ever, are looked at, the apparently contradictory general result manifests itself, viz., that the total mortality among the married and widowed women is very much greater than among the unmarried. Thus the table appears to indicate that the total married and widowed women were cut off at the rate of 2.180 deaths in every 100 living, while the unmarried women only suffered at the low rate of 1.267 in every 100 living. This result is produced by our comparing things which are not strictly comparable, and which, if compared, only lead to erroneous results. Thus, more than half of the unmarried women are between 15 and 25 years of age, at which period of life the mortality is extremely low, these being the most healthy years of life. But at the same ages only onefourteenth part of the whole married women are to be found; and in fact, we do not reach the half of the married and widowed women till the 43rd year of life, half the number being above that age, and half below it. From this it follows, that even though the proportion of deaths among the unmarried women at every quinquennial age above 25 had been much greater than it is, and had exceeded that of the married women (which it does), yet the great preponderance of unmarried women under 25, and their low rate of mortality, would more than counterbalance the higher death-rates at subsequent ages.

When the deaths at different ages in the town and mainland-rural districts are compared it is seen that at all ages under 5 years the mortality of children is double in the town what it is in the country. Thus, if we take the whole children under 5 years, 9.332 per cent. of the males died during 1862 in the town districts, but only 4-445 per cent. in the mainland-rural districts; 8.698 per cent. of the female children died in the town districts, but only 4.023 per cent. in the rural districts. At every age of early life much the same difference existed; for, while male children under 1 year of age died at the rate of 19-445 per cent. in the town districts, only 11.829 per cent. died in the mainland-rural districts. The most striking difference, however, occurred at the second year of life; for while 12.212 per cent. male children at that age died in the town districts, only 4.786 per cent. at the same age died in the mainland-rural districts.

The proportion of female children in each of these districts held the same relation to each other. This remarkable fact shows how many infantile lives would be saved to the nation could all the children born in towns be reared in the country till they had passed their fifth year.

If the eight principal towns of Scotland. were arranged in the order of least mortality of male infants under 1 year of age during 1862, Perth would appear as the most healthy town, and Dundee as the most unhealthy. But it gives a far more correct idea of the absolute healthiness of the towns, in so far as infantile mortality is concerned, if we take the average of the eight years, 1855 to 1862 inclusive. When this is done, Aberdeen and Perth are found to be the towns most favourable to infantile life, while Dundee and Glasgow are the most fatal to it. Thus, in every 100 male children children living in each of these towns during these eight years, 16.66 died annually in Aberdeen, 16.78 in Perth, 17-C2 in Leith, 19.11 in Paisley, 19-68 in Edinburgh, 22:44 in Greenock, 23.10 in Glasgow, and 23.20 in Dundee.

Even taking the whole male deaths under 5 years in each of these towns during the eight years, 1855 to 1862 inclusive, makes very little change in their respective positions as to healthiness; for Aberdeen and Perth are by that test the most favourable to infantile life, Glasgow, Greenock, and Dundee the most fatal to it. Thus, in every 100 children under 5 years of age in each of these towns, there died annually 7.07 in Aberdeen, 7-47 in Perth, 7.52 in Leith, 8.34 in Edinburgh, 8.60 in Paisley, 10-69 in Dundee, 10-83 in Greenock, and 11.66 in Glasgow.

Influence of External Agencies.-The influence of season on the births has been so often pointed out in these reports, that it need only be stated that in 1862, as in former years, the greatest monthly and daily number of births occurred during the months of March, April, May, and June; while the smallest number occurred during August, September, November, and December. The marriages, on the other hand, have been shown by these reports to be under quite different influences, inasmuch as, though they are contracted with great regularity during every month of the year, they double or even treble their numbers shortly after the half-yearly terms of Whitsun

day and Martinmas. This result is produced by the practice which prevails in Scotland of engaging both agricultural and domestic servants by the half-year, and also by the practice of letting houses half-yearly or yearly. Houses for newly married persons can therefore only be easily procured at these terms, and the marriages of those who have been in service usually take place shortly after these terms. Fewest marriages occurred during the month of May, and the next fewest in April. This can scarcely now be attributed to any lingering superstition as to its being "unlucky" to marry in May, because very nearly the same number of marriages actually takes place daily in May, as during April and October. It seems rather to be due to the fact of its being so near the half-yearly term period; and the fact of people delaying their marriage till they could get into their own house after the term may have led to the old exploded saying, that it was "unlucky" to marry in May.

