270 



HEKEDITY AND SELECTION IN SOCIOLOGY 



the proportion of the different forma of insanity among the two 

 sexes. 



Thus we find, among the men, that alcoholism occupies the 

 first place by a very large majority — 1,813 cases out of a total 

 of 4,831, or about 38 per cent. Alcohohsm, although it only 

 occupies the fourth rank among the women, nevertheless counts 

 376 cases among the latter sex out of a total of 3,308, or about 

 11 per cent., which is a very considerable proportion for the 

 female sex. The growth of alcoholic insanity is as constant as 

 the growth of insanity in general. Table C shows us an aggre- 

 gate of 1,813 cases of men and 376 cases of women during the 

 three years 1886-88. The figures in Table D show us the pro- 

 portion which each of these years contributes to this aggregate. 



Table D. — Growth of Alcoholio Insanity — Statistics of the 

 Infirmaby of the Police PREFBCTtrsE in Paris. 



Let us now consider a longer period — from 1874-88 — grouping 

 the years into periods of three. We shall see that each triennial 

 period presents a regular increase in the number of persons who 

 become insane from alcoholic excess. (See Table E, opposite.) 



An examination of these figures shows us that the annual 

 triennial average has increased from 367-83 for the period 1874-76 

 to 729-66 for the period 1886-88 — an increase of nearly 100 per 

 cent. ; that is to say that the annual triennial average has all 

 but doubled in the course of fifteen years. The diagram on 

 p. 272 helps us still more vividly to understand the meaning 

 of these figures. It shows us that, in spite of slight fluctuations 

 which are inseparable from the evolution of any social pheno- 

 menon, the increase of alcoholic insanity during the period under 



