120 ORDER BIMANA.— GENUS HOMO. 



would consider tliem as amounting to a thousand millions, others, with In respect to the proportion which the number of the one sex bears 



greater probability, estimate their number as low as six hundred millions. to that of the other, our information is more precise. IMore males than 



This principally arises from our ignorance regarding the amount of the females are always born in the civilized countries of Europe ; yet the 



population in the great empires of Asia, the innumerable states of the inte- number of females exceeds that of the males. In England and Wales, 



rior of Africa, the vast territories of America, and in New Holland. M. and in Sweden and Finland, the male births are to the female as 100 to 



Malte-Brun makes the following approximations, which are probably 96 ; in France as 100 to 93. The ratio of 25 : 24 is approached very 



very far from the truth— nearly in all other places where observations have hitherto been made. 



E^ g 170 millions. Thus, at Petersburg, 100 male infants appear to 93 females; at Paris, 



Asia ...'.'..'.'.'.'.'..'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.".320 to 340.' 100 males;to 96 females. By one enumeration made in France, during the 



Africa ""."."".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. ' 70 ' ministry of M. Chaptal, the returns were 100 males to 93 females ; and 



j^n,grj^3 !.!!".!!' 45 to 4b. once for Paris they were 100 males to 97 females. Sussmilch assures 



South Sea 'isiand's... '.'..!. 20 ' "=' that 100 males are born for 93 females in North America. In New 



, Spain, according to Humboldt, 100 males to 97 females. 



Total, 625 to 646 millions. This law of Nature will be more satisfactorily illustrated by the foUow- 



Tiie population of China by some accounts is said to amount to 333 ing Table, showing 

 millions, while others make it as low as ]9| miUions. 



THE PROPORTION OF THE SEXES AT BIRTH, 



In 



During the 



Preceding 



Males. 



Females. 



Authorities. 



England and Wales, 



29 years 



1800 



3,285,188 



3,150,922 



Population Aastracts. 



Sweden and Finland, 



20 . 



1795 



1,006,420 



965.000 



Wargentin. 



France, .... 



3 . 



1802 



110,312 



105,287 



La Place. 



Scotland, .... 



29 . 



1800 



67,353 



62,636 



Population Abstracts. 



Carlisle, .... 



18 . 



1796 



2,400 



2,271 



Heysham. 



Montpellier, 



21 . 



1792 



12,919 



12,145 



Mourgue. 



Stockholm, ... 



9 . 



1763 



12,015 



11,706 



Wargentin. 



The mortality among male infants is, however, greater than that of fe- 

 males ; hence it results that their numbers become equal about the 15th 

 year. Men are always exposed to greater dangers than women, owing 

 to various circumstances peculiar to their sex, such as their removal to 

 the colonies, military and naval service, unhealthy arts and dangerous 

 trades, accidents, and the temptations to excesses of all kinds. The wo- 

 men, even in our climates, are therefore always more numerous than the 

 men. From the observations of Kersseboom, Deparcieux, and others, 

 it further appears, that women live longer than men in the ratio of 18 

 to 17, when once they have passed the more critical ages. More boys 

 die than girls, and more men than women, nearly in the ratio of 10 to 

 9, at Paris, London, and elsewhere. In 1778, the female population of 

 France exceeded the male by one-sixteenth part; in 1763, Wargentin 

 remarked one-fifteenth in Sweden. In Venice, during the year 1811, 

 there were 10 women to 9 men ; and, by more recent observations, 9 

 women to 8 men in Paris. 



In warm countries, notwithstanding the misrepresentations of prejudice, 

 we find the number of females very considerably greater than that of men. 

 Kempfer relates that at Meaco, a large city of Japan, there are 6 women 

 to every 5 men, and the same proportion was noticed at Quito by Ulloa. 

 M. Labillardiere found nearly 11 women to 10 men in the south of New 

 Holland. Among the Guaranis, in America, there are about 14 women 

 to 13 men, according to Azara. Major Pike found a much greater pro- 

 portion of women in several of the savage tribes of New Mexico; there 

 being in some of them 7 women to 6 men, or even 3 women to 2 men ; 

 and among the Sioux, the surprising proportion of 2 women to 1 man. 

