May 8, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



379 



a differently selected group. It is of twenty- 

 six members of the corps of the Northern 

 transcontinental survey, — an organization of 

 which I had charge, and the object of which 

 was an economic survey of the north-western 

 territories. It was a corps of men carefully 

 selected as thoroughly trained in their respec- 

 tive departments of applied geology, topog- 

 raph}^ and chemistry, and having the physique 

 and energy, as well as intelligence, needed 

 to execute such a task in face of many ob- 

 stacles. The average age of this group was 

 thirty years. Raphael Pumpelly. 



MORTALITY EXPERIENCE OF THE 

 CONNECTICUT MUTUAL LIFE-IN- 

 SURANCE COMPANY. 



There is a popular superstition, almost uni- 

 versal among our transatlantic cousins, and 

 widely spread in our own country, that Amer- 

 icans are shortening their clays by hard work, 

 and inattention to the laws of healthy living. 

 Our readers may remember, that, when Mr. 

 Herbert Spencer first arrived in this county, 

 he immediately began lecturing us on this sub- 

 ject. No surer test of this question can be 

 found than that of mortality statistics, because 

 those who insure their lives belong princi- 

 pally to the very class, who, according to the 

 superstition, are most actively engaged in their 

 own extermination. The tables recently pub- 

 lished under the above title are therefore of 

 great interest. The fulness of detail, and vari- 

 ety of form, in which the results are presented, 

 facilitate their discussion. It therefore seems 

 worth while to point out the most interesting 

 results obtained. The fact thus brought out 

 is, that at the very ages when mortality from 

 over-work should most powerfully show itself, 

 namely, from thirty to sixty, the American' 

 mortality is more than one-third less than the' 

 English, as shown by the combined experience 

 table, and is constantly diminishing. 



There are, however, reasons why we should 

 not expect the death-rate shown by the expe- 

 rience of a life-insurance company to coincide 

 with the rate amongst the community at large. 

 Insured lives are not taken at random from the 

 community, but form a select body. Only a 

 limited class possess the foresight and interest 

 in the future which would induce them to in- 

 sure their lives. Out of that limited class, the 

 insurance company selects only those whose 

 viability is free from serious doubt. This 

 selection, of course, tends to result in the in- 

 sured class having better lives than the com- 



munity at large. There is, however, a tendency 

 in the opposite direction, which may be opera- 

 tive to a limited extent. A person who has 

 reason to suspect his viability will have a 

 stronger motive to get insured than one who 

 does not. There is, however, no evidence that 

 this cause has resulted in the lowering of the 

 standard among the insured generally. 



One result of the selection exercised by the 

 company is obvious, and has frequently been 

 pointed out by writers on the subject. Out of 

 the class of men with good constitutions, the 

 company selects only those who are, for the 

 time being, in good health. With those who 

 are going to die, symptoms of disease fre- 

 quently appear weeks, months, or even years 

 before actual death. The probability of a 

 health} 7 person dying within the year following 

 his examination by the life-insurance company 

 is therefore less than the probability that he 

 will die in the second year ; and this, again, is 

 still less than the probability that he will die in 

 the third year. It has commonly been sup- 

 posed that three years would have to elapse 

 after the examination, before the probability 

 reached its normal point. It is remarkable 

 that the table now before us exhibits this effect 

 in a much smaller degree than usual. The 

 death-rate during the first two years of insur- 

 ance is less by perhaps ten per cent than the 

 general rate at all ages. During the third 

 year it is actually less than during the second. 

 Instead of attaining its maximum at the end of 

 the third year, it continues to increase, and it 

 does not reach the regular curve until the sixth 

 year. It would seem that while the company 

 gains a certain advantage during the first five 

 years, through its privilege of selection, that 

 advantage is far less during the first year than 

 would have been supposed, and far less than 

 common experience has hitherto shown it to be. 



Another remarkable result, which we wish 

 had been explained more full}', is the extraor- 

 dinary death-rate among the younger class. 

 This is more strongly shown among natives of 

 the United States than among the insured at 

 large. From the age of twenty-one to ninety, 

 the death-rate follows the table of mortality 

 very closely, but is uniformly from fifteen to 

 twenty per-cent less than the tabular rate. 

 But among native Americans, between the ages 

 of seven and twenty, the rate is forty per cent 

 greater than that given by the American table. 

 The actual number of those who died was forty- 

 seven, while the table gives only thirty- three 

 deaths. The case is rendered yet more strik- 

 ing by the consideration that the mortality of 

 the American table at the early ages is greater 



