Denmark 11 Baden 16.2 England, Scotland, and Bavaria 22.5 Wales 6.7 Belgium 7.2 Holland 4 France 7.5 Prussia, including German Austria 18.1 Saxony & Hanover 8.3 ? Italy (defective) 5.1 Sweden, with Norway. 9.6 ? Spain (defective) 5.5 Switzerland 5.5 Würtemberg 16.4 ---- ---- Average 8.8 Average 11.7 Or rejecting Italy and Spain 14.5 What strikes us first of all is the richness of these averages. Dear _New Englander_, you will be the death of us with your averages. Not that we shall literally be killed off by them; but when we think of the "best fruits" of the scholarship of Yale College producing such averages, by adding up a lot of rates of all sorts of countries, big and little, and dividing the sum by the number of countries, the idea is absurd enough to kill any one with laughter. Exuberance of fancy has evidently exercised an unfavorable influence on the mathematical ability of the author of this article, and neutralized the effect of the excellent mathematical course given at Yale College. We find in the table Italy and Spain marked with a note of interrogation, as much as to say, "What business have you here with such low averages? You ought to look a great deal worse than that, being such black and benighted Romanist countries as you are." And after them the word "defective" in brackets. No doubt the best of reasons will be given for this. Let us see. "The returns for Italy and Spain are utterly defective and untrustworthy. Assuming the ordinary birth-rate, the returns show that in Italy _more than one fourth_ of the births fail to be registered." Why does not the _New Englander_ give the figures, that we may judge for ourselves? What he has not done we will do for him: _Births in Italy._ 1863 881,342 1864 859,663 1865 878,952 ------- Average 873,319 The population of Italy is 24,231,860, and the birth-rate of Europe, according to the _New Englander_, is 1 to 28. Dividing the number of the population by 28, we get 865,608. The number of actual births _exceeds_ the number expected, instead of being _defective by "more than a fourth."_ As the reason alleged proves to be utterly false, we shall strike off the marks of interrogation from Italy, and leave out the "defective" in the brackets.