184 



On the Statistics of Duhlmn. 



[Jan. 



to trust to results which I could not test hj the origin;il returns. Re- 

 s:pecting births, deaths, and marriages in the Ahmednuggur and Klian- 

 desh CoUectorates, I am totally without information, excepting a solita- 

 ry return of deaths in the city of Ahmednuggur in 1828, which is worthy 

 of eveiy confidence, as it was compiled by my friend Dr. Walker, late 

 Civil Surgeon at Ahmednuggur. 



Births. — In the Poona Collectorate the average births, in a population 

 of 250,300, amounted only to one in 50*52 persons, or not quite two per 

 cent; the Brahraans having the smallest proportion, (lin57'29), and 

 the Moosulmans the greatest proportion, (1 in 40*80); the range of 

 births in the different turrufFs was from 1 in 15*70 to I in 153*60 persons; 

 and, on the whole, the hilly tracts had a greater number than the plains. 



Deaths. — The deaths were 1 in 37-34 persons in the 32 turruiTs, or 

 2*67 per cent., indicating a somewhat alarming diminution in the popu- 

 lation;* the range varied from 1 in 17"2l to I in 70 persons, the fewest 

 deaths being in the hilly tracts. It must be considered, however, that 

 the spasmodic cholera was raging in the country in that year, and that 

 the deaths from that unaccountable and dreadful malady in two turruffs 

 amounted to nearly 5 per cent., and in one turrufF to 6 per cent, of the 

 whole population. It is to be presumed, therefore, in the absence of 

 cholera, the births would exceed the deaths, as was in fact the case in 

 some of the Mawuls, or hilly tracts, where it was known the cholera did 

 not penetrate. In deaths the Moosulmans were the greatest average 

 sufferers, (I in 20*15) and the low casts were the least sufferers, (1 in 

 42*94). 



As Dr. Walker found that the cholera in the city of Ahmednuggur 

 increased the usual deaths 0*66 per cent., the loss being 2*48, while the 

 cholera raged, and only 1*82 per cent, when the scourge ceased, it is 

 but fair to infer that such would have been the casein the country at 

 large; and this element, applied to the mortality in the Poona Collec- 

 torate, would reduce the annual loss to 2*01 per cent., or one death in 

 50 persons, which would indicate a greater degree of healthiness than 

 all France, all Belgium, or the town of Glasgow, the loss in all these 

 places being I in 39 and a fraction. 



Marriages. — The average number of marriages in the Poona Collecto- 

 rate is proportionably more than in England and France, being 1 in 

 125-87 souls; the proportion in England being 1 in 128, and in France 

 1 in 130*4 inhabitants. The range in the different turruffs is from 1 in 

 40*11 to I in 493.77; but in 14 turruffs the average is considerably un- 



* The deaths in the kingdom of Naple* for 1836—37 was 1 in 37 and a fraction. 



