BILLSOFMORTALITY

BILLS OF MORTALITY are abstracts from parish registers, showing, as their name imports, the numbers that have died in any parish or place during certain periods of time, as in each week, month, or year; and are, accordingly, denominated weekly, monthly, or yearly bills. They also include the numbers of the baptisms during the same periods, and generally those of the marriages.

What has been advanced on this subject, under the head MORTALITY, BILLS OF, in the Encyclopædia, appears to have been taken from Dr Price's Observations on Reversionary Payments; and is designed principally, to explain the method of constructing Tables of Mortality from such Bills, which shall exhibit the law according to which human life wastes at every age, and shall enable us to determine readily, the probability of its continuance from any one age to any other; a subject which will be treated in this Supplement under the head MORTALITY, LAW OF.

The objects of the present article are these:—First, to give a brief history of the principal things that have been done in this way, which may suffice for such as are not disposed to go further into the subject, and may, at the same time, indicate the best sources of information to those who take more interest in it.

As both mortuary registers and enumerations of the people are much more valuable when combined than when separate, we shall also notice some of the principal enumerations, the results of which have been published. We shall then point out some of the principal defects in most of the published registers and enumerations; and, lastly, shall submit some forms, according to which, if enumerations be made, and registers kept, they will be easily convertible to useful purposes.

The ancients do not appear to have kept any exact mortuary registers, at least no account of any registers of that kind, with the ages of the deceased, have come down to us; and although, in the Roman Census, first established by SERVIVS TULLIUS, both the ages and sexes of the people were distinguished, we have no exact account of these particulars in any one of their enumerations.

Indeed, the principal object of the census among that warlike people, was the levying of men and money for the purposes of conquest; the duration of human life appears to have occupied very little of their attention, and their proficiency in the science of quantity was not sufficient either to show them what the necessary data were, or to enable them to draw just inferences from them, had they been in their possession.

A good account of what the ancient Romans did in this way, with references to the original authorities, may be found in the Italian translation of M. Demoivre's Treatise of Annuities on Lives, by Gaeta

and Fontana, which was published at Milan, in 8vo, in the year 1776. (Discorso Preliminare, Parte 2.)

The keeping of parish registers commenced in England in the year 1538, in consequence of an injunction issued in that year by Thomas Cromwell, who, after the abolition of the Pope's authority in this kingdom, in the reign of Henry VIII., had been appointed the King's vicegerent in ecclesiastical affairs.

Some parish registers in Germany appear to have commenced with the sixteenth century; and in the Göttliche Ordnung of Süssmilch (T. 3. S. 23.), we are informed, that at the time of Lord Cromwell's injunction, they had already old registers of that kind, both at Augsburg and Breslaw. However, the extracts he has given from the Augsburg registers do not go back further than the year 1501, nor those for Breslaw beyond 1555. About the beginning of the seventeenth century, such registers appear to have been established in most parts of Europe; but it was not until the year 1662 that they began to attract public notice, and to be considered as the sources of valuable and interesting information. In that year, John Graunt, a citizen of London (afterwards an officer in the trained bands of the city, and a Fellow of the Royal Society), published his Natural and Political Observations on the Bills of Mortality, principally those for London. The London bills, or accounts of baptisms and burials, appear to have been occasioned by the plague, and to have been begun in the year 1592, a time of great mortality. They were afterwards discontinued, but were resumed in 1603, after the great plague of that year. They have ever since been continued weekly, and an annual bill also has been regularly published. In 1629, the number of deaths by the different diseases and casualties, were first inserted in them, also the distinction of the sexes; and these have been continued ever since. But it is in the totals only of the baptisms and burials that the sexes are distinguished in these bills. They do not show how many of each sex died of each disease, neither have they, since 1728, when the distinction of the ages of the dead was first introduced, shown how many of each sex died in each interval of age, but only the total number of both sexes.

This book of Graunt's, although the first, is also one of the best that have been published on the subject. It contains many judicious observations on the imperfections of the bills, on the proportions of the deaths from different diseases and casualties, and on their increase and decrease, with the probable causes of such fluctuations. He also observed, that "the more sickly the years are, the less fecund or fruitful of children also they be."

Besides the London bills, he gave one for a country parish in Hampshire, in the first edition of his

Bills of Mortality. book; and, in an appendix to the later editions, two others, one for Tiverton, the other for Cranbrook in Kent, with a few observations on foreign bills. He almost always reasons justly from his data; but, as these were very imperfect, in his endeavours to draw more information from them than they could supply, he has sometimes fallen into error.

Even in this enlightened age, when a much greater proportion of the people devote a portion of their leisure to the acquisition of knowledge than in Graunt's time, subjects of this kind have but few attractions for the generality even of reading men, who cannot endure the fatigue of thinking closely for any length of time. The author, accordingly, expected his readers to be rather select than numerous, and was ambitious of that distinction, as appears by the motto he prefixed to his work,

Non, ne ut miretur Turba, laboro,
Contentus parci: Lectoribus.

The book was, however, favourably received by the public, and went through five editions in fifteen years, the two first in 4to, the three others in 8vo; the last of them, published in 1676, two years after the author's death, was edited by his friend, Sir William Petty, who, in consequence of having sometimes spoken of this edition as his own, has by some writers been erroneously considered as the author.

Graunt's observations, like all others of a similar kind, by showing the usefulness of parish registers and bills of mortality, contributed to form a taste for these inquiries among thinking men; and, consequently, to improve both the registers and the bills derived from them; so that, from his time, the subject has been continually cultivated more and more. Parish registers, in most parts of Europe, have been kept with more care; and a succession of works of considerable merit have been published on the subject, containing an important part of the natural and political history of our species, and affording valuable materials for the science of political economy.

The principal of these works we proceed to give a short account of, in the order of their publication.

As the ages at which the deaths took place were not inserted in the London bills till 1728, Captain Graunt could not avail himself of that important information, but made a fruitless attempt to determine the law of mortality without it.

The Breslaw bills appear to have been the first wherein the ages at which the deaths took place were inserted, and the most important information which Bills of Mortality can afford, was first drawn from them by Dr Halley; who, in 1692, constructed a table of mortality for Breslaw from these bills for the five preceding years, and inserted a paper on the subject in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 196.

In 1699, Dr Davenant, in An Essay upon the probable Methods of making a People Gamers in the Ballance of Trade, published some extracts from Natural and Political Observations and Conclusions upon the State and Condition of England, by permission of their author, Gregory King, Esq. Lancaster herald, who had completed them in 1696, though

they still remained in manuscript; and the whole of this very curious production was published by Mr Chambers at the end of his Estimate in 1802. Mr King derived his information from the poll-books; from actual observations in particular places; from the assessments on marriages, births, and burials; and from the parish registers. Many of his conclusions agree surprisingly well, considering the time he wrote, with those which are the results of a hundred years of further observations and inquiries. He had access to much better data than Graunt, and his conclusions are more accurate; but he does not explain so fully how he arrived at them.

From the publication of Davenant's essay, above mentioned, nearly forty years had elapsed without boom. any thing further being done in this way, when M. Kerseboom published an essay, in the Dutch language, on the probable number of people in Holland and West Friesland, which he deduced from the Bills of Mortality (Hague, 1738, 4to); and two others in 1740 and 1742: an account of the first of these three essays may be seen in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 450, and of the two others in No. 468.

