MORTALITY 
FROM 
SUICIDES 
Published by 
The Mutual Life Insurance Company 
OF NEW YORK 
1896 With the Compliments of 
The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York 
25304 President. MORTALITY 
FROM 
SUICIDES 
Published by 
The Mutual Life Insurance Company 
OF NEW YORK 
1896 Copyrighted by 
The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. 
August, 1896. Mr. Richard A. McCurdy, 
President. 
Sir : 
I respectfully present for your consideration the 
following 
REPORT ON THE MORTALITY RESULTING FROM SUICIDES. 
The experience of the Company during its first thirty 
years, from 1844 to 1873, as already reported, showed a 
mortality of 5,385 deaths, sixty-two of which, or 1.1 
per cent., were due to suicide. During the past ten years, 
1884 to 1893, there have been 17,375 deaths, 367 of which, 
or 2.1 per cent., have been due to suicide. 
The actual increase in the total mortality was to 
have been expected, and is to be explained by the large 
increase in the number of lives at risk, and by the 
increasing number of the insured who have arrived at 
advanced ages. The increase of the number of the risks 
would also account for an increase in the actual number 
of suicidal deaths, but would not account for the 
increased rate, compared with the total mortality. On 
the contrary, the rate should diminish in proportion as 
the number of deaths at advanced ages increases. This 
is not because suicide is more rare at advanced ages, 
when calculated in proportion to the numbers living at 4 
each period of life, but because other causes of death 
increase rapidly with advancing years, and thus change 
the ratio of suicides. 
In our earlier published report it was shown that 
neither casualties nor suicides diminish with age, when 
the experience is based upon the actual number of lives 
at each period. The variation in this ratio is shown by 
the following table, in which the total deaths, the casual- 
ties, and the suicides have been computed separately for 
the period before and after the age of fifty 3^ears: 
Mortality. 
1884 
to 
1893. 
Total deaths 
17,375 
Casualties 
759 
Percentage 
4-3 
Suicides 
367 
Percentage 
2.1 
Deaths under 50 years of age 
5,840 
Casualties under 50 years of age 
448 
Percentage 
7-7 
Suicides under 50 years of age 
217 
Percentage 
3-7 
Deaths above 50 years of age 
11,5 35 
Casualties above 50 years of age 
311 
Percentage 
2.7 
Suicides above 50 years of age 
152 
Percentage 
i-3 
In order, however, to make any fair comparison 
between two periods, their conditions should be made 
similar. The most marked difference in the conditions 5 
refers to the ages of the lives at risk. In the mortality 
records before 1873, n°f one-third of the deaths were 
advanced to fifty years of age, while in the last decen- 
nial period two-tliirds were above fifty. In the earlier 
period three-fourths of the mortality had occurred in 
risks insured less than ten years ; in the latter period, 
the proportion was only one-third. To equalize the con- 
ditions, the comparisons should be limited to the 
mortality occurring within ten years of the date of 
insurance. This has been done in the following table, 
which shows the mortality from all causes, from casual- 
ties, and from suicides in the two periods: 
Mortality Under Ten Years’ Duration 
of Insurance. 
1844 
to 
1873- 
1884 
to 
1893. 
Deaths from all causes 
4.030 
6,005 
Deaths from casualties 
305 
43° 
Percentage 
7-5 
7-i 
Deaths from suicides 
5° 
191 
Percentage 
1.25 
3.,8 
In the latter period, on account of the vast increase 
of the business, while the total deaths have increased 
from 4,030 to 6,005, the casualties have increased at a pro- 
portionate ratio, and the suicides at nearly a threefold 
ratio. This increased ratio is enormous; for, where our 
former experience would have led us to expect seventy- 
five suicides among the six thousand deaths, the actual 
number has been one hundred and ninety-one. This 6 
apparent increase in suicidal deaths requires further 
careful study, and will be taken up again after other cir- 
cumstances of age, residence, nativity, etc. 
Ages at Death. 
Deaths from all 
Causes. 
Number of 
Suicides. . 
Percentage. 
20 to 29 years 
00 
31 
3-93 
30 to 39 “ 
2,112 
76 
3-59 
40 to 49 “ 
2,941 
109 
3-67 
50 to 59 “ 
4,064 
106 
2.6 
60 to 69 “ 
4,312 
38 
.88 
70 years and over . . 
3,159 
7 
. 22 
17,375 
36 7 
2. x 1 
Duration of Insurance. 
Deaths from all 
Causes. 
Number of 
Suicides. 
Percentage. 
1 st and 2d years . . 
1,785 
42 
2-35 
3 to 5 years 
2,069 
84 
4-°5 
6 to 10 “ 
2,!5I 
60 
2.7 
11 to 20 “ 
4,984 
110 
2.2 
21 years and over . . 
