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HEREDITY AND SELECTION IN SOCIOLOGY 



far more favourable circumstances, possesses even stronger 

 cohesion. As the influence of environment is not sufficient to 

 explain, in the case of the Catholic Church, a cohesion which, 

 among the Jews, is undoubtedly due to environmental pressure ; 

 we must conclude that the internal organisation of the Catholic 

 Church, and the principles on which that organisation is based, 

 ensure a very high degree of integration. 



The immunity afiorded by Catholicism against suicide can be still 

 better appreciated after an examination of the following figures, 

 showing us in detail the comparative suicide-rates in provinces 

 of the kingdom of Prussia, according as these provinces are 

 preponderatingly Catholic or preponderatingly Protestant. The 

 figures are those of Durkhcim (Le Suicide, p. 151), and have 

 been compiled by him from the official statistics. They differ 

 slightly from those of Morselli concerning the comparative 

 geographical distribution of suicide. Morselli's suicide-chart 

 of Central Europe, which Durkheim has reproduced, agrees, 

 however, in every respect with Durkheim's comparative 

 statistics. 



The above statistics show only two exceptions. Pomerania, 

 which contains over 90 per cent, of Protestants, ought by virtue 

 of its suicide-rate to belong to the second category instead of 