In 1742 was published the first edition of the celebrated work, entitled Die Göttliche Ordnung in den menschlichen Geschlechts aus der Geburt, dem Tode und der Fortpflanzung desselben erwachsen von Johann Peter Süssmilch. The second edition appeared in 1761, enriched with the materials which had been laid before the public through various channels in the interim; the third in 1765, and in 1775 a fourth edition of the two volumes of Süssmilch was published by Christian Jacob Bau- J. P. Süss- mann, to which this editor himself added, in 1776, a third volume, consisting of additions to the other two, and remarks upon them, with many new tables, and a copious index. The last edition of this work was published in 1798, but it does not appear to have been augmented or improved since 1776. It contains long dissertations on every thing not mathematical connected with the subject, and, besides original information, includes the substance of all the other publications on it previous to 1776; with an immense collection of materials, which, when borrowed, are often better arranged and rendered more convenient for reference, than they will be found to be in the works they were extracted from; besides, the original sources of information are always referred to, and these advantages, with that of a full index, render it a valuable work for occasional reference. The three thick 8vo volumes contain upwards of 2300 pages, closely printed with a small type, and the tables alone occupy 330 pages.

In 1746 was published the Essai of M. Deparcieux, which has been already mentioned in the historical introduction to the article ANNUITIES in this Supplement: information much wanted on this subject, was there given in a very clear and popular manner, and the work no doubt contributed greatly to the advancement of the science. It probably had some influence in promoting the establishment of what is called the Tabellverket in Sweden, which

took place in 1749, and of which we shall have occasion to take further notice presently.

In 1750 appeared, in 8vo, New Observations natural, moral, civil, political, and medical, on City, Town, and Country Bills of Mortality; to which are added, large and clear Abstracts of the best Authors who have written on that subject; with an Appendix of the Weather and Meteors, by Thomas Short, M.D. which he had "had on the anvil" for eighteen years, as he informs us in the Preface to his History of Air, Weather, &c. This author, with incredible labour, collected extracts from the mortuary and baptismal registers in a great many market-towns and country parishes in England, chiefly in the northern counties, in almost every variety of soil and situation, and reduced them into tables in various ways, so as to enable him to draw useful inferences from them.

He informs us that Lord Cromwell's injunction in 1538 was but little regarded in many places till the year 1559, when another was issued for the same purpose by Queen Elizabeth; nevertheless, he had procured several exact country registers, commencing with 1538, and continued, without one chasm, for more than two hundred years; and the registers before 1644, he considered to be much more valuable than afterwards, on account of the increase of dissenters from that time. He likewise procured both the numbers of families and of souls in seven of the market-towns, and fifty-four of the country parishes, for which he had registers; and thus arrived at satisfactory information on several points, which, till then, had been very imperfectly understood. But the sexes were not distinguished in his enumerations; neither were the ages, in any of the enumerations or registers he has given accounts of, except in the London Bills of Mortality, and what he has taken from Dr Halley, respecting those for Breslaw.

Although Dr Short took so much trouble in collecting materials, and has generally reasoned well upon them, he has shown but little skill, and does not appear to have taken much pains in communicating his information to his readers; so that it costs them considerable labour to find what they want, especially in his tables; and when found, to understand it.

In 1751 was first printed a tract by Corbyn Morris, entitled, Observations on the past growth and present state of the City of London, with the most convenient and instructive tables of the London bills that have been printed: they contained the annual baptisms and burials from the year 1603, the number of annual deaths by each disease from 1675, and of each age from 1728; all brought down to the year 1750. This tract was reprinted in 1758, with a continuation of the tables to the end of 1757; these also contain useful annual averages and proportions. Mr Morris's observations are generally very judicious, but he was one of those authors who appear to have laboured under much misconception with regard to the evils to be apprehended from the mortality of London, and what they considered to be its baneful effects in drawing recruits from the country. These writers did not perceive, or did not sufficiently consider, that the natural procreative power is much

more than adequate to supply any waste of that kind, and that the real obstacle to the increase of the people, is the limited means of subsistence. This had been observed by Dr Halley in his Further Considerations on the Breslaw Bills of Mortality (Phil. Trans. 1693), though it there also appears, that he had not sufficiently considered the mode of its operation: this was first fully illustrated by Dr Franklin in his excellent Observations on the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. written in Philadelphia in 1751, the same year in which Mr Morris's pamphlet was first published. The author also pointed out in that pamphlet, material defects in the Bills of Mortality, and proposed a better method of keeping them, not only in London, but throughout the kingdom. This gave occasion to a paper by Mr James Dodson, which was inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for that year (1751), wherein he showed the importance of their being so kept as to afford the means of valuing annuities on lives, and proposed other alterations which appeared to him calculated to fit them for the purpose.

Nicolaas Struyck of Amsterdam, who, in his Introduction to General Geography, published there in 1740, had inserted (Gissingen over den staat van 't Menschelyk Geslagt) Conjectures on the State of the Human Species; published at the same place in 1753, a quarto volume, the first half of which is astronomical, the other (216 pages) is entitled (Nader Ontdekkingen noopens den staat van het Menschelyk Geslagt), Further Discoveries concerning the State of the Human Species. It contains statements of actual enumerations of the people in many Dutch villages, principally in North Holland, wherein the sexes are distinguished, and the numbers in childhood, celibacy, marriage, and widowhood; but with respect to their ages, it is only stated for each sex, how many were under ten years, and how many of the unmarried were above that age; except in two instances, wherein the number of each sex is given in each interval of five years of age, from birth to the extremity of life: they amount altogether to 2728, of whom not one was above the age of 85, and only four above 80.

He generally gives, for each place, the names and professions or occupations of the persons who made the enumeration, and the precise day on which it was made; or if it occupied the parties more days than one, those on which it was commenced and completed are given; a practice which shows a laudable solicitude about particulars, and a title to our confidence, the want of which we have great cause to lament in too many other writers.

Extracts from many parish registers are also given; in these, too, the ages are seldom noticed; but in a few cases they are given very minutely, especially in that of Westzaandam, for which, the numbers who died in each interval of five years of age, from birth to the extremity of life, are given; also the number in each year of age under fifteen, the number in each month of the first year of age, even the number that died in the first hour from birth, in the first twenty-four hours, and in each day of the first week of their age. During a term of nineteen years, the whole number of deaths thus registered was 3328;

Bills of Mortality. but the sexes were not distinguished under fifteen years of age, which Struyck himself lamented. The work also contains much information respecting the population and parish registers of Amsterdam, Haarlem, &c. with some accounts of other countries, and of other works on the subject.

Dr Birch. In 1759 was published, at London, in 4to, A Collection of the Yearly Bills of Mortality, from 1657 to 1758 inclusive, together with several other Bills of an earlier date; to which were subjoined Captain Graunt's Observations; Another Essay in Political Arithmetic, by Sir William Petty; the Observations of Corbyn Morris, Esq.; and A Comparative View of the Diseases and Ages, with a Table of the Probabilities of Life for the last thirty years, by J. P. Esq. F. R. S. This is a valuable compilation, and has been generally attributed to Dr Birch, the Secretary and Historian of the Royal Society; the preface is very judicious, and contains a good deal of information. For the following history of this publication, the author of the present article is indebted to the kindness of Dr Heberden:—

"The bills were collected into a volume by his father, the late Dr Heberden. He procured likewise, observations from several of his friends, rectors of some large parishes, or others likely to give him information; particularly from Bishop Moss, Bishop Green, Bishop Squire, and Dr Birch. These, together with some of his own remarks, were thrown into the form of a preface; and the whole was committed to the care of Dr Birch. To make the calculations which appear at the end of the book, Dr Heberden employed James Postlethwayt, Esq. a very distinguished arithmetician."

M. Messance. In the year 1766, this branch of knowledge was enriched with new materials, of more value than all that had previously been laid before the public. These were contained in three publications, of which we shall first notice the Recherches sur la Population des généralités d'Anvergne, de Lyon, de Rouen, et de quelques Provinces et Villes du Royaume. Par M. Messance, Receveur des Tailles de l'Election de Saint Etienne.

