In a very valuable state report[118] collating data from many sources for convenient use by the legislature it appears that the total number of persons 65 or over in Massachusetts by the census of April 1, 1915, was 189,047. It is generally supposed that during recent years the ratio of the aged to the total population has increased, but the tables show that in Massachusetts this did not hold true for the forty years ending in 1915. Mortality rates in most localities have fallen, but improved conditions of life have not affected the ratio of the aged to the total. Still, the duration of life has continuously increased, owing to medical and sanitary science and improved standards of living; and while the younger element of the population has been chiefly affected, the span of life of the aged has also been somewhat prolonged. Hence if this tendency continues the need of pensioning would increase. A. Newsholme[119] presents a table giving the annual death rate, per million persons living, from a few prominent diseases, showing that there is a falling off in the death rate from old age. The author adds: “If this were a real falling off, it would not be an indisputable advantage as most people would prefer to die of old age. The decline under this head, however, is chiefly due to an improved specification of the causes of which the old die.” He gives copious statistics on the causes of death. He also gives an interesting table (p. 237) on the basis of 100,000 of each sex, showing graphically the steady decline in death liability and that the percentage of death is least at 12 and the early teens and soon after begins slightly to increase, falling somewhat more rapidly after 40 and then becoming a little less rapid after 70; while at 90, only 2,000 of the original 100,000 remain alive.