112 H. Beverley — Some Hesnlts of the Becent Cemus of (JaleuUa. [Jtt"N'E, 



the Town as compared with that of 1866 ; but doubts had been cast upon 

 its accuracy and unfortunately the papers had been destroyed.. The recent 

 census also showed a large increase over that of 1866, but not so large as 

 that of 1872. Including Fort AVilliam and the Fort of Calcutta, the 

 figures were for 1866,-377,921 ; for 1872,-117,601 and by the recent 

 census 429,535. It should be mentioned that the fii'st two censuses were 

 -taken in the month of January and the last in April. 



Excluding Fort William and the Fort, the popiilation of the Town 

 l^roper was 109,036, and of this number 187,132, or 15-75 per cent., reside 

 in pucka or brick-built houses. Unfortunately no information on this 

 point was collected at either of the previous censuses, so that it is impossi- 

 ble with any accuracy to trace the progress of the town in this respect. 

 Mr. Simms in his survey of 1850 estimated that no more than 31'6 per 

 cent, of the population dwelt in pucka houses, and even had he adopted the 

 high average of 11 souls to each house given by the recent census, the per- 

 centage would be raised to 10 only. Of course the high average referred 

 to depended on the definition of a house, and even with regard to pucka 

 houses, it was no easy matter to observe a uniform definition. The number 

 of pucka houses would seem, however, to have increased of late years. In 

 1850 Simms counted 13,120 ; in 1866 there were 16,022 ; the present returns 

 give 16,896. This increase moreover is altogether in houses of two or more 

 stories, the one- storied houses actually showing a falling off, due no doubt 

 to a difference in the method of counting rows of shops. 



The average density of the population throughout the Town was 107 

 persons to the acre, but the density varied in different p)arts from 211 in the 

 Kakitola Ward to 24 in Chowringhee. 



One of the main objects for which the recent census was taken was to 

 obtain a trustworthy basis for the calculation of a birth and death rate ; 

 and he (JSIr. Severley) was of opinion that that object would be to a very 

 large extent attained. A common argument against the accuracy of former 

 censuses of Calcutta was the disproportion in the muuber of males and 

 females in the Town. If this was a defect, it was one shared by the Census 

 of 6th April last. Putting aside Fort William and the Port, the males on 

 that date numbered 262,455 against 146,581 females only. 



In 1866 the males comp)osed 59 -^ev cent, of the total population.* 



1872 66 „ 



1876 64 „ 



Bvit what seemed to him (Mr. JBeverJey) a most remarkable fact w'as 



that, although the totals of the three censuses varied so considerably, the 



number of females in tlie Town remained nearly constant. Thus in 1866 



the females numbered 145,933 ; in 1872, 147,222 ; and in 1876, 116,581. 



* In Bombay the percentage is 62 per cent. 