 In the large towns of Mexico, according to Humboldt, there are 5 women 

 to 4 men. 



This numerical excess of women is more especially remarkable on the 

 Coast of Guinea, and in the different Islands of the East Indies, such as 

 Java ; likewise on the Malabar Coast, in Bengal, and at Bantam. It 

 may arise partly from the traffic of Negroes, which exists in Africa, and 

 partly from the commerce and navigation of the East removing a large 

 portion of the male population. It is still, however, very probable that 

 their number is considerably greater, as the accounts of nearly all tra- 

 vellers agree, although their statements are not in general founded upon 

 any precise enumeration. It is asserted that there are at Cairo 7 women 

 to 6 men, 6 to 5 in the East Indies, 5 to 4, or even 4 to 3, in the diifer- 

 ent regions of Southern Asia. 



According to the estimates of some eminent Statisticians, in a district of 

 country where 10,000 infants are born annually, we must expect to find 

 295,022 inhabitants of both sexes. Of these 93,003 are children below 

 the age of 15, and 202,019 above that age. Of the latter individuals, in 

 the most civilized country of Europe, there will not be more than 23,250 

 marriages, the average duration of which may be estimated at 21 years, 

 3812 widows, and 4359 widowers. 



The number of births always exceeds that of deaths among the most 

 civilized nations, but the proportion varies according to local circum- 

 stances. 



OLD AGE AND DEATH. 



Scarcely has the bodjf attained its full height, than it begins 

 to increase in thickness, and the fat accumulates in its cellular 

 tissue. The different vessels gradually become obstructed ; the 

 solids grow rigid ; and, after a life of greater or less duration, more 

 or less agitated, more or less painful, old age follows, bringing in 

 its train decaj', decrepitude, and death. Those who live beyond 

 one hundred years are rare exceptions ; by far the greater number 

 perish before that term, by disease, by accidents, or merely by dd 

 age itself. 



The systematic order in which the human race are snatched away by 

 death, is one of the most remarkable phenomena of Nature. Nothing 

 appears, at first sight, to be more uncertain than the hfe of a single indi- 

 vidual, because the estimate is derived from a limited experience of the 

 mortality among a few private acquaintances. Yet the Tables of obser- 

 vation obtained by recording the numbers of individuals who die at every 

 period of life from infancy to extreme old age, indicate that a remarkable 

 regularity actually exists. Once in possession uf a knowledge of the law 

 of mortality prevalent in a given country, or among a given class of indi- 

 viduals, we are not only able to form general estimations, but to calculate 

 the nicest shades of risk or adventure. 



All tables of observation exhibit the precarious life of the infant in a 

 striking point of view. The expectation of human hfe increases gradu- 

 ally until the ages of six, seven, or eight, which may therefore be con- 

 sidered as the safest period of life, while it diminishes to the most advanced 

 ages. 



The following Table exhibits the mortality experienced among the in- 

 habitants of our crowded metropohs. 



THE MORTALITY IN LONDON, 



OBSERVED AMONG 190,565 INHABITANTS, FROM 1811 TO 1820. 



Ages. 





No. Living. 



Deaths. 



Ages. 



No. Living. 



Deaths. 



Ages. 



No. Livmg. 



Deatlis. 



From to 



2 



190,565 



52,970 



From 60 to 70 



35,589 



15,888 



From 103 to 104 



13 



4 



2 



5 



1 37,595 



18,772 



70 80 



19,701 



12,247 



104 105 



9 



1 



5 



10 



118,823 



7,848 



80 90 



7,454 



6,210 



105 108 



8 



2 



10 



20 



110,975 



6,363 



90 100 



1,244 



1,205 



108 109 



6 



2 



20 



30 



104,612 



13,600 



100 101 



39 



16 



109 111 



4 



2 



30 



40 



91,012 



17,916 



101 102 



23 



5 



111 113 



2 



1 



40 



50 



73.096 



19.668 



102 103 



18 



5 



113 114 



1 



1 



50 



60 



53.428 



17.839 















