confined to the first examination, the knowledge acquired as to electric conditions, the movements of the body, and so on, would be insufficient for any good purpose; whereas, were the examination deferred until a year after the student entered the Profession, much more might be expected of him, and a corresponding amount of good result to himself. It was overlooked that these subjects really belonged to the study of physiology, not to that of pure physics. Nevertheless, the majority was in favour of the motion, and the measure was passed. It was with regard to botany, however, that the battle was most fiercely fought, some contending that, as botany was practically useless, enough could be acquired previous to entering the Profession to satisfy what was held to be rather a crotchet of the upholders of botany than anything really necessary. On the other hand, it was pointed out that a knowledge of botany was necessary to the understanding of the Materia Medica, whilst its physiological portion furnished a key to the more complex phenomena of animal life. Those, however, who were most anxious for the study of physiological questions in connexion with physics contradictorily held that botany had better be taught along with Materia Medica, as it used to be, and along with physiology, than by itself. Finally, Mr. Heath's motion was carried; but as it was strongly objected that to send such a programme out to the world without any reference to zoology or advanced botany might mislead people who did not thoroughly understand that these subjects were intended to be included in physiology, it was proposed by Dr. Anstie, and seconded by Dr. Alexander Silver, that the examination in physiology include the necessary illustrative parts of physiological botany and zoology. Thus ended this prolonged discussion, and the report will soon be ready for publication, somewhat shorn of its apparent precision and exactness, but perhaps more practically useful than when it first came before the Council.

FROM ABROAD.-MORTALITY OF BERLIN IN 1867-M. VACHER ON THE MEDICAL CONSTITUTION OF EUROPE.

GEH. MED.-RATH MÜLLER has just published his report on the mortality of Berlin during 1867. To the cholera year, 1866, he observes, a highly favourable year succeeded; for while in that year there occurred 27,102 deaths, in 1867 these amounted to only 19,994, and were even 1963 less than in 1865. Estimated by the amount of population (which in 1867 was, including the military, 702,437), there occurred 2:84 deaths per 100 inhabitants in 1867, 4.11 in 1866, and 3:38 in 1865. The number of births was also diminished in 1867, amounting to 27,061, being 182 less than in 1866. The proportion of sexes in 1867 was that usually met with, 53 male deaths taking place to 47 female deaths. In the cholera year, there were 51 male to 49 female deaths. The diminution of mortality was observable at all ages up to 80, such diminution being most remarkable between the 20th and 60th years, this being the period of life at which cholera was especially fatal in 1866. The diminution observed in general applies to almost every disease, and even those diseases (as phthisis) which manifest an increase do so only in proportion to increased population. Scarlatina, however, exhibited a positive increase. The number of deaths from variola diminished from 215 to 149; for, notwithstanding all care taken, there are in Berlin a considerable number of unvaccinated children. Among the remarkable deaths, there was one patient who died from hydrophobia and six from trichiniasis, of which there occurred between sixty and seventy cases confined to one part of the town. There were 205 suicides, 175 in males, and 30 in females; in 106 hanging was adopted, in 38 shooting, in 29 drowning, in 22 poisoning, in 8 cut throat or other wounds, and in 1 charcoal vapours. Among the accidental deaths, too, as many as 42 arose from inhaling these; and this description of death, notwithstanding all warnings that have been given, is on the continual increase.

