Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/46

417] a more intelligent direction to the policy of the state. Deductions such as he offers, have, besides, a further advantage, in the fact that the errors of which he may be guilty can be corrected by the material presented. The book opens with an account of the history of the Bills of Mortality from 1592 to his own day with the successive changes in their form. The information they contained in 1661 was as follows: Number of deaths by parishes, the sex, cause of death, and a list of christenings. The form in which this information is presented is subjected to an acute examination. The accuracy of the Bills is accepted on the ground that their contents are mere "matter of sense," not demanding any cultivated powers of observation, except in the list of diseases and casualties. Here it is enough if we know predominant symptoms. Scientific accuracy cannot be looked for. The list of diseases has sixty-four different items. On looking over these some are notably diseases of children. Apparently, then, one-third of all the deaths are due to such diseases. Thirty-six per cent. of those born die before the sixth year. From the number who die by epidemics we get a measure of the climate and air from year to year. In the same way the number of chronic diseases gives us an indication of general healthiness. Longevity is shown by the number of deaths ascribed to old age. The second chapter ends with the statement that some diseases and some casualties bear a constant ratio to the whole number of deaths. Observing that few deaths are due to starvation, it seems a proof of the plentifulness of food. Beggars generally look healthy and strong. It would be best that they should be maintained at the expense of the