Most of the political writers in France, for some years previous to the date of this publication, had asserted confidently that the kingdom was depopulated, but without producing any proofs. The object of M. Messance was, to enable his readers to judge of the merit of such assertions, and to pronounce less vaguely on a subject in itself so interesting, the knowledge of which can only be obtained by a great number of facts and actual observations. The work, accordingly, is filled with tables, exhibiting the results of actual enumerations of the people, and of extracts from the parish registers. They show, for each sex, how many were under 14, or in celibacy above that age; those in the states of marriage and of widowhood; and the number of domestic servants. The numbers of families are also stated; and the enumerations of the ecclesiastics, properly classed, are given separately; but no other information respecting the ages of the living is given than that mentioned above. A great many statements are also inserted of the numbers that died in

different parishes, and more extensive districts, under 5 years of age, between 5 and 10, and in each interval of 10 years, from thence to the age of 100; during different periods of from 10 to 40 years, or more, generally ending about the year 1760; but in these the sexes are not distinguished.

In all cases, he has given the general results of his tables, and the proportions they afford, very distinctly stated; and among these results, the increase of the population during the preceding 60 years, to which his researches were generally limited, is clearly ascertained.

The work also contains many interesting tables, in which the rate of mortality, and the produce of manufacturing labour, are compared with the contemporaneous prices of grain, in various places, generally for periods of 20 years each.

In the same year was published, at Yverdon, in M. Muret, Svo, the work entitled Mémoire sur l'état de la Population, dans le Pays de Vaud, qui a obtenu la prix proposé par la Société économique de Berne. Par M. Muret, premier Pasteur à Vevey, et Secrétaire de la Société Économique de Vevey.

The Pays de Vaud contains 112 parishes, and the population at that time was about 113,000 souls. M. Muret wrote for information to all the clergymen in the country, who made him returns of the numbers of baptisms and burials in their respective parishes, for different periods, from 10 to 40 years, in many of which both the ages and sexes were distinguished; and from about two-thirds of them he obtained also the numbers of marriages and families actually subsisting; also the number of souls, "or at least of communicants," in their parishes; but neither the ages nor sexes were distinguished in any of the enumerations of the living.

This performance does much credit both to the author's industry and judgment, but it has also material defects. He gave upwards of 50 tables, by which he intended to show the probabilities and expectations of life till five years of age, and at every fifth year after that, in different parishes and places, under various circumstances of soil and situation, and for people of different habits and occupations; also for the two sexes separately. These must have cost him a good deal of labour, and would have been extremely valuable had they been correct; but, unfortunately, he did not understand the construction of such tables, and they are not to be depended upon. He also took considerable pains to determine the rates of mortality among married and single women, considered separately, and thought he had proved that it was less among the married; but the proofs he adduced were not conclusive. Some of his observations on the state of the population, and the plans he recommended for increasing it, also show, that he did not understand the principle on which its progress depends.

It is with much reluctance that we make, on so respectable an author, remarks which apply equally to almost all his predecessors in these inquiries; but this we consider to be rendered necessary, by the Memoir generally, and the Tables in particular, having been praised for their extreme accuracy, in a

very good abridgment of them, inserted in the second volume of a book, entitled De Re Rustica, or the Repository, 8vo, London, 1770.

The disadvantages of her soil and climate necessarily keep Sweden thinly peopled in comparison with the countries which, in these respects, are more happily circumstanced; and since the year 1748, the state of the population has been an object of anxious solicitude with the government; which, in 1749, established what, in this country, would probably be called a Board of Population (but is there denominated Tabellvärdet), for reducing into convenient forms the extracts from the parish registers, and the returns from the magistrates of the numbers of the people, which the governors of the different provinces are required to state to the commissioners appointed for these purposes. The extracts from the registers are made and transmitted annually, but the enumerations only once in three years.

Printed forms, with proper blanks, distinguishing the ages and sexes, both of the living and the dead, with the diseases the deaths were occasioned by, are distributed throughout the country, to enable the people to make these returns correctly and uniformly; and the information thus acquired, respecting the state of population and mortality, is much more correct and satisfactory than what has been obtained in any other place of considerable extent; but from causes which we have not room to explain here, the results were not laid before the public until some years after the returns were made.

M. Wargentin, who was one of the Commissioners of the Tabellvärdet, inserted in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, for the years 1754 and 1755, papers on the usefulness of annual registers of births and deaths in a country; which, like all his other productions, were written with much judgment and modesty; but, to illustrate the subject, he was generally under the necessity of borrowing materials from the writings of others; as, at that time, he was only in possession of the results of the Swedish returns for the single year 1749. In the same Transactions, for the year 1766, he inserted a paper on the mortality in Sweden, wherein he gave tables exhibiting the number of the living of each sex in each interval of age, in the years 1757, 1760, and 1763; also the number of annual deaths of each age and sex during a period of nine years, commencing with 1755, both for all Sweden and Finland, and for Stockholm separately; with other interesting results of the registers and enumerations, and many judicious observations upon them.

This paper of M. Wargentin's is more valuable than all that had previously been published on the subject; it is also to be found in the French abridgment of the Stockholm Transactions, in the eleventh volume of the Collection Académique (partie étrangère), which abridgment was also published separately, at Paris, in 1772.

In 1767, Dr Short published, in 4to, A Comparative History of the Increase and Decrease of Mankind, in which the tables are printed more intelligibly, and there is more information respecting foreign Bills of Mortality, than in his New Observations.

The first edition of Dr Price's Observations on

Reversionary Payments appeared in 1771, and contained "observations on the expectations of lives, the increase of mankind, the number of inhabitants in London, and the influence of great towns on health and population," which had been published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1769, and added considerably to the information on those subjects which had been previously before the public; also observations on the proper methods of constructing tables of mortality, mentioned at the commencement of this article, and which we shall have occasion to notice again.

In the Philosophical Transactions for the years 1774 and 1775, were inserted two excellent papers by Dr Haygarth of Chester, wherein he gave the Bills of Mortality for that city, for the years 1772 and 1773 respectively, in a form calculated to exhibit, at one view, the most useful and interesting information such bills can afford without calculation, and presenting to the calculator data that are essential to the solution of the most important questions respecting the state of the population. Three papers by Dr Percival (also of considerable merit) appeared in the same Transactions about this time, relating principally to the population of Manchester and its neighbourhood.

In 1778 was published, at Paris, in 8vo, the work M. Moheau, entitled Recherches et Considérations sur la Population de la France, par M. Moheau. This book is agreeably written, in a way entirely popular, and will probably be perused with more pleasure, therefore, also with more profit, by the generality of readers, than any other on the subject of population. It contains a great number of tables, for many of which he was indebted to other writers, especially to M. Messance; but he has also given many that are original, derived from the Bills of Mortality and actual enumerations of the people, though, without explaining in a satisfactory manner how he obtained his information, which, if it be correct, must have cost great labour. In his preface he says, "il est tel page de ce livre qui a coûté nécessairement deux mois de travail, et un volume de chiffres."

The fourth edition of Dr Price's Observations on Reversionary Payments appeared in 1783, and contained much new and valuable information on these subjects, as has already been observed in the historical introduction to the article ANNUITIES in this Supplement.

In 1786 was published, at Petersburg, in the Acts of the Academy of Sciences there, for the year 1782, an essay by M. Kraft, on the marriages, births, and burials, at St Petersburg, during a period of 17 years, from 1764 to 1780, preceded by a general exposition of the uses such tables might be applied to, if the observations they record were extended over entire governments in Russia. This paper contains seventeen tables, which show the number of deaths at each age, and by each of the principal diseases, together with the numbers of marriages and baptisms; the numbers in each case, being given for each of the 17 years separately, as well as for the whole term; and the sexes are always distinguished; as are likewise foreigners from the native Russians.

