IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
59 
of bridegrooms and of brides. The proportion of illiterate 
men formerly was 194 per 1,000 marriages. It has fallen 
until it is now only 25 per 1,000. The proportion of illit- 
erate women was formerly 268, it is now only 29. In 1901, 
in only 8 per 1,000 of the marriages did both bride and 
bridegroom sign by marks. In 17 other cases only the 
bridegroom signed by mark, and in 21, only the bride 
signed by mark. Quite a proportion of the marriages among 
illiterate persons were traced to foreign born Jews. 
Among the whole number of persons who married in the 
year 1901, 416 are described in the Marriage Register as 
having been previously divorced. I also have for refer- 
ence the sixty-first Report of births, marriages and deaths 
in Massachusetts, for the year 1902. It is a paper bound 
volume of 250 pages and prepared by the Secretary of the 
Commonwealth. In Massachusetts in 1902 the number of 
marriages registered was 25,685 which was 794 more than 
the number registered in 1901 and 1843 more than the 
number of 1900 and was greater than in any of the pre- 
vious years since the beginning of registration. The num- 
ber of persons married for each 1,000 of estimated popula- 
tion was 18. In England it is 16. The highest proportion 
of marriages in the last 50 years occurred in the year 1854 
when 25 persons in every 1,000 of the population were mar- 
ried, and the lowest in 1878 when 15 persons in every 1,000 
were married. The average for 50 years is 19. In Massa- 
chusetts 30 per cent of the marriages occcurred in the last 
quarter of the calendar year, which contains the holidays. 
29 per cent in the second quarter consisting of April, May 
and June. In the third quarter which contains the hottest 
weather only 23 per cent of the marriages took place, and 
in the first quarter of the year, characterized by the cold- 
est weather, only 18 per cent of the marriages are con- 
summated. 
In the study of marriages, like insanity, statistics ought 
to tell whether marriages are increasing or decreasing; 
whether city or country people are more likely to marry; 
whether persons who marry now are not older than those 
