510 Effects of Epidemics on Registers of Bk. ii. 



increase of marriages and births. The extremes 

 of the proportions of births to marriages are 42 to 

 10 and 34 to 10, and the mean of the 64 years 39 

 to 10. On this table Sussmilch remarks, that 

 though the average number of deaths shews an 

 increased population of one third from 1715 or 

 1720, yet the births and marriages would prove 

 it to be stationary, or even declining. In drawing 

 this conclusion however, he adds the three epi- 

 demic years ending with 1759, during which both 

 the marriages and births seem to have diminished. 

 In the principality of Halberstadt,* the average 

 proportion of births to deaths for 68 years, ending 

 with 1756, was 124 to 100 ; but in some periods 

 of 5 years it was as high as 160 to 100, and in 

 others as low as 110 to 100. The increase in the 

 whole 68 years was considerable, and yet for 5 

 years ending with 1723, the average number of 

 births was 2818; and for 4 years ending with 

 1750, 2628, from which it would appear that the 

 population in 27 years had considerably dimi- 

 nished. A similar appearance occurs with regard 

 to the marriages during a period of 32 years. In 

 the 5 years ending with 1718, they were 727 ; in 

 the 5 years ending with 1750, 689. During both 

 these periods the proportion of deaths would have 

 shewn a considerable increase. Epidemics seem 

 to have occurred frequently ; and in almost all 

 the instances, in which they were such as for 

 the deaths to exceed the births, they were imme- 



* Sussmilch, vol. i. tables, p. 108. 



