9

H.—7

The main figures may be retabulated thus: —

At a glance it is obvious that the excess of males is greatest where the incidence of insanity is greatest, and negligible where it is least, Though explaining most, by itself this does not explain all. As demonstrated in Table A, the number of the corresponding 'sex in our population to one insane person is uniformly greater for females in each of the chief contributing nationalities ; in the others the number is too small and has been ignored. This undoubtedly indicates either a greater mental stability in the women of the colony or the result of better social conditions, or possibly both, the second factor reacting on the first; and raises a very interesting question as to whether a woman responds to the environment better than a man. A point, and a very important one, which must not be overlooked is that the degraded woman does not emigrate as a rule, that the drunken woman and the destitute woman are practically unknown to us, and that the man who brings a wife and family is presumably respectable, and his womenfolk are an asset. Such women will naturally contrast well with single men who have possibly experienced the border-line of pauperism, and, finding themselves comparativelywealthy in the colony, indulge in what they esteem as luxuries, to the detriment of their mental heatlh; also, be it noted (vide Table IV) that a family parts with its female members with greater reluctance, greater reluctance. The divergence between the sexes in the United Kingdom (all ages) as set forth in the last section of Table A may be usefully compared with that of Britons in the colony (mainly adults) given in the penultimate section. The matter may be clearer if stated in percentages, thus : —

The relatively superior place occupied by women in the colony is easily demonstrated by postulating equality of numbers in the sexes with the same incidence of insanity which presently exists. Basing the calculation on persons born in the colony and the United Kingdom, it will be found that instead of the numbers being, males 1,709, females 1,229, total 2,938, they would become, males 1,557, females 1,363, total 2,920. The part played in transformation by the New-Zealand-born is insignificant—a deduction of I*6 from the number of men and an addition of I*2 to the number of women. Condition as to Marriage. This heading does not convey all that is intended, and, as it is not intended to accentuate any particular state, one feels at once the poverty of our language in the entire group of terms dealing with kindred and affinity. More apt, on the whole, is the expression " domestic relation " used in a specialised sense in relation to the condition of persons of both sexes as single, married, or widowed. The influence of domestic relation in the production of insanity is beset, by so many post-hoes that no deduction is possible, unless figures, mounting to mammoth proportions, overpower the individual factor. Our numbers are helplessly inadequate, but the single and married insane persons, when compared with the single and married of all ages of the general population over a number of years, show a mutually approximating tendency, actual with the married and by lessening divergence with the single; and this consistency suggests that our figures, though accepted with reserve,

2-H. 7.

Birthplace. Persons in Colony. Males. Females. I Excess of Males — over Females. - Proportion per Cent. Males. Females. few Zealand Inited Kingdom ustralia llsewhere 303,976 120,667 27,472 18,893 302,271 88,265 19,784 7,250 1,705 32,402 7,688 11,643 5001 57-74 58-34 72-27 49-99 42-26 41-66 27-73 Totals 5301 471,008 417,570 53,438 46-99

Percentage Percentage Percentage Perce Proportion of Proportion of Proportion of Propoi Sexes in Popula- Sexes in Sexes in Popula- Sexi tion in United Insane in United tion in New I Insane Kingdom, &c. Kingdom, &c. Zealand. Zeal ! I mtage rtion of as in in New land. Country. Males. Females Males. Females Males. Females Males. Females New-Zealand-born United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland Ireland 48-44 51-56 48-31 51-69 48-61 51-39 49-34 50-66 47-12 46-13 47-92 52-14 52-88 53-87 52-08 47-86 5001 57-74 58-37 58-81 54-86 49-99 42-26 41-63 4119 45-14 54-65 59-83 60-02 65-54 54-29 45-35 4017 39-98 34-46 45-71