Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/534

514 Table I. (p.513 supra), taken from Haushofer’s work (Lehr- u. Handbuch, p.90, note 1), will show how greatly the estimates of the ’s population have varied since people first began to make them. We venture to say that any person of fair and ordinary would, even without any, come to the conclusion that there was nothing certain to be known on the subject which these figures profess to illustrate. The fact that Behm and Wagner’s latest estimate is less than that by them  shows how difficult the subject is. We should add that the reasons given by them for this discrepancy, for even a tyro would have expected a slight increase, are quite satisfactory, and add to our confidence in that part of the investigation for which they profess to give figures approximating to accuracy. According to Behm and Wagner (Die Bevölkerung der Erde, vii.) the following (Table II.) may be taken as the population of the sections of the indicated in : —

Sex.—The obstacles which make it difficult to attain even an approximate statement of the population of the prevent us from obtaining any accurate knowledge whatever as to the ual constitution of that population. We have, however, tolerably accurate information on this subject for most of the of, for the, and for. From the figures available it is evident that no general proposition can be laid down on the subject of the normal proportion of to, except that in so-called “old”  there is usually a slight excess of the.

The of and  for  gave 1055  to 1000. A slight tendency to an increase in the proportion is perceptible in some, and to a decrease in others, as the following table (IV.) given by Wappäus and quoted by Haushofer (p.217) will show. The reader will observe that Wappäus’s figures are the proportions to 100, not to 1000, as in TableIII.

The of the  states the proportion of  to  at 96·54 per cent., which is rather smaller than that shown in  (97·2 per cent.); but  is still a potent factor in the growth of the population of. With regard to the causes of the excess of, as in most other phenomena, our knowledge is very small at present. The reason for the broad distinction between and  is pretty obvious. New are continually receiving many  and fewer. Probably also, life being very rough in the more unsettled portions of such, the rate of among  is a little higher than in places where  can receive more protection from hardship. On the other hand, even in  run many risks to which  are not exposed. The subject is a very interesting one, but cannot be adequately treated except at much greater length than is possible here, and we must refer our readers to special for further information.

    