The proportion of deaths varied remarkably in the different

quarters of the town; for, while in the second half of 1867, in 33 police districts, there died 5.75 per 1000, in 10 there died 24-07 per 1000, the mortality fluctuating between these extremes in the other 41 districts, the average for the entire districts during the half-year being 15.72 per 1000. The districts in which was the greatest mortality were also, almost without exception, those in which there were also the greatest number of births, the years of childhood, in fact, supplying the largest contingent of deaths. Although the districts in which the greatest number of deaths and births occur are usually the poorest, yet there are exceptions; and several districts show how much less influence is exerted on the rate of mortality by the conditions of the soil, supply of water, etc., as compared with the influence exerted by the social position of the inhabitants. M. Vacher, in a communication to the Gazette Médicale, states his intention to give from time to time a succinct account of the sanitary condition of the principal European capitals and of any epidemics that may be prevailing in them. In the present communication he refers to the months of November, December, and January, during which a Medical constitution has existed which has been remarkable for its general prevalence and its uniformity. Embracing almost all Europe, it would seem connected with an assemblage of atmospherical conditions wellnigh identical throughout the Continent, and especially characterised by an exceptional mildness of temperature, and as exceptional an amount of humidity. Three epidemics have prevailed on the Continent-puerperal fever, scarlatina, and diphtheria. In Paris, puerperal fever began to appear in November, and has prevailed epidemically during that month, December, and the first half of January. Of course it showed itself most virulently in the Hospitals, and at the Cochin, which has been termed the "model maternity," the mortality assumed such proportions in December that the lying-in wards had to be closed. It appeared also at the Lariboisière, and caused six deaths; but on the fall of temperature in the middle of January the epidemic ceased. In London, during the three months, there was also a considerable mortality among lyingin women, but far below the proportion observed in Paris-a fact which M. Vacher attributes, in a great degree, to the praetice adopted here of having only a few women together in place of the wards with forty beds of the Paris Hospitals. Scarlatina, which has proved so fatal in London, has also prevailed very extensively in Paris, but has exhibited itself in a remarkably benign form. At Breslau, petechial typhus has been the predominant disease; while at Berlin both puerperal fever and diphtheria have committed great ravages.

Not only has the Medical constitution been characterised by the prevalence of epidemics of scarlatina, puerperal fever, and diphtheria, but it has exerted a remarkable influence on other affections. Thus, at Paris, typhoid fever, and especially pneumonia, although of less frequency than usual at this time of the year, have been remarkably severe. In the majority of cases there has been a marked tendency to adynamia, and a greater mortality than ordinary. This is the result of observation in private practice; that concerning Hospital practice has not yet been published.

M. Vacher points out the great utility of international Medical statistical returns, and calls upon the Paris Municipal Government to co-operate with Dr. Farr in his endeavours to this end, which have been successful as regards Berlin and and Vienna. M. Dumas, of the Institute, has interested himself in the matter, and the Municipal Council has already resolved to publish weekly instead of monthly returns.

nature of the pieces selected, and the audience was almost too large for the Hanover-square Rooms, where the entertainment was given. The first piece was Burnand's laughable "Turkish Bath," the second Byron's burlesque on the "Miller and his Men." Between the two came an address, well delivered by Mr. Myers. The selection of the last piece was not very happy, compared at least with that chosen in former years; it wants power, and drags along somewhat heavily. The puns are so numerous and so bad that it requires a close attention to follow them, and in these it may be said that the whole strength of the piece lies. Still, the St. Mary's men struggled along bravely, and did their utmost to redeem a bad choice. Some of the songs were very well done indeed, and the young lady they had selected from among their number reflected credit on their taste. It might be remarked, however, that ladies do not, as a rule, wear signet rings on their little fingers; still, the young gentleman-lady looked very modest, and acted very well. A numerously attended ball concluded the proceedings. We shall not discuss the propriety of giving theatrical entertainments during the session, which is only too short for the work to be done, but shall rest satisfied with congratulating the actors on the way they accomplished a project which abstractly we might be inclined to condemn.

ACUTE RHEUMATIC AFFECTIONS OF THE JOINTS: THEIR PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT. AFTER referring to the great advance made in the modern treatment of joint diseases--a result obtained by our more exact knowledge of structural anatomy and the physiology of nutrition, as well as the study of inflammation in its physiological and pathological bearings-Mr. Adams proceeded to consider whether the classification and description of joint diseases should be made upon an anatomical or pathological basis. He preferred the pathological arrangement, considering that the anatomical basis might lead to a much too narrow view of the pathology of diseases of the joints in reference to the constitutional conditions upon which they depend.

As some authors consider the synovial membrane and the cancellous tissue of the bone to be the only structures liable to primary inflammation, Mr. Adams produced some evidence to show that both the ligaments and articular cartilages were frequently the primary seat of disease, the ligaments suffering from inflammation after sprains and injuries, which, when occurring in strumous constitutions, frequently led to complete destruction of the joint, as seen in hip-joint disease, which, Mr. Adams believes, generally commences in the round ligament.

