

 emploj'ed. and under them 260 envmierators. In the United Kingdom, including 

 the superintending officei-s, there were altogether 48,730 local agents. In this num- 

 ber was not included the Custom-House officers and others employed to enume- 

 rate persons in vessels. The proportion of enumerators to the population was 

 much larger in Scotland than in the rest of the country. In England the average 

 number of persons to each enumerator was 655 ; in Ireland, 1091 ; while in Scot- 

 land it was 379. To this anny of local officers, minute printed instructions and 

 and blank schedules for distribution at every house were furnished fi-om the central 

 office. From the London office alone the printed papers for^^arded before the cen- 

 sus-day, by post and railway, weighed about 45 tons, which was equal to 4200 

 reams of ordinary foolscap paper. In Ireland, besides the usual information as to 

 the number of houses and persons, the heads of inquiiy included the educational 

 status of the people, their religious profession, the number and causes of death, 

 and other details connected with vital statistics. These last items would have been 

 a needless addition to the census, were not Ireland stiU the only part of civilized 

 Eiu-ope not possessing— and, judging from the proceedings of last session, not 

 soon likely to possess — a system of registration of births, deaths, and marriages. 

 Fortimately the tranquil state of the coimtiy allowed the men of the constabulary 

 to be spared to cany out these large investigations ; and they undoubtedly pos- 

 sessed peculiar qualifications for the task entrusted to them. The want of uni- 

 formity bet«-een the returns made from Ireland and other parts of the L^nited 

 Kingdom was a di-awback to the general utility of the census in some respects ; 

 but all classes had readily joined in affijrding the fuUest information. In this 

 country no motive existed for concealment or falsification of the nimibers of the 

 people. There was no suspicion of the returns being used against the public in 

 reference to taxation or military ser^dce, as was the case in several of the con- 

 tinental states. The number of persons residing in the British islands on the 8th 

 of April last was 29,058,888. The men in the army, navy, and merchant sei-vice 

 out of the coimtry, either abroad or afloat, amounted to 275,900. The total popu- 



* The figures cited in this paper, with respect to the population of the United Kingdom 

 in 1861. were derived from the preliminary abstracts presented to Parliament, but stated 

 to be only approximately correct, and stUl subject to final check and revision. Since the 

 Meeting at Manchester, the revised numbers for England and Scotland have been published ; 

 those for Ireland, however, have not yet been declared. The population of England and 

 Wales, according to the Census returns of 1861, is 20,066,224; of Scotland, 3,062,294. 



