brought down to fourteen or fifteen in a thousand. A quarter of a century ago the death-rate from disease in the Royal Guards at London was twenty per thousand; in 1888 it had been reduced to six in a thousand. In the army generally it had been seventeen in a thousand, but it has been reduced until it now stands at eight. In the old Indian army it had been sixty-nine in a thousand; but of late it has been brought down, first to twenty, and finally to fourteen. Mr. Chadwick in his speech proved that much more might be done, for he called attention to the German army, where the death-rate from disease has been reduced to between five and six in a thousand. Between 1871 and 1880 the death-rate in England among men fell more than four in a thousand, and among women more than six in a thousand. In the decade between 1851 and 1860 there died of zymotic diseases over four thousand persons in every million throughout England; these numbers have declined until in 1888 there died less than two thousand in every million. As to the scourge which, next to plagues like the black death, was formerly the most dreaded—small-pox—there died of it in London during the year 1890 just one person. Drainage in Bristol reduced the death-rate by consumption from 4·4 to 2·3; at Cardiff, from 3·47 to 2·31; and in all England and Wales from 2·68 in 1851 to 1·55 in 1888.
What can be accomplished by better sanitation is also seen today by a comparison between the death-rate among the children outside and inside the charity schools. The death-rate among those outside in 1881 was twelve in a thousand; while inside, where the children were under sanitary regulations, maintained by competent authorities, it has been brought down, first to eight, then to four, and finally to less than three in a thousand.
In view of statistics like these, it becomes clear that Edwin Chadwick and his compeers among the sanitary authorities have in half a century done far more to reduce the rate of disease and death than has been done in fifteen hundred years by all the fetiches which theological reasoning could devise or ecclesiastical power enforce.
Not less striking has been the history of hygiene in France; thanks to the decline of theological control over the universities, to the abolition of monasteries, and to such labors in hygienic research and improvement as those of a succession of men like Tardieu, Levy, and Bouchardat, a wondrous change has been wrought in public health. Statistics carefully kept show that the mean length of human life has been remarkably increased. In the eighteenth century it was but twenty-three years; from 1825 to 1830 it was thirty-two years and eight months; and since 1864, thirty-seven years and six months. The question may come up here whether this progress has been purchased at any
