BOWSER, ALFRED T., Sec. of Whittington since 1865, was trained to the bus. in the Atlas, which office he entered in 1834. In 1847 he became Sec. of the Legal and Commercial Fire-we believe the first of the modern offices which took its stand upon the nonTariff plan. In 1854 he became Sec. of Lond. branch of Leeds and Yorkshire, remaining with that Co. up to date of its absorption by Liverpool, London and Globe; and indeed for some months afterwards to wind up its affairs. Mr. Bowser was the author some years since of a little pamp.: Conversations on Life Assu.-one of the earliest efforts to popularize the subject; and some few years since he took part in an instructive correspondence in the Ins. Record on the "average clause." BOWSER, WILFRED A., son of the preceding, Act. and Sec. of Lond. and County Prov. Inst., of which he was the founder. Was trained to ins. bus. in the Whittington: afterwards for several years in the Queen. In 1867 he became Chief Life Clerk in the English, and remained with that Co. until the trans. of its business in 1870. In 1872 he read a paper before the Inst. of Act.: Obs. on the rate of Mort. in Infancy and Childhood; and the same is printed in the Assu. Mag. [v. 17, p. 267]. The paper brings together a large number of facts of a very interesting character, and is a most creditable production. We expect to have to repeat Mr. Bowser's name in connexion with other subjects. BOX SOCIETIES.-A species of Friendly So., prevailing during the last century, and of the constitution of which (about 1728) some leading points were as follows:-Members met weekly at an appointed place-generally some favourite inn-and were expected to spend 3d. at each meeting and to put 2d. into a box-hence the name. A fine was imposed in case of omission. Those who had contributed to the so. for one complete year were entitled in case of sickness, lameness, or blindness, to receive 75. per week during six months, and half that amount after, should their illness continue. On the death of a full member, an allowance of 40s. was made out of the box towards his burial; his fellows being expected to attend the funeral, unless they were "hindered by sickness, lameness, blindness, or being in prison," and were to contribute Is. per head to be handed to his wife or nominee. The ages of admission were from 21 to 41. The regulations of these sos. as to the preservation of decency and good fellowship among the members and the salaries of officers would bear comparison favourably with some of our modern sos. In 1793 was pub. by Strap Bodkin, staymaker (apparently an assumed name), An Address to the Members of the various Box Clubs and Benefit Societies in Gt. Britain. BOYD, B. AND M., were "Resident Managers" of the North British in Lond. from the estab. of that agency down to 1845. BOYD, E. L., was Resident Director of the United Kingdom L., from 1846 down to its union with the North British in 1862. BOYD, GEORGE, JUN., Sec. of Union Marine, Dundee, from 1849 to 1859. BRABROOK, EDWARD W., Barrister-at-Law, Assistant Registrar of Friendly Societies since 1869. Mr. Brabrook was for many years the associate of Mr. Arthur Scratchley in his actuarial and literary labours; and we believe we shall not be doing injustice to either of these gentlemen in stating that many of the notes on legal subjects scattered through the works of the latter were contributed by the former. In 1863 he contributed to the Assu. Mag. a letter On the Assu. of Invalid Lives. In 1868 Mr. Brabrook appeared as one of the promoters of the General Accident and Guar. Co. In 1869 he pub. The Law Relating to Industrial and Provident Societies (including the Winding-up Clauses), with a Practical Intro., Notes, and Model Rules; to which are added the Law of France on the same subject, and remarks on Trade Unions. A very carefully prepared and practical work. BRADBROOKE, R., in 1861 invented a smoke and noxious vapour respirator, by means of which, it was asserted, a person could enter a building, however dense the smoke or vapour might be. It was intended for the use of firemen in the execution of their duties. BRADFORD MUTUAL MARINE INS. Co. (UNLIMITED), founded at Bradford, in Yorkshire, in 1869, with unlimited liability. The object of the asso. was "To insure all goods belonging to members consigned from Hamburg, Kingston-upon-Hull, London, Liverpool, Londonderry, Cork, or any other place on the east coast of Ireland, between Londonderry and Cork to Bradford, or from Bradford to above-mentioned places." We do not know what success it has met with. BRADFORD AND WEST YORKSHIRE F. AND L. Ins. Co.