6,386 
71 
I . I I 
17,3 7 5 
367 
2 . I I 
These tables are in accordance with our former 
experience, and showT that suicides take place at all 
periods of mature life. As the result of examination of 
numerous statistics of different nations, Morselli states 
that “ the probability of suicide increases in direct ratio 
with age, at least up to the seventieth year, after which 
it shows sometimes irregular diminutions, sometimes 
sudden augmentations,” 7 
The following table shows the methods employed 
for self-destruction : 
Ages. 
Total. 
Firearms. 
Knife, etc. 
Hanging. 
bib 
.£ 
S 
£ 
0 
u. 
Q 
Opium. 
Other 
Poison. 
Miscella- 
neous. 
Unknown. 
20 to 29 years 
31 
20 
4 
2 
2 
2 
I 
3° to 39 “ 
76 
39 
4 
6 
2 
14 
8 
2 
I 
40 to 49 “ 
109 
61 
5 
I T 
1 
17 
9 
2 
3 
5° to 59 “ 
106 
66 
8 
4 
8 
I 2 
2 
2 
4 
60 to 69 “ 
38 
23 
3 
6 
2 
I 
2 
1 
70 years and over 
7 
3 
1 
2 
1 
— 
- 
- 
- 
36 7 
212 
21 
33 
14 
46 
23 
9 
9 
The methods employed for self-destruction depend 
almost entirely upon convenience and opportunity, 
modified by national or local customs and habit of 
thought, and to some extent by the age and temperament 
of the individual. 
Wounds, hanging, drowning and poisons are the 
usual means employed. In the United States, the pistol 
is the favorite method, on account of the national habit 
of using firearms and the facility of obtaining them. 
The certaint}y celerity and painlessness of the 
result also undoubtedly influence the choice of this 
weapon. 
The order of frequency of the methods, and the 
number of cases of each was: 8 
Firearms .. .. . . . . . . .. 212 cases. 
Poisons .. .. . . .. .. .. 69 cases. 
Hanging .. .. .. . . .. .. 33 cases. 
Knives, etc. .. .. .. .. .. 21 cases. 
Drowning 14 cases. 
Unclassified .. .. .. .. .. 18 cases. 
Regarding the influence of the age of the individual 
on the selection of the weapon, it will be observed that 
firearms predominated at all periods of life; that drown- 
ing was very seldom resorted to by persons under fifty 
years of age, and that poisons were almost as seldom 
used by persons above that age. 
Among those classed as “Miscellaneous,” three 
jumped out of windows, four threw themselves in front 
of railroad trains, and two were asphyxiated by illu- 
minating gas. 
Nativity and place of residence are recognized to 
have some influence on the prevalence of suicide, and 
therefore I have prepared the following elaborate table 
(page 9) showing these conditions. The principal 
question involved is that of race or nativity, and second- 
arily the influence of large cities and populous States. 
The table is insufficient to establish any positive con- 
clusions, but it may corroborate or modify the results of 
other investigations. 
Statistics of European nations show that suicides 
prevail most among the Germans and French, moderately 
among the English, and least among the Italians, Irish 
and Spaniards. These nations have all contributed to  
NATIVITY. 
Residence 
AT 
Death. 
United States. 
| Canada. 
| Mexico. 
England. 
Ireland. 
Scotland. 
j France. 
Germany. 
Switzerland. 
Italy. 
Belgium. 
Sweden and Norway. 
Russia. 
Poland. 
Hungary. 
Servia. 
South America. 
South Africa. 
India. 
Total. 
Maine 
i 
I 
2 
New Hampshire 
2 
2 
Vermont 
- 
Massachusetts 
17 
I 
- 
2 
20 
Rhode Island 
4 
4 
Connecticut 
7 
9 
New York 
32 
I 
- 
1 
2 
_ 
2 
20 
I 
_ 
- 
_ 
_ 
2 
_ 
_ 
I 
- 
- 
62 
New Jersey 
8 
3 
11 
Pennsylvania 
22 
- 
- 
- 
2 
I 
2 
6 
- 
I 
34 
Delaware 
1 
1 
Maryland 
4 
4 
Dist. of Columbia 
3 
4 
Virginia 
10 
10 
Sooth Carolina 
3 
I 
4 
Georgia 
3 
1 
4 
Ohio 
11 
I 
- 
2 
4 
18 
Indiana . 
4 
6 
Illinois 
14 
- 
- 
I 
I 
9 
I 
26 
Michigan 
5 
1 
2 
I 
9 
Wisconsin 
5 
1 
3 
9 
Iowa 
3 
2 
I 
6 
Minnesota 
6 
1 
1 
I 
I 
10 
Kentucky 
7 
7 
Tennessee 
2 
- 
I 
4 
Alabama 
2 
5 
7 
Mississippi 
2 
Louisiana 
1 
1 
Texas 
5 
1 
6 
Arkansas 
1 
1 
Missouri 
10 
12 
Kansas 
5 
5 
Nebraska 
3 
3 
Dakota 
3 
3 
Colorado 
4 
7 
Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, 
Montana 
5 
7 
California 
14 
9 
23 
Oregon & Washington Ter. 
