That the still-births in Glasgow during the three years ending 1852 were calculated by the late Dr. Strang to have amounted to 1 in 12, or upwards of 8 per cent.* That in France their proportion amounts to between 4 and 4 per cent., and in Paris to about 7 per cent. That the ordinary proportion among legitimate children is reckoned to be from 1 in 18, to 1 in 20 of all births, and among illegitimate children three times greater. That many more males are still-born than females, viz. 140 to 100, and that still-births are more frequent in first than in subsequent pregnancies. The paper also referred to the difficulty of defining the term "still-birth;" to the opinion of medical practitioners that the registration of still-births ought to be confined to children born "Viable," or with a capacity to live; to the Memorial addressed to the Registrar-General of Scotland by the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, in 1858, in favour of the registration of still-births; and to the supposed prejudice in the upper and middle ranks of society against such registration. The paper concluded with the following statement: Prejudice or no prejudice, the question to be decided is simply this :-Is it expedient that these births should be registered? While I wish to speak with great deference on a subject respecting which a lawyer is probably not so well qualified as a medical practitioner to express an opinion, and notwithstanding the very decided views to the contrary of my esteemed friend the Registrar-General of Englandt, I have no hesitation in saying that I have long thought that the proposal of the College of Physicians should be carried into effect as a matter of public policy. "In his able pamphlet on 'The Law of the Coroner, and on Medical Evidence in the Preliminary Investigation of Criminal Cases,' published in 1855, Dr. Craig, of Ratho, says, 'Another apparent step in advance is an enactment in the New Scotch Registration Bill, which came into full operation on the 1st of January, 1855, where in cases of new-born children exposed or found dead, or in cases of persons found dead, a report is to be sent to the Procurator Fiscal, who, in case of a Precognition,' is to report to the Registrar before he can enter the case in the register. The birth and burial, however, of still-born children are not to be registered; and thus every facility is afforded for concealment of pregnancy, and for the crime of child murder.' "In the interests of medical science, moreover, I think it cannot be doubted that the births in question ought to be duly recorded; and now that we have in each of the three portions of the United Kingdom a national system of registration, more or less perfect, the facility of doing so is very largely increased. It is no doubt desirable that a uniform procedure should be observed in the three kingdoms. Already, however, in various important respects, the three systems of registration materially differ; and, accordingly, in the matter in question, it might perhaps be worth while to make the experiment, in the first instance, in the comparatively small sphere of North Britain, leaving England and Ireland to follow, if the experiment should prove a success. Whether or not fresh legislation would be necessary is, I think, open to question. Speaking generally, it appears to me that the registration of still-births is not excluded in the existing statute. Were it otherwise, the regulation relative to the non-registration of still-births would be altogether unnecessary. If, however, the form of registration to which I shall presently allude were to be thought expedient, it would probably require the intervention of the Legislature, in the shape of a short supplementary Act. "As to the mode of practically carrying out the registration of still-births, I am quite prepared to offer a few suggestions. On the assumption that the medical faculty are agreed upon what ought to be regarded as a still-birth, and that it is found feasible to give intelligible instructions upon the subject to the Registrarsupwards of 1000 in number-the first point to be determined is, the register in which the entries ought to be made. As I have already stated, the practice in *Probably too high an estimate. + See printed paper, dated 6th July, 1869, entitled 'Remarks submitted to the Consideration of the Royal Sanitary Commission by the Registrar-General of England and Wales.' France is to record still-births in the death register, and this course, I apprehend, is approved of by some medical practitioners and others in our own country. But I venture to recommend a different plan. "It will perhaps be alleged that the events in question must be regarded as either births or deaths, and registered accordingly; i. e. either in the birth or in the death register. If the question is to be thus limited, I should incline to prefer the birth to the death register, inasmuch as a still-birth cannot be scientifically regarded as a true death; and is, indeed, more of a birth than a death. But it does not appear to follow that still-births should find their way into either the birth or the death register. For many reasons, a separate register, specially prepared for the purpose, would be the best arrangement-to be transmitted from time to time to the General Registry Office as its pages are filled, and not annually as in the case of the duplicate registers of births, deaths, and marriages. It appears to be quite unnecessary that such register should be kept in duplicate; and at the end of every quarter the number of still-births would be reported by the Registrar in his return of births, deaths, and marriages. As to the form of the register, I would propose that it should embrace the following particulars :— "1. Number of the entry. "2. Sex of child. "3. Date and place of birth. "4. Age of child in months and days, from date of conception. "5. Number of the mother's pregnancy, whether first, second, &c., and whether she has had any previous still-born children. "6. Names, ages, and designations of the parents, and the date of their marriage. "7. Signature of the informant. "8. Date of registration and signature of Registrar. "As to the age of the child, probably considerable difficulty would be experienced in ascertaining this particular. The precise period of conception, and consequently of gestation, cannot be determined by the date of intercourse, and the real duration of pregnancy is, of course, the interval between conception and parturition. In most cases, however, a sufficiently near approximation to the truth would probably be attained. "As to the party who should