The articular cartilages are liable to changes of nutrition, scarcely separable from the effects of inflammation in its more chronic form, such as fibrous degeneration, and also hypertrophy and subsequent ossification, which Mr. Adams first pointed out as occurring in the production of osteophytes in chronic rheumatic arthritis. They are also believed to be the seat of true inflammatory changes, as represented by the textural changes of cell nutrition; and Professor C. O. Weber considers that suppuration may occur in the texture of articular cartilage. Mr Adams, however, expressed some doubt upon this point, though admitting the other inflammatory changes. A very large proportion of all the cases of joint disease met with in practice are associated either with a rheumatic or strumous constitutional condition, and the influence which these constitutional conditions exert on the local affection Mr. Adams proposed to make the special subject of the present lectures, thus regarding joint diseases from a constitutional point of view.

The first, and indeed the great question to be considered isTo what extent is the inflammatory process, when affecting the joints, modified with respect to its results or so-called terminations in adhesion, suppuration, and ulceration by the constitutional conditions of rheumatism and struma? Mr. Adams believes the general law of rheumatic and strumous inflamma

tion to be, that, in the rheumatic form, whether acute, subacute, or chronic, there is no disposition to the destructive processes of suppuration and ulceration, whilst a disposition to these destructive processes constitutes the chief pathological characters of the strumous inflammation.

Does suppuration ever occur during the progress of acute rheumatic inflammation in the joints, the eye, the pericardium, or pleura, or in any other structures of the body? Mr. Adams considers that suppuration never does occur as the result of rheumatic inflammation in any organ or tissue of the body, but that rheumatic inflammation always exhibits the same tendency to terminate in the effusion of serum and plastic lymph, and that by the organisation of the latter adhesions are formed.

In the eye, the ophthalmic Surgeon has no fear that rheumatic iritis will terminate in suppuration or ulceration; its termination in adhesion is constantly seen, and its prevention is the chief object of treatment. In the pericardium and pleura, when attacked by rheumatic inflammation, the Physician looks forward to the same termination. Rheumatic inflammation, therefore, exhibits itself essentially as a productive process, and strumous inflammation essentially as a destructive

process.

In the general pathology of rheumatism it is of importance to ascertain whether there are any modifying influences which may alter the ordinary progress and termination of rheumatic inflammation. The most important modifying influences are those of struma, syphilis, gonorrhoea, and leucorrhoea. Of these it may be said that none of them produce any essential modification as to the results of the rheumatic inflammation. No tendency to suppuration or ulceration is induced by any of these complications, but still each of them exerts some special influence on the progress of the rheumatic inflammation. Mr. Adams then proceeded to the description of

ACUTE RHEUMATIC SYNOVITIS,

its general characters, symptoms, and progress. The doubt expressed by the late Dr. Todd as to the true inflammatory nature of the joint affection was removed by reference to the post-mortem examinations of several patients who had died from cerebral or cardiac complications of rheumatic fever, from the fourth to the twenty-fifth day. In all these examinations the morbid appearances were essentially of a similar character -viz., inflammation of the synovial membrane, with effusion into the joint of serum, with albuminous shreds or flocculi of lymph floating in it. In no instance was the existence of pus or of any ulceration of the articular cartilage described. Mr Adams regretted that so few post-mortems were on record in which the joints had been examined in patients who had died during an attack of rheumatic fever.

In the treatment he spoke of the value of the hot-air bath, applied whilst the patient is in bed, and alkaline fomentations to the inflamed joints. The action of alkalies, both externally and internally, he believed, was not so much in neutralising the excess of acid in the system as in their tendency to fluidise the blood by their direct chemical action upon the fibrin, which is known to be much increased in quantity in this affection. The effect of this in the local application was to remove the condition of stasis of the blood corpuscles, always existing in inflammation. The action of mercury was also discussed in reference to its power of diminishing the quantity of lymph effused, of preventing its organisation, and promoting its absorption, especial reference being made to the experience of ophthalmic Surgeons in the treatment of rheumatic iritis.

The next affection described by Mr. Adams was that of ACUTE RHEUMATIC SYNOVITIS, IN AN AGGRAVATED FORM, LOCALISED IN ONE JOINT DURING THE EARLY STAGE OF RHEUMATIC FEVER GONORRHOEAL OR GENITAL RHEUMATISM.