Were we to be guided by the number of marriages entered on the registers during each month, it might be inferred that January was a favourite month for contracting marriage in Scotland. This conclusion, however, would be an erroneous one; for though, in the insular and northern parts of Scotland, most of the marriages are contracted during the winter months, when the males are not engaged in the fisheries, this applies more to the months of November and December than to January.

When the marriage registers for January are consulted, it is found that a full third of the marriages which are entered therein were not contracted in January at all, but on the last day of December, but from having been registered in January were counted with the January marriages. When deprived of these, it then appears that January exhibits no pre-eminence over other months as a favourite one for marriage.

It is December then, and not January, which is the favourite marriage month in Scotland; but when the December registers are looked into, it is found that, though the daily number of marriages during that month exceeds that of all other months excepting June, it is the last day of December which is the public pet, for on it alone are celebrated one-twentieth of

all the marriages which take place during the year.

In last report attention was directed to this striking peculiarity in the social habits of the Scottish people, but we were not then in possession of data sufficient to show the exact magnitude of the fact. We have now, however, gone over the marriage registers for a series of years, to procure some tangible facts on this subject, and they are certainly extremely curious.

At present we flatter ourselves that the days of superstition have passed away. It is not so, however, with the Scottish people, as these registers avouch. No Scotchman will begin any kind of work on a Saturday, if he can possibly avoid it, because he has the superstitious belief that he will never live to finish it. For the same reason no Scotchman will marry on a Saturday; it is with him an "unlucky day," and he dreads that one or other of the parties to the marriage will not live out the year, or if they outlive the year, that they will have no family. Accordingly, as a general rule, no marriages occur in Scotland on Saturday among natives of Scotland. On Sundays, also, no marriages take place; so that the marrying days in Scotland are limited to five weekly, or from 20 to 23 in each month.

The last column of that table shows the number of marriages which are contracted during each marrying day of each month; and it will be seen that while 48 marriages occurred during each marrying day of May, 51 in April, 52 in October, 57 in September, 58 in March, 60 in February, and 63 in January, they rose to 104 daily in November, to 117 daily during 22 of the marrying days in December, to 142 daily during the marrying days of June, but to the enormous number of 1,083 during the last day of December. Here then we have the very singular fact ascertained, that the last day of the year is such a favourite for marrying with the people of Scotland, that a full twentieth of the marriages during the year were contracted on that day.

This, however, is not a casual occurrence, but recurs year after year with a regularity, even in the numbers, which is truly surprising. Thus, on going over the marriage registers for a series of years, it was found that when the last day of December fell on a Monday, Tues

day, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the numbers who annually married on that last day of December only varied from 1,020 to 1,090, so that the average number of marriages on every 31st day of December, when it fell on the above days of the week, was 1,055. But all this is changed when the last day of December falls on a Saturday. The Saturday superstition, as to its being an unlucky day, outweighs all fondness for the last day of the year as a day of marriage; so that when, in the revolution of the seasons, the last day of the year falls on a Saturday, the marriage register virtually remains a blank, in so far as the natives of Scotland are concerned. In 1859, when the 31st of December fell on a Saturday, only 59 marriages were contracted instead of 1,055, and these chiefly by persons not natives of Scotland. The Scottish people had in that case anticipated the 31st, and contracted their usual 1,055 marriages on the 30th of the month!

It is strongly suspected that the same singular practice prevails in Sweden, for in that country even a greater excess of marriages takes place in December than in Scotland. But the official tables and reports do not give us the means of determining that point with certainty.

The influence of the weather on the deathrate in Scotland is of the most potent kind, as has been fully proved in former reports. But Scotland and England, though forming parts of the same island, are apparently under such very different meteorological conditions, that a knowledge of the kind of weather prevailing in the one country, often gives no indication whatever of the kind of weather prevailing in the other. Thus, in 1862, while the mean temperature of England was above its mean, that of Scotland was below its mean; and while the rainfall over England only amounted to 26.40 inches, the quantity deposited in Scotland was 45.29 inches. Still more striking were the differences in the periods of warm and cold weather in the two countries. One example may suffice. In England, on the 24th of March, a period of warm genial weather set in, which continued uninterruptedly till the 7th of April, and during all that period the mean temperature was at 5° above its mean. Scotland, on the other hand, during the very same period,

presented a truly wintry appearance, and its temperature was fully 5° below its mean. Snow began to fall on the 21st of March; cold piercing north-easterly winds prevailed; when the month of March closed, the hills were still white, and it was not till towards the close of the first week of April that the snowy mantle disappeared.

