M I CULLOCH . S STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

TnE object of this work is to " develop, within a moderate com- pass, the physical capacities, population, industry, and institutions of the British Empire ;" and thus to supply a desideratum of many years' standing. The original idea of its execution was sug- gested by Mr. M'CuLt.ocu to the Society for the Diffusion of

Useful Knowledge; who " readily agreed to the proposal "- though to what extent, and in what way, we do not learn. The

leading design, we conjecture, was to bring together, in a con-

nected and methodized form, as much as possible of the infor- mation scattered about in books and in public documents, or floating in business and professional circles. The mode of effect-

ing it was to distribute the diffiffent parts of the work amongst such persons as the editor hiniseltdeemed likely to afro-a him the best assistance. BAKEWELL has contributed the articles on the Geology of the empire ; Corr. A ND that on the Climate of England ; SWAINSON takes our Zoology ; HOOKER our Botany ; the nssteries

of the English Constitution and Courts of Law are unfolded by Mr.

FORSTER ; those of Scotland by Mr. SPALDING; Dr. IslueeAv of Edinburgh explains the condition of Scottish Education and Reli-

gious Establishments; the very able paper on Education in Eng-

land and \Vales is by Mr. MERI VALE ; the equally able paper on Vital Statistics is by Mr. FARR ; Mr. COODE, the Assistant Secre-

tary to the Poor-law Commissioners, furnishes the complete but rather verbose account of the origin, history, and present condition of the Poor-laws and their operation; the very superficial paper on the Origin and Progress of the English Language is by Dr.

IRVING ; and the Reverend EDWARD GROVES contributes the articles on the Irish Constitution, Courts of Law, Religious Esta-

blishments, Education, and Poor, excepting a few pages specified in the volume, and the arguments in favour of Poor-laws for Ire- land.

For these subjects Mr. M'Cru.ocit is only editorially respon- sible; the large remainder is altogether his own. It consists of a description of the extent, nature, character, and physical fea- tures of England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland ; an essay on the past and present Population of the Three Kingdoms ; an analytical and critically descriptive account of their Agriculture; a history of the rise and progress and a view of the present state of our Fisheries, and our Mineral, Manufacturing, and Commer- cial industry, besides some chapters on Expenditure, Taxation, and several subjects of a miscellaneous nature.

In forming a judgment upon a work of this nature, the great- ness of its conception and the difficulties which beset its executior. must be constantly borne in mind, not only by the ea ■;:z.., limit by those before whom his decision conies. With whatever errors or imperfections it may be chargeable, the utility of the design is entitled to high praise ; for where shall we find such a vast collection of arranged facts on the framework of the British Empire ?—being either of a more modern date than any other statistical or descriptive works, or more minute than their plan admitted. As regards the execution, it may be observed in the outset, that immense as is the quantity of printing in the volumes before us, thoroughly to exhaust a few of the multifarious subjects would have occupied their whole space; and since consider- able compression must of necessity be employed, every one, ac- cording to the bent of his mind, will differ as to the discretion with- which this has been done; some wishing one topic had been elabo- rated, another thinking its treatment too elaborate already. The materials from which the work must be compiled, are, moreover, for the most part incomplete, and often inaccurate; the statistics indifferently presented by Government, or of doubtful authority from other sources ; whilst many of the remaining facts, and the opinions floating about, are not easy to seize, and liable perhaps to be counterpoised by others that have escaped. Kindred excuses may be urged in favour of the execution. The philosophical dryness of many parts, is unpopular, but unavoidable; and the almost infinite nature of others induces an appearance of insufficiency, if com- pared with papers of a less comprehensive subject; as the Poor- laws, whose history is comprised in a succession of statutes, is of a much more limited nature than that of a manufacture, where the facts are few and doubtful. We must remember, too, that it is a first attempt; and that no task of the kind can be accomplished at once. With all these allowances, the execution of the work has not quite come up to our expectations; and it fails most when brought to the hardest test—we are least satisfied with the papers on the subjects upon which we are the best in- formed.

