Out of the above 229,250 he estimates that 86 were murdered; and, alluding to a peculiar disease which had arisen, intimates that the proportion of males was greater than that of females, in the words, “for since the world believes that marriage cures it, it may seem indeed a shame that any maid should die unmarried, when there are more males than females; that is, an overplus of husbands to all that can be wives.” “In regular times when accounts were well kept, we find not above 3 in 200 died in childbed; from whence we may probably collect that not 1 woman of 100, I may say of 200, dies in her labour, forasmuch as there may be other causes of a woman’s dying within the month.” He then attempted to show the population of London, from which he had been a long time prevented by his religious scruples; but his arithmetical mind was provoked by a “person of high reputation” saying there were “two millions less one year than another.” To ascertain the number he made many very interesting calculations, and came to this conclusion:--“We have, though perhaps too much at random, determined the number of the inhabitants of London to be about 384,000.” He then gave the following table, which is perhaps one of the most remarkable we have, the period and the material being taken into consideration:-- Of 100, there die within the first six years 36 The next ten years, or decad 24 The second decad 15 The third ” 9 The fourth ” 6 The fifth ” 4 The sixth ” 3 The seventh ” 2 The eighth ” 1 From whence it follows that, of the said 100 there remain alive-- At the end of 6 years 64 ” 16 ” 40 ” 26 ” 25 ” 36 ” 16 ” 46 ” 10 ” 56 ” 6 ” 60 ” 3 ” 76 ” 1 ” 80 ” 0 He says gravely of another of his calculations, “According to this proportion Adam and Eve, doubling themselves every 64 years of the 5610 years, which is the age of the world according to the Scriptures, shall produce far more people than are now in it. Wherefore, the world is not above 100,000 years old, as some vainly imagine, nor above what the Scripture makes it.” That Captain Graunt was a man of no ordinary perceptive power let his volume bear witness. In it he touches on almost every intricate question which, despised when he wrote, has since been investigated by Adam Smith, by M’Culloch, by Porter, by Tooke, and by all to whom political economy is dear. The following will give some idea of the character of these studies:--