, 1909) that the
conception-rate, as well as the periodicity of suicide and allied
phenomena, is due to the action of the chemical rays on the
unpigmented skin in early spring, this action being
physiologically similar to that of alcohol. He seeks thus to
account for the marked and early occurrence of such periodic
phenomena in Greenland and other northern countries where there
is much chemical action (owing to the clear air) in early spring,
but little heat. This explanation would not cover an autumnal
climax, the existence of which Gaedeken denies.
In order to obtain a fairly typical conception-curve for Europe, and to
allow the variations of local habit and custom to some extent to
annihilate each other, I have summated the figures given by Mayr for about
a quarter of a million births in Germany, France, and Italy,[156]
obtaining a curve (Chart 2) of the conception-rate which may be said
roughly to be that of Europe generally. If we begin at September as the
lowest point, we find an autumn rise culminating in the lesser maximum of
Christmas, followed by a minor depression in January and February. Then
comes the great spring rise, culminating in May, and followed after June
by a rapid descent to the minimum.
In Canada (see e.g., _Report of the Registrar General of the
Province of Ontario_ for 1904), the maximum and minimum of
conceptions alike fall later than in Europe; the months of
maximum conception are June, July, and August; of minimum
conception, January, February, and March.
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