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FRANCE 371 of the latter (235,830 to 131,105). In respect to occupation the total population of France was, according to the official census of 1866, classified as follows : OCCUPATIONS. Agriculture Manufactures Commerce Occupations connected with the three preceding Miscellaneous occupations Liberal professions and rentiers Employed by government Unknown Total Total Population. Per- centage. 19,598,115 10,959,091 1,517,153 1,095,787 198,639 3,607,295 564,841 88,067,064 53 29-64 4-11 2-96 0-54 9-75 The agricultural population in 1866 was less than in 1851, in which year it amounted to 21,992,874 ; and in 1872 it showed again a con- siderable decrease, which, as in many other countries, may be ascribed to the progress of commerce and manufactures, and to the attrac- tion of the cities. The following table shows the number of births and deaths during each of the six years ending with 1870 : YEARS. Births. Deaths. Exceis of Births or Deaths. 1865 . 1,005,753 921,887 83,866 of births. 1866 1 006 258 884573 121,685 " " 1867 1,007,515 886,887 120,628 " " 1863 984140 922,088 62,102 " " 1869 948 526 864320 84,206 " " 1870 948,515 1,046,909 103,894 of deaths. It will be seen that the excess of births, even before the Franco-German war, had been con- siderably reduced from its usual ratio ; and that in 1870 it gave way to an alarming excess of deaths, which is not fully accounted for by the ravages of the war, but indicates a progres- sive decrease of fecundity in the population. Twice before there had been an excess of deaths over births, in 1854 of 69,318, and in 1855 of 35,606. The illegitimate children in 1865 con- stituted 7-65 per cent, of all births ; in 1866, 7-62 ; in 1867, 7'62 ; in 1868, 7'62 ; in 1869, 7'48 ; in 1870, 7'46. The relation of marriages to the entire population was in 1865 as 1 to every 126-8 inhabitants ; in 1866, 1 to 122-5 ; in 1867, 1 to 127 ; in 1868, 1 to 127*3 ; in 1869, 1 to 121-4; in 1870, 1 to 165. In no previ- ous year since 1815 had the decrease of mar- riages been so large as in 1870. The general proportion from 1825 to 1869 had been 1 to from 118 to 128, with the exception of 1847, when it was 1 to 142. The loss of inhabitants by emigration is very small. From 1849 to 1858 the number of emigrants was less than 200,000, while the German emigrants num- bered more than 1,200,000, and those from Great Britain 2,750,000. From 1859 to 1863 only 40,000 emigrated, including 10,000 to Al- geria. In the following table all the cities of France having more than 70,000 inhabitants are arranged according to population : CITIES. Population in 1872. CITIES. Population in 1872. Paris 1 851 792 Nantes 118 517 Lyons . . '323417 IIO'R-M Marseilles Bordeaux . . 812,864 194,055 Kouen .. Havre 102,470 86825 Lille 158,117 75987 Toulouse 124,852 Eheims 71^994 The bulk of the French nation consists of the descendants of Gallo-Romans mixed with Ger- man and Scandinavian barbarians (Burgundians, Goths, Franks, and Northmen), who invaded Gaul between the 5th and 10th centuries. But the latter elements are far from being impor- tant, and the French may be called a neo-Latin race ; their language partakes of the same char- acter, being Latin with a slight admixture of Germanic and Celtic. Although the various races have melted into a single people, some of the original types may be still traced, espe- cially in the remote parts of the country or along the frontiers. The inhabitants of Brit- tany mostly retain the characteristic features of their ancestors, and the Breton language is still spoken in the western part of that prov- ince. The Basques preserve their primitive language. The German element of the pop- ulation has been reduced to an insignificant number by the cession of Alsace and Lorraine. The Corsicans speak Italian. The inhabitants of other than French descent were in 1872 estimated as follows : Walloons, 1,800,000 ; Celts, 1,100,000; Italians, 400,000; Basques, 200,000; Spaniards, 100,000; Flemings, 100,- 000; Jews, 46,000; gypsies, 10,000; Cagots (in the Pyrenees), 5,000. Although, as has been stated, 53 per cent, of the population of France, and a very much larger proportion of the land, are devoted to agriculture, yet this department of production is far from being in an advanced state of progress, when compared with the agriculture of other nations. By some writers this is attributed to the effect of the law of 1793, which requires the division of estates equally among the children of the testator, and has thus divided France into mil- lions of small farms whose owners have not sufficient capital to cultivate them in the best manner. Comparatively few kinds of labor- saving machinery are in use ; the methods of culture are generally primitive and unintelli- gent on the smaller farms, and the great land owners have only introduced more modern methods within the last 15 or 20 years. In manufactures, on the other hand, great pro- gress has been made ; and as respects the ex- tent and value of her products, France ranks as a manufacturing country next to Great Britain. While she cannot enter into compe- tition with the latter in the manufacture of cot- ton goods and several other valuable articles, she excels her and other countries in nearly all those requiring particular taste and elegance. Her silk goods hold the most prominent place in this respect. St. Etienne, Lyons, Avignon,