306 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



good, and there the number of suicides among -women is twice as 

 great as among men. This fact bears striking witness to the 

 hardships of woman's lot in countries removed from the influ- 

 ences of civilization. 



Statistics show that the months in which the fewest suicides 

 occur are October and November, while the greatest number occur 

 in April, May, and June. July and September also have a goodly 

 share, the latter possessing a peculiar fascination for women. 

 This refutes the old idea that suicides occur most frequently in 

 damp and gloomy weather, for the months just mentioned as 

 being the most prolific are certainly those in which the skies 

 look brightest and the earth is fairest. Another remarkable fact 

 in this connection is that the progressive increase and decrease in 

 the number of suicides coincide with the lengthening and the 

 shortening of the days, and, as M. Guerry has shown, not only 

 the seasons of the year, but the days of the month and of the week, 

 and even the hours of the day exert an influence, the constancy 

 of which can not be mistaken. As a result of his elaborate re- 

 search he found that the greatest number of suicides among men 

 occurred during the first ten days of the month, and from Monday 

 to Thursday of the week. This is accounted for by remembering 

 that the majority of workingmen receive their wages either on 

 the first of the month or the last of the week, and that " pay-day " 

 is often followed by dissipation, debauchery, and remorse. Oet- 

 tingen completed this interesting observation by showing that 

 the larger number of suicides among women take place during 

 the last half of the week, when they are most apt to feel the 

 effects of man's prodigality and wrong-doing. In regard to the 

 hours of the day, we know, from Brierre de Boismont's examina- 

 tion of 1,993 cases of suicide in Paris, that the maximum number 

 occurred between 6 A. M. and noon, and thereafter regularly 

 declined, reaching the minimum at the hour before sunrise. 



It is also an established fact that the more rugged natures of 

 men impel them to seek coarser means of self-destruction, such as 

 the revolver, the razor, and the rope, the latter being most fre- 

 quently used by those in whom the vigor of manhood is lost. 

 Women, on the contrary, seldom resort to measures which they 

 think will disfigure them, and therefore most frequently seek 

 death by poisoning, asphyxia, or drowning. This, of course, only 

 refers to cases in which the suicide has opportunity to adopt the 

 method preferred. In hospitals for the insane almost all suicides, 

 both male and female, and of whatever age, are accomplished by 

 suspension, that being generally the most available method. 



Epidemics of suicide frequently occur, and he who introduces 

 any unusual method is sure of having numerous followers. In 

 1793 an epidemic occurred in Versailles, and the population was 