These tables would have been rendered very valuable, had they been accompanied by statements of the numbers of the living of each sex in the different intervals of age; but for want of this information, it is difficult to apply them to any useful purpose, and many of the inferences M. Kraft has drawn from them are very uncertain.

During a period of nine years, commencing with 1779, and ending with 1787, Dr Heysham of Carlisle kept accurate registers of the births, and of the deaths at all ages, in the two parishes which comprehend that city and its environs; also the diseases or casualties which the deaths at each age were occasioned by; and the sexes were in all cases distinguished. These excellent registers were kept with great care and skill on the plan of Dr Haygarth above-mentioned, and included all dissenters within the two parishes. Dr Heysham published them from year to year as they were made, and accompanied them with valuable observations on the state of the weather and diseases in each year. Their value was greatly enhanced by two enumerations of the people within the two parishes, the one made in January 1780, the other in December 1787, in both of which the ages were distinguished, but not the sexes of each age, though the totals of each sex were. These documents, printed in convenient forms, with further information respecting them, and many useful tables deduced from them, may be found in Mr Milne's Treatise on Annuities.

In the third volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, published in 1793, were inserted Observations on the probabilities of the duration of human life, and on the progress of population in the United States of America, contained in a letter from Mr Barton, which had been read to the Society in March 1791; also a postscript to that letter, read in December following; the returns of an actual enumeration of the people in the United States having been made in the mean time. The information there given from the parish registers is of little value. In the enumerations, the sexes were distinguished, but not the ages, except the numbers of free white males under and above sixteen; but even that information with regard to the population of America is very interesting, whether we contrast the early with the more recently settled counties, or the whole of the United States with the population of Europe.

In the years 1799, 1800, and 1801, M. Nicander inserted eight different memoirs among those of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, exhibiting the state of population and mortality in all Sweden and Finland, from the year 1772 to 1795 inclusive. These contain a great number of tables, which present the most interesting results of the Tabellverket during that period; the ages and sexes, both of the living and the dead, are distinguished with sufficient minuteness, and the number of deaths of each sex by every disease is given. The information in these papers is much more complete and satisfactory than any other yet collected respecting the state of the population of a whole kingdom, or even of any particular part of it, if we except the observations of Dr Heysham, which were confined to

Carlisle and its neighbourhood. M. Nicander was a Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, also one of the Commissioners of the Tabellverket, and their secretary. We are sorry to announce his death, which took place in the summer of 1815.

In the year 1800 was published, at Paris, in M. Mourgue's, under the title of Essai de Statistique, a memoir by J. A. Mourgue, on the births, marriages, and deaths, that took place in Montpellier during a period of 21 years, ending with 1792, with the ages at which the deaths happened, the sexes are also distinguished, and the population of the place appears to have been nearly stationary. The tables and observations of M. Mourgue appear to be more valuable than any others relative to the population of France, that have yet been published, except those of M. Deparcieux, which related only to select orders of the people. This memoir was read at a meeting of the French National Institute in 1795, and printed in the Mém. des Sav. Étr. an. 14.

An enumeration of the people in Spain was made by royal authority in the years 1768 and 1769, and again in 1787; a minute account of this last was printed at Madrid, showing for each province separately, the numbers of parishes, cities, towns, villages, &c. &c. with the number of people in each class according to their ranks, professions, occupations, &c. and the monastic orders of both sexes were particularly distinguished: to these was prefixed a summary of the census of 1768 and 1769. In these two enumerations, the ages of the people were not distinguished with sufficient minuteness; they only showed how many were under 7, between 7 and 16, 16 and 25, 25 and 40, 40 and 50, and above 50. In both enumerations, together with the ages, the distinction of the sexes was given; in the first, the married were only distinguished from the single; but that of 1787 showed how many of each sex, and in each interval of age, were in the states of celibacy, marriage, and widowhood.

A third enumeration of the people in Spain and the Spanish possessions in Europe and Africa, including the Canary Islands, was made in 1797; and a full account of it, occupying nearly 50 large tables, was printed at Madrid in 1801. The distinction of the ages in this enumeration was still not sufficiently minute; under 40 it was the same as in the two preceding, but after that age, the number of the living in each interval of 10 years to 100 was given, and the number above 100.

No information from the parish registers in Spain was given in any of these cases; although satisfactory extracts from them all, distinguishing the ages and sexes of the deceased, or even from those only which could be most depended upon, during the ten years that intervened between the two last enumerations, would have rendered the results of these incomparably more valuable, provided that the population of the places for which correct registers were given, could be distinguished from the rest. Those to whom the superintendence of these measures were entrusted in Spain, seem to have been well aware of this, and to have actually entered upon the formation of these necessary supplements to the enumerations,

as appears by the following passage extracted from the introduction to the printed statement of the last census:—

“Interin que se forman las tablas necrológicas, las de nacidos y casados, en que entiende el ministerio de Estado, y que son muy útiles para valorar casi geométricamente el total de la población del Reyno, debemos contentarnos con las noticias que nos proporcionen los censos executados por el método que el presente.” But the author of this article has not yet succeeded in his endeavours to procure further information as to these tables of births, deaths, and marriages.

In 1801 were published (in 4to), Observations on the Increase and Decrease of different Diseases, and particularly of the Plague, by William Heberden junior, M.D. F.R.S. containing some tables, chiefly deduced from the London bills. In the advertisement prefixed to this valuable tract, we are informed that it had been intended to be subjoined to a new edition of the Bills of Mortality; which edition, however, was not published. We are also indebted to the same ingenious physician for other interesting observations on the mortality in London, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (for 1796), and in those of the London College of Physicians, Vol. IV.

In the same year (1801) was published (in 12mo) another valuable work, entitled, Reports on the Diseases in London, particularly during the years 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, and 1800, by Robert Willan, M.D. F.A.S. part of which had been previously inserted in some periodical publications; the author's observations were made both on the Bills of Mortality, and on the cases that occurred in his own practice.

In reading the writings of the physicians who have treated these subjects, it is impossible not to regret, that they have been so little attended to by the medical profession in general, and that Bills of Mortality have not been more generally kept in such a way, as to throw the lights which they alone can, on the causes of the increase and decrease of different diseases, and of the great differences that are found between the degrees of mortality in different situations, and among different classes of the people. The information of this kind already before the public clearly shows, that the general causes which tend to shorten life do also embitter it; and that where the people are the most happy, useful, and respectable in their several stations, there also, ceteris paribus, they are the longest lived. And these inquiries, we think, are of more importance to governments, and better worth their attention, than statesmen are generally aware of.

In the sixth volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, published in 1809, two tables were given, showing the number that died of each disease in each interval of age, during the years 1807 and 1808 separately, in the city and liberties of Philadelphia, which were communicated by the Board of Health; the numbers both of adults and of children who died in each month of each of these two years, are also given; and it is modestly added, that any suggestions for further improvements will be thankfully received. We therefore beg to suggest, that

the distinction of the sexes, which has not been made, would be a material improvement; and it might also be useful to state, what year the Board consider to be the limit between childhood and adulthood. If, in addition to this, the number of the people in each interval of age within the city and liberties, be determined at regular intervals, as every 5th or 10th year, and the registers of deaths, with the diseases and ages, be regularly continued for several such periods, the annual births of each sex being also given, they cannot fail to become very valuable.

In pursuance of an act of Parliament (41st Geo. III. cap. 15.), an enumeration of the people in Great Britain was made in 1801: also returns of the baptisms and burials in England and Wales, during the year 1700, and every tenth year after that till 1780, then for every year to 1800 inclusive, with the number of marriages in each year from the commencement of 1754 to the end of 1800. Large and clear abstracts of the answers and returns to this act were printed by order of the House of Commons in 1802, and occupy more than 1000 pages folio. In 1811, another act (51st Geo. III. cap. 6.) was passed, “for taking an account of the population of Great Britain, and the increase or diminution thereof;” in consequence of which, returns were that year made to Parliament, of the number of persons in every part of Great Britain; also of the numbers of baptisms, burials, and marriages in England and Wales, during each of the preceding ten years; very satisfactory abstracts of these were also printed by order of Parliament, in 1812, with some preliminary observations, in which corrections of the preceding returns are given.

