490 On the Fruit fulness of Marriages. Bk. ii . 



sources, it is clearly desirable to find in the re- 

 gisters a small rather than a large proportion of 

 births to marriages ; because the smaller this pro- 

 portion is, the greater must be the proportion of 

 the born which lives to marry, and of course the 

 more healthy must be the country. 



Crome* observes that, when the marriages of a 

 country yield less than 4 births, the population is 

 in a very precarious state ; and he estimates the 

 prolifickness of marriages by the proportion of 

 yearly births to marriages. If this observation 

 were just, the population of many countries of 

 Europe would be in a precarious state, as in many 

 countries the proportion of births to marriages in 

 the registers is rather below than above 4 to 1 . 

 It has been shown in what manner this proportion 

 in the registers should be corrected, in order to 

 make it a just representation of the prolifickness 

 of marriages; and if a large part of the born live 

 to marry, and the age of marriage be considerably 

 earlier than the expectation of life, such a pro- 

 portion in the registers is by no means incon- 

 sistent with a rapid increase. In Russia it has 

 appeared that the proportion of births to marriages 

 is less than 4 to 1 ; and yet its population in- 

 creases faster than that of any other nation in 

 Europe. In England the population increases 

 more rapidly than in France ; and yet in England 

 the proportion of births to marriages, when allow- 

 ance has been made for omissions, is about 4 to 1, 



* Ueber die Bevolkerung der Europais. Staat. p. 91. 



