TABLE I.

For determining the Probabilities of the Duration of Life, from Observations on the Bills of Mortality of Breslaw, made in the years 1687...1691, by Dr. Halley.

TABLE II.

For determining the Probabilities of Life at NORTHAMPTON, as deduced by Dr. Price from the mortality of that town in the years 1741...1780.

The preceding Tables require but little explanation. The former commences by stating that out of 1000 persons who are born at the same time and attain the age of 1 year, 145 die before they attain the age of 2 years. Consequently at 2 years of age there are left 855 out of 1000. Of these 57 die between 2 and 3 years of age; and so on. 1000 persons who attain the age of one year, the Table indicates that 346 live to be 50 years of age; &c.

Thus, of

The latter Table commences a year earlier by taking 1149 persons born together, that is, at the age 0; and then proceeds in the same manner as the former. Thus, we have given by this Table, that after 50 years, out of 1149 persons born together, 284 are then alive, and that of these 9 die before attaining the age of 51; and so on.

It has been objected to both the preceding Tables, although the latter is very generally used by the Assurance offices, that they make no distinction between male and female life, and yet that a very material distinction can be proved to exist.

The extent of the error which arises from not distinguishing between the sexes may be seen in the following Table constructed by Professor De Morgan from the statistical returns of the whole of Belgium for three successive years, as given by M. Quetelet and Smits, in the Recherches sur la Reproduction, &c. Brussels, 1832. This Table is calculated to shew the "expectation of life," that is, the average number of years remaining, to any individual, at intervals of five years, from the age of 0 to 100. It distinguishes not only between male and female, but between town life and rural life; and the middle column gives the general average for the whole kingdom, male and female, town and country.

TABLE III.

Shewing the Expectation of Life, as deduced by Professor De Morgan from the Statistical returns of the whole of Belgium made by M. Quetelet and Smits.