1835 it was 1 in 42. But if the children be excluded, these differences disappear. Here is the comparison : 1754-75. 1775–95. 1795–1815. 1815–35. Average population over 15... 1,510,602 1,904,153 1,622,650 1,813,244 Average deaths over 15..... 32,866 38,065 36,958 37,951 Ratio; one death in.... 46 48 Average population between 20 and 50 929,687 1,184,190 986,572 1,108,151 Average deaths between 20 and 50.... 11,505 13,821 12,126 12,713 Ratio, or one death in 81 87 These returns show no change from the last century to the present, for in the forty-one years from 1754 to 1795 the deaths were 1 in 48, while from 1795 to 1815 they were 1 in 46, taking the whole population over 15. If the numbers between the ages of 20 and 50 be considered, the ratio for the first period is 1 in 84, and for the second, 1 in 84. It would seem, therefore, objectionable to introduce any observations before 1750, but since that time no restriction appears to be necessary. We have given in ibe last number the mortality for Carlisle. This being a large town, has been thought to be well suited to give the average mortality for an insurance company. In the larger cities the chance of dying is greater; in the country districts smaller; so that this affords a fair average for the whole country. The liabilities to mistakes and errors are supposed also to be smaller than for a whole nation. But in an old country, where the government is strong and respected, if a system of registration is carefully devised, and continued for a long period, tbe returns for a wbole nation would deserve more confidence than for a single city. The wide extent of country, and the long continuance of the observations, increase the probabiliiy of a fair average. We shall introduce into our average the observations of Sweden, Norway, Prussia, Hanover, Saxony, and England, with much confidence in our results. Of these the greatest weight should be given to England, because so many of our people are sprung from this stock, and race is supposed to have some influence on longevity. The Swedish observations seem, however, to be well suited for obiaining a reliable table of mortality. The country is not so far north as to be injuriously affected by cold; it is free from the malarious diseases of southern latitudes; it is inbabited principally by a rural population, with only one considerable city; the people are industrious, religious, and intelligent; the census is taken frequently, and the reports for each province scrutinized most carefully for errors; the returns of the deaths bave been kept up for more than a hundred years; they have been made with great care and labor; the population is large; they have been exposed to every variety of seasons, of epidemics, of war and peace, of famine and abundance; surely such returns are entitled to much confidence. The expectation of life in Milne's Swedish table is, however, nearly two years less than at Carlisle from 15 to 50, and continues below it to the end of life. It is more than a year below Dr. Farr's. The Swedish table of Dr. Price is still lower. But this is no good reason for excluding these observations, for we do not know beforehand whether the American mortality will conform most to the English or the Swedish experience. The probabilities are, that the deaths here will be greater than in either country. But whether this is true or not, the Swedish observations deserve much esteem by our life offices, and we shall not hesitate to allow them considerable weight in our average. Dr. Price's is so old, and so near the limit where we have tbought proper to exclude the observations, that we shall allow it less weight than the others, but we shall not feel at liberty to exclude it entirely. In column second at the end of this article is Dr. Price's Swedish table, and in the third column is the adjusted rate of mortality. The influence of adjustment is very slight, as the large numbers observed and the quinquennial intervals of ages of the living and the dying have prevented any serious anomalies. In colunn fourth is Mr. Milne's Swedish table, and in the next column its adjusted mortaliiv. Both adjustments are made in the same way, by taking the geometrical mean of tive successive rates as the true amount for each age. In the next two columns are the rates of mortality for the next two periods of twenty years, obtained from the observations published by Dr. Farr in the sixth volume of the registrar general's reports. The mode of construction which we have adopted is that proposed by Dr. Farr, but in adjusting we have taken the mean of seven consecutive rates of mortality instead of five, because the observations being given for every five years, the adjustment by fives was not so satisfactory. The next table we will introduce (column eiglith,is founded on the observations in Norway, published by Dr. Farr in the same volume of his reports. These were officially communicated, and seem to be made with care. Thes extend from 1800 to 1840, but the ages of the living are only given for the last census in 1840. The table we have constructed is, therefore, only for the last ten years, from 18:30 to 1840. The mode of construction we bave employed is the same we have used for the Carlisle observations, which, though