International Statistical Uniformity. 41 



should be tabulated on as simple and straightforward 

 a plan as possible. They should be as easy for the 

 student to read and. consult as an ordinary catalogue. 

 They should be kept entirely separate from all other 

 matters, and contain nothing but the mere figures on 

 the subjects they represent. Letterpress should be rigidly 

 excluded, otherwise authorities suffering from cacoethes 

 scribendi would rapidly multiply bewildering explanations, 

 containing more matter than the returns themselves. If 

 further details or explanations on any subject are required, 

 the different official returns from which the figures appearing 

 in these tables are extracted, can be referred to. Clearness 

 is the first requisite in all tables of figures. These especially 

 require it, as they are for general reference by persons who 

 have not made figures the special study of their lives, and 

 who do not revel in them with the ardent enthusiasm of one 

 riding his favourite hobby. Indeed, most of those who will 

 consult them will do so from a strong sense of duty alone. 

 If they are to be quoted correctly, and proper deductions 

 are to be drawn from them, (without which they will be 

 worse than valueless), that duty must be made as easy as 

 possible. One or two of the simpler reforms which add to 

 their clearness may be noticed. In some returns the letters 

 B and G, M and W, are used to denote boys and girls, men 

 and women, respectively. The headings Male and Female, 

 comprise each of these appellations respectively, and may 

 always be used to express the different sexes. Again, the 

 total column is sometimes placed on the left hand side, and 

 the word " aggregate," " persons," or some similar term used. 

 The commoner practice of placing it after the subdivisions 

 it comprises, or at the right hand, should be uniformly 

 adopted, and the word " Total " should be the only one 

 used to express this meaning. In fact, a point carefully 

 considered has been, as in the "Specimen Return" attached, 

 to ascertain the most inclusive head-line, and adopt it in- 

 variably, to the exclusion of all less general or synonymous 

 terms. 



Clause 2. — To secure the advantages of the second and 

 fourth principles, the headings at the top of the columns of 

 the summary are the only ones which should be submitted 

 for general agreement. Each heading should comprise every 

 subdivision of its subject, and no information should appear 

 a second time in any other place. Uniformity in this cir- 

 cumscribed nomenclature might be easily secured if a little 