The sexes were distinguished both in these enumerations and extracts from the registers, but the ages in none of them; and the proportions of males to females among the living are not to be depended upon, a number of males in the army and navy, which it is difficult to estimate, not being natives of Great Britain, nor usually resident there. The returns of baptisms and burials were also defective, but few registers of dissenters having been included in them.

These abstracts are, however, with respect to the objects they extend to, more minute and satisfactory, than any other accounts of the same kind that have been published; and it is very desirable that such returns should continue to be made, and abstracts of them printed at regular intervals; for nothing is so well calculated to show the influence of different causes on the prosperity of a nation, as the comparison of the different states of the population, and the rate of its progress or declension, under different circumstances: besides, the value of the abstracts we already have, will be much enhanced by the publication of others of a similar kind hereafter.

It is much to be regretted, that no information as to the ages of the living, or those at which the deaths took place, was required by either of the acts above referred to; nor any encouragement or facility afforded to those who might be disposed to collect such information; and, consequently, that none was given in the returns.

Without better regulations for the keeping of mortality registers than those at present in force, with-

out such as should extend to dissenters of every denomination, it would probably be better not to require returns of the ages of the deceased from all parts of the kingdom; for defective or inaccurate returns would only mislead, and, not to mention the difficulty and expense of procuring returns of the ages of all the living, they would be comparatively of little use, where those of the dead were wanting.

But if government were to print forms for making returns both of the numbers of the living and of the annual deaths in proper intervals of age, throughout the extent of life; only sending such forms along with those now in use, to such as should apply for them,—then, persons who take an interest in such inquiries, and have the means of making correct returns, might do so with advantage. And a summary of all of that kind made from different parts of the kingdom, would convey much important information. Returns also, from such places only as were similarly circumstanced, might be collected into as many summaries as there were material varieties in the circumstances; and thus would afford the means of determining the different modifications of the law of mortality, which different circumstances produce. If the diseases that occasioned the deaths were also inserted, the greater prevalence of particular diseases in some circumstances than in others, would be apparent, with their effects, and the probable means of preventing them, or lessening their mortality.

But, the population enumerated must always be precisely that which produces the deaths registered; the grand desideratum being, to determine the number of annual deaths at each age, which takes place among a given number of the living at the same age.

Mr Milne's Treatise on Annuities and Assurances was published in 1815, and contains clear abstracts of the most important statements of this kind that have been published since Dr Price's time; these will, we believe, be found to be much more valuable than any thing of the kind that was extant when that ingenious author wrote, whose work has been generally referred to for the best information on such subjects.

Of all the statements derived from bills of mortality and enumerations of the people, which we have mentioned, only those for Sweden and Finland, and Dr Heysham's for Carlisle, have been given in the proper form, and with sufficient correctness to afford the information, which is the most important object of them all,—that which is necessary for determining the law of mortality.

To effect this, it is only necessary to know the mean number of the living and of the annual deaths, in sufficiently small intervals of age, throughout the extent of life, for a period of time sufficient to allow of the accidental fluctuations arising from more or less fruitful years, and other causes, compensating each other: such periods, probably, should not be less than eight or ten years; but the necessary length will depend upon the climate, the number of the people, their general modes of life, and their political circumstances.

These data being obtained, it is not difficult to determine the proportion of the annual deaths to the number of the living in each year of age. Then,

assuming any number of births, as 1000 or 10,000, it is easy to show how many would die in each year of their age; and, consequently, how many would survive that year; which numbers of survivors and of annual deaths, when arranged in the order of the ages, constitute the desired table of mortality, by which all the most important questions respecting the duration of human life may be easily resolved.

For want of understanding the principles upon which the proper construction of such tables depends, most of the writers on this subject, many of them men of great merit and industry, have taken much pains to little purpose, and after excessive labour, have arrived at false conclusions. Hardly any of them appear to have been aware of the necessity of obtaining the number of the living, as well as of the annual deaths in each interval of age, or that that would greatly enhance the value of Bills of Mortality, by extending their useful applications.

Dr Price's Essay on the proper Method of constructing Tables of Mortality, already twice mentioned in this article, was intended to show how such tables might be constructed from registers of the deaths only at all ages; but the hypotheses he proceeded upon can hardly obtain in any real case; and even if they did, his method would only determine the number of the living in the place, at every age; therefore, if it could be put in practice (which it never can), it would only supersede the necessity of actual enumerations; and, with the numbers so obtained, we should have to proceed as above.

That Essay of Dr Price was an amplification of what Mr Simpson had previously advanced on the subject, with his accustomed accuracy, and contains many just observations on the defects of the tables of mortality that had previously been published; but so far as it contributed to induce a belief that the determination of the number of the living in every interval of age, by actual enumeration, was not necessary to the construction of accurate tables, it must have done harm.

What is here stated will be found demonstrated in the third chapter of Mr Milne's Treatise on Annuities.

We come now to the

FORMS SUBMITTED

FOR BILLS OF MORTALITY AND FECUNDITY.

It is desirable that a bill should be published for each year separately, to show how the rates, both of mortality and fecundity, vary with the circumstances of the people in different years; and, from these yearly bills, nothing is more easy than to derive others for longer periods.

According to the form A, the births of both sexes in each year will be distinguished, and the born alive from the still-born; the number of marriages will also be given.

In this, and all other cases where those who undertake the formation of such bills are either unable or unwilling to distinguish all the particulars indicated, the reasons for the omissions should be inserted in the spaces set apart for the numbers omitted. But,

where the still-born are not distinguished as such, they should be omitted entirely, and the number of births stated should be that of the children born alive.

The numbers of deaths of the two sexes in each interval of age, during any year, may, as they are collected from the registers, be conveniently disposed according to the form B; the intervals between 5 years of age and 100, being each 5 years; and the number dying at each age above 100 should be particularly specified. It would, indeed, be much better to give a separate statement of the number of each sex dying in each year of age above 90; for the whole number is never very great, and any error committed at the greater ages, in constructing a table of mortality, affects all the preceding numbers in the table.

But some persons, who would not take the trouble of forming bills of mortality in which the ages are to be so minutely distinguished, might yet be willing to furnish them with the requisite care, according to the form b, which might still be very useful; and, indeed, from 20 to 60 years of age, intervals of 10 years each might do very well.

The value of Bills of Mortality would be greatly enhanced, by inserting in them the contemporaneous wages of labourers in agriculture, and of the workmen employed in the more common kinds of trade and manufacture carried on among the people they relate to; also the prices of the necessaries of life which persons of these descriptions consume the most of; together with any thing uncommon in the seasons or the crops, and every material change in the circumstances of the people.

ENUMERATIONS.

The number of the people in the several intervals of age, which we have stated above to be of so much importance, may be disposed in tables exactly similar to B or b, recommended for the deaths; but it is not necessary that the duration of life should be divided into the same intervals for the living as the dead. It is always desirable that the intervals should, in both cases, be small; but yet not so small, as, by the increase of labour, to occasion the numbers being determined with less exactness, or to deter many from engaging in the work. Such intervals should not, however, exceed ten years.

When the bills are given for a certain period, if there be but one enumeration of the people, it should be made at the middle of the period; if two, at its extremities; and if more than two, it is desirable that they should be made at equal intervals of time throughout the period.