-This Co. was projected in 1845, but appears to have died in the promoters' hands. The proposed cap. was £500,000, in shares of £50. BRAID, WILLIAM, of Scottish National, constructed some Tables of Single and Annual Prems. for Joint Life Ins. for all ages between 15 and 60, deduced from the Carlisle T. of Mort., int. 3 p.c. These tables will be found in Assu. Mag. [vol. v., p. 363, 1855]. We believe they have never been pub. separately. He has also constructed a series of tables for determining the values of annuities and assu. on three lives, according to the Carlisle T., and showing the values of the annuities payable during the joint lives, int. 3 p.c. These tables are also given in the Assu. Mag. [vol. vi., pp. 115-120]. BRAIDWOOD FIRE INS. Co.-This project was set on foot in 1861, by Mr. Edward Brooks, Accountant, Gresham House, a very few weeks after the melancholy death of poor Braidwood. It was not carried forward. BRAIDWOOD, JAMES, late Chief Superintendent of the Lond. Fire Engine Estab., and previously Master of Fire Engines in Edinburgh. In 1831 he pub. in Edin. a work— On the Construction of Fire Engines and Apparatus, the Training of Firemen, and the method of Proceeding in Cases of Fire. We believe that this was the first book which had been written on those subjects; and it was of a highly practical character. On the 1st Jan. 1833 the late LOND. FIRE ENGINE ESTAB. was inaugurated; and Mr. Braidwood was selected for its chief. How ably he performed his duties until death overtook him in their execution at the great Tooley-street fire, on 22 June, 1861, will be in the remembrance of many of our readers. He held the position for 28 years, and most of the arrangements for promoting the efficiency of the service during that period were due to his knowledge and foresight. We shall have occasion to refer to these matters more in detail when we give the hist. of that estab.; and also under FIRE PROTECTION. In 1850 Mr. Samuel Brown contributed to the Assu. Mag. [vol. i., p. 31] a paper on Fires in Lond., and therein he speaks of the fire brigade, “whose extraordinary efficiency under the training and superintendence of Mr. Braidwood, have frequently saved from loss an enormous amount of property, which seemed destined to be the inevitable prey of the flames." He continues : The skill and intrepidity of the chief, and the exertions of the men, have preserved this great city from calamities which in such a mass of buildings, occupied by many hazardous trades, in some cases full of combustible materials, and in some parts of the city exposed from age and nature of construction to the most fearful conflagration, if a fire once begins, it is most surprising that we should so long continue to escape. Sitting, as the present writer did, for several years on the Committee of the L. F. E. Estab., he knows what great anxiety was often expressed by the Superintendent as to the consequences to the ins. offices-who then alone supported that Estab.-in the event of any fire once extending beyond the control of the staff and appliances at his command. It was mainly in consequence of these fears, and his perception of the serious character of the Tooley-street conflagration, that he fell a victim to his noble zeal and devotion on that occasion. It was this conviction which induced the managers of nearly all the Lond. F. Ins. offices to attend his funeral at Abney Park Cemetery. Mr. Braidwood was calm, yet quick; able, yet unpretending; practical, yet unassuming. He was a hero in his walk in life, and was so regarded by his staff. He was 62 years of age at his death. BRAIN DISEASE (Class LOCAL; Order, Disease of Nervous System).—The deaths returned in England under the general head of brain disease, etc., should, if registration could be made perfect, be placed under one of the scientific heads embraced under the order of disease of nervous system. Those so omitted to be classed vary but very little year by year. In ten consecutive years they were as follows:-1858, 4454; 1859, 4586; 1860, 4865; 1861, 5105; 1862, 4927; 1863, 4876; 1864, 5159; 1865, 5321; 1866, 5605; 1867, 5671. The average over a period of fifteen years ending 1864 was 217 to each million of the pop. living. The deaths in 1867 were:-Males, 3255; females, 2416. Of the males 435 died under 5; 114 between 5 and 10; 86 between 10 and 15; 99 between 15 and 20; 82 between 20 and 25; 203 between 25 and 35; 325 between 35 and 45; 438 between 45 and 55; 568 between 55 and 65; 612 between 65 and 75; 260 between 75 and 85; 33 between 85 and 95; and I over 95. Of the females, 374 died under 5; 96 between 5 and 10; 78 between 10 and 15; 81 between 15 and 20; 70 between 20 and 25; 185 between 25 and 35; 239 between 35 and 45; 321 between 45 and 55; 389 between 55 and 65; 351 between 65 and 75; 205 between 75 and 85; and 25 between 85 and 95. Glancing at the mort. by all diseases of the