302 
THE PRINCIPLES OF 
Part II. 
excess of male over female births is less when they are 
illegitimate than when legitimate. 35 
In various parts of Europe, according to Prof. Faye 
.and other authors, “a still greater preponderance of 
“ males would be met with, if death struck both sexes 
“ in equal proportion in the womb and during birth. 
“ But the fact is, that for every 100 still-born females, 
“ we have in several countries from 134*6 to 144*9 
u still-born males.” Moreover during the first four or 
five years of life more male children die than females ; 
*“ for example in England, during the first year, 126 
boys die for every 100 girls, — a proportion which in 
“ France is still more unfavourable.” 36 As a consequence 
of this excess in the death-rate of male children, and of 
the exposure of men when adult to various dangers, and of 
their tendency to emigrate, the females in all old-settled 
countries, where statistical records have been kept, 37 are 
found to preponderate considerably over the males. 
It has often been supposed that the relative ages 
of the parents determine the sex of the offspring ; 
and Prof. Leuckart 38 has advanced what he considers 
35 Babbage, f Edinburgh Journal of Science/ 1829, vol. i. p. 88; also 
p. 90, on still-born children. Oil illegitimate children in England, 
see ‘ Report of Registrar-General for 1866/ p. xv. 
36 4 British and Foreign Medico-Chirurg. Review/ April, 1867, p. 
343. Dr. Stark also remarks (‘ Tenth Annual Report of Births, Deaths, 
■&c., in Scotland/ 1867, p. xxviii) that “ These examples may suffice 
iU to shew that, at almost every stage of life, the males in Scotland 
u have a greater liability to death and a higher death-rate than the 
u females. The fact, however, of this peculiarity being most strongly 
u developed at that infantile period of life when the dress, food, and 
■ u general treatment of both sexes are alike, seems to prove that the 
higher male death-rate is an impressed, natural, and constitutional 
“ peculiarity due to sex alone.” 
37 With the savage Guaranys of Paraguay, according to the accurate 
Azara (‘Voyages dans l’Amerique mend/ tom. ii. 1809, p. 60, 179), 
the women in proportion to the men are as 14 to 13. 
33 Leuckart (in Wagner, ‘ Hand worterbuch der Phys/ B. iv. 1853, 
s. 774. 
