Although women are probably more predisposed to insanity than men, and men more exposed to its objective causes than women, it is not certain that more insanity occurs in either sex. It is somewhat more prevalent in single and widowed and divorced people than in those married. The period of greatest prevalence is earlier in women than in men. Insanity prevails not only at a time of life when the strain on mind and body is great, as is shown by the preceding table, but also in those places where the effort is most intense. That fact is well shown in the distribution of insanity over the State in the large and small towns, being greatest where the concentration of population brings with it extremes of poverty and wealth, as indicated by the following table, showing the number of admissions accredited to cities and towns in the McLean, South Boston, and State hospitals for the insane per 100,000 inhabitants from 1871 to 1880, the difference being exaggerated by the proximity of the hospitals and greater ease of commitment in the larger towns: -------+------------------+-------------+-----------+-------------- | | | | Insane Number | | Inhabitants | | Patients of | Population. | by Census | Insane | per 100,000 Towns. | | of 1875. | Patients. | Inhabitants. -------+------------------+-------------+-----------+-------------- 341 | The State | 1,651,912 | 5689 | 344 1 | Boston | 341,919 | 1987 | 581 12 | 20,000 to 50,000 | 405,655 | 1486 | 367 42 | 5000 to 20,000 | 367,957 | 1193 | 324 286 | 5000 and under | 536,381 | 1023 | 190 -------+------------------+-------------+-----------+-------------- Of 9381 men and 9041 women admitted to our asylums, 7435 were married, 8193 single, and 1620 widowed or divorced. Of the 9381 males, 2215 were laborers, 1357 farmers, 313 clerks, 62 clergymen, 59 physicians, 43 lawyers, 201 students, of whom 114 were in school. Of 4673 females, 52 were school-girls. The exciting or immediate causes of insanity are usually so complex that many of the statistics on that point conform to the preconceived views of the various compilers of them, as it is very easy to pick out a few from the many; but out of a large number of persons exposed to the alleged causes of insanity, one can never feel certain how many, nor indeed what, individuals will become insane.