────────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────── │ Scholars per │ Suicides per ──── │ Hundred │ Million │ Inhabitants. │ Inhabitants. ────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────── 1863-64 │ 5·44 │ 27·2 1865-66 │ 5·59 │ 28·7 1867-68 │ 6·05 │ 31·0 1869-70 │ 6·06 │ 27·5 1871-72 │ 6·44 │ 32 1873-74 │ 6·80 │ 36·5 1875-76 │ 7·15 │ 35·3 1877 │ 7·45 │ 40·6 ────────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────── The same effect is exhibited by tables showing the relative numbers of newspapers published in each State; the more numerous these are, the higher the voluntary death-rate; and in States where the literature is of the higher type, scientific and critical, we find, _mutatis mutandis_, a higher rate than where the journals simply contain news and politics. Brierre de Boismont gives a classification of 4,595 French suicides, in respect to education; a _résumé_ follows:─ ────────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────── ──── │ Male. │ Female. │ TOTAL. ────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── Well instructed │ 467 │ 106 │ 573 Read and write well │ 601 │ 188 │ 789 Read, but write ill │ 1,145 │ 511 │ 1,656 Read, but do not write │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 Illiterate │ 36 │ 29 │ 65 Data unknown │ 969 │ 540 │ 1,509 ────────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴──────── In respect to England, the Report of the Registrar General for 1880 contains a statement, which I subjoin, of the effect of education on the proportion of voluntary deaths, calculated on the averages of the ten years 1869-78, with regard to the numbers of adults who were able to sign their names in the marriage registers. Counties where 27% } 57·5 million of were unable to sign the } inhabitants. register } Counties where less } 69·2 per million of than 27% but more } inhabitants. than 17% were unable } Counties where less } 80·2 per million of than 17% were unable } inhabitants. But, on the other hand, the proportions of crime against the person were the lowest on record, and the better educated counties showed the minimum.