Geographical Distribution of Insanity 367 



16, and the extreme West, where the 

 proportion is less than i. 



Here, you see, we have an almost 

 exact parallel with the distribution of 

 insanity. 



Closely connected with this peculiar- 

 ity of civilized communities to concen- 

 trate in certain areas — in fact, a part of 

 the same phenomena — is the growth of 

 great cities. The Eleventh Census 

 shows that the percentage of the popu- 

 lation of the United States living in 

 cities of S,ooo or more inhabitants for 

 the different regions was as follows : 



North Atlantic Division 5 1-5S 



North Central Division 25.91 



South Atlantic Division 16 03 



South Central Division IO-45 



Western Division 29.99 



Here again we see the same parallel- 

 ism between the degree of manifestation 

 of a phenomena of civilization and the 

 proportion of insanity. The North At- 

 lantic Division contains almost twice 

 the percentage of urban population of 



any of the other divisions, and here, as 

 we know, we find the highest percent- 

 age of insane. 



If we calculate the proportion of in- 

 sane per 100,000 in all cities of the 

 United States containing 50,000 or more 

 inhabitants, we will find that in 1880 

 the ratio was 231.6 as against 183.3 for 

 the whole country, while in 1890 the 

 ratio was 242.7 as against 170 for the 

 whole country. Thus we find that the 

 ratio of insane in cities of this size has 

 not only increased in the decade from 

 1880 to 1890, but that the ratio for the 

 whole country has decreased. It is 

 also significant that, while in 1880 there 

 were only 35 cities containing 50,000 or 

 more inhabitants, in 1890 there were 58 

 such cities. We further find that of 

 these 58 cities 26, or nearly one-half, 

 are located in the North Atlantic Divis- 

 ion. Of these 26, 6 are in Massachu- 

 setts, 7 in New York, 5 in New Jersey, 

 5 in Pennsylvania, 2 in Connecticut, 1 

 in Rhode Island, and none in Maine, 



Outline Map No. III. — Location of Cities Having a Population of 50,000 or More, 



Census 1890 