We give no forms here of Bills of Mortality and Fecundity, designed to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate children, or the mortality or fecundity of each month of the year, nor the number of women delivered annually at the different periods of life, nor the diseases the deaths were occasioned by. Neither are the forms here recommended for enumerations

of the people, calculated to distinguish the numbers in the different states of childhood, celibacy, marriage, or widowhood; nor the ranks, or professions, or occupations of the people. All these things are curious, and of some use, although, if we except the diseases which the deaths of each sex at the different ages were occasioned by, they are of little value in comparison with the information the forms here given are calculated to convey. And it is of so much importance that that information should be given correctly, that we would willingly forego these minor objects, to avoid dividing and fatiguing the attention of those who undertake the more important part of the task, which is of itself sufficiently laborious.

And those who may be disposed to keep registers, and form bills and enumerations, on a scale so much extended as to include all these particulars, or most of them, and have also the requisite qualifications, will find no great difficulty in preparing the most convenient forms of tables for the purpose. Several forms of that description, with references to others, will be found in Mr Milne's Treatise on Annuities.

A.

B.

b.

See MORTALITY, LAW OF, in this Supplement. (G.)

Black Sea. BLACK SEA, or EUXINE SEA, Pontus Euxinus of the ancients, is a large inland sea, bounded on the west by Roumelia, Bulgaria, and Bessarabia; on the north by Russian Tartary; on the east by Mingrelia, Circassia, and Georgia; and on the south by Anatolia. It is entered from the Mediterranean through the channel of the Dardanelles, the ancient Hellespont, the Sea of Marmora, Propontis, and the channel of Constantinople, Thracian Bosphorus; and it is connected with the Sea of Azoph, Palus Mæotis, by the strait between the Crimea and the isle of Taman, the ancient Cimmerian Bosphorus, known by the various modern names of the Strait of Caffa, of Yenikale, and of Taman.

Progressive Geography. Till within the last thirty years, the extent of the Black Sea, and the position of several of its principal capes, gulfs, and ports, were very imperfectly ascertained. Soon after the commencement of the French Revolution, the National Institute sent M. Beauchamp to examine this sea, and especially its southern shores. In this enterprise he was much impeded by the jealousy of the Turks; nevertheless, he ascertained that Cape Kerempe, Carambis, was placed in the charts too far to the south; that the Gulf of Sansoun, Amisenus Sinus, was deeper than represented; and that Tribizond, Tarabagan of the Turks, Trapezus, was five or six leagues further to the west than it appeared in the charts. Recent travellers have discovered that even the Parisian charts are inaccurate. According to Dr Clarke, the Isle of Serpents, Ulan-Adassi of the Turks, Fidonisi of the modern Greeks, the ancient Lenee, lies 15 minutes, and the port of Odessa 27 minutes, too far towards the north (Clarke's Travels, I. 653); and Mr Macgill ascertained, from two very good observations of his own, compared with those of some captains who had navigated this sea, that, in the French charts, even Cape Kerempe is not accurately placed, it being set down 15 miles too far north, while Cape Aria, or Careza, Criu-Metopon, in the Crimea, is placed 22 miles too far south. This, of course, makes a difference in the width of the sea at this place of 27 miles (Macgill's Travels, I. 195). According to the best authorities, which Mr Arrowsmith has followed in his maps of this sea, it lies between 41 and 46½ degrees of north latitude, the bottom of the bay of Sansoun penetrating nearly to the 40th degree, and Cape Kerempe stretching out nearly to the 42d; and between 28 and 41½ degrees of east longitude from Greenwich. This will give for its breadth, from Cape Baba in Anatolia to Odessa, about 380 miles; and for its length, from the coast of Roumelia to the mouth of the Phasis, 932 miles. The Black Sea, however, may be considered as divided into two parts, by Cape Aria on the south of the Crimea, and Cape Kerempe on the coast of Paphlagonia, the former lying in about 44½, and the latter in about 42 degrees of latitude. Both these capes being high land, vessels sailing between them can discover the coast on either side. The circumference of the Black Sea is about 3800 miles.

It derives its modern name either from the dense fogs which frequently cover it, or from the dangers of its navigation arising from these fogs; the sudden

and violent storms to which it is exposed; and the Black Sea shallows hitherto unnoticed in any chart. The origin of its ancient name is given in the Encyclopædia, under the article EUXINE.

The opinion of the ancients, that the Black Sea Formerly was formerly much more extensive than it is at present, and that it did not originally communicate with the Mediterranean, is embraced by many modern authors of note, particularly Tournefort, Buffon, Pallas, and Dr Clarke, and seems to be confirmed by several circumstances. Immense strata of limestone, consisting almost entirely of mineralized sea-shells, may be traced the whole way from the Black Sea towards the north, as far as the 48th degree of latitude; and Pallas, in the third and seventh volumes of his Travels, has pointed out traces of its former extent over all the desert of Astracan and Jaik. The evidences derived from the appearance of the present coast of this sea, are still less equivocal in support of the diminution of its waters. Pliny expressly states, that Taurica, the Crimea, was not only once surrounded by the sea, but that the sea covered all the champaign part of it. Now, there are layers of marine shells all the way from the mouths of the Dnieper to those of the Don; and if we suppose the waters of the Black Sea to be restored only to the level of these layers, the Crimea will appear again an island. The alluvial nature of more than three-fourths of the soil of Crimea Proper to the north, the numerous salt lakes and marshes, and the remains of marine productions of various kinds which are found there, sufficiently confirm the latter part of Pliny's statement.

The ancients believed that the communication between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and the consequent diminution of the waters of the former, was effected by the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus, at the period of the deluge which inundated Greece; and this tradition is confirmed by a reference to existing natural phenomena. The cliffs and hills at the mouth of the Bosphorus, are composed of enormous pebbles, which appear to have undergone the action of fire, and afterwards to have been rounded by long contact in water. On the points of the European light-house, there are immense rocks of hard and compact lava; and the rock of which the Cyanean Isles consist, appears to have been more or less modified by fire, and to have been cemented during the boiling of a volcano. On the Asiatic side of the strait, a little to the east of the Anatolian light-house, there is a range of basaltic pillars, exhibiting very regular prismatic forms. From the consideration of all these observations, and comparing events recorded in history with the phenomena of nature, Dr Clarke considers it more than a conjectural position, "that the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus, the deluge mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, and the draining of the waters, which once united the Black Sea to the Caspian, and covered the great oriental plain of Tartary, were all the consequence of earthquakes caused by subterranean fires, described as still burning at the time of the passage of the Argonauts, and whose effects are visible even at this hour." (I. 680.) It is proper to mention,

Black Sea. that Olivier does not coincide with other naturalists respecting the former extent of the Black Sea, or the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus.

Changes in its Coasts. The north and west coasts of this sea have undergone, and are still undergoing, considerable changes: the southern coast, consisting chiefly of calcareous rocks, is nearly in the same state in which it was in the time of the ancients. According to Valerius Flaccus, the gulfs and bays in the north and west coasts were extremely deep; most of these are now all either entirely filled up, or much contracted. In proof that the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoph are still sustaining a diminution of their waters, it may be stated, that ships which formerly sailed to Taganrock and the mouths of the Don, are now unable to approach either the one or the other; that the Sea of Azoph has become so shallow, that, during certain winds, a passage may be effected by land from Taganrock to Azoph, through the bed of the sea; and that the isthmus connecting the Cyanean Isles with the Continent, which does not appear to have existed in the time of Strabo, appears to be increasing. On the southern coast of the Black Sea, there is, as far as we know, only one instance of a recession of the waters: the channel which formerly divided the village of Amasrah, Amastris, is now filled up, and forms a low isthmus.

