Search -
A Comparative View of the Mortality of the Human Species, at All Ages
A Comparative View of the Mortality of the Human Species at All Ages Author:William Black Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: Section 3city and country-marriages is obferved to differ. Marriages in cities, one with another, feldom produce above four ; generally between three and four, and fometimes not three children : wh... more »ereas country-marriages feldom produce lefs than four, and generally between four and five. Whether this difparity between the product of city and country.marriages is to be imputed to dif- fipation, libertinifm, and incontinence, both in the fingle and married ftate ; to the cloudy apprehenfions and fears of overftocking their houfe ; to later, fewer, and lefs frequent unions in the matrimonial bond; or to all thefe and other caufes combined, I fub- mit to the reader's confideration. From au- thentick regiflers of a variety of fmall towns and country parifhes in England, Dr. Short found, that each marriage produced four and a half children, at a medium ; for fome married pairs have only one or two : others fix, eight, twelve, or more; and a fmall remnant are unprolifick. Natural, or illegitimate children, are enrolled in the public records of chriftenings, and fwell their proportion to the regiftered weddings fotnewhat greater than textit{r than they would appear without this extraneous addition. In fome German regiflers, Dr. Short found, that of 3331655 births, the illegitimate amounted to one thirty- feventh part; and in an inland town of England, that of 10,337 births, 284, or about one thirtieth part, were illegitimate. If the number of inhabitants in any kingdom, ,city, or village, continues the fame without increafe or decreafe, and fup- ported by their own procreation only, it is evident, that there the annual births and burials will be equal, and the fupply proportioned to the wafte; and in equal numbers, as .many will die at all ages as arc born in the year, on a general average ; and the numbers dyin...« less