These cases at their commencement exhibit the ordinary symptoms of rheumatic fever, but instead of metastasis of the articular inflammation occurring, the inflammation in an aggravated form quickly localises itself in one joint, usually the knee or the hip-joint, so that the joint affection quickly becomes the predominant feature. The acute symptoms generally continue from three to five months. Suppuration is often feared, but no liability to this process exists. It terminates neither in suppuration nor ulceration, but in the effusion of lymph, and organisation of adhesions within and surrounding the joint. A specimen exhibiting these conditions was shown to the Society. The most frequent cause of this affection is the previous existence of gonorrhoea, but sometimes a history only of leucorrhoea can be traced. Hence the propriety of the term genital rheumatism.

The explanation of these cases depending upon a mild form

of purulent infection, was considered by Mr. Adams as very doubtful, as only one joint is usually affected, and there is no tendency to suppuration; whilst in pyæmia several joints are generally involved, and suppuration constantly follows. The pathology is therefore obscure.

The constitutional and local treatment are the same as in the ordinary form of acute rheumatic synovitis, but the intense pain can be best relieved by the subcutaneous injection of morphia. Possibly the American plan of extension by weights, proved to be so successful in removing the most acute pain of hip-joint disease, and also the pain in some cases of inflammation of the knee-joint, might meet with equal success in this affection, and is worthy of trial.

For the removal of the remaining stiffness of the joint the use of the steam-bath, shampooing, and passive motion was recommended to be commenced early, and, if these failed, forcible extension under chloroform was to be used, and repeated every two or three weeks, very little being attempted each time; the restoration of motion thus being very slowly and gradually

obtained.

REVIEWS.

RECENT FOREIGN WORKS ON ZOOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY.

Manuel d'Histoire Naturale Médicale. Par H. BoCQUILLON, Professeur d'Histoire Naturelle au Lycée Napoleon. 1866-7. Paris: Baillière. London: Williams and Norgate. Handbuch der Zoologie. Von JUL. VICTOR CARUS, Professor der vergleichenden Anatomie in Leipzig, und C. E. A. GERSTAECKER, Docent der Zoologie an der Universität zu Berlin. 1863-68 (incomplete). Leipzig: Engelmann. London: Williams and Norgate.

Synopsis der Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs. Bearbeitet von JOHANNES LEUNIS, Professor der Naturgeschichte am Josephinum in Hildesheim. Zweite Auflage. 1860. Hannover : Hahn. London: Williams and Norgate.

THE three works whose titles we have just written down are all written with somewhat different objects, and addressed to somewhat different readers, and we shall therefore give them a brief separate notice.

Dr. Bocquillon's manual includes Medical zoology and botany. Medical natural history seems to us a misnomer, unless it is strictly confined to the history of the articles of the Materia Medica, and in that case many subjects of general importance run the chance of being omitted. We have had Stevenson's Medical Zoology and Lindley's Medical Botany, Moquin-Tandon's Medical Zoology (translated by Hulme), and Van Beneden and Gervais' bulky volume on that subject, which is in many respects a work of great value, but none of them have succeeded in establishing a standard popularity. The author of this manual very properly begins with the lowest animals, and gradually ascends to the mammals, but, in order to include the whole range of zoology in the short space of 426 small pages, many important groups get very scant notice. Thus the groups of protozoa, sponges, polyps, and echinoderms are disposed of in thirty pages. The parasitic worms are well described and figured; their life-history is clearly given; the symptoms they induce, and the remedes required, are explained, and a useful table is given containing the entozoa inhabiting man, the ox, sheep, and rabbit. Under Annelids we find a satisfactory sketch of the anatomy of the leech. In the chapter on the Articulata, we have descriptions of various acarides (the simplest form of arachnidans) which are dangerous or annoying to man-such as the demodex or acarus folliculorum, the sarcoptes or itch-insect, the ixodes (of which a Brazilian species, falling off grass or coppice-wood, often causes great irritation to travellers), the argos (which in Persia attacks the human skin, but in France confines itself to pigeons), etc. The chapter on insects contains some excellent figures which have not yet found their way into English text-books. The Mollusca and Vertebrata are discussed in a style in which there is nothing specially to praise or condemn. On the whole, this is decidedly the least satisfactory of the three works whose titles are attached to this article, and it cannot be regarded as presenting any decided advantages over Milne-Edwards's popular volume.