A book of this kind is of course not intended for continuous perusal. Its uses are for reference as to particular facts, and for consultation on any given subject. In this manner we have examined it; and have already indicated our opinion as to some of its papers. Of those by the editor himself, which we have glanced at, the account of Agriculture seems the most attractive; full of practical facts and advice, bearing about them a living in- terest. The papers on Mines, Manufactures, and Commerce, though more elaborately treated, want the freshness and vital im- press of the former. " Taxation" exhibits no novelty in its e x- position, and not very much of painstaking in its statistics ; yet it is perhaps sufficient. " Expenditure " is quite the reverse; con- sisting, in point of fact, of a mere reprint of two returns, one neither scarce nor conclusive in itself, the other older than the Reform Bill, annually printed in the daily papers when there is nothing to occupy their space,—which, notwithstanding the tracts of Mr. Semen RICE, we have reason to guess is made up upon a false principle, and which at all events gives gross sums only, awl lumps even them together. The chief merit of "Local Taxation" consists in drawing attention to the suilieet; the "National Debt" the "Army," and "Navy," may be said to carry out and supply the details of a portion of "Expenditure" to a certain ex- tent. They have, however, this defect—which indeed applies to the major part of the statistics—they are collections, not reproduc- tions ; the compiler has examined a mass of documents, not with the view of presenting the pith of the whole, but in order to select the best and most usable. Those who know that an accomplished accountant, all unconscious though he be of his own operations, subjects the original facts placed before him to a process somewhat similar to that which the historian applies to his au- thorities and the poet to nature herself, will understand this objection. It is in a measure like offering a nose and mouth as substitutes for a miniature.

Of the papers which we have read, the two that strike us as exhibiting the most of mastery and original thought, are Mr. FARR'S on Vital Statistics and Mr. Meeivst.e's on Education in England and Wales. The latter is descriptive rather than sta- tistical, and deals much snore fully with the Universities and the "Public Schools" of the higher classes, than with the education of the people : but what is attempted is accomplished; and any one who wishes to have a clear idea of the origin and present state of these foundations, as well as of their modes of education and its cost, cannot do better than consult this paper.

The object of the article on Vital Statistics, is to investigate the facts relating to health, sickness, diseases, and death; and thence to deduce the average laws to which they are subject. The incom- plete character of the materials, and the vast nature of the subject, prevent this from being accomplished with any thing approaching to certainty ; but the facts and approximate conclusions are full of interest, and many of the author's incidental remarks very useful. The annexed observations, with the table which follows them, prove that the mortality of war is as nothing when compared to the annual loss of life in unhealthy climates. What would be said of a battle where the slaughter was 47 per cent.? yet that is the maximum rate of deaths in Jamaica, and the mean of the ‘Vindward Islands is 18 per cEnt. But, in the first instance, they fall in a lump and on the field of gloiy : in the others, they drop off day by day, unheard of or unregarded.

The people of this country have extended their power into ail the quarters and climates of the globe— the mortality of the military will show at what ex- pense of life and health. The constitution of a race of men is fitted to the locality and the atmosphere in which they are born ; and they must possess a redundant vitality to acquire and retain possessions in a climate different nom their own, and destructive of a body not moulded by its influences into the cor- respondent temperament. By the subjoined table of the mortality of the British Army, it will be seen that the soldier, in the prime of his physical powers, is rendered more liable to death every step Ile takes from his native climate, till at last the man of twenty-eight years is subject, in the West Indies, to the same mortality as the man of eighty remaining in Britain. By a judicious choice of stations, some very obvious hygienic precautions, and a temperate regimen, little doubt can be entertained that the European mortality may be diminished a half in the tropical colonies. The mortality of the troops is double that of the officers. Is not this mainly due to the crowding the men in barracks?

Table of the Mortality of the British Al my, showing the Mean Number of Annual Deaths out of 100 living at each statian mentioned.

Time ard !lace of 0Iservntioa. Englieb Army. Eatent of Ob:•ervations.

Average yea„. Force.

