Switzerland appears to occupy a very unenviable position in relation
to the frequency of divorce. In the Protestant half of Appenzell, there were in 1881 over thirteen divorces to every hundred marriages ; and in Thurgau, there were more than nine. Of the causes of divorce, difference of reli- gious opinion appears to be a frequent one, if we may judge by the fact that of the religion of the persons divorced in 1881, in less than one per cent. of the cases were both husband and wife Catholic ; in less than three per cent. were the husband and wife bath Protestant ; while in oases of different religions divorces are much more frequent, especially where the husband is Protestant and the wife Catholic. It is said that a great many marriages in the lower classes are avowedly entered upan on the understanding that. if after a year's trial the husband and wife do not suit each other, they shall give in a joint application for divorce on the ground of incompatibility of temper. In 1881, no least than 1,171 Swiss suits of divorce were granted, and divorces pro- nounced in 2445 eases,
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