[73] It is a curious circumstance, and one which amply merits attentive consideration, that the fecundity of females employed in manufactories seems to be considerably diminished by their occupation and habits; for not only are their families generally smaller than those of agricultural labourers, but their children are born at more distant intervals. Thus the average interval which elapses between the birth of each child in the former case is two years and one month, as we have found upon minute enquiry, while, in country districts, we believe, it seldom exceeds eighteen months. The causes of these facts we have at present no space to enlarge upon. [74] The extracts are slightly compressed in transcription. [75] The barber knotter is a small appliance worn on the hand to assist the work of winding. BOOKS ON SOCIAL QUESTIONS MATERNITY LETTERS FROM WORKING WOMEN _Collected by the Women's Co-operative Guild_ WITH A PREFACE BY THE RT. HON. HERBERT SAMUEL, M.P. This book is the outcome of an extensive enquiry into the conditions of motherhood among the working-classes. Here working women tell their own stories, and their letters form an impressive indication of the urgency of the problem, especially at the present time, when the preservation of the infant life of the nation is of the utmost importance. _2s. 6d. net_ THE FUTURE OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT BY MRS. H. M. SWANWICK, M.A. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MRS. FAWCETT _2s. 6d. net_ "Mrs. Swanwick's exposition of the claims of women is clear, bright, forcible, well-informed and fairly reasoned. It is more likely to persuade doubters than any other statement that has yet appeared."--Mr. J. A. HOBSON in the _Manchester Guardian_. MARRIED WOMEN'S WORK _Being the Report of an Enquiry undertaken by the Women's Industrial Council_ EDITED BY CLEMENTINA BLACK This volume contains the report of an investigation organized by the Women's Industrial Council, into the work for money of wives and widows. The facts have been collected mainly by means of personal visits, and the various sections have been written by different persons, quite independently. The aggregate result is a picture, unquestionably faithful, of life as led in thousands of working-class homes in this country. ROUND ABOUT A POUND A WEEK BY MRS. PEMBER REEVES _2s. 6d. net_ "If any one wants to know how the poor live to-day, he will find it in Mrs. Pember Reeves' little book. Here there is no sensation, no melodrama, no bitter cry. It is not outcast London that we are shown, but ordinary London, resolutely respectable; not 'the Submerged Tenth,' but somewhere about the half."--_Nation._ LIVELIHOOD AND POVERTY _A Study in the Economic Conditions of Working-Class Households in Northampton, Warrington, Stanley and Reading_ BY A. L. BOWLEY, SC.D., AND A. R. BURNETT-HURST, B.SC. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY R. H. TAWNEY, B.A. _3s. 6d. net_