Annual Vale Inlay per Cent.

----1_ Mast- NI..

MUM.

f Mini-1

Tile United Kingdom Pritish Army 46,460 10 15

Ireland, 1797-1828

Ditto 36,221 32

201.5

1.1

Mediterranean.

Malta. 18114, 31 The Garrison

2 226

8

2'8 1 .5

1'0 Gibraltar , Ditto 3,267

17

13.4 20

0'7 Ionian Islands The Troops 3.467

13 31 26

1.4

East Indies.

Fort St. George Presidency . 1 (1) European Troops 11 520 4 7'1 4.5

Madras, 1827-30. 1:Native Troops 69,550 4

1.6 1.4

ISO Bengal, 11326-32 (2) European Troop* 8,700

7

9-7 5.7 3.8

West Indies.

1 Windward Islands t ,1726-1805, ditto.... 13,610

10

27.7

18'3

8-0

Leeward Islands j 1810-28, ditto ... .. 5.768

19

93 4

11.3

4.7 Jamaica. Honduras, 1810-98..1 Ditto

2,523 19

47 I 155 7'8 Jamaica. Honduras, Wind. i !Colonial Troops... t ward and Leeward islands f (Blacks) 1 t

2.733 19

8'4 5'5

1.8

Although the facts relating to diseases and accidents are corn pamtively scanty, yet they are extensive enough to show that botl the one and the other maintain certain proportions, varying of course with the condition and exposure of the objects of them. It appears that in manhood, when 1 person in 100 dies annually, 2 are constantly sick. Calculating from this datum and the yearly mortality of England and Wales, the total number constantly dis- abled by sickness will be at least 600,000 persons; and if the same proportions be extended to Scotland and Ireland, 1,130,000. Some tables prepared from the facts of the Portsmouth Dock- yard give these results. "In the year 1 man in 6 is seriously hurt: 2 in 5 fall ill. Each man on an average has an attack of illness, either spontaneous or caused by external injury, once in every two years; and at an average each disease lasts fourteen

days." And from returns from other yards, it would seem that the sick time of the Dock-yard labourers is 7.8 per cent of the lifetime. This amount, however, appears attributable to the risklul nature of their occupation; for the elaborate returns of the East India Compan3's labourers give a lower proportion. The following passages exhibit a part of the RATIONALE OF SICKNESS.

Sickness, in practical statistics, is employed in a general sense. If we con- sider man as a material body, acting intelligently, any thing in the condition of the body itself which interrupts or impedes that action, is sickness. Any dis- turbance in the functiona of the holly, or alteration in the organs by which they are executed, from the skin to the brain and spinal marrow, from the time the food enters the month till it exhales from the skin and lungs in vapour and gas, is a disease; and the sum of sick-time, produced by all diseases, constitutes the sickness of which statisticians speak. It is of various kinds. In acute or severe diseases, such as fever, inflammation of an important part, or malignant ulcer, a man is often able to thin* and move, just as he can digest a small quan- tity of food ; but not with any energy, or at least with the energy required by an ordinary occupation. Any attempt at exertion aggravates and prolongs the sickness. This, we believe, is called beqfast sickness by the friendly societies. In other chronic diseases, slow inflammations of internal organs, reduced dislo- cations, rheumatism, ulcerations, the patient can attend partially to his busi- ness: he is in possession of half his faculties; whether he can make them in any way available, depends on circumstances. This is walking sickness. The infirm, the crippled, the maimed, may either be entirely helpless and bedridden, or capable of some of the duties of life : their sickness differs from the bedfast and from the walking, in being beyond the pale of recovery. The Highland Society calculated that, of ten weeks' sickness, among persons of all ages under seventy, two may be assumed as bedfast sickness, five as walking, and three as

