In the three departments in which
there are from 68 to 84 people
on the square mile............... 4372 4390 3890
In the three departments in which
there are from 300 to 417 people
on the square mile............... 4457 4510 4060
These are strong cases. But we have a still stronger case. Take the
whole of the third, fourth, and fifth divisions into which Mr Sadler
has portioned out the French departments. These three divisions make up
almost the whole kingdom of France. They contain seventy-nine out of the
eighty-five departments. Mr Sadler has contrived to divide them in
such a manner that, to a person who looks merely at his averages, the
fecundity seems to diminish as the population thickens. We will separate
them into two parts instead of three. We will draw the line between
the department of Gironde and that of Herault. On the one side are the
thirty-two departments from Cher to Gironde inclusive. On the other side
are the forty-six departments from Herault to Nord inclusive. In all the
departments of the former set, the population is under 132 on the square
mile. In all the departments of the latter set, it is above 132 on
the square mile. It is clear that, if there be one word of truth in Mr
Sadler's theory, the fecundity in the latter of these divisions must
be very decidedly smaller than in the former. Is it so? It is, on the
contrary, greater in all the three tables. We give the result.