brain and nervous system, including cephalitis, apoplexy, paralysis, insanity, chorea, epilepsy, convulsions, and other brain diseases not distinguished, appears that the mort. in E. and W. to 1,000,000 of pop. has increased from 2705 in 1857, to 2912 in 1866. It is remarkable that the mort. from apoplexy and paralysis respectively has from the first been very nearly in equal proportions to 1,000,000 persons living, the proportion from apoplexy being 439 in 1857 and 490 in 1866, that from paralysis being 457 in 1857 and 500 in 1866. These two diseases are incidental to old people. The number of deaths from cephalitis (inflammation of the brain) p. 1,000,000 persons living had increased from 178 in 1857 to 197 in 1866. The deaths from insanity-21 per 1,000,000 of pop. in 1857, and 31 in 1866-do not indicate the number of deaths of persons in a state of insanity; large numbers of maniacs die of consumption and other diseases, and consequently appear under other heads. The increase in the mort. from convulsions in the ten years is considerable, the proportional number of deaths to 1,000,000 living being 1286 in 1857 and 1306 in 1866. convulsive form of disease affects infancy and youth. Of the rare and remarkable disease, chorea (dancing mania), the proportional number of deaths to 1,000,000 of pop, was only 2 in 1857, and 3 in 1866. From epilepsy, to 1,000,000 living there were 115 deaths in 1857, and 118 in 1866; and from other brain diseases undistinguished, 207 in 1857, and 267 in 1866. The actual numbers of deaths regis. in E. and W. from diseases of the brain and nervous system in the years 1857 and 1866 respectively were 51,619 and 61,164 -viz., cephalitis, 3392 and 4146; apoplexy, 8378 and 10,297; paralysis, 8714 and 10, 504; insanity, 403 and 650; chorea, 44 and 63; epilepsy, 2193 and 2468; convulsions, The 24,532 and 27,431; brain diseases undistinguished, 3963 and 5605. This class of diseases constituted a proportion, in the year 1866, of 1233'9 deaths to every 10,000 of the deaths from all causes-viz., cephalitis, 836; apoplexy, 2077; paralysis, 211-9; insanity, 131 chorea, 13; epilepsy, 49.8; convulsions, 553'4; and other brain diseases, 113.1. Among brain diseases, necrencephalus, or softening of the brain, has of late years rapidly increased. In the ten years 1857-66, 11,685 deaths were registered in E. and W. from this cause-7168 males, and 4517 females. In the first five years, 1857-61, the average annual deaths were 894; whereas in the second period of five years 1862-1866, the deaths averaged 1443 annually. In 1857 the number of persons who died from softening of the brain was 775. In 1866 the number was 1664, of which 78 were under 20 years of age; 191, 25 and under 45; 457, 45 and under 65; 424, 65 and under 75; and ten were aged 75 and upwards. In 1867 the deaths were 1810, of which 1132 were males, and 678 females. The ages at death were about the same as in 1866. BRAITHWAITE, J., was Gen. Man. of the Progress Ins. Co. during its short career, 1867-8. BRAKENRIDGE, REV. WM., D. D., F. R.S., addressed, in 1755, a letter to the President of the Royal So., Concerning the Method of Constructing a T. for the Prob. of Life at Lond. The same was pub. in Phil. Trans. that year. In 1756 he addressed another letter to the same So., in which he estimates the number of houses in England; and the same is pub. in the Trans. for that year. In 1757 he made a further communication on the number of houses in Lond. and Middlesex.-See Phil. Trans., vol. 50. [HOUSES.] [POPULATION.] BRAMAH, JOSEPH, described as "of Piccadilly, Lond., Engine Maker," in 1785 obtained a patent for a "hydrostatical machine upon a new construction." It applied to pumps and fire engines. In 1793 he patented" several improvements and additions to a fire engine made by me." Some of Bramah's engines are still in use in Lond. [FIRE ENGINES.] BRANCH PIPES.-A metal pipe, several feet in length, fastened on the end of the hose, and used for directing the water from the fire engine upon the fire. Its invention is prob. coeval with that of fire engines. In 1863 Mr. Lewis Becker applied a stopcock to the branch, for use in the interior of a building, which is said to be a great improvement. BRAND, CHARLES, late Registrar of the Amicable So., pub., in 1775, A Treatise on Assu. and Annu. on Lives, with several objections against Dr. Price's Obs. on the Amicable So. and Others. To which is added, a Short, Easy, and more Concise Method of Calculating the Value of Annu. and Assu. on Lives, than any heretofore pub. This work was reviewed in The Critical Review for the same year, and in that review, in 1776, appeared, A Letter written by this Author in Defence and Explanation of his Work and Principle. In 1778 he prepared for the So. its Mort. "Experience" from the commencement of the So. a most valuable document.