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CHAP. XL 



On the Fruitfulness of Marriages. 



It would be extremely desirable to be able to 

 deduce from the registers of births, deaths and 

 marriages in different countries, and the actual po- 

 pulation with the rate of increase, the real pro- 

 litickness of marriages, and the true proportion of 

 the born which lives to marry. Perhaps the 

 problem may not be capable of an accurate solu- 

 tion; but we shall make some approximation 

 towards it, and be able to account for some of the 

 difficulties which appear in many registers, if we 

 attend to the following considerations. 



It should be premised, however, that in the 

 registers of most countries there is reason to be- 

 lieve that the omissions in the births and deaths 

 are greater than in the marriages ; and conse- 

 quently, that the proportion of marriages is almost 

 always given too great. In the enumerations 

 which have lately taken place in this country, while 

 it is supposed with reason that the registry of 

 marriages is nearly correct, it is known with cer-* 

 tainty that there are very great omissions in the 

 births and deaths ; and it is probable that similar 

 omissions, though not perhaps to the same extent, 

 prevail in other countries. 



