10,268 infants are born on the same day and enter upon life
simultaneously. Of these, 1243 never reach the anniversary of their
birth; 9025 commence the second year; but the proportion of deaths
still continues so great, that at the end of the third only 8183, or
about four-fifths of the original number, survive. But during the
fourth year the system seems to acquire more strength, and the number
of deaths rapidly decreases. It goes on decreasing until twenty-one,
the commencement of maturity and the period of highest health. 7134
enter upon the activities and responsibilities of life--more than
two-thirds of the original number. Thirty-five comes, the meridian of
manhood, 6302 have reached it. Twenty years more, and the ranks are
thinned. Only 4727, or less than half of those who entered life
fifty-five years ago, are left. And now death comes more frequently.
Every year the ratio of mortality steadily increases, and at seventy
there are not 1000 survivors. A scattered few live on to the close of
the century, and at the age of one hundred and six the drama is ended;
the last man is dead.--_Albany Journal_.