Part 4

In Sweden it has lessened by a fifth; in Prussia, by a fourth; in Denmark and England, by a third; and in Russia, Spain, Germany, and France by a half, in a single century.

For the sake of convenience, larger bodies of statistics existing concerning it, and from the fact that it represents the extreme of the alleged decrease, we take France for our comparisons.

In France at large, according to the official returns as analyzed by Legoyt, the increase of the population which, from 1801 to 1806, was at the rate of 1.28 per cent. annually, from 1806 to 1846 had fallen to about .5 per cent. The exact ratio of decrease after this point is better shown by the figures themselves. The increase from 1841 to 1846 was 1,200,000; from 1846 to 1851, 380,000; from 1851 to 1856, 256,000.

In England, during this latter period, with a population of but one-half the size, the returns of the Registrar-General show a relative increase nine times greater. In thirty-seven years, from 1817 to 1854, the mean annual increase in France was not more than 155,929, yet in five years, from 1846 to 1851, it had fallen to 76,000 yearly, and from 1851 to 1856, to 51,200, and this with a population ranging from twenty-nine to thirty-four millions.

A comparison of these facts, with those obtaining in other European States, will make the above still more evident. We now quote from Rau.

Rate of Increase. Per Cent. Hungary, according to Rohrer 2.40 England, from 1811 to 1821 1.78 ” from 1821 to 1831 1.60 Prussia, from 1816 to 1827 1.54 ” from 1820 to 1830 1.37 ” from 1821 to 1831 1.27 Austria, (Rohrer) 1.30 Scotland, from 1821 to 1831 1.30 Netherlands, from 1821 to 1828 1.28 Saxony, from 1815 to 1830 1.15 Baden (Heunisch,) from 1820 to 1830 1.13 Bavaria, from 1814 to 1828 1.08 Naples, from 1814 to 1824 0.83 France (Mathieu,) from 1817 to 1827 0.63 France, more recently, (De Jonnés) 0.55

A similar and corroborative table, containing additional matter, is given by Quetelet; its differences from the preceding are owing to its representing a series of different years.

Rate of Increase. Per Cent. Ireland 2.45 Hungary 2.40 Spain 1.66 England 1.65 Rhenish Prussia 1.33 Austria 1.30 Bavaria 1.08 Netherlands 0.94 Naples 0.83 France 0.63

And more recently, Legoyt brings up these results to the close of 1846. As shown by the census, the rate of increase was, in

Per Cent. Great Britain, exclusive of Ireland 1.95 Prussia 1.84 Saxony 1.45 Norway 1.36 Sardinia 1.08 Holland 0.90 Austria 0.85 Sweden 0.83 France 0.68

Or, as shown by the annual excess of births over deaths, and therefore more reliable—

Per Cent. Norway 1.30 Prussia 1.18 Sweden 1.14 Holland 1.03 Wurtemberg 1.00 Great Britain, exclusive of Ireland 1.00 Denmark 0.95 Austria 0.90 Saxony 0.90 Hanover 0.85 Belgium 0.76 Bavaria 0.71 Russia 0.61 France 0.50

In four departments of France, among which are two of the most thriving of Normandy, the deaths actually exceed the births.

From the above facts, it would naturally be supposed that the percentage of births to the whole population must be smaller than in other European countries, and from the lessened annual rate of increase of the population, that the proportionate number of births must be decreasing in similar ratio. This is found, indeed, to be the case.

From large statistics furnished by De Jonnés, we have compiled the following table of the comparative ratios of births to the population in the principal countries of Europe:—

Ratio. Venice and Dependencies, 1827 1 to 23 Tuscany, 1834 ” Lombardy, 1828 1 to 24 Russia, 1835 1 to 25 Wurtemberg, 1821 to 1827 ” Prussia, 1836 ” Mecklenburg, 1826 1 to 26 Sardinia, 1820 ” Naples and Dependencies, 1830 ” Greece, 1828 ” Poland, 1830 1 to 27 Ireland, 1821 to 1831 ” Germany, 1828 ” Switzerland, 1828 ” Spain, 1826 ” Portugal, 1815 to 1819 1 to 27.5 Sweden, 1825 1 to 28 Holland, 1832 ” Austria, 1829 ” Belgium, 1836 ” Bavaria, 1825 ” Two Sicilies, 1831 ” Sweden and Norway, 1828 1 to 30 Denmark, 1833 ” Roman States, 1836 ” Turkey, 1835 ” Hanover, 1835 1 to 31 Sicily, 1832 ” Austria, 1828 to 1830 1 to 32 Great Britain, 1821 to 1831 ” Scotland, 1821 to 1831 1 to 34 England, 1821 to 1831 1 to 35 Norway, 1832 ” France, 1771 to 1851 1 to 25 to 1 to 37

In a total population, at different periods, of 232,673,000, there were 8,733,000 births; whence an average on the grand scale of one birth to every 26.6 individuals.