Carus and Gerstaecker are producing a work (for it is not yet completed) that will prove of inestimable benefit to the student of comparative anatomy and zoology. As is not uncommon in Germany, the first volume in this case appears last. Nearly

five years have elapsed since the appearance of the second volume, in which the Arthropoda were described by Gerstaecker, and the Radiata, Vermes, Echinodermata, Coelenterata, and Protozoa by Carus. The first half of the first volume, written by Carus, has just appeared, and is devoted to Mammalia, a subject which it leaves uncompleted in the section Reptilia at page 432, and we are promised the concluding portion, containing the remainder of the Vertebrata and the Mollusca, almost immediately. Nothing will serve better to show the excellent plan on which this work is designed than to give a very condensed view of the manner in which each subkingdom is treated. All are treated in precisely the same fashion, and it is immaterial which we select. Let it be the Arthropoda, with which the second volume commences, and which extends over more than 400 pages.

The author begins with a definition of Arthropoda; this is followed by a general sketch of their anatomy-as their segmentation, outer covering, body and limbs, muscular and nervous systems, organs of the senses, digestive canal, circulating, respiratory, and generative organs, the various forms of development of the egg, and the varieties of metamorphosis-extending over eight pages. This is followed by their arrangement into four classes Insecta, Myriapoda, Arachnoidea, and Crustaceaand by a list of the best authors on the subject. The Insecta are similarly treated. We have their definition, their special anatomy, extending over twenty-four pages, their classification into orders, and their literature, which extends over a page and a half, and is divided into (a) manuals, etc., as those of Kirby and Spence, Lacordaire, etc.; (b) periodicals; (c) systematic works and faunas; (d) biology, physiology, and anatomy, as the works of Swammerdam, Roesel, Bonnet, Reaumur, De Geer, etc.; and (e) palæontology. These tables, headed "Literatur," are a most valuable addition to the work. But to proceed with our analysis: let us take the first order of Insecta-the Orthoptera. These are first separated by a definition from the other orders of insects, and a few pages are devoted to their anatomical peculiarities, after which we have the systematic arrangement of the order into sub-orders, families, groups, and genera. To any insects of this, or the orders that have special claims to notice, a concise life-history is given, as the white ants, dragonflies, bees, cantharides, etc. If the general parts of this work, treating of the anatomy and physiology of animals, were pub lished independently of the systematic portion, they would constitute an excellent little manual of comparative anatomy, the value of which would be enhanced by a wise selection of illustrative figures.

Lastly, we turn to Leunis's Synopsis, which, as it was published as long ago as 1860, hardly claims a notice in this article. We have, however, for so long employed it as a useful book of reference that we wish to make known its utility as widely as possible. In meeting with any generic name with which we are unfamiliar, we are almost sure to find it in the index to this work, and on referring to the section and sub-section indicated, we find its place in the zoological scale, its popular name, habitat, characteristics, uses, etc.; and, in addition, the doubtful long and short syllables are marked, and the derivation is given in a footnote.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.

FRANCE.

ON THE PROGRESS OF POPULATION IN FRANCE. (From a French Correspondent.)

WHEN two nations, inhabiting the same quarter of the globe and separated only by a narrow arm of the sea, exhibit this remarkable contrast, that population on the one side increases with extraordinary, we might even say with fearful rapidity, while it remains almost stationary on the other, it becomes highly interesting, for the philosophical observer, to inquire into the agencies which give rise to so singular a difference-to wit, whether it depends upon the race, the soil, the climate, the wealth, or the institutions of each respective country. Nor is this to be viewed as a matter of mere idle curiosity, for the practical utility of such an investigation will be self-evident if we reflect that, however deep the real causes of this state of things may lie, it is not entirely beyond the power of man to control them. To an English reader, therefore, the state of population in France cannot fail to be the object of an interesting and instructive study, as exhibiting a strongly marked contrast with the present condition of his own native land. The

