Again, of the 692 fœtuses of less than nine months, deposited at the Morgue during these eighteen years, 295 were between 1836 to 1845, an average, at that time, of 32.7 yearly; and from 1846 to 1855 there were 397, an average of 44.1. During the means of these periods the births in France were as follows[28]:—In 1841, 1,005,203, and in 1851, 1,037,040, from which it is evident that there was deposited at the Morgue, in 1841, one infant, dead from abortion, to every 30,700 births; and in 1851, one to every 23,500. The increased ratio is seen to be striking; it will hereafter become apparent that the increase is far greater in reality. We turn now to our own country, to which the City of New York holds much the same relation, as respects public opinion no less than in other matters, that Paris holds to France. Since 1805, when returns were first made to the Registry of New York, the number, proportionate as well as actual, of fœtal deaths, has steadily and rapidly increased. With a population at that time (1805) of 76,770, the number of still and premature births was 47; in 1849, with a population estimated at 450,000, the number had swelled to 1320.[29] Thus, while the population had increased only _six_ times since 1805, the annual number of still and premature births had multiplied over _twenty-seven_ times. The following table shows the rapidity of this increase:—The ratio of fœtal deaths to the population, was in 1805 1 to 1633.40 1810 1 to 1025.24 1815 1 to 986.46 1820 1 to 654.52 1825 1 to 680.68 1830 1 to 597.60 1835 1 to 569.88 1840 1 to 516.02 1845 1 to 384.68 1849 1 to 340.90 In the three years preceding 1849, there were registered in New York 400 premature births, and 3139 children still-born; a total of 3539, representing at that time a yearly average of some 1200 fœtal deaths. While it will be shown hereafter that a large proportion of the reported premature births must always be from criminal causes, and that though almost all the still-births at the full time, even from infanticide, are necessarily registered, but a small proportion of the abortions and miscarriages occurring are ever reported to the proper authorities, it will immediately be made apparent that at the present moment the abortion statistics of New York are far above those of 1849. In the three years preceding 1857, there were registered in New York 1196 premature, and 4735 still-births,[30] a total of 5931, representing a yearly average of some 2000 fœtal deaths; showing that in the short space of seven years, the number of fœtal deaths in New York, already enormous, had very nearly doubled.