The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-08 00:00:00

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M • •
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eft
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nu.

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPT. 8, 1865.

Lord STANLEY yesterday, at the meeting of the
British Association, delivered an address on the
value and use of statistics. He commenced by stating
that some had questioned the propriety of such
subjects being introduced in a strictly scientific as-
sociation ; but for that matter, they certainly bear
reference to many things connected with the details
of physical science. There is great truth in the
noble lord's remark, that the chief object of their
meetings was to " suggest and stimulate," rather
than to originate, thought. Investigation cannot
possibly be carried on to a very great extent in
crowded meetings, but ideas may be diffused, and pro -
posals made, which can ultimately prove of great bene-
fit to the community in general, andto men of science
in particular. It is certain that the questions thus
brought prominently before the public are more
likely to engage attention and attract interest than
the maxims of philosophy and the treasures of
wisdom hoarded up in books that very often re-
main sealed volumes to an active and bustling
generation, intent on business and overwhelmed
with distracting pursuits and requiring objects to
divert the mind. " Men go home with their heads
full of subjects of which they perhaps never thought
seriously before," remarked the noble lord, " and it
is indeed in this that the chief benefit of these
associations consists, for they scatter seeds which
may take root in many directions, and improve
the general knowledge of the time, and
awaken the mind to the perceptions of those
sublime and beautiful truths which science possesses
in a remarkable degree, and which can never be too

fully appreciated or too generally recognised." In

treating of the right application of the " Statistical
Method," Lord STANLEY pointed out some of the
chief fallacies that exist, and among those more
conspicuous those of taking too narrow a basis for
the purpose of calculation, and also not taking into
consideration all the causes which affect the result.
Thus, for instance, in speaking of the effect pro-
(laced by a reduction of duty, it does not follow that
all the increased consumption is produced by the
reduction, because many other causes may intervene,
such as prosperity of trade, greater cheapness of
transport, &c. Mistakes are also often made in
taking an average of mortality, for if an epidemic
occurs that year is struck out of the term which is
taken as a sample, but the error is made of forgetting
that the succeeding years are too favourable for
computation, because the most unhealthy will have
been taken away during the period of the epidemic,
and thus the standard is not a fair one. Lord
STANLEY wisely pointed out the mistakes which
those people who think that " to work by and with
statistical calculations is a merely mechanical func-
tion, needing no ability beyond that of a clerk."
The fact is that great errors are made in the ques-
tion of calculation, as well as in minor matters, by
persons jumping at conclusions, and saying that the
work is done for them, instead of its requiring thought
and attention. These may take a hint from the
comments made in this discourse, and this sentence
is Correct beyond a doubt which refers to the fal-
lacies that prevail in many quarters. "Figures do
not indeed deceive you ; but if you put them to a
use they were not meant for, they will let you de-
ceive yourselves." This is just the epitome of the
affair, and reveals the true nature and state of the '
case. The statistical method is of great import-
anuo in national affairs, and, as the noble lord ob-
served, one man keeps " accounts" who wishes to be
careful with his money, and another writes a diary,
who does not wish to trust to vague recollection,
but to possess a sure chronicle of interesting events,
and, therefore, every person of abstemious habits,
or engaged in pursuits that require accuracy, is, in
fact, a statistician. Many who have not thought
much of the matter will be surprised to find how
much statistics enter into the diaries of all na,tiona]
life. The statistical test on a large scale is abso-
lutely necessary, in order to form a definite idea of
matters.with which it is desirable to be acquainted.
Thus, as the noble lord said, by dealing with
masses, " we eliminate individual peculiarities, and

we reason but from the mass to the individual, the
subject of the statistician, his typical or representa-

tive man, as the average man of many thousands."

The Post-office returns, the Registrar-General's

returns of marriages, and the annual publication of

the Customs and Excise Departments, the Census
abstracts of public occupation, and the criminal

statistics, are each and all valuable, as forming
what is here truly styled " the social and economi-
cal history of the age in which we live."
It certainly suggests itself to the mind to ask, Of
7,-hat advantage is the aggregate of this informa-