The fluctuations exhibited in the rate of increase, according to this table, accurately coincide with the political and social conditions of the country. The period intervening between 1801 and 1805 was one of great prosperity; the troubles of the great Revolution were over, and order was restored under the rule of the First Consul, while, the feudal system being entirely broken down, all the ancient abuses which acted as restraints upon individual exertion were swept away. The increase of population was in consequence very rapid (about 6 per cent. in four years). Then came the destructive wars of the Empire, and the long period of fifteen years comprised between 1805 and 1820 barely shows an increase of 4 per cent. Between 1820 and 1846, during a long and prosperous period of peace and constitutional government, the progress is regular, without being rapid. But the revolution of 1848 seems to have acted as a check upon the growth of population, since 1851 scarcely shows any increase upon the numbers of 1846. And lastly, whatever may be thought of the present imperial despotism, and its influence upon the prosperity of France, it has most decidedly proved unfavourable to the multiplication of its inhabitants, as the following table, exhibiting the results of five successive years, will sufficiently prove (b) :

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

:

37,386,313

37,522,463

37,658,613

37,794,763

37,930,914

The fertility of married couples has also been decreasing during the last forty years; the average number of children produced by each marriage being 4.24 in 1821, and only 3.07 in 1865. In 1821 one child was born for every 31.5 inhabitants, and in 1865 one child for every 37·5 inhabitants.

The same facts may be exhibited in a different light. Before 1847 the annual surplus of births, as compared with deaths, amounted to 200,000. This difference, some years later, fell to 75,000, and even 50,000. In 1854-55, on account of the Crimean war and the prevalence of cholera, the number of births was actually inferior to that of deaths. But since that date there has been, on the average, an increase of 135,000 per annum.

The influence of emigration and immigration is hardly perceptible; the two opposite currents nearly counterbalance each other. The total number of foreigners residing permanently in France varies between six and seven hundred thousand.

It cannot, therefore, be denied that the tendency of the French population is to remain stationary-a result, however, which must not be attributed to any extraordinary rate of mortality, seeing that it has been statistically demonstrated that the ave(a) No census was taken in 1841, on account of the resistance of the population, which, in many localities, led to acts of open violence. (b) The population of Nice and Savoy is this time included.

rage duration of life(c) is now much longer in France than it ever was before. We cannot, therefore, resist the conclusion that fewer children are born within the limits of the French Empire than in most of the neighbouring countries. The cause of this indisputable fact now remains to be ascertained. SECTION II.-FALLACIES.

To assert a progressive diminution of the vis vitæ in the French population and a gradual degeneracy of the race may be conceived to be palatable to the pride and national antipathy of John Bull of the old school. But the impartial observer will readily perceive that a nation in which the ordinary duration of human life has been steadily increasing for the last fifty years can hardly be supposed to be in a state of physical decrepitude. Military critics will, no doubt, object that the height of the average Frenchman, as exhibited by the conscription returns, has considerably diminished, and that, apart from all other considerations, this single result may be viewed as a positive sign of physical inferiority. Naturalists themselves have caught at the idea, and we find Professor Darwin giving the gradual deterioration of the French race as a proof in favour of his doctrine of natural or unconscious selection-the taller and stronger men having been constantly drained off for military purposes, leaving only the inferior males to propagate the breed. But this ingenious view, resting as it does upon one of the numerous fallacies which pass current upon this subject in England, is found to melt like snow in the sun before Professor Broca's searching criticism. This celebrated anthropologist has proved by indisputable facts and figures that the average height of the French recruit has not diminished byth part of an inch since the beginning of the present century, while the quality of the material has visibly improved. This is seen from the fact that in 1824 no less than 276 young men were required to furnish 100 soldiers-that is to say, out of this former number only 100 passed muster, the remaining 176 having been declared incapable to serve in consequence of their deficiency of stature or their bodily infirmities; while in 1866 we find 100 soldiers furnished by 203 men.

If, on the other hand, it is advanced that, without supposing any positive degeneracy to have arisen in the external appearance or physical health and average longevity of the French, their fertility may be supposed to have diminished, we will beg leave to lay down, with Dr. Trélat, an all-important distinction -viz., that the actual fertility (ie., the birth rate) of a nation or race is a totally different thing from its virtual or latent capacity for procreation. This latter faculty is a natural boon, which, like the other gifts of nature, may or may not be improved to the utmost extent; while the statistical results, which the census enables us to ascertain, are entirely dependent upon the will of each individual in his private capacity. In other words, a couple who only have one child might possibly have had ten or twenty had it only suited their purpose.