-See AMICABLE SO. EXPERIENCE TABLES. In 1780 he edited an ed. of Smart's Tables, "Now revised, enlarged, and improved, by Charles Brand; to which is added an appendix containing some obs. on the General Prob. of Life." BRANDENBURG, T. OF MORT. FOR.-In the last ed. of Sussmilch's Gotliche Ordnung, pub. 1775, is contained a T. of Mort., "showing the prob. of the duration of human life at all ages in a kingdom at large; deduced from obs. in the Kurmark of Brandenburg, and formed on the supposition that a third of the kingdom consists of inhabitants of towns, and two-thirds of the inhabitants of country parishes and villages." Dr. Price included this in his 4th and 5th eds. of Reversionary Payments, etc. The obs. had been made by Sussmilch upon 1000 children born; but in these were included 42 stillborn, which Dr. Price eliminated. He added the column of "Expectations." The following is the T. as given by Dr. Price: BRANDENBURG, DUCHY OF, MORT. T. FOR.-Sussmilch. This T., it should be further observed, has been formed without any regard to the correction explained in the 4th essay in the former vol. of this work [Rev. Payments]; and on this account (as far as it has been deduced from the numbers dying at every age in the towns of Brandenburg) makes the prob. of living too high in the first stages of life. But it should be likewise attended to that on another account, it makes them in a much greater proportion too low. I mean on account of the great excess of the births above the burials in the country parishes and villages. BRAZIL.-The pop. in 1856 was 7,677,800, and its density per square mile was 2. Pop., 1867, 10,780,000. BREACH OF TRUST.-A violation of duty by a trustee, executor, or other person in a fiduciary position. A breach of trust was not punishable as a criminal offence until the passing of 20 & 21 Vict. c. 54, in 1857. [FRAUDULENT TRUSTEES ACT.] BREAD, ASSIZE OF; ADULTERATION OF.-The first Stat. for regulating the sale of bread was 3 John, Assessa Panis, A.D. 1203. The chief justiciary and a baker commissioned by the King had the inspection of the assize.-Matthew Paris. The assize was further regulated by Stat. 51 Henry III., 1266; and by 8 Anne, 1710. These Acts were repealed in 1824. The first direct Act against the Adulteration of Bread was passed in 1822, the 3 Geo. IV. c. cvi.; An Act to repeal the Acts now in force, relating to bread to be sold in the City of Lond. and the Liberties thereof, and within the Weekly B. of Mort., and ten miles of the Royal Exchange; and to provide other regulations for the making and sale of bread, and preventing the adulteration of meal, flour, and bread, within the limits aforesaid. By the 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 37 (1836), these provisions were to be extended to the entire kingdom of Gt. Brit. (not Ireland), and bread was thereafter to be sold by weight. By the Ist Vict. c. 28, the regulations as to bread were extended to Ireland. BREAK OF LIFE.-It is a well-known result of all European contributions to V. statistics, that a marked change, the causes of which are but very imperfectly understood, takes place in the law of mort. about the age of 55-so much so, that Dr. Farr, in constructing the English L. T. for the Reg.-Gen., actually used different mathematical laws for the formation of his T. before and after this age; and this period has been called the "break of life."-Professor Gill, Report on N. Y. Mutual, 1851. BREAKING BULK.-A term formerly used to signify the separation of goods in the hands of a bailee, which made him liable for felony. Since 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96 (1861), this distinction is immaterial. BREAST MILk, Want of.-Deaths from this cause, which are too common, are classed under Zymotic, of the order Dietic. The fluctuations are very small, as will be seen by the following figures, applying to ten consecutive years: 1858, 997; 1859, 1017; 1860, 1002; 1861, 970; 1862, 1006; 1863, 1158; 1864, 1253; 1865, 1410; 1866, 1410; 1867, 1437. The numbers appear to be steadily on the increase; over a period of fifteen years ending 1864, they averaged 44 per million of the pop. living. The deaths in 1867 were : Males, 805; Females, 632; and were generally under 1 year of age. BREECHING.