68 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



whose mother is a Spanish monolingual, actually 

 learned Totonac when he started to attend school. 

 In short, the school undoubtedly intensifies the 

 bilingual aspect, but there is little indication that 

 it tends to replace Totonac by Spanish. 



BIRTH STATISTICS 



We have precise birth records for 50 women of 

 Taj in. The number of births varies from 1 to 12 

 per woman, and there is a total of 279 offspring, 

 or an average of 5.0; the mode is 4. However, 

 the great majority of these women are of child- 

 bearing age, so that the actual birth rate is some- 

 what higher. In the entire community, there are 

 only 49 women above the age of 50, for 14 of 

 whom we have data. They are credited with a 

 total of 92 births, or an average of 6.6. 



The "fertility ratio" also suggests that Totonac 

 women are prolific. It is calculated on the num- 

 ber of children under 5 years of age and the num- 

 ber of women between 15 and 44. "Within these 

 specified age limits, Taj in has 187 children and 

 244 women (table 8). Accordingly, the ratio is 

 766.4, whereas for Mexico at large, settlements 

 with 10,000 inhabitants or less, show a ratio of 

 696.2 (Whetten,p. 390). 



Each of the 56 women was asked at what age she 

 had borne her first child. Owing to the Totonac 

 indifference to age, the figures are far from re- 

 liable. In some cases, no estimate could be made. 

 In others, the age was calculated roughly from the 

 present age and that of the eldest child, but the 

 results were by no means reassuring, for on this 

 basis, one woman was 11, and another was 50, at 

 the initial birth. However, again, the errors ap- 

 pear to cancel one another. We have excluded 

 the two extreme cases of 11 and 50 years; for the 

 remaining 39 women for whom we have data, the 

 average age at the first birth is 20.5. Our guess 

 is that this age may be somewhat high. 



Without precise records over a period of time, 

 it is impossible to make accurate statements con- 

 cerning the interval between births. The Totonac 

 themselves say flatly that it is 2 years, and this 

 seems not to bo far wrong. 



There is no pronounced difference in the ratio 

 of the sexes at birth (cf. Foster, 1948, p. 228). Of 

 the 279 offspring, 137 are male and 142 female. 

 However, it is evident that in this small random 

 sample there is a higher mortality among males. 



Of the 137 boys, 27 died either at birth or during 

 the first year, as compared to 8 females. A total 

 of 35 infant deaths is approximately 12.5 percent 

 of the total births, or a mortality of 125 per thou- 

 sand. This is somewhat higher than 121 per 

 thousand, which is the average rate for Mexico 

 as a whole (Whetten, p. 328) . However, the latter 

 is reckoned on the basis of live births ; and our fig- 

 ures include not only live births, but premature, 

 stillborn, and fatal births (table 9). Accordingly, 

 infant mortality in Taj in probably coincides pretty 

 closely with the average for Mexico at large. Ap- 

 parently about half the children born die before 

 the end of the fifth year (cf. Foster, 1948, p. 230) ; 

 but a child who completes the first year seems to 

 have a fair chance of survival. There is little 

 apparent relationship between infant mortality 

 and the economic position of the family. 



The causes of death, as given by informants, are 

 listed in table 9. In most cases, the cause is un- 

 known. Next in frequency is "fever," which may 

 include intestinal fevers as well as malaria. Other 

 causes are diverse. Inasmuch as some of our 

 women informants are elderly, a number of the 

 offspring died during adult life (table 9). In 

 passing, it may be noted that of the eight male 

 adult deaths, five are from homicide. This is not 

 Avholly a matter of chance. 



Table 9. — Causes 



of death among 61 individuals 







Males 



Females 





Cause of death 



3 



< 



u 



C5 

 >> 



7 

 o 



*4 



C3 



a> 

 >> 



■A 



2 



- 



3 



< 



s 



< 



u 



03 

 © 

 >> 



2 



w 

 u 



>> 

 io 



3 

 >> 

 ■o 



3 



•O 



ri 



O 



At birth ' _ _.. 



6 











1 











7 



Unknown 



"IT 



i 





4 



1 

 1 

 1 



3 



1 



16 



Bronchitis 





I 









7 



Fever. 





3 





l 











ia 



Typhoid 





i 



i 











i 



Dysentery 













1 









? 



Intestinal upset 







l 











i 



Ind igestion 







, 





1 









i 



Worms 









i 













i 



Alferecia 2 



.... 



i 



















i 



Cough 









... 









1 



----- 



i 



Whooping conzh 





i 



1 



I — 









o 



Measles .. 





-— ----- 









1 

 1 















........ 









1 



Mange _ _ 







i 



2 











1 



Magical causes ;l 



— ■ 









1 







3 



Alcoholism 







l 

 5 













1 















S 



Childbirth . 









L__ 





1 

 2 



1 



Total _ 



6 



21 



5 



2 



8 



— 



i 



7 1 3 



6 



61 



Total males 



42 





Total females 





19 



















1 Premature births, stillbirths, and fatal birlhs have been grouped. 



2 We arc uncertain how to translate this term, which refers to a malady 

 confined to infants of 1 or 2 months of age. The child is said to cry until 

 it turns purple, and it may froth at the mouth. It. cannot be epilepsy, 

 as some dictionaries indicate, because recovery often Is complete. 



3 One death is attributed to malviento. For two others, it is ssid that 

 the child "cried and cried" (cliilhi >j chillo) before it died. This constant 

 whimpering generally is diagnostic of malviento or of some other unnatural 

 illness. 