more laborious, is more reliable than any of the methods proposed. The actual number of the living it each age being approximately obtained, the rates of mortality that will give the observed deaths for these numbers of the living are more likely to be correct than the rates that give the proper number of deaths in a stationary population. The numbers of the living and the dying being smaller than for Sweden, and for ten years only, we shall give less weight to this Norway table tban to the Swedish. The rates of mortality are, however, less, and nearer to Farr's. The next table is derived from the observations of Mr. Finlaison, actuary of the National Debt Office in Great Britain. His report to Parliament was made in 1829, and gives the particulars of the deaths and ages of the government annuitants and of the nominees under the several government tontines, beginning as early as 1693, and ending in 1826. The facts are numerous, perfectly reliable, continued through a long series of years, and very carefully collected and arranged. Mr. Finlaison's results bave not, however, been very much esteemed. They differ considerably from our best tables, and contain anomalies not found elsewhere. This arises, we think, from the selection of lives which would exert a greater influence in a tontine than in an insurance office. When a policy is first issued the insurer is known to be in perfect health. His plysycian and the company's medical examiner, as well as the insured himself and his friend, unite in testifying to this fact. The rate of mortality at any particular age will therefore be very different among recent in ary, 1826. surers and among those who have been long insured. The difference is still greater in the tontines, since many of these persons were chosen because of their vigorous health and their promise of long life. The mortality among such persons soon after admission would be very different from the average rate for persons of the same age taken at random or among the members of an insurance company. And this is sufficient to account for the irregularities in these tables. Besides, Mr. Finlaison did not use all the materials he had collected and published, but only a portion of them which he thought most worthy of confidence. His * tables of annuities, computed for the government,” were founded only on “the Irish Tontine," " the Tontine of 1789," and that “of the Sinking Fund as observed to the end of the year 1822." In the table we have inserted at the end of this article we have used all the observations of Mr. Finlaison, omitting only the first set, because founded on observations which were made before the middle of the last century; and the result is free from many of the anomalies of his tables, and every way more worthy of confidence. We have adjusted it precisely in the same manner he did for his tables. Thus, we have added together bis two summaries, Nos. 8 and 15, and subtracted No. 1, comprising in our result 21,350 lives, of whom 12,275 yet survived in Janu We bave then obtained the ratio of the living and the dying at each age, and adjusted these ratios by taking the geometrical mean of five consecutive terms, and then of each three of these results, following precisely the same method as Mr. Finlaison. To this mean two corrections were applied to get the rate of mortality at 15, 16, etc., because it is the ratio of the living and the dying at the average age of 15, 16, etc. The rates finally obtained are to be found in column ninth at the end of this article. At the earlier ages when the influence of selection is felt, the table is quite irregular. But for the older ages, when this objection disappears, the large number of lives, the exactness and accuracy of the observations, and the absence of all withdrawals, make the figures worthy of more confidence. We have inserted in column tenth the mean of Finlaison's two tables, but we do not think them worthy of much weight in the proposed combination. In column eleventh is to be found Farr's Northampton, which is very different from Dr. Price's, partly because it is founded on recent observations, but mainly because it has been properly constructed from the numbers of tbe living and the dying. Dr. Price, with great ingenuity, sup: plied the numbers of the living from the ages of the dying; but his hypothesis, though better than those made by his contemporaries, was not an approximation to the truth for the younger ages. Farr's is deserving of every confidence. As it embraces the mortality for seven years, from 1838 to 1844, among a population nearly as large as Carlisle; as the facts on wbich it has been based have been observed with care, and the table constructed on correct principles, it is worth nearly as much as the Carlisle table. Price's Mortality Milne's Milne's Sweden, Sweden, Norway, Finlaison, Finlson, Farr's Age. Sweden, adjust'd. Sweden, adjust'd. 1793-1815. 1815-35. 1825-35. 1745-1826. male, fe. North'n. 15.. .0064 6098 .0061 .0052.0055 .0071 .0004 .0056 16.. 6862 67 6061 78 72 17.. 6822 70 6023 65 71 56 86 80 59 18.. 73 5985 68 74 67 88 61 19.. 5740 76 5945 71 77 69 100 96 63 6899 0066 69 62 64 57 60 64 5782 59 94 62 87 144 164 Price's Mortality Milne's Milne's Sweden, Sweden, Norway, Finlaison, Finl’son, Farr's Age. Sweden, adjust'd Sweden. adjust'd. 1795-1815. 