Ch. vii. in France (continued). 395 



and 1820. But if we suppose the births to be 

 deficient -jfei and the deaths ~, the proportion of 

 the births to the population will then be ■£*; and 

 the proportion of the deaths ^. These propor- 

 tions will make the annual excess of the births 

 above the deaths, compared with the population, 

 as 1 to a little above 123, which, after a slight 

 allowance for deaths abroad, will give the same 

 period of doubling, or the same rate of increase 

 as that which took place in France between 1813 

 and 1820, supposing both enumerations to be 

 equally near the truth. 



It is worthy of remark, that, after making the 

 above allowances for omissions in the returns of 

 births and deaths, the proportion of deaths ap- 

 pears to be smaller than in any of the registers 

 before collected ; and as the proportion of the 

 births is also smaller than either before the revo- 

 lution, or in the returns from the 30 departments 

 in the years VIII., IX. and X. before noticed; and 

 as there is every reason to believe that there were 

 great omissions in the general returns of the year 

 IX. and that the omissions in the returns from the 

 50 departments in 1813, were not fewer than in 

 the later registers, it may fairly be presumed that 

 the proportion of births has diminished notwith- 

 standing the increased rate at which the popula- 

 tion has been proceeding of late years. This in- 

 creased rate appears to be owing to a diminished 

 mortality, occasioned by the improved situation 

 of the labouring classes since the revolution, and 

 aided probably by the introduction of vaccination. 



