H—3l

16

Sexes of Children Born. The figures show that during each year since 1886 there has been a preponderance of births of male children. It would appear, however, that this excess of male births is not sufficient to compensate for the heavier mortality which occurs among this sex. Of the total population in 1871 there were 7052 females to every 100 males, but in 1907 the proportion of the females to 100 males had risen to 8867.

Twin Births. There were 244 cases of twin births (488 children) registered in 1907. The number of children born was 25,094; the number of mothers was 24,850: thus, on an average, one mother in every 102 gave birth to twins, against 114 in 1906, 97 in 1905, 93 in 1904, and 97 in 1903. Illegitimacy. The births of 1,157 children were illegitimate: thus 46 in every 1,000 children born were born out of wedlock, against 47 in 1906. The rates of illegitimacy in Australasia are quoted. That for 1907 in New Zealand was less than in any of the Australian States, except South Australia and Western Australia.

Proportion of Illegitimate Births in every 100 Births.

These figures show the proportion of illegitimate births to every 100 births for New Zealand to be fairly steady during the period 1898-1907; the difference amounts only to o'3B per cent, on a comparison of the first and last years.

Year. Number of Births of Proportion ot Births of MaleaJ to every 100 Females. Males. Females. 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 9,725 9,641 9,514 9,293 9,377 9,101 9,310 9,472 9,493 9,511 9,600 9,615 9,724 10,107 10,471 10,653 11,217 11,762 12,109 12,397 12,835 9,410 9,261 8,943 8,985 8,896 8,775 8,877 9,056 9,053 9,101 9,137 9,340 9,111 9,439 10,020 10,002 10,612 11,004 11,573 11,855 12,259 103-3 104-1 106-4 103-4 105-4 103-7 104-9 104-6 104-9 104-5 105-1 102-9 106-7 107-1 104-5 106-5 105-7 106-9 104-6 104-6 104-7

Year. Queensland. New South Wales. Victoria. South Australia. Western Australia. Tasmania. New Zealand. 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 6-04 5-97 6-40 5-93 6-04 6-76 6-89 7-00 7-68 6-93 7-15 7-01 7-16 6-60 6-71 7-12 7-37 704 7-04 5-29 5-49 5-91 5-58 5-51 5-73 5-74 5-61 5-58 5-62 3-62 3-95 4-24 3-98 4-36 4-18 4-01 4-37 4-00 4-10 4-99 4-91 4-82 3-88 3-96 4-69 4-36 4-19 4-78 3-89 5-09 6-08 5-43 5-94 5-36 5-61 5'82 5-52 5-78 4-23 4-40 4-63 4-57 4-46 4-55 4-52 4'57 4-67 4-61