1815-35. 1825-31. 1745-1826. male, se. North'n. 20.. 5647 79 5913 80 65 71 10+ 101 65 21.. 6650 82 5859 78 82 69 73 105 110 67 22.. 5603 85 5814 81 85 73 106 113 68 23.. 5555 88 5766 85 76 78 106 114 70 24.. 5507 90 5717 88 89 78 81 106 114 72 25.. 5457 93 5667 91 91 81 84 105 113 26.. 5407 97 5615 94 94 83 87 105 109 76 27.. 5355 100 5562 97 96 86 91 105 109 78 28.. 5301 104 5508 100 99 89 94 105 109 80 29.. 5246 108 5453 103 103 92 97 105 109 83 30.. 5191 112 5397 106 107 95 100 106 109 86 31.. 5132 117 6339 109 111 99 102 105 110 89 32.. 5072 121 5281 111 115 103 163 104 111 91 33.. 5010 122 5222 113 118 107 104 103 112 94 34.. 4947 123 5163 U14 121 111 105 103 113 97 35.. 4884 123 6104 116 124 116 105 105 115 101 36.. 4825 123 5045 117 127 120 106 117 105 37.. 4767 123 4986 120 130 125 106 115 119 109 33.. 4709 127 4927 125 133 130 107 120 121 113 39.. 4651 134 4868 131 137 135 103 123 123 117 40.. 4591 145 4805 138 142 140 110 123 124 122 41.. 4526 156 4736 145 147 146 112 123 124 127 42.. 4453 167 4666 150 152 152 115 123 125 132 43.. 4375 175 4596 154 157 158 119 122 125 138 44.. 4297 178 4526 158 163 164 123 123 126 45.. 4219 179 4155 162 169 171 125 124 126 150 46.. 4143 * 180 4382 166 125 157 47.. 4069 183 4309 171 182 142 130 128 48.. 3997 191 4296 177 189 191 149 136 131 172 49.. 3924 201 4163 185 197 198 157 145 135 180 50.. 3846 215 4087 193 206 206 165 55 140 188 51.. 3761 229 4007 203 216 215 173 106 152 196 52.. 3674 241 3925 212 2:28 225 182 177 161 205 53.. 3584 251 3842 221 242 237 191 188 172 213 54.. 3194 260 3757 231 257 250 202 198 184 220 55.. 3403 271 3671 242 274 264 216 207 228 56.. 3312 280 3584 254 295 280 231 216 210 237 57.. 3220 294 3492 268 318 298 249 226 222 216 58.. 3125 314 3398 286 313 317 268 239 233 258 59.. 3030 338 3302 308 370 337 293 254 244 292 60.. 2930 365 3204 335 399 357 318 273 250 335 2822 896 3098 366 430 377 345 294 259 388 2708 426 2983 400 463 398 374 316 271 452 63.. 2590 451 2362 437 496 418 404 338 291 529 2472 478 2736 474 530 433 431 361 314 577 2354 505 2608 513 566 461 464 387 337 624 66.. 2236 538 2475 557 604 490 495 421 670 67.. 2118 674 2337 605 646 525 714 68.. 1997 618 2195 646 692 569 561 759 69.. 1873 675 2030 705 740 623 597 643 468 801 70.. 1749 740 1905 760 791 686 636 582 513 71.. 1622 820 1761 817 846 760 674 620 555 882 72.. 1489 903 1618 881 902 833 717 658 595 923 1354 984 1475 943 960 911 762 700 635 962 1214 1061 1335 1011 1021 990 811 746 679 999 75.. 1084 1:29 1199 1079 1088 1072 859 796 719 1039 76.. 963 1178 1070 1148 1162 1160 909 852 752 1076 77.. 848 1241 947 1220 1246 1256 958 928 833 1112 78.. 743 1335 831 1296 1341 1364 1026 1012 929 1142 79.. 613 1449 724 1330 1448 1485 1105 1105 1021 1175 80.. 558 159 624 148 157 161 120 118 112 121 VOL. XLIII.-NO. III. 20 197 61.. 62.. 64.. 65.. 842 73.. 74.. Age. 81.. 82.. 83.. 84.. 85.. 86.. 87.. 83.. 89.. 90.. 91.. 92.. 93.. Price's Mortality Milne's Milne's Sweden, Sweden, Norway, Finlaison, Finlson, Farr's 122 124 171 183 189 146 130 130 129 133 139 150 154 243 201 226 232 187 155 157 179 144 240 191 209 239 214 198 170 185 212 218 261 269 220 213 235 291 309 321 270 266 375 462 11 490 31 289 324 310 280 255 40+ 518 5 600 22 332 340 359 292 241 414 615 318 233 560 1000 465 675 385 825 1 1000 533 512 667 15 875 Art. III.-FORGERY. The importance of the crime of forgery, and the confusion which it is capable of creating in the transaction of both public and private affairs, have in all time engaged the serious attention of the ministers of justice. Notwithstanding this, however, the arts of the forger have never received that attention, in an educational point of view, which the importance of the subject demands. In the progress of civilization cupidity has very nearly attained the dignity of a science, and how to detect and how to avoid the arts of the counterfeiter has well nigh become a necessary part of commercial education. Forgery, in law, may be defined to be the fraudulent making or alteration of any record, deed, writing, instrument, register, stamp, etc., to the prejudice of another man's rights. This broad tield of operation is open to a great variety of means with the freest use of scientific principles. If we consult the records of this species of crime, we discover the arts of the forger to be contemporaneous with the advance of science. Indeed, the propagation of the truths of the science of chemistry, among all classes of society, seems not only to have facilitated the arts of the falsifier, but in some cases to have been available for obliterating the evidence of murder. The application of chemical processes in the perpetration of crime have, in some instances, demonstrated the greatest iriumplis in that science; and had they been used for scientitic purposes alone, they would have clothed their discoverers with imperishable honor. Photography-one of the brightest gems of modern chemistry--bas achieved some of its greatest exploits in efforts to elude the “bank-note detector." But in the adaptation of the latest truths of science, the forger never forgets the ruder methods of his art, now reduced to an unprecedented degree of perfection. The smooth erasure, the over careful preserva. 1 |