That the capacity of the Celtic, Gallic, or French race for procreation has nowise diminished is abundantly proved by the existence of very large families in numerous individual cases, and by the superabundance of population in certain departments. Another interesting fact testifies to the same effect. During several years the number of illegitimate children born in France has remained almost constantly the same, the lowest figures during the five years comprised between 1861 and 1865 being 73,919, and the highest 77.003. This regularity in irregularity can only be accounted for by the supposition that there are about as many illegitimate children brought into the world as there are fathers willing to support them.

The real cause, then, of the slow progress of population in France resides in the will of the people; and in this case at least the will of the people is truly supreme. No rules, however absolute, no legislative means, can exert the slightest influence upon this vital point. All the efforts of Augustus, in a similar case, were utterly thrown away. But however broad the difference between the political organisation of ancient and modern societies, the social conditions which led to the depopulation of ancient Rome have, in some measure, their counterpart in the social conditions of modern France.

Let us, therefore, give up all shallow reasoning and flimsy pretences, fit only to satisfy superficial observers, and let us, in spite of conventionalism and false delicacy, plunge resolutely into the heart of the question.

SECTION III. THE TRUE CAUSES.

In all investigations connected with the progress of population, the habits, manners, and situation of the lower classes, are of paramount importance, since in questions con(c) The average duration of life in France is stated at 37:85 by Dr. Trélat, at 40 15 by Dr. Bertillon, and at 42:08 by Baron Dupin.

taining a numerical element they must evidently exert a preponderating influence.

What, then, is the leading feature which strikes us at the present day in the lower orders of the French population? Social equality, and a strong feeling of it, are written in every man's face; but this tendency, if we may judge from what we have seen ourselves, scarcely corresponds to the celebrated declaration-" All men are born free and equal;" it answers rather to the Irishman's definition--" One man is as good as another and better too." Better too is the feeling which rankles at the bottom of the heart of almost every intelligent French workman in all large centres, and more especially in Paris. His natural organisation predisposes him to appreciate elegance, luxury, and bien-être; and he is apt to think himself ill-used because only a moderate share of these advantages falls to his lot, while he firmly believes himself to be a better man than most of the young spendthrifts who enjoy them in full. In many cases this state of mind leads him to plunge into disorderly habits, but the more sober characters are smitten with an intense desire to improve their situation and raise themselves to a higher rank in society. No one can read the reports of the Workmen's Committees (délégations ouvrières) on the late exhibition without being struck by the manly and dignified tone of these documents, and the energy with which they insist upon the working man's claims to a better place than he has hitherto occupied. In a country where universal suffrage is the law of the land, no political change can possibly improve the situation of the lower orders, and a social revolution is the sole object to be aimed at. In the meantime, each individual labours for himself, and if it be true that nothing hinders a man's progress in life so effectually as an early marriage and a large family, who can be astonished at the small number of births annually registered in French towns?

In the rural districts of France, where the most laborious and frugal of mankind are perhaps to be found, the well-known ambition of each peasant is to become the legal owner of a patch of ground, and to enlarge his small piece of land when once he has secured it. The law, therefore, which prescribes an equal division of the father's property among his children, acts directly as a check upon population, and limits the increase of families. It is no wonder, then, that, under the operation of these causes, the fertility of marriages should have progressively diminished, while, at the same time, people are induced to marry much later than they formerly did. In 1821, the average period of marriage (both sexes included) was 27; it is now 31. Nor can the military law be viewed as the cause of this, since, under its most unfavourable provisions, soldiers have always been allowed to marry long before 30. And since we have been led incidentally to touch upon the French military system, we will seize the opportunity to say that it may doubtless be viewed as one of the causes which retard the progress of population, but not the only, nor even the principal, one. It is true that, since the establishment of the second empire, five hundred thousand lives have been expended in fighting the battles of the country and of its Government; and it is equally true that these five hundred thousand men, if allowed to live, would doubtless have become the fathers of numerous children; but a difference of a million or so in the figures which we have just quoted would scarcely modify our conclusion. It is not because the deaths are many, but because the births are few, that the population remains stationary; and the prudence of individuals sufficiently explains the latter result.

