From William Farr 27 February 1868
General Register Office | Somerset House
1868 Feb 27
My dear Sir
Rutland is our smallest county—& the proportions fluctuate from accidental causes—the extent of fluctuation varying with the numbers in relations which are expressed by a formula— given by the writers on probability. I enclose the numbers for Rutland—& will shortly send you the proportions for all our counties.1
I am my dear Sir | yours very truly | W. Farr
P.S. The Registrar General to whom I mentioned your striking facts about the sexes of racehorses2—inquired whether Mr. Darwin is acquainted with any known method for determining? He was told by a breeder that he possessed such a secret.
C. Darwin Esq FRS
[Enclosure]
Number and Proportion of Male and Female Children born in the County of Rutland in each of the 10 Years 1857–1866.
| Children born | Males born to | |||
| Years | Males | Females | every 100 | |
| Females born | ||||
| 1857 | 398 | 348 | 114.4 | |
| 1858 | 372 | 377 | 98.7 | |
| 1859 | 385 | 346 | 111.3 | |
| 1860 | 388 | 390 | 99.5 | |
| 1861 | 371 | 338 | 109.8 | |
| 1862 | 352 | 363 | 97.0 | |
| 1863 | 367 | 369 | 99.5 | |
| 1864 | 407 | 355 | 114.6 | |
| 1865 | 377 | 372 | 101.3 | |
| 1866 | 353 | 357 | 98.9 | |
| 3770 | 3615 | 104.5 | average | |
| Total 7385 | Checked | |||
CD annotations
| ‘377 | |
| 362 | |
| 739’ |
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Encloses table showing proportion of sexes in Rutland.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5947
- From
- William Farr
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- General Register Office
- Source of text
- DAR 164: 30, DAR 85: B116
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp, table †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5947,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5947.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16