In France, however, the ratio has been steadily lessening, as seen by the following table:—

Ratio of births. 1771 to 1775 1 to 25 1801 to 1810 1 to 30 1811 to 1825 1 to 32 1826 to 1836 1 to 33 1836 to 1840 1 to 34 1841 to 1845 1 to 35 1846 to 1850 1 to 37

The position of France, as compared with the rest of Europe, in respect to the ratio of births to the population at different periods, is made still more manifest by another table:—

Annual ratio of births. 1 to 23 Venetian Provinces, 1827; Tuscany, 1834. 1 to 23.5 Kingdom of Naples, 1822 to 1824. 1 to 24 Tuscany, 1818; Sicily, 1824; Lombardy, 1827 to 1828; Russia, 1831. 1 to 24.5 Prussia, 1825 to 1826. 1 to 25 France, 1781; Austria, 1827; Russia, 1835; Prussia, 1836. 1 to 26 Sardinia, 1820; Hanover, Wurtemberg and Mecklenburg, 1826; Greece, 1828; Naples, 1830. 1 to 27 Spain, 1826; Germany and Switzerland, 1828; Poland, 1830; Ireland, 1831. 1 to 27.5 Portugal, 1815 to 1819. 1 to 28 Holland, 1813 to 1824; Bavaria and Sweden, 1825; Austria, 1829; Belgium, 1836. 1 to 29 Canton Lucerne, 1810; Holland, 1832. 1 to 29.8 France, 1801. 1 to 30 Sweden and Norway, 1828; Belgium, 1832; Denmark, 1833; Turkey, 1835; States of the Church, 1836. 1 to 31 Sicily, 1832; Hanover, 1835. 1 to 31.4 France, 1811. 1 to 31.6 France, 1821. 1 to 32 Austria, 1830; Great Britain and Switzerland, 1831. 1 to 33 France, 1828 to 1831. 1 to 34 Norway and Holstein, 1826; Scotland, 1831; France, 1834 to 1841. 1 to 35 Denmark, 1810; England, 1831; Norway, 1832. 1 to 37 France, 1851.

In Paris, strange to say, the decrease in the ratio of births to the population, though decided and steady, has not, in actual proportion, been as great as in the empire at large, showing that the cause, whatever we find it to be, is not one depending on the influence of a metropolis alone for its existence.

From 1817 to 1831 there averaged, in Paris, one birth to 26.87 inhabitants; but from 1846 to 1851, one to 31.98.

Again, as might have been expected, we find that the proportion of still-births, in which we must include abortions, as has hitherto been done, however improperly, in all extensive statistics, is enormous, and is steadily increasing. To show this the more plainly, we first present a table of the ratio of still-births to the living births in the various countries of Europe.

Geneva, 1824 to 1833 1 to 17 Berlin Hospitals, 1758 to 1774 1 to 18 Paris Maternité, 1816 to 1835 1 to 20 Sweden, 1821 to 1825 1 to 23.5 Denmark, 1825 to 1834 1 to 24 Belgium, 1841 to 1843 1 to 24.2 Prussia, 1820 to 1834 1 to 29 Iceland, 1817 to 1828 1 to 30 Prague, 1820 1 to 30 London Hospitals, 1749 to 1781 1 to 31 Vienna, 1823 1 to 32 Austria, 1828 1 to 49 France at large, 1853 1 to 24 Department of Seine 1 to 15 Paris, 1836 to 1844 1 to 14.3 ” 1845 to 1853 1 to 13.8

The proportion of still-births in the rural districts of France is governed by the same laws as in the metropolis.

In 363 provincial towns the ratio was, from

1836 to 1845 1 to 19.55 1846 to 1850 1 to 18.8