That abundance of wealth exists in France cannot for an instant be questioned, although a great part of it lies buried in damp cellars, or concealed in old stockings, and only makes its appearance when a Government loan is raised or a piece of land put up for sale. But these riches are disseminated among a very large proportion of the population instead of being concentrated in a few hands. Now, nothing is so likely to lead to the limitation process as the possession of a little property. Both opulence and poverty render a man indifferent as to the number of his children, but a country where most people are neither rich nor poor closely resembles (in one sense at least) those ancient republics where the national territory was equally divided among a certain number of families, so that any sudden increase of population was considered as a national calamity. Emigration was in such cases the resource of the Greeks; but the superstitious veneration and instinctive attachment of the Celt for the land of his birth will not suffer this remedy to be ever applied on a large scale. Many a time have we heard Frenchmen declare that they had rather starve in France than live in luxury in any other part of the world; and their sincerity cannot possibly be doubted.

A comparison of the results observed in separate departments

will confirm the conclusions to which a general survey has led us. The provinces lying at the foot of the Alps, and especially of the Pyrenees, are, together with Brittany, the most povertystricken regions of France. In these departments, the progress of population is extremely rapid, while in Normandy, one of the most fortunate and fertile regions not only of France, but of all Europe, the number of inhabitants has been steadily diminishing for several years. As a rule, it may be asserted that the poorest departments are precisely those in which the rate of increase is the highest. There are, however, some exceptions. The Lower Rhine, for instance (Strasburg), and the North (Lille), have a large and rapidly increasing population, in spite of their great prosperity. But, in the first of these departments, the fact is accounted for by the military temper of the people. All the young men enter the army, and, when they become too old to serve in the ranks, enlist in the sedentary corps. It may be truly stated that Alsace furnishes the empire with nine-tenths of its gendarmes and two-thirds of its remplaçants. (d) A permanent outlet is thus secured for superabundant numbers. In the department of the North, the existence of enormous manufactories naturally creates a very large and very poor manufacturing population. To this latter element the large number of births is mainly attributable, so that, in this case, an apparent exception only strengthens the general rule.

Our limits will not allow us to pursue this subject further; but those of our readers who might wish for fuller information on these points will find an abundant supply of official (and, we believe, trustworthy) documents in the Annuaire de Statistique published under the auspices of the French Government. Our purpose has been to show that individual prudence and foresight are the real causes which lead, in France, to the almost universal limitation of families.

The process by which this result is attained is by no means a mysterious or novel one. It seems to have been currently employed in the most primitive of human societies, and is coeval with the earliest of all historical records, since we find it fully described in Gen. xxxviii. 9. It is perfectly clear that a system adopted in the poorest workman's garret or in the meanest peasant's cabin cannot rest on any complicated mechanism, and must be simple to be at all available.

It seems to have been supposed by some of the writers who have already discussed the subject that abortion was largely employed for the same purpose. We are thoroughly convinced that such is not the case. Abortion is a crime severely punished by the French legislature, and which, we have every reason to believe, is confined to cases of illegitimate pregnancy. If it is ever resorted to by married people, it can only be in very extraordinary and altogether unusual cases.

SECTION V. CONCLUSIONS.

The conclusion to which we are inevitably led is, that the rise of democracy, the dissemination of property, and the general improvement of the social condition of the lower classes are the real causes which check the progress of population in France-a result which neither the promoters of the great Revolution nor their opponents had foreseen.

There is nothing particularly new in the idea that a certain degree of prosperity will generally be found to coincide with a certain degree of foresight, while extreme poverty renders people indifferent to the consequences of their imprudence. But it is really striking to find a whole nation (the immense majority of which never read Malthus, and could scarcely be brought to understand his arguments) adopting instinctively, as it were, the views of the Malthusian school of political economists, and carrying them out in practice.

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If it were objected that a different state of things appears to prevail in the democratic communities on the other side of the Atlantic, we would beg to observe that no comparison can possibly be established between an old and densely populated country and a continent where immense spaces of fertile and unoccupied land extend before the white man, who has only remove a few wandering Indians to take possession of an almost unlimited surface. Besides, the current of emigration, which for so many years has been steadily flowing towards the United States, has so powerful an influence upon the growth of population that it is almost impossible to say whether of late years the original American stock has or has not been increasing in numbers in fact, several observers appear inclined to answer in the negative.

With the moral aspect of the case we have not to deal for the present; our purpose has been to lay down certain indis

(d) A remplaçant is a young man who, when liberated from the service, agrees to serve in another man's place for a determined sum of money.