been taken, instead of the mean chances of persons of all occupations deriving subsistence from weekly wages, the case of classes with still lower chances would have been presented; but these would have appeared to suggest particular remedies. Such returns of the effects of common evils were therefore taken as appeared applicable to the consideration of common or general means of prevention. One of the first returns obtained is from _Dr. Barham_, as to the different rates of mortality in Truro:— “The information derived from the registers of deaths and sickness has been arranged in a series of tables.[17] The first gives a return of the condition in life, average ages, and the causes of death, with respect to all who died in Truro from July 1st, 1837, to December 31st, 1840. The occupation of the deceased not being stated in the register, except in the case of adult males, the condition of others has been inferred in the majority of cases from that of the parent or husband, in many from my own knowledge of the parties, and in others from the place of abode or other collateral evidence. Altogether I am confident that the statement is not materially erroneous.” The sum of these several returns was as follows:— No. of TRURO. Average Deaths. Age of Deceased. 33 Professional persons or gentry, and their families 40 years. 138 Persons engaged in trade, or similarly circumstanced, and their families 33 447 Labourers, artisans, and others similarly circumstanced, and their families 28 In Derby the proportions appear to be as exhibited in the following table:— No. of DERBY. Average Deaths. Age of Deceased. 10 Professional persons or gentry 49 years. 125 Tradesmen 38 752 Labourers and artisans 21 To compare the chances of life between a crowded manufacturing population and a less crowded rural population, I selected the county of Rutland, because it had been selected as an average agricultural district for a comparison as to its general condition by the members of the Statistical Society of Manchester, and they deputed their agent, _Mr. J. R. Wood_, to make inquiries on an examination from house to house. The following are portions of his examination:—