The weather in Scotland during 1862, presented many points of resemblance with that of 1861. It had a lower summer, and a somewhat higher winter temperature than usual; a more clouded sky, and consequently less sunshine; a greater fall of rain, and a more humid atmosphere than the average of former years. The lower summer temperature seemed to be occasioned by the more clouded rainy sky obscuring the sun, and preventing its rays heating the ground as much as usual; while the higher temperature of the winter months was caused by the unusual prevalence of strong balmy westerly and south-westerly winds, which, having come over the heated waters of the Atlantic, brought with their warmth an unusual quantity of moisture, great part of which was deposited on the land.

The continuance of the damp cloudy weather for two successive years seems to have acted prejudicially on the public health, and to have induced an amount of sickness and death quite unusual. The fact that this kind of weather occurred when large numbers of the lower classes were suffering from insufficient food and clothing, in consequence of being thrown out of work by the stoppage of the cotton manufactories, accounts partly for its more baneful action in 1862 than in 1861.

The greatest daily number of deaths occurred during the month of January, when 222 deaths occurred daily under a mean temperature of 38° 4, being the same as that of the two preceding months. The daily deaths during the preceding November were 172, and during December, 180; so that, although the mean temperature had remained nearly steady for three consecutive months, the prolonged low temperature had steadily increased the mortality.

The weather during February, however, was not so severe as during January, and the mean temperature was more than 13 degree higher; the daily deaths therefore fell to 207. The wintry weather of March, however, with its

mean temperature 2 degrees below that of February, caused the daily deaths to increase to 116; so that the effects of cold on the human frame were very marked during these months. As this wintry weather had extended into April, and many of those who were deathstricken with the severe weather of March did not die till April, the mortality of April was high, amounting to 207 deaths daily.

After this the weather steadily improved; the mean temperature increasing till August, when the highest mean temperature of the year was attained, viz., 56 degrees. With this rise in mean temperature, the number of deaths regularly declined; so that the daily deaths. were 188 in May, 176 in June, 167 in July, and attained their minimum in August, when only 143 deaths occurred daily.

After this the mean temperature regularly declined, and the deaths in nearly the same proportion increased; so that 153 deaths occurred daily in September, 154 daily during October, 173 daily during November, and 199 daily during December.

It is worthy of remark, that the deaths continued to increase during December, though its mean temperature was 3 degrees higher than that of November, which had the lowest mean temperature of any month during the year. This effect is constantly observed at the close of the year, and, indeed, the same occurs also in the spring months, as was strikingly exemplified in April. These facts then prove, that in this country it is cold and not heat which exerts the most deadly influence on the mortality; and what is still more striking, is the fact that all our so-called epidemic diseases, excepting alone the bowel complaints, increase with the cold and diminish with the warm weather. The public do not seem to be aware of this striking fact, which has been year after year pointed out in these reports, seeing that, when epidemics prevail either among men or cattle, it is continually stated that the cold weather is being anxiously looked for to put a stop to the epidemic. The fact is, in this country it is cold and not heat which encourages the spread and increases the fatality of all epidemics, excepting the bowel complaints. In the eight principal towns of Scotland, for instance (which may serve to illustrate this fact for all Scotland), the deaths

from the epidemic class of diseases were lowest in August, the month of greatest heat, and steadily increased with the fall of temperature, till the close of the year. Thus, the deaths from the zymotic, or epidemic and contagious, class of diseases in these towns, were 331 in August, 415 in September, 542 in October, 612 in November, and 692 in December. The same had been noticed every year, so that there can be no doubt whatever as to the general law of the increase of disease in Scotland under fall of temperature.

