The eminent authority, Brierre de Boismont, confesses, after a long investigation of some thousand suicides, purporting to be the total for Paris for a certain number of years, as follows: “One may then, without any fear of being inaccurate, estimate the number of suicides committed, as almost double the number of suicides registered.”
The following table will be found to give the latest calculations of the actual number of suicides per million of inhabitants in the different European States; and will shew the estimated increase or decrease during the stated number of preceding years.
| Year. | Country. | Number of Suicides | Increase per Million. | Term of Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | Portugal | 16 | 3 | 5 |
| 1880 | Spain | 19 | 2 | 5 |
| 1883 | Ireland | 24 | 6 | 5 |
| 1878 | Russia and Finland | 35 | Dec. 1·2 | 6 |
| 1881 | Italy | 44 | 7 | 5 |
| 1881 | Scotland | 48 | 11 | 5 |
| 1880 | Holland | 51 | Stationary | 10 |
| 1882 | England | 74 | 7 | 10 |
| 1875 | Norway | 75 | Dec. 33 | 13 |
| 1879 | Belgium | 90 | 22 | 5 |
| 1877 | Sweden | 101 | 15 | 5 |
| 1880 | Bavaria | 102 | 11 | 5 |
| 1877 | Austria | 144 | 24 | 3 |
| 1880 | Hanover | 150 | 10 | 5 |
| 1877 | Prussia | 168 | 34 | 4 |
| 1880 | France | 216 | 56 | 5 |
| 1881 | Switzerland | 240 | 25 | 5 |
| 1878 | Denmark | 265 | 32 | 5 |
| 1878 | Saxony | 469 | 170 | 5 |
In an endeavour to make an accurate estimate of the suicide rate of the various states, and the relative increase in the rates, we are met by the further difficulty that the periods of observation vary much in length; in Holland, for example, there was no formal collection of numbers until 1869; on the other hand, in Sweden, the amount of suicide has been estimated ever since 1750.
An enormous decrease may be observed in the figures relating to Norway; it may be due to the very stringent laws relating to intoxication, and to the regulations placed on the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks about twenty years ago.
The calculation of the averages of the various countries is performed by the formula used by Professor Bodio: x = 100 × (a′∕a-1)1∕n: in which a´ = the number of suicides in the last year: a = the number of suicides in the first year of the series: and n = the number of years of observation.
The following table from Legoyt is interesting, but the data are not so recent as in the foregoing list, and hence do not coincide:─
Table showing the Difference in the Rates of Variation per cent. between Population and Suicide from 1865 to 1876.
| Country. | Population. ── Variation. | Suicide. ── Increase per cent. on Total Numbers. |
|---|---|---|
| England | 14·6 | 27·1 |
| Austria | 9·2 | 66·5 |
| Bavaria | 5·2 | 18·4 |
| Belgium | 7·0 | 64·4 |
| Denmark | 12·1 | 12·2 |
| France | A loss | 17·3 |
| Italy | 10·5 | 15·1 |
| Norway | 8·1 | 14·3 |
| Prussia | 6·7 | 49·0 |
| Russia | 11·0 | 47·0 |
| Saxony | 18·8 | 58·4 |
| Sweden | 7·6 | 24·0 |
| Switzerland | 6·5 | 63·6 |
| Ireland | A loss | Stationary. |
| Finland | 5·3 | Stationary. |
As a general résumé of the consideration of the amount of Suicide, it appears that the civilized States of Europe (with three exceptions) show a gradual and uniform increase of Suicide rate; and that even since the beginning of the century self-destruction has increased, and still goes on increasing, more rapidly than the increase of population, and to a greater extent than the general death-rate.