sign the register as informant, this might be the duty of the medical practitioner or other professional person in attendance; and where no such person was in attendance, the nearest female relative of the mother, being of full age, present at the birth. Another course would be for the medical attendant to transmit to the Registrar, as in the case of a death, on a form supplied for the purpose, a certificate relative to the still-birth, the event being recorded under the provisions of the statute applicable to births generally (17 & 18 Vict. c. 80, § 27). In lieu of the extract furnished to the informant of a living birth, in terms of the 37th section of the Registration Act, the Registrar should be required to give a burial certificate, analogous to that furnished to the informant of a death (Ibid. § 44). It is to be feared that under the existing state of affairs, many still-born children are interred not in cemeteries, but in back greens, waterholes, quarries, and such like places, being treated as brute-beasts and not as human beings. "The subject appears to be a very important one, and I humbly commend the suggestions which I have ventured to offer to the favourable consideration of statists, philanthropists, and the medical profession." On certain Cases of Questioned Legitimacy under the Operation of the Scottish Registration Act (17 & 18 Vict. c. 80). By GEORGE SETON, Advocate, M.A. Oxon., Secretary in the General Registry Office of Births, &c. (Scotland). "It is a wise father that knows his own child."-(Merchant of Venice.) This paper had reference to the subject of adulterine bastardy. After alluding to the well-known legal presumption which assigns the status of legitimacy to a child born in wedlock ("pater est quem nuptiæ demonstrant"), to the circumstances under which the presumption may be overcome, and to the statements of Stair and Erskine upon the subject, the author said : "The history of the law of legitimacy is fully detailed by Sir Harris Nicolas, in his work on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy;' while the present state of the law is set forth in the works of several well-known authors, including the treatise on the Evidence of Succession,' by Mr. Hubback (p. 393 et seq.), and the 'Law of Evidence in Scotland,' by Mr. Gillespie Dickson (vol. i. p. 190 et seq.). "The usual ground on which the presumption of legitimacy is overcome is the non-access of the husband within the period of gestation. Actual proof of such non-access is all that is now required both in England and Scotland; in other words, it is no longer necessary to establish the physical impossibility of the husband's access, by proving the intervention of the quatuor maria. According to Mr. Hubback, the early writers (including Bracton and Fleta) recognize no such doctrine as that of the quatuor maria; and, accordingly, he asserts that 'the law as now settled in its repudiation of this doctrine, is in conformity with the most ancient authorities.' Even Lord Eldon remarked that the law had been scrupulous about legitimacy, to the extent of disturbing the rules of reason. "A somewhat difficult question occasionally arises in connexion with the legal presumption of legitimacy, under the operation of the Act relative to the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Scotland (17 & 18 Vict. c. 80). The form in which births require to be recorded is prescribed in Schedule (A) annexed to that statute. The first column of the register embraces the 'Name and Surname' of the child, and the fourth column the 'Name, surname, and rank or profession of the father,' the Name and maiden surname of the mother,' and the 'Date and place of marriage.' "These latter particulars, of course, only apply to the case of legitimate children, the entries applicable to illegitimate births being modified according to circumstances, and the word 'illegitimate' being entered under the child's name in the first column of the register. "In the case of a legitimate birth, the primary informant is one or other of the child's parents, whom failing (in consequence of death, illness, or inability) certain other specified persons. Such parent or other informant is required within twentyone days after the birth, and under a penalty of twenty shillings, to attend personally and give information to the Registrar of the parish or district in which the birth occurred, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, of the several particulars required to be registered touching such birth, and to sign the register in the presence of the Registrar.' As a general rule, the Registrar (whose duties are, of course, purely ministerial) experiences no difficulty in recording the births reported to him either as legitimate or illegitimate, according to the statement of the informant. Sometimes, however, a doubtful case presents itself, usually under the following circumstances. A married woman attends at the Office of the Registrar, and informs him that she has given birth to a child, of which, however, she solemnly declares that her husband is not the father, adding that she has not had any intercourse with him for a long period, perhaps two or three years; at any rate for upwards of nine or ten months prior to the birth of the child. It may be that, during that time, the husband has been living at a distance from his wife, if not residing out of the kingdom; and possibly the paternity may be acknowledged by the paramour. She makes this statement, in the words of the statute already referred to, to the best of her knowledge and belief.' Under such circumstances, would the Registrar be entitled, in virtue of the legal presumption, to disregard the statement of the mother, to record the child as legitimate, and to insist on the mother signing the relative entry as informant? In other words, how are we to reconcile the conflict between the legal presumption in favour of the child's legitimacy with the mother's deliberate assertion to the contrary? The ordinary practice of the Registrar General is to send a printed schedule to the Registrar who reports a birth occurring under such circumstances, of which the following is a copy: "INFORMATION to be supplied before the REGISTRATION of the BIRTH of the alleged ILLEGITIMATE CHILD of a MARRIED WOMAN. 1. Date of Birth 2. Christian and Maiden Name of Mother 3. Name and Designation of her Husband 6. Are they still residing together? If 8. Have they had any personal communi- to reside together, and if so, when 9. Does the Husband concur with the 10. Is the Paternity of the Child to be acknowledged by any other Person, in terms of the 35th Section of the original Registration Act? If so, state his Name and Designation. