322 



DR MATTHEWS DUNCAN ON SOME 



considerations would be merely to give in writing what is more succinctly stated 

 in the Tables themselves. 



TABLE IV. — Fifth Year op Married Life. 





1st 



2d 



3rd 



4th 



5th 



6 th 



7th 



8th 



9th 



Total. 



Wives Mothers, of Ages 20-24, . 

 Proportion of above to 644 Wives 1 

 Married at from 15-19 is 1 in J 



13 

 49-5 



39 

 16-5 



160 

 4-0 



31 

 20-8 



4 

 161-0 



... 



• • 



•• 





... 



247 

 2-6 



611 

 2-7 



Wives Mothers, of Ages 25-29, . 

 Proportion of above to 1686 Wives "1 

 Married at from 20-24 is 1 in J 



10 

 168-6 



82 

 20-5 



398 

 4-2 



106 

 15-9 



13 2 



13-0 '843-0 



... 



•• 







Wives Mothers, of Ages 30-34, . 

 Proportion of above to 1008 Wives 1 

 Married at from 25-29 is 1 in J 



3 

 336-0 



31 

 32-5 



147 

 6-8 



52 

 194 



8 

 126-0 



2 

 5040 



1 

 1008 



•• 





... 



244 

 4-1 



Wives Mothers, of Ages 35-39, . 

 Proportion of above to 358 Wives "I 

 Married at from 30-34 is 1 in J 



3 

 119-3 



12 

 29-8 



37 



9-7 



14 

 25-6 



1 

 358- 



1 

 358- 



2 

 179- 



1 

 358- 



1 

 358- 



72 

 4-9 



Wives Mothers, of Ages 40-44, . 

 Proportion of above to 179 Wives "I 

 Married at from 35-39 is 1 in J 



3 

 59-6 



2 

 89-5 



11 



16-3 



1 

 179- 









... 



... 



17 

 10-5 



Total Wives Mothers, of Ages 20-44, 



Proportion of above to 3875 Wives 1 



Married at from 15-39 is 1 in J 



32 

 121-1 



166 

 23-3 



753 

 51 



204 

 19-0 



26 

 149- 



5 



775- 



3 

 1291-6 



1 

 3875- 



1 

 3875- 



1191 

 3-2 



Lastly, I state a law of relative sterility for which I do not here adduce the 

 numerical proofs, these having already been given in my paper lately read to the 

 Society. This law is, that :— 



A wife who having had children has ceased for three years to exhibit fertility, 

 has probably become relatively sterile ; that is, will probably bear no more children ; 

 and the probability increases as time elapses. For the probability of sterility only 

 commences after three years of sterile marriage. Further, the data given in 

 Table II. of the paper just referred to, show that fertile women bear a child, on 

 an average, about every two years, so long as they remain fecund. The data 

 given in Table VI. show that successive children in a family succeed one another 

 with an average interval of about 20 months. To these propositions I have to 

 add the general consent, shown in the same paper, that fertile wives breed 

 generally every two years ; consequently, that no class breeds, though indi- 

 viduals do, at shorter intervals ; and no class breeds at longer intervals, though 

 individuals do so. Considering these different statements, it is apparent to 

 the student, that there is no room left for any but a very inconsiderable number 

 of women to breed at longer intervals than two years. For were there any con- 



