24 
Proceedings of the Royal Soeiety 
valence of illegitimacy, especially in the four counties already referred 
to. The following table exhibits some very startling facts : — 
S0UTHEE,N DiSTRICT — 1881. 
Number 
of 
Per- 
centag^eof 
Ulegiti- 
mutes. 
Number of Child of Mother. 
Total 
Number 
Total 
Number 
County. 
lilegiti- 
mate 
Births, ; 
2Eid. 
SiU. 
•Mu 
5th. 
iSth. 
7th. 
StK. 
9th, 
10th. 
of 
Women 
Confined 
before. 
of 
Children 
among 
them. 
Eoxburgh, 
170 
10*4 
11 
9 
4 1 
1 
... 
... 
... 
... 
25 
71 
Dumfries, 
349 
14*8 
28 
11 
1 ‘ 
5 
I 
... 
1 
... 
47 
132 
Kirk cud- ) 
bright, I 
157 
12;-4 
9 
6 
2 ' 
... 
1 
2 
... 
... 
... 
20 
64 
WigtoAvn, 
18^ 
15*3 
9 
10 
2 
2 
1 
... 
1 
1 
26 
90 
858 
... 
57 
36 
9 
7 
4 
2 
2 
... 
1 
118 
357 
In a small Dumfriesshire palish a domestic servant, who recorded 
her third (or fourth) illegitimate child, has three sisters, each of 
whom has given birth to tliree bastard children — “ who make a trade 
of the offence ” (ia the Vv^ords of the local registrar), as they after- 
wards go out as nurses.” In another parish in the same county, the 
percentage of ill^itimacy had i^ached the alarming ratio of 40 ‘7 
per cent! In the county of Wigtown there was not a single 
parish without illegitiniate births, and only in two parishes was the 
rate below the national average. In the other 15 parishes, the per- 
centage ranges from 9*6 to 244. Numerous instances of hereditary 
illegitimacy occur in the southern counties — many women (them- 
selves iilt^itimate) and their daughters recording bastards in the 
same register. 
3. Oa the Absorption of Low Rudiant Heat by Graseous 
Bodies. By Professor MacGiegor. 
The following pages contain an account of experiments made by 
myself and Mr T. Lind^y, at the request of Piofessor Tait, to 
determine the absorption of damp air containing a known quantity 
of water vapour, by findkig in what proportions dry air and olefiant 
gas must be mixed in order that the absorption of the mixture may 
be the .same as that of the damp air. The experiments were made 
