With regard to (_a_) it is obvious that during the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth years of marriage, most couples who are attempting to limit their families will have ceased from procreating. They will have had from one to three children, and will have decided to have no more. The wife will therefore tend to become increasingly impatient with her lot, and ultimately make a confidant of some idiot of a man, who will interpret her marked attentions as a proof of his irresistible charm, and the two will end in what the world is pleased to call “falling in love.” With regard to (_b_), six, seven, eight or nine years is a long period over which to extend the average man’s desire for fresh sexual experience, and in the event of a cessation of child-birth (which means the use of contraceptives—always unfavourable to happy marital relations) it is during these last years of his first decade of married life that he is most likely to feel the ardent desire for a change. The two factors (_a_) and (_b_) conspiring together soon force the couple asunder, if they are positive, brave, and intolerant of conventions and rules—hence, I believe, the high figures for the period in question. CHART III. DIVORCES ACCORDING TO PROFESSIONS. ————————+————————————+———————+—————————————+——————————+—————————— |Agriculture.|Mining.|Manufactures.|Navigation| Inland | | | | and |Transport. | | | | Fishing. | ————————+————————————+———————+—————————————+——————————+—————————— 1908 | 26 | 17 | 168 | 14 | 42 1909 | 19 | 21 | 172 | 25 | 29 1910 | 22 | 11 | 118 | 18 | 38 1911 | 21 | 9 | 194 | 24 | 30 1912 | 24 | 17 | 211 | 38 | 21 1915[93]| 37 | 26 | 362 | 31 | 84 1916 | 28 | 24 | 310 | 43 | 60 1917 | 44 | 48 | 419 | 33 | 79 1918 | 61 | 95 | 744 | 63 | 204 1919 | 133 | 192 | 1,581 | 78 | 468 ————————+————————————+———————+—————————————+——————————+——————————