To show the influence of temperature on a few diseases and classes of diseases, it is sufficient to record that while small-pox caused only 9 deaths in the eight towns during August, which was the warmest month, the deaths increased with the fall of temperature, till they amounted to 110 in December. Measles, which caused 45 deaths in August, increased with the fall of temperature till it caused 134 deaths in December. Scarlatina and dipththeria caused only 45 deaths in August, but 90 in December. Hooping. cough, which caused 50 deaths in August, increased in fatality as the temperature fell, till it caused 255 deaths in January. Typhus fever, which caused only 66 deaths in August, increased with the fall of temperature, till it caused 90 deaths in December, and 107 in January. Diseases of the respiratory organs, which caused 216 deaths in August, increased with the fall of temperature, till they caused 479 deaths in December, and 627 in January. These examples are quite sufficient to prove the point to which attention is desired to be directed, viz., that the prevalence and fatality of all diseases in Scotland increases with the cold weather, so that our cold months are also the most fatal, and the coldest month is almost invariably that which exhibits the greatest number of deaths.

The meteorological phenomena in Scotland during the year 1862, deduced from observations made at 53 stations of the Meteorological Society of Scotland is given in this report. The particulars for each of these stations were published in the quarterly reports of the regis trar general for the year 1862, on the conclusion of each quarter. It appears that the mean barometric pressure, corrected to 32 degrees and to the mean sea level, was 29-812

inches. The mean temperature of the year was 46° 1. The mean daily range of temperature 11° 4. The absolute highest degree of temperature in the shade was 80°.5; and the absolute lowest in the shade, 9°0. The mean of the highest temperatures during the day was 51°8; the mean of the lowest temperatures during the night, 40°-4. The mean of the black-bulb thermometer exposed to the sun was 67°1; and the mean of the lowest temperature, indicated by the black-bulb minimum thermometer exposed on the grass during the night was 35°.9. The mean temperature of evaporation was 43°-9; and the mean dewpoint temperature, 41.8. The mean humidity. of the air was 87. Rain fell on 199 days, with a mean depth of 45.29 inches of water. The mean amount of cloud was 6.9; and the sun shone for 1,568 hours during the year. Winds with an easterly point blew 97 days; those with a westerly point, 180 days.

Other external agencies influence the deaths and the marriages, such as the general state of the country as to the condition of its trade, its imports and exports, its commercial prosperity, the supply and price of provisions, the ability of the people to save from their earnings and deposit these savings in banks, the amount of pauperism and of emigration. Although the imports of cotton in 1862 fell very far short of the previous year, the quantity of the other textile substances-flax, hemp, jute, and wool—materially increased. The quantity of coal raised and of iron made in Scotland also materially increased in 1862, while provisions of all kinds were cheaper and more abundant than during the previous year. The interruption to the cotton manufactures, however, increased pauperism, and caused twice as many to emigrate as during the previous year.

EDUCATION.

Report of the Committee of Council on
Education.

DURING the year ending 31st August, 1865, as compared with 1864, the number of schools, or of departments of schools under separate teachers, which were actually inspected, was

increased by 1,132, and the number of children by 112,764. The number of certificated teachers was increased by 1,073. The number of new school-houses built was 65, comprising (besides class-rooms) 106 principal school-rooms and 46 dwellings for teachers; 46 other schools were enlarged, improved, or furnished afresh; accommodation was created for 15,302 children, exclusive of the schools improved or newly furnished, but not enlarged.

The inspectors visited 12,950 schools or departments of such schools under separate teachers. They found present in them 1,246,055 children; 11,266 certificated teachers; 933 assistant teachers; and 11,383 apprentices. Of the schools or departments 2,282 were for boys only; 1,888 for girls only; in 5,858 boys and girls were instructed together; 1,707 were confined to infants (children under seven years of age); and 1,215 to night scholars. Of the children, 698,221 were males, and 547,834 were females.

The inspectors also visited 38 separate training colleges, occupied by 2,482 students in preparation for the office of schoolmaster or schoolmistress. In December last these students, and 1,873 other candidates, were simultaneously examined for the end of the first or second year of their training, or for admission, or for certificates as acting teachers.

The number of inspectors employed upon this duty was 63, and the number of inspectors' assistants 14.

No material change has been introduced during the year 1865 in the regulations according to which we have distributed the parliamentary grant. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed in the last session of Parliament, and is still sitting, to inquire into the administration of the grant, and into the means of extending its benefits. In Scotland, also, the Royal Commission referred to in our last report, continues to be engaged upon its task. We are ready to give our best consideration to whatever recommendations may be made by the committee or by the Commission.

The past year may be regarded almost as the first which has been wholly subject to the influence of the revised code. That code was not put into general operation before the latter part of 1863, aud the first examinations held