A. O. POWYS 
237 
young women and thus increase their issue, whilst other married men, equal or 
superior in physique, whose wives still living survive the reproductive period, 
are necessarily unable to do so*. I have shown elsevvheref that the reproductive 
period in man, though diminishing in intensity from age 30 — 35, is practically 
not exhausted till about 75 — 80. Too much weight must not therefore be 
attached to this apparent association of extreme fertility and extreme longevity 
in man. There may be such association, but it is impossible to determine it 
from the available statistics. With females that increase of life should connote 
increased fertility during the period up to age 45 is too obvious to need comment ; 
beyond that period it would seem that at all events so far as New South Wales 
is concerned, Weismann's views are supported — married women dying at ages 
65 — 70 have had more offspring than either those who die younger or those 
who die older. Certainly extreme fertility is not associated with extreme longevity 
in females, and this phenomenon is probably brought about by the physical strain 
in bearing and the mental strain in rearing large families. Now the New South 
Wales statistics admit of this subject being analysed in another and perhaps 
in a more satisfactory manner. For the five years 1898 to 1902, the "Vital 
Statistics " contain tables showing the ages at death of married women (by single 
years), together with the number of children born to each woman. From these 
we are therefore enabled to ascertain the average duration of life of mothers of 
each sized family, and from any assigned period of life. Here it may be stated 
that throughout this investigation the term "mother" will be used instead of 
"married woman," notwithstanding that it may be regarded as an Hibernicism 
to speak of mothers of no children. From this data then I have determined the 
average duration of life of mothers beyond 46 years of age by survivors of age 45, 
and beyond ages 60 and 70 by survivors of those ages respectively. Obviously 
it would be prejudicial to the computed longevity of mothers of small families 
if the duration were determined as from any year prior to the termination of 
the reproductive period. That this period in New South Wales practically 
terminates with the close of the forty- fifth year is evident from the fact that 
of 335,642 confinements of married and single women which took place during 
the nine years 1893 to 1900 and 1902 (the tabulation in 1901 did not permit 
of the numbers of births to women aged 46 and upwards being obtained), I find 
that only 1013 or about three per 1000 were due to women who had attained 
the age of 46, and of these it may be of interest to mention that seventeen 
are recorded as due to women aged 50, six to women of 52, two to women of 53, 
one to a woman of 54, three to a woman of 55 (one of these was unmarried), 
and one each to women of 56 and 58 years of age respectively ! In Table V. 
will be found the ages at death and number of offspring of the 10,276 women 
who died in New South Wales during the five years 1898 to 1902, and who 
had passed the reproductive period. 
[* It seems desirable, as in the paper referred to on p. 235, to consider only single marriages, and not 
the children of two wives. Ed.] 
t Bionietrika, Vol. i. Part i. p. 34. 
