Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/655

 S U G S U I 629 tue Antilles, and several of them to one island only. Thus C. caboti is limited, so far as is known, to Cozumel (off Yucatan), 1 C. tricolor to Old Providence, C.Jfaveola (the type of the genus) to Jamaica, and so on, while islands that are in sight of one another are often inhabited by different "species." Further research is required; but even now the genus furnishes an excellent example of the effects of iso- lation in breaking up an original form, while there is com- paratively little differentiation among the individuals which inhabit a large and continuous area. The non-appearance of this genus in Cuba is very remarkable. (A. N.) SUGDEN", EDWARD BURTENSHAW. See ST LEONARDS, LORD. SUHL, a manufacturing town in an isolated portion of Prussian Saxony, is picturesquely situated on the Lauter, on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest, 6- miles to the north-east of Meiningen and 29 miles to the south- west of Erfurt. The armourers of Suhl are mentioned as early as the 9th century, but they enjoyed their highest vogue from 1550 to 1634. The knights of south Germany especially prized the swords and armour of this town, and many of the weapons used in the mediaeval campaigns against the Turks and in the Seven Years' War are said to have been manufactured at Suhl. Its old popular name of the " armoury of Germany " is more appropriate, how- ever, to its past than to its present position, for, already seriously crippled by the ravages of the Thirty Years' War and by frequent conflagrations, it has suffered considerably in more modern times from the competition of other towns, especially since the introduction of the needle-gun. It still contains, however, large factories for firearms (military and sporting) and side arms, besides iron-works, machine- works, potteries, and tanneries. The once considerable manufacture of fustian has declined. A brine spring (Soolquelle) at the foot of the neighbouring Domberg is said to have given name to the town. The population in 1880 was 9937 and 10,605 in 1885. Suhl, made a town in 1527, belonged to the early principality of Henne- berg, and formed part of the possessions of the kingdom of Saxony assigned to Prussia by the congress of Vienna. SUICIDE. The phenomenon of suicide has at all times attracted a large amount of attention from moralists and social investigators. Though of very small dimensions, even in the countries where it is most prevalent, its exist- ence is rightly looked upon as a sign of the presence of maladies in the body politic which, whether remediable or not, deserve careful examination. To those who look at human affairs from a theological standpoint, suicide neces- sarily assumes a graver aspect, being regarded, not as a minute and rather obscure disease of the social organism, but as an appalling sign of the tendency of man to resist the will of God. Compare FELO DE SE. As a great number of persons are, either directly or indirectly, under the influence of the theological bias, and as the act of suicide is in itself of a striking character to the imagina- tion, the importance of the phenomenon from a sociological point of view has been to some extent exaggerated, especi- ally in those countries of the Continent where suicides are most numerous. Moreover, the matter has during the last twenty years become of direct interest to the Govern- ments of those countries where the whole able-bodied male population are more or less under the control of a military organization ; for, rightly or wrongly, a portion of the recent considerable increase in the suicide rate of Prussia, Saxony, Austria, and France is attributed to dislike of military service. It may be observed in passing that the 1 In the article BIRDS (iii. p. 749) attention was drawn to what was 1'ieu believed to be a fact namely, that the form found in this island was identical with that which inhabits the Bahamas ; but iiow the two forms are regarded as distinct. suicide rate among soldiers is high in all countries, Great Britain not excepted, as was shown by Mr W. H. Millar in the Journal of ike Statistical Society, vol. xxxvii., 1874, and more recently by Dr Ogle in the same Journal, vol. xlix. (March), 1886. As enlistment is voluntary in the United Kingdom, the alleged dislike to conscription can- not be the sole cause of the high rate prevailing in some of the Continental states. Before referring to the more general characteristics of suicide, it will be well to furnish some idea of its magnitude in relation to the category of social phenomena to which it belongs, namely, death. The following tables are constructed for this purpose. The first (I.) gives the absolute number of cases of suicide as officially stated in a number of countries for a series of I. Statement of the Number f Cases of Suicide in the Principal Coun- tries of Europe during the undermentioned Periods and Years. Periods. g f ~.