Currents. A rapid current, which generally flows at the rate of a league an hour, the influence of which is felt at the distance of ten miles from land, when it begins to take another direction, sets from the Black Sea into the Bosphorus. Sometimes, however, the long continuance of a strong south-west wind effectually counteracts this current. The Black Sea, from its particular form, being like a basin, into which many large rivers pour their streams, is full of currents, particularly in summer, when the rivers are increased by the melting of the snows: when strong winds act against these currents, a high sea is produced. North-east winds prevail from June to August inclusive; the most prevalent winds, at other seasons of the year, are from the south and south-west. The general climate of the Black Sea is cold and humid; the winters are long and frequently very severe, but the navigation is free of impediment from ice till the beginning of November, and often much later. The quantity of fresh water conveyed into this sea renders it brackish, and liable to freeze with a moderate degree of cold. It is calculated by some authors, particularly Tournefort (II. 404), and the Abbé Barthelemy (Voyage d'Anacharse, Tom. I. c. 1), that what it receives is much more than what it discharges into the Mediterranean. Dr Clarke, however, is of opinion, that the rivers which fall into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoph, do not communicate more water than flows through the canal of Constantinople; hence he concludes, that, admitting the effect of evaporation, the level of the Black Sea insensibly falls (I. 628).

Rivers. The Black Sea receives a considerable portion of the fresh waters of Europe, as well as of Asia Minor. The Danube collects the waters of a great part of Germany, Hungary, Bosnia, Servia, &c. The Dniester, Bog, Don, and Dnieper, discharge

into it those of a part of Russia and Poland. The Black Sea. Phasis collects those of Mingrelia; and the Sangaris, and Kisil Irmak, Halys, part of those of Anatolia.

In the Black Sea are found the tunny fish, which Fish enters it to spawn; sturgeon, sterlet, porpoise, mackerel, soal, turbot, whiting, &c. It abounds with a species of sea-worm, four or five inches long; its head is like an arrow, and its body consists of a whitish mucilage: these worms are very destructive to ships.

We shall begin our survey of the coasts and ports Coasts and of this sea, at its entrance from the Bosphorus, and Ports of Roumelia. proceed along its western shores. Off each point of the entrance of the Bosphorus from the Black Sea is a group of rocky islets, which retain their ancient name, Cyanean Islands. These have been already described. From the Bosphorus to Kara-Kerman, which lies within a few miles of the southernmost branch of the Danube, the coast is lined by the mountainous ridge of Balkan, Hæmus, which terminates at Cape Emeniah, Hæmi extrema. The valleys between these mountains form little coves, where vessels are laden with the timber of Hæmus for Constantinople. The forest of Belgrad, which takes its name from a village near Constantinople, extends along the south-west corner of the Black Sea, for about 100 miles. Incada, Thenias, lies on Incada this coast in 41° 52' north latitude. On the north side of the harbour there is good anchorage; it is only exposed to winds from the east and south-east, and is sufficiently spacious to contain a fleet; a heavy sea, however, enters it, when those winds blow to which it is exposed: Its chief export is charcoal to Constantinople. At the head of the Gulf of Foros, which is bounded on the south by Cape Emeniah, is four or five leagues wide, and runs into the land nearly the same distance, is Burgos, Burgos, which exports a considerable quantity of wool, iron, corn, butter, cheese, &c. to Constantinople. There are several roads in this gulf fit for the largest ships.

On the coast of Bulgaria is Varna, at the mouth of a river, which forms a large lake and extensive marshes; hence provisions are sent to Constantinople. Kara-Kerman, Istropolis, is a large village on the beach; several shoals lie off it, which oblige vessels to anchor a league to the south. Its principal export is corn.

From Kara-Kerman to Actiar, in the Crimea, the coast is very low, and the shoals formed by the rivers run off a considerable distance. The Danube empties itself into the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Bessarabia, by seven mouths, among swampy islands and shifting banks. The most frequented mouth is 100 fathoms wide and 3 fathoms deep; its stream runs out at the rate of three miles an hour. So great is the extent over which the waters of this river diffuse themselves, from the shallowness of the sea, that at the distance of three leagues from its mouth the water is almost sweet, and within one league it is perfectly fit for use. A very singular appearance takes place in the mouths of the Danube;—the porpoise, which every where else exhibits a dark colour, is there perfectly white; hence, as soon as the Greek mariners descry the white por-

Black Sea. poise, they have no doubt that they are in the current of the Danube, although in 30 fathoms water, and many leagues distant from its mouth. Opposite the mouths of this river is Serpents Island, already noticed. Kilia-nova, belonging to Austria, is a port of small consequence, at one of the mouths; it might, however, be rendered highly important, by vending the productions of Hungary, if the navigation of the river were not obstructed by the jealousy of the Turks.

Coasts and Ports of Cherson. The Russian province of Cherson is divided from Bessarabia by the Dniester Tyras. A bank before it forms two channels; that on the west, called the channel of Constantinople, is 150 fathoms broad; and that on the east, called the channel of Oczakoff, 80; neither have more than eight feet water. Akerman, on the south bank of this river, has some export trade in corn, wool, wine, wood, hides, and butter. Between the Dniester and Dnieper stands Odessa, the most flourishing port in the Black Sea. It owes its prosperity, not so much to any natural advantages, as to the wise administration of the Duke of Richelieu, while he was governor of this province. It is situate close to the coast, which is here very lofty, and much exposed to the winds, especially to the east. In order to render it a safe and commodious port, the Duke caused a harbour to be formed, in which ships of no small burden may ride secure from every storm. He also built a large mole, extending half a verst into the sea; several smaller ones, and a handsome quay, one verst and a half long. The roads without the port are safe in summer, and the anchorage good. Odessa labours under the want of a navigable river, and a great scarcity of fresh water. In the year 1805, 595 vessels were entered at this port, of which 27 were under the English flag; 264 were Austrians, owned by the merchants of Trieste, but employed as the carriers of Spain and Portugal. In the year 1816, up to the 28th of June, 498 ships had entered Odessa, bringing merchandise to the value of one and a half million of rubles, besides a very large quantity of specie. During the same period, there sailed 246 ships laden with Russian produce, to the amount of 15,220,000 rubles, including above 324,000 quarters of wheat. The principal imports are wine, chiefly French, some rum, raw silk, coffee, sugar, oil, soap, sulphur, fruit, linen cloth, &c. but all in very limited quantities. The great article of export is wheat, which, however, in the opinion of Mr Macgill, is very far inferior to that of Taganrock, being soft, and apt to heat; besides this, grain, rye, barley, oats, tallow, and tallow candles, beeswax, iron, hemp, &c. are exported.

The Dnieper. The Dnieper, Borysthenes, which separates the Russian provinces of Cherson and Taurida, forms, near its mouth, a shallow and marshy lake, two and a half miles broad, a-breadth of Oczakoff, but more at the confluence of the Bog. The entrance is almost closed by shifting sand banks, between which, there is seldom more than five feet water. The Bog, Hypanis, falls into the gulf of Leman, or estuary of the Dnieper. There is a very small island opposite the mouth of the latter river, almost inaccessible on account of its perpendicular cliffs of rock and clay.

Oczakoff. Oczakoff is a small port, lying at the junction of

these rivers; its harbour is perfectly secure, but the little trade it formerly possessed, has been drawn away to Odessa. Opposite to Oczakoff is Kinburn, which, before the building of Cherson, was intended by the Russians as the principal depot for the merchandise sent from the provinces bordering on the Dnieper. The extension of the Russian dominions on the west, has caused even Cherson, on the right bank of the Dnieper, to be superseded by Odessa. Yet corn, hemp, and other articles of exportation, are so much cheaper, and more plentiful here, that many foreign vessels still prefer this port, though they are obliged first to perform quarantine, and unload their cargoes at Odessa. The Dnieper is five miles wide at Cherson, but only vessels that draw six feet can ascend to it. The Russians, however, have a large arsenal here, and build line-of-battle ships, which are floated down the river on machines, and afterwards conveyed to Oczakoff to be equipped. Nicolaef, on the Bog, a fine river, without bar or cataract, with deep, still water, is the station for vessels when built, and here they are laid up to be repaired. It has extensive marine arsenals, being the seat of the Russian marine administration on the Black Sea.

