440 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



are, in trutli, but " suburbs of London." * The same might be said of Brighton 

 and of the many other watering-places which stud the coasts of the English and 

 Irish Channels, and of the North Sea. Have not Bath, Malvern, Leamington, and 

 Cheltenham been built expressly that Englishmen of wealth may enjoy themselves 

 whilst benefiting their health? And some of these watering-places are truly 

 sumptuous, abounding in almost palatial dwelling-houses replete with every 

 luxury and convenience. 



The annual increase of the population is almost wholly due to an excess of births 

 over deaths, and would be still more considerable if the surplus were not reduced 



Fig. 217. — Increase or Dkcuease of the Natives of each County, 18G1 — 1871. 

 According to E. G. Ravenstein. 



0- NA/ofGr 



The map is shaflfd to exhibit the increase or decrease of the natives of each cminty, inospcctive 

 of such natives residing in the covinty of their- bhth or elsewhere in the United Kin^'doin. 



by emigration. Even in Ireland, the population of which has only very recently 

 shown signs of a slight increase, the birth rate, ever since the great famine, has 

 been higher than the death rate. Taking the average for the last ten years, the 

 births exceeded the deaths annually to the extent of 430,000, and it is satisfactory 

 to be able to assert that whilst the birth rate is rising, the death rate is steadily 



* N. Hawthorne, " English Note-Books." 