permanent. • •

In the parish of .Methven, Perthshire, it was ascertained that 35 out of 743, or 47 per cent, of the male population above 15, would, from bodily or mental infirmity, not have been admitted as members of the friendly societies. Medical men are well aware that labourers often go about their work with diseases of the heart, tubercles in the lungs, and disorders of considerable severity. Dr. Forbes ascertained, by personal examination of 120 Cornish miners in actual employment, that only 63 had good health ; of the remaining half, 26 bad dif- ficulty of breathing, 14 pain of chest, 10 pain of stomach and bowels, 5 lum- bago, pain of shoulder, palpitation, scrofula, or fits. Out of 115 children below IS years of age, Dr. Blisset Hawkins states that 84 had good health, 25 middling health, 6 bad health. Of the miners at work only 53, of the factory children only 73 per cent., enjoyed good health. The sickness to which mankind is liable does not occur at any one time or age, but in an interspersed manner over the lifetime of each person. The con- stant quantity of sickness is kept up by a succession of diseases attacking the body at intervals and in paroxysms ; which, however irregular they appear in a limited sphere of observation, are really definite in number and separated by %%dell spaces. As a certain order is preserved in the peiformances of the healthy functions, so their derangements, in similar circumstances, also observe an order and regularity of succession. To accuse the human frame of perpetual malady, is aa ridiculous as to attribute, with some theological writers, unintermitting wickedness to the human heart ; but if every alteration of the multiplied parts of the human body, every transient trouble of its infinite movements, every in- digestion in man, and every fit of hysteria in woman, were reckoned, few days of human life would remain entirely clear; and, if the same scrutiny were ex- tended to the state of the braino the world may very civilly be sent to Auticyra —nariget Anticyram.

Look at

THE LORDS OF OLD.

A bill embodying a plan for enabling the labouring poor to provide siipport for themselves in sickness and old age, by small weekly savings from their wages, was introduced by Mr. Dowdesweil, and approved by the House of Commons, in 1773; hut it met with the same fate as another bill framed by the C7ornmons in 1789, and founded on tables computed, at the request of a Committee, by Dr. Price. The Lords rejected both bills; and thus deprived the labouring poor of the guidance of a legislative act in the formation of friendly societies for half a century.

It is singular, and by no means agreeable, to observe how re- lentlessly Death tracks our footsteps, and when baffled in one form attacks us in another. Glancing over the prepared table showing the proportions of deaths in 1000 cases for the last two centuries, we see consumption in the first period (1629-35) was at the rate of 204: in the last (1831-35) 177; whilst apoplexy has risen from 2 to 18, and inflammation from nothing to 96. A few other facts, not selected with this object, but as marking some point, may be also noted. Its the first period, none die of drinking to excess, in the last 4; a circumstance irreconcileable with the mere temperance of the repective ages, but intelligible enough when it is considered that our robust ancestors drank beer, and our broken- down poor swallow ardent spirits. Of deaths by smothering, the proportions are 6, and • 04; the difference being partly, perhaps, induced from the former barbarous course of terminating the life of sufferers under hydrophobia by this means. In executions we have the advantage, as 1-6 differs from -16; and in cases of simple disease or pure surgery, the odds seem greatly in our favour, deaths from stone, gravel, and strangury, being formerly at the rate of 5.0, and now at that of 0.9.

The increase of apoplexy, which appears to have taken place in late times, will not have escaped the reader; who will doubtless agree with the opinion of Mr. FARR, that it is chargeable upon increased civilization. From other facts, it appears that the great mortality from this disease takes place between 60 and 80 years. With care, the stroke may be averted or postponed ; but opr author seems to think it a consummation devoutly to be wished. Hear him, ye brain labourers, and make your choice. After sixty-five, a man should undertake nothing requiring great intellectual exertion or sustained energy ; warmth, temperance, tranquillity, may prolong his years to the close of a century ; a rude breath of the atmosphere, a violent struggle, or a shock, will suffice to terminate his existence. The apoplexy of the aged can with care be averted for several years ; but it is, perhaps, the natural death, the euthanasia of the intellectual : their blood remains pure, the solids firm to the last, when a fragile artery gives way within the head, the blood escapes, and by a gentle pressure dissolves sensibility at its source for ever. The life is no longer there : the corporeal elements are given back to the universe.