[Footnote 60: _Report on the Prevention of Malaria in Mauritius_, p. 51.]

[Footnote 61: C.V. Drysdale, O.B.E., D. Sc., _The Malthusian Doctrine and
its Modern Aspects_, p. 3.]




CHAPTER VI


THE FALLING BIRTH-RATE IN ENGLAND: ITS CAUSES

Birth controllers claim that the fall in the English birth-rate, which
began to decline in 1876, is mostly due to the use of contraceptives: but
the very fact that this claim is made by these reckless propagandists makes
it imperative that we should scrutinise the evidence very carefully.


Section 1. NOT, AS MALTHUSIANS ASSERT, DUE MAINLY TO CONTRACEPTIVES

In support of the Malthusian contention, Dr. C.V. Drysdale, who is not a
doctor of medicine but a doctor of science, has published the following
statements:

"... We might note that a recent investigation of the records of the
Quakers (the Society of Friends) reveals the fact that family
limitation has been adopted by them to a most astonishing extent. Their
birthrate [_sic_] stood at 20 per thousand in 1876, and has now
actually fallen to about 8 per thousand. The longevity of Quakers is