-A contrivance in metal in connexion with the working of hose from fire engines, by means of which two streams of water can be directed from one engine; or streams from two engines ejected from one nozzle. The Lond. Assurance Corporation's engines had such an appliance as early as 1828. In 1844 Lord Thurlow regis. a form of breeching by means of which one engine could throw three separate streams of water at once, or three separate engines be worked through one nozzle. [FIRE ENGINES.] BREMIKER, DR., pub., in Berlin, in 1859, Das Risico bei Lebensversicherungen-The risk attaching to the grant of ins. on lives. Mr. Sprague has furnished a translation of this paper for the benefit of the readers of the Assu. Mag. [vol. 16, p. 216.] We shall speak of it under other heads. BREMNER, HUGH, was agent of the Lond. branch of City of Glasgow L. from opening of the branch in 1845 down to 1852. BRESLAU, CITY OF.-Breslau is the capital of the province of Silesia; and one of the principal cities in Germany. Our interest centres in it entirely from the fact that from its regis. or bills of mort. were obtained the data for the first Life Table of which we have any record. It is situate on a spacious plain at the confluence of the Ohlau and Oder; bounded on the north by the Trebnitz Mountains; and on the south at a greater distance, by those of Zobten. The streets of the city, which was formerly fortified, are narrow, but the houses for the most part well built. It manufactures gloves, jewelry, silks, woollens, cottons, and stockings. Its pop. in 1710 was 41,000; by 1844, it had increased to 103, 282; by 1846 to 112, 194. We have very little other information concerning the place; except such as we shall give in the next art. In this city the ann. average births regis. between the years 1717 and 1725 was 1252; of burials 1507. A great proportion of the children died under 10. Sussmilch furnished statistics tending to show that the mort. of children under 5 was very large in this city.— Dr Price. The following were the burials for the 6 consecutive years 1720-25. Years. Numbers.. 1720 1721 1722. 1723 1724 1725 Average 1552 The city was burned by the Mongols in 1241. BRESLAU TABLE OF MORTALITY.-The formation of this celebrated Table-celebrated because it was the first formed upon actual data scientifically arranged-came about in this wise. The efforts of Graunt and Petty had resulted in mere approximations of the value, or probable duration, of Human Life. The Bills of Mort. which formed the basis of their observations did not then record the ages at death; and the results consequently were very vague and unsatisfactory. This state of matters engaged the attention of scientific men towards the close of the 17th century: and accordingly an effort was made to obtain access to regis. which did record the ages at death. It was found that in the City of Breslau in Silesia such records had been kept, at least during several years; and on the application of Mr. Justell-a member of the Royal Society-to Dr. Newmann, of that city, copies of such registers were obtained. This was in the year 1692. The returns were for the 5 years 1687-91. They comprised a total of 6193 births and 5869 deaths. Having obtained the materials, the next thing was to find a competent mathematician to work upon them. Dr. Halley was at that time a mathematician of great distinction, and he was selected, probably by the Royal Society, for the task. The result of his labours appeared early in the succeeding year under the following title, in a paper submitted to the Royal So., and pub. in Phil. Trans. for 1693: An estimate of the degrees of the Mort. of Mankind, drawn from curious Tables of the births and funerals of the City of Breslau; with an attempt to ascertain the price of annuities upon lives. By E. Halley, F.R.S. It is important to understand the author's own views of the task he had undertaken and performed. Dr. Halley commenced his paper as follows: The contemplation of the mort. of mankind has, besides the moral, its physical and political uses, both which have been some years since most judiciously consider'd by the curious Sir William Petty, in his natural and political obs. on the B. of Mort. of Lond., owned by Capt. John Graunt. And since, in a like treatise, on the B. of Mort. of Dublin. But the deduction from those B. of Mort. seemed even to their authors to be defective. First: In that the number of the people was wanting. Secondly: That the ages of the people dying was not to be had. And lastly: That both Lond. and Dublin, by reason of the great and casual accession of strangers who die therein (as appeareth in both by the great excess of funerals above the births), rendered them incapable of being standards for this purpose; which requires, if it were possible, that the people we treat of should not at all be changed, but die where they were born, without any adventitious increase from abroad, or decay by migration elsewhere. This defect seems in a great measure to be satisfied by the late curious T. of the B. of Mort. of the City of Breslau, lately communicated to this honourable So. by Mr. Justell, wherein both the ages |