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above Information has been supplied to me, as Registrar of the Parish (or District) of in which the Birth occurred, by Date Registrar. "The directions as to the form of the relative entry depend, of course, upon the answers supplied; but in the majority of the cases submitted for consideration, where the statement clearly indicates the impossibility of the husband being the father, the child is described, in the first column of the Register, by its mother's maiden and married surnames alternately, without the addition of the word 'illegitimate,' while in column four, the name of the husband, and the date and place of marriage are omitted, and the mother thus described :- Mary Brown, wife of David Wilson, shoemaker, who she (the informant) declares is not the father of the child, and further that she has not seen her husband for upwards of (say) two years.' Such an entry, no doubt, affords prima facie evidence of the child's illegitimacy, and at a distant period it would probably be somewhat difficult to overcome the presumption. On the other hand, however, the circumstantial statement in column 4 distinctly shows that the child was born in wedlock, its alleged illegitimacy being registered on the information of its own mother; and such information being tendered 'to the best of her knowledge and belief.' If, however, the circumstances are such as to indicate opportunity of access to the husband, or otherwise suggest a presumption in favour of the child's legitimacy, the Registrar is instructed to record the birth as legitimate in the ordinary way, even in the face of the mother's assertion to the contrary; and if the husband, or any other interested party, should feel aggrieved by the form of the entry, he is, of course, entitled to take steps for its correction, in terms of the statutory provisions." * As a general rule, most of the information will be furnished by the child's mother. On Indian Statistics and Official Reports. By Dr. GEORGE SMITH. The eight years' administration of the Marquis of Dalhousie, which closed in 1856, was the beginning of intellectual progress in British India. On the conclusion of his splendid series of conquests, and even, to some extent, during their continuance, that distinguished Governor-General set in motion all those reforms which are involved in the railway, the telegraph, the anna or three-halfpenny postage, primary schools supported by a local cess, the Universities and the higher education, such scientific and political expeditions as Colonel Yule's Mission to Ava, the Geological Survey, and such enlightened legislation as the Acts establishing religious and civil toleration, and permitting the marriage of Hindoo widows. During his administration, when reviewing the Charter of the East India Company for the last time, Parliament directed, in 1853, that Reports of the moral and material progress in India should be submitted to it every year. Each Province and each Department has since published an annual report, the whole numbering from eight to twelve. Led by professional duties to study these reports, and frequently to criticise them, the author was struck by the absence of uniformity and the meagreness of their statistical and economic information. The discussions caused by the Mutiny of 1857 had shown England the need of accurate information regarding India, and the annual Budgets, first introduced by the lamented James Wilson in 1859, had convinced the Government of India of the necessity for statistical information as the basis of financial and political action. Still no reform was attempted till, in 1863, the author submitted to Mr. S. Laing, then Indian Finance Minister, a memorial and a plan on the subject. The author adapted to India the scientific scheme of statistics, published by the International Statistical Congress, which had sat not long before, and recommended the appointment of a permanent committee of officials and nonofficials to advise Government on statistical questions. An attempt had previously been made to establish a Statistical Society independently of Government, but that had failed. On Mr. Laing's advice Lord Elgin was pleased to adopt the suggestions, and to appoint what has since been known as the Calcutta Statistical Committee to carry them out. That Committee, working vigorously at first, divided the whole field among small subcommittees. Mr. Bullen, a well-known merchant of Calcutta, adapted the English Board of Trade tables, so that the Financial Department is now able to publish detailed trade returns from the most distant parts of India every month, and only a few weeks after the close of the period to which they refer. An annual volume is also published. The difficult and complicated subject of the statistics of revenue and expenditure was referred to Mr. R. H. Hollingbery, AssistantSecretary of the Financial Department, so that that department now publishes annually an invaluable series of three folio volumes, showing the past and present statistics of Indian finance in great detail. The subject of administrative statistics, other than those of trade and finance, was referred to the Hon. Mr. George Campbell, now the able Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, and to the author. The committee were pleased to adopt the author's plan, adapted from that of the Statistical Congress, which, however, did not provide for judicial statistics. Mr. Campbell, then a Judge of the Bengal High Court, prepared an admirable series of tables for that department, but the Government of India was constrained to appoint a special committee to deal with the courts of the other Provinces as well as of Bengal. The result is that nothing satisfactory has yet been done for judicial statistics, and no reliable uniform generalization can be made regarding litigation, crime, and police in India. In all other respects, however, the statistical forms seem to be perfect. The administrative tables were referred to the Provincial Governments, and, after undergoing searching and sometimes hostile criticism, because they seemed to interfere with local arrangements and to demand an establishment of clerks, they were finally approved of by the Government of India and the Secretary of State in 1867. That is, each of the ten Provinces which send in annual administration reports, was ordered to report on the basis of these uniform and scientific tables. Since 1867-68 all have obeyed, except the three most important-Bengal proper, Madras and Bombay. The first, |