A. O. POWYS 
267 
each advance in the age at marriage. At age 30 — 35 there is a most decided 
fall in the initial fertility, and the extent of the fall when marriage is deferred 
to age 35 — 40 may be judged from the fact that 20 women who married at that 
age, and whose duration of marriage was under 5 years, bore only 14 children, 
and 7 whose duration was 5 to 10 years bore 10 children. After age 40 at 
marriage — by unprejudiced* spinsters — the initial fertility may be said to have 
reached zero. Calculating the probable average number of children at the end 
of the reproductive period (end of forty-fifth year) by means of the regression 
formulee, we obtain 
For Age at Marriage under 20 7'55 
„ ,, ,, „ 20 and under 25 6'51 
„ „ „ „ 25 „ „ 30 5-12 
„ „ „ „ 30 „ „ 35 3-21 
— results which are somewhat less than the actual results of those women who 
survived the reproductive period, and which are shown in Table XVII. 
Turning now to the census results of New South Wales for 1901, we are able 
to obtain — for wives who were living with their husbands on the night of the 
census — the age, the duration of marriage, and the number of offspring. From 
the nature of the tabulation we are unable to obtain this information for all wives, 
but this will best be understood from the following specimen of the tabulation: 
SPECIMEN OF TABULATION. 
Number of Wives ivWiout Issue. 
Duration of Marriage 
Total 
Wives 
Age of Wife 
Under 
1 3'ear 
1 year 
2 years 
3 years 
4 years 
5 and 
under 
10 years 
10 and 
under 
15 years 
15 and 
under 
20 years 
And so on in 
quinquennial 
periods 
14 years 
15 „ 
16 „ 
&c. „ 
20 „ 
21 and under 25 
25 „ 30 
30 „ 35 
&c. &c. 
These tabulations appear for each sized family up to 10 children, 11 and over 
being amalgamated. Thus if we wish to trace women married, sa.y, at age under 
20, and with duration of marriage under 5 years, we can only make use of those 
who were specifically stated at the census to be under 20 and who had been 
married less than 5 years. This of course does not give us all such women, since 
* Those for whom conception was not antenuptial. 
34—2 
