188 



HEREDITY AND SELECTION IN SOCIOLOGY 



as the County of London is concerned, by the Census Report for 

 1901. According to the returns furnished by this Report, the 

 inmates of lunatic asylums within the County of London may be 

 classified as follows :^ 



If we turn, on the other hand, to the figures given by Durk- 

 heim concerning the respective share of the sexes in the rate of 

 suicide, we find the converse state of afEairs. Whereas the number 

 of insane women is greater than the number of insane men, the 

 number of suicides among men is immensely greater than the 

 number of suicides among women, as may be seen from a glance 

 at the following statistics given by Durkheim : 



If we take a more recent period in a given country, say England 

 and Wales during the period 1897-1900, we arrive at a similar 

 result : 



Total. Men. Women. 



England and Wales (1897-1900) . . 11,409 8,543 2,866 



Thus, whereas insanity is more predominant among the female 

 sex than among the male sex, suicide is considerably more 

 predominant among men. We see at once the danger of con- 



^ Census of England and Wales, 1901 : County of London, p. 47. 