South Coast of the Crimea. The southern coast of the Crimea is lofty and precipitous; the mountains beginning at Balaclava, Symboli, and extending to Caffa, Theodosia. Some of these are celebrated in antiquity, and are no less remarkable for their formation and appearance. The mountain Tchedirdagh, Trapezus, rises rapidly from the coast about Alusta to the height of 1200 or 1300 feet; it exhibits a mass of limestone very compact, of a grey colour, and according to Pallas, upon friction, slightly fetid. The remarkable headlands of the Crimea are Cape Tarchanskoi, called by the Tartars Aya-Burun, or the Sacred Promontory, probably the Parthenium of Strabo; one of the loftiest mountains in the Crimea, terminating abruptly in the sea, and forming the west point of the Peninsula. It consists of marble. On the south point is Cape Aria, Crit-Metopon, formerly noticed.

West Coast of the Crimea. The first port of note on the west coast of the Crimea is Kosloff, or Eupatoria, from which, in 1793, 176 vessels were freighted with corn, salt, and leather; but at present, its commerce is nearly annihilated. Sevastopol, formerly Actiar, Ctenus, is the chief station of the Russian Black Sea fleet, no merchant ship being allowed to enter it, except in distress. The natural advantages of this harbour are very great. The largest vessels lie within a cable's length of the shore. The harbour is divided into three coves, something resembling that of Malta. The principal branch runs east, and is terminated by the valley and little river of Inkerman. Here the fleets of the world might ride secure, and have convenient anchorage; and in any of the ports, vessels find from 21 to 70 feet depth of water, and good anchorage. On a tongue of high land between the two southern creeks stands the Admiralty and storehouses. The great bay of Actiar also bears the name of the Roads, and here the Russian fleet is frequently at anchor. The port of Balaclava is separated from that of Actiar by a narrow peninsula. It

Black Sea. is one of the most remarkable in the Crimea, appearing from the town landlocked by high precipitous mountains. Its entrance is so extremely narrow, that only one ship can pass at a time; but within the port, it is three quarters of a mile long, and 400 yards broad; it is secure in all weather from storms; and ships of war of any burden may find in it sufficient depth of water. The mountains which surround it are of red and white marble, and the shore in some parts is covered with gold coloured mica, in a state of extreme division. This port is closed against the vessels of all nations, not excepting Prussians, to prevent smuggling. Caffa lies on a bay, capable of containing several hundred merchant vessels, but exposed to the east and southwest. It formerly carried on the most extensive trade in the Black Sea; but it is now of very little consequence. Kertchi, Ponticapum, on a peninsula, Chersonesus Cimmeria, stretching into the strait of Taman, and Yenikale, at the extremity of the same peninsula, are small ports chiefly inhabited by fishermen.

Caffa. The coast of Anatolia, on the Black Sea, extends to the Kesil-Irmak, which falls into this sea a little to the west of the Gulf of Sansoun. It is lined by high mountains, terminating in lofty promontories. It is steep and clean, with numerous little coves, into most of which small rivulets fall. The most remarkable headlands are Cape Kili-Mili, east of Erekli; Cape Kerenipe, the north point of Asia Minor, very high land, with breakers off it; and Cape Indjee, a low point to the west of Sinope. The principal rivers on this coast, besides the Kisil-Irmak, Halays, and the Sakaria, Sangarius, already noticed, are the Falios, Bettacus, and the Barthin, Parthenius. The only port of consequence is Sinope, strongly situated on the narrow and low isthmus of a rocky peninsula. The mole which formed its port is nearly in ruins. The depth of water is 12 feet. There is, however, a good road for the largest ships; and Turkish vessels of war are built here. Sinope is the nearest port on the Black Sea to Angora, the only place hitherto known that supplies the fine goats' hair.

Coast of Roum; The coast from the Kisil-Irmak to Vona is named Roum by the Turks. The chief places are Sansoun, Amisus, on the Jekyl Irmak, which falls into the deep Gulf of Sansoun. Fatsa, Polemonium, at the mouth of the Sidemus, Budjiah and Vona, Boona, on the Cape of the same name.

of the Lazians. From Vona, the coast takes the name of the tribes that inhabit it. The Lazians, Lazi, occupy the coast from Vona to the Batouni. The principal port on this coast is Trebizond. Though it can receive only small vessels, it has a considerable trade. One hundred and fifty or two hundred small craft annually sail to Taganrock, with nardek, a marmalade of grapes, and beckmiss, a syrup made for the use of the distilleries there.

Coast of the Gurions. Next to the Lazians, the Gurions occupy the coast, as far as the Rioni, Phasis. At its mouth this river is 60 fathoms deep, and half a league broad; but a small island lies in the midst of its channel. The only port in the country of the Gurions is Poti, to which the merchants of Georgia re-

sort; the Mingrelians occupying the country of Black Sea, the ancient Colchi. In this tract there is no port of consequence. The Abasses occupy the coast from Isgarur to the Strait of Yenikale, as far as Anaffa. This coast is very elevated, the Caucasian mountains approaching close to the sea. Near Sondjuk is a very lofty promontory called Varda. From Anaffa to the Straits, the coast is low. Some small vessels are built at Anaffa by the Turks. The Kuban, Hypanis, receives most of the waters of the western side of Caucasus. Near its mouth it divides into two branches, one of which falls into the Sea of Azoph, and the other into the Black Sea. The marshy isle of Taman is formed by it. On this island is Fana Jona, a place of some trade.

The commerce of the Black Sea, in ancient times, was successively in the possession of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. From the last it passed to the Greeks of the Lower Empire; from them to the Venetians and the Genoese. Caffa was the principal city of the commerce of the Genoese with the east; and the port at which was deposited all the merchandize which had been transported to the Black Sea. By the capture of Constantinople in 1453, this commerce was nearly destroyed; and by the capture of Caffa, in 1476, it was completely annihilated. One of the favourite objects of Peter the Great was to obtain a share in the commerce of this sea, which the subjects of the Porte alone were permitted to navigate. In 1699, he succeeded in subduing Azoph and the country round it; but, by the unfortunate battle of Pruth, in 1711, he was compelled to relinquish his conquests. His successors, and especially Catherine II. aimed at the same object. This enterprising sovereign, by the treaty of Kainardgy, in 1774, and afterwards by the treaty of Jassy, in 1791, completely accomplished her object; the Turks being obliged to surrender a part of Lesser Tartary and the Crimea, to allow the Russians to establish a navy in the Black Sea, and to permit their flag a free passage through the Dardanelles. In 1784, the Porte granted the privilege of navigating the Black Sea to the Court of Vienna. No other European nation obtained this privilege, though the French carried on a considerable trade under the Russian and Imperial flags, till after the conquest of Egypt by the French, when a treaty was concluded between the French government and the Porte, by which the latter granted the free navigation of this Sea. At the peace of Amiens, the navigation was opened to the Prussian, Spanish, Neapolitan, Dutch, Ragusan, and English merchant flags; and all these nations were allowed to have resident Consuls in the Turkish ports of this Sea. The English, however, by secret treaties with the Turks, in the reign of James I. and Charles, were granted the navigation of this Sea; and, in 1799, it was again granted.

Soon after the peace of Amiens, the commerce of this Sea increased considerably: so that, in 1803, 815 vessels entered the Russian ports from the Mediterranean. Most of them came in ballast, and returned with corn. Of these 815 vessels, there were,