1-s .2 Jj o s 1 >> a II CQ c I I -EB 1 S s & il 3 1 ai s ~ 3 1836-40 214 113 272 967 1471 183 2574 264 523 1841-45 212 138 306 1642 1235 2951 189 247 340 595 1846-50 229 150 341 1696 1203 3446 185 218 373 1774 1851-55 253 154 402 1025 2075 166 3639 150 196 275 496 666 1S56-60 211 145 446 1310 2152 213 4002 170 144 332 509 1799 1861-65 301 141 1431 1343 2247 221 14700 189 1.175 1384 601 1051 1718 1866 309 121 443 1829 2485 215 5119 189 244 410 704 1265 588 1807 371 131 469 1316 3625 365 5011 198 270 471 752 1407 753 1868 366 130 498 1508 3658 376 5547 212 283 441 800 1566 784 1869 356 131 402 1588 3544 257 5114 221 251 430 710 1375 633 1870 369 148 486 1554 3270 338 4157 195 247 459 657 1510 788 1800-70 354 133 472 1459 3316 310 4989 203 259 442 725 739 1871 321 128 505 1495 3135 367 4490 244 238 419 653 2040 836 1872 309 132 464 1514 3457 854 5275 219 258 405 687 2194 890 1873 337 120 439 1518 3345 377 5525 216 304 447 723 2463 975 1S74 394 eg 439 1592 3490 374 5017 244 282 450 723 2617 1015 1875 376 144 394 1601 3432 336 5472 226 334 459 745 2741 922 1871-75 347 126 448 1544 3368 302 5256 231 294 430 706 2411 923 1876 409 142 507 1770 4448 439 5804 209 343 522 981 3376 1024 1S77 430 130 530 1699 4563 47C 5878 891 324 65C 1114 3598 1139 1878 411 132 544 1764 4992 490 6434 317 425 674 1126 3486 1158 1879 438 141 505 2035 4881 553 6496 309 38C 75C 1121 3469 1225 1880 384 124 496 1979 5034 591 6638 338 371 682 1171 3649 1261 1876-80 414 134 516 1849 4784 509 6250 305 369 656 1103 3516 1161 1881 384 1"3 495 1955 5159 550 6741 306 348 695 1248 3504 1313 1SS2 136 505 1965 5312 595 7213 283 724 1128 3530 1389 18S3 470 134 513 1962 5337 591 7267 341 1205 3595 1456 431 9043 5013 37S3 1SS1-S4 442 1981 5205 3603 II. Statement of the Estimated Population of t/ie undermentioned Countries in the Years 1S6S, 1876, and 1SS2 ; tJie Number of Deaths from Suicide and other Causes in the same Years in the same Countries; and the Proportions Ionic by the Deaths to the Population in each, case.* A. 1868. Countries. Estimated Population in the Middle of the Year. Deaths. Number of Deaths per 1,000,000 Inhabitants. Suicide. OS Total. Suicide. fi 28,401 27,284 33,377 21,625 19,015 23,955 30,569 27,248 29,315 20,912 21,731 15,784 21,163 Total Austria 20,026,554 1,453,9393 4, 750, 000 ^ 4,961,644 1,748,000 38,329,617 25,434,376 24,069,379 2,453,555 4,173,080 21,948,713 5,465,914 3,275,350 1986 212 441 376 498 5547 784 3658 800 366 1508 87 123 569,566 39,677 158,559 107,180 33,318 916,491 776,440 655,070 71,918 87,441 479,114 86,098 69,293 571,552 39,889 159,000 107,556 33,816 922,038 777,224 858,738 72,718 87,807 480,622 86,185 69,416 99 140 93 75 285 145 31 152 325 SS 69 16 37 28,500 27,430 33,470 21,700 19,300 24,100 30,600 27,400 29,640 21,000 21,800 15,800 21,200 Bavaria Belgium France Italy Saxony United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland 158,090,121 16,386 4,050,165 4,066,551 104 25,63625,740, u ncer t a i n data 2 Still-births are excluded. s ddin<' natural increase of 1868 to population of 1867 (Kolb). liSSK deducting natural increase Ibi 1.