312 THE TREND OF THE RACE 
mortality are higher for illegitimate than they are for legitimate 
births. More extensive data on the proportion of stillbirths per 
hundred births are afforded by the next table: 
Mortality of Infants According to Age of Mother 
Austria Norway 
Age of Mother 
Legitimate | Illegitimate | Legitimate | Illegitimate France 
Under 17....... PIE 8 4.0 2.09 4.52 6.9 
1 20 ssn ope ee 1.7 3.0 
BOA seiennig sececncs 1.9 Bd 1.66 2.07 4.7 
25 3Osw +2 navies Zz 3-9 4.2 
35740 |... 2.8 4.2 2.39 4.86 Ga? 
40-45 4.3 
ASSO Neds wie : 10.1 ore 
ante || 3-9 4.9 4.17 4 ee 
Statistics from other localities show much the same trend 
as those which have been presented. That stillbirths increase 
in frequency as the fathers become older may be due not to the 
age of the father but to the fact that the mothers’ ages are corre- 
lated with those of their husbands. Where the age of the mother 
is eliminated the offspring of old fathers do not have a much 
higher ratio of stillborn than those of younger men. There is also 
an increase of deliveries requiring surgical help as the mothers 
become older, exception being made again of first births. 
The effect of the order of birth is here a complicating factor. 
First births, irrespective of parental age, show a large percent- 
age of fatalities. This fact accounts for most of the high mor- 
tality among the children of very young mothers. The following 
table from Professor Gini is instructive in showing how the 
percentage of stillbirths is affected by eliminating the effects of 
order of birth: 
