Page:PettyWilliam1899EconomicWritingsVol2.djvu/61

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368
Graunt's Observations.

ordinary proportion in 1605 of 6504, about which proportion it stood till the year 1610.

8. I say, it followeth, that, let the Mortality be what it will, the City repairs its loss of Inhabitants within two years; which Ob-|54|servation lessens the Objection made against the value of Houses in London, as if they were liable to great prejudice through the loss of Inhabitants by the Plague.


CHAP. VI.

Of the Sickliness, Healthfulness, and Fruitfulness of Seasons.

1.  HAving spoken of Casualties, we come next to compare the Sickliness, Healthfulness, and Fruitfulness of the several Years and Seasons one with another. And first, having in the Chapters afore going mentioned the several years of Plague, we shall next present the several other sickly years; we meaning by a sickly Year such wherein the Burials exceed those, both of the precedent and subsequent years, and not above two hundred dying of the Plague, for such we call Plague-Years; and this we do, that the World may see, by what spaces and intervals we may hereafter expect such times again. Now, we may not call that a more sickly year, wherein more die, because such excess of Burials |55| may proceed from increase and access of People to the City only.

2. Such sickly years were 1618, 20, 23, 24, 1632, 33, 34, 1649, 52, 54, 56, 58, 61, as may be seen by the Tables[1].

3. In reference to this Observation we shall present another, namely, That the more sickly the years are, the less fecund or fruitful of Children also they be. Which will appear, if the number of Children born in the said sickly years be less than that of the years both next preceding and next following: all which, upon view of the Tables, will be

  1. According to the table on p. 408 the years 1623, 1624, 1633 and 1634 fail to satisfy Graunt's definition of sickly years.