298 Of the Checks to Population, §c. Bk. ii. 



last fifteen years would be 23,333. This would 

 be in the proportion of 1 to 108 of the average 

 population, an excess which, if continued, would 

 double the population in about 75 years. Ac- 

 cording to the foregoing numbers, the proportion 

 of the births to the population was in 1823 as 1 

 to 27.3, of the deaths as 1 to 47.9. The healthiness 

 of the country, therefore, and the rate of its in- 

 crease in population, has continued to advance 

 since 1805. This increase is attributed to the 

 progress of agriculture and industry, aud the 

 practice of vaccination. 



The gradual diminution of mortality since the 

 middle of the last century is very striking. 