2 
3 
Canada 
2 
2 
4 
Mexico 
2 
England 
1 
1 
France 
3 
3 
Switzerland 
1 
Germany 
7 
7 
Sweden 
1 
South Africa 
I 
- 
1 
Australia 
1 
1 
Total, 
231 
7 
I 
II 
9 
3 
9 
82 
2 
I 
I 
2 
I 
2 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
367 
9 10 
the population of America, and the race proclivities of 
each would be transmitted to their descendants. We 
are unable, however, to trace the stock after the first 
generation, as our records merely state the place of 
nativity of the applicant, and all born in the United 
States are called Americans. Yet, an ethnic influence 
undoubtedly exists, and may partially explain the greater 
or less extent of suicide in different sections of the country 
as these have been occupied different nationalities. 
Three hundred and forty-six suicides occurred in the 
United States; of these, two hundred and twenty-nine 
were natives of the United States, and one hundred and 
seventeen were foreign born; of the foreigners, seventy- 
three were born in Germany, eleven in England, nine in 
Ireland and five in France. 
The Germans exceed the Irish in number of lives at 
risk, but this difference can scarcely reach the proportion 
of eight to one. In the State of New York there were 
sixtv-two suicides, thirty of which were native born, 
twenty German, and ten represented seven other 
countries. 
In reference to our European insurance, there were 
seven insured in Germany who died in Germany ; three 
insured in France died in France; one insured in Norway 
died in Sweden. 
In reference to the prevalence of suicide in different 
States or sections of the county, I find no marked dis- 
tinction, except that which is derived from the existence 11 
of large cities. The proportion of suicides Is generally 
greater among the condensed population of urban centres 
than among the more scattered inhabitants of the 
country. 
The investigation as to the determining motives of 
suicide is very unsatisfactory. The information given 
on the proofs of death is generally meagre, and there are 
serious obstacles in the way of thorough research. The 
sympathy of friends glosses over domestic troubles and 
intemperate habits, and also exaggerates any sign of 
mental aberration or unbalanced mind. In seventy 
cases the persons were said to have been insane, and in 
many others they were said to have been depressed, 
melancholic, or unhinged by anxiety and trouble. In a 
few cases the suicide was caused by impaired physical 
health or the delirium of acute fevers. 
Alcoholism or intemperate habits were responsible 
for a considerable number of these deaths. Financial 
reverses and business embarrassment, causing dejection, 
anxiety and sleeplessness, are very frequently spoken of 
in the evidence before coroners’ inquisitions. Two 
hundred and thirty-five were engaged in commerce, 
trade, or business of some description, and only nineteen 
were farmers. 
Our records show no evidence of any hereditary or 
family tendency to suicide. In five only of these cases 
was there any previous record of suicide in the family 
histories, viz.: one father, one mother and three brothers. 12 
Compared with the total number of deaths given in these 
family histories the proportion of suicide is not larger 
than that in the general community. 
Having considered these conditions relating to 
suicide, the question of the recent increase in the mor- 
tality from this cause may be resumed. It has been 
already shown that there has been a decided increase 
within recent years, and that this increase appears not 
only in the actual number of deaths, but in the rate com- 
pared with the mortality from all causes. A further 
analysis is required to learn whether this increase is 
actual, or only apparent and due solely to the great 
increase in the Company’s business. 
There is a common impression that the mortality 
rate from suicides in the general population of the 
country has increased of late years. It is difficult to 
settle this question definitely, on account of the imperfec- 
tion of the statistical records. Even in European 
countries accurate records for any long series of years 
are wanting, and in the United States they are still more 
difficult to obtain, both as to length of time and accurac}'. 
The general tenor of the European statistics, however, 
leads to the conclusion that suicide has increased during 
the past century in varying degrees in different countries. 
Some of the apparent increase is probably due to the 
increased attention to the correctness of the records. 
In the United States, the sources of information are 
meagre. In some of our largest cities the mortality 13 
records have been kept for many years with more or less 
accuracy, but it is within a very short time and in a very 
few States that they have been noted and recorded for 
the entire population, and in some of these the results 
have never been anafyzed and published in a useful form. 
Dr. J. T. Nagle has compiled and published a table of the 
proportion of suicides to the population of New York 
City from 1804 to 1880. This yearly record shows very 
remarkable fluctuations from a maximum number of 
suicides—one suicide in every 3,017 of the population in 
the year 1805, to a minimum of one suicide in 23,827 
population in 1864. 
This table, when carried out up to 1890, seems to 
show a slight increase of suicides during the past ten 
years; but the increase is slight, and the proportion is not 
greater than it has been at several other periods of 
time. The registration reports of Massachusetts for 
twenty years, from 1871 to 1890, show the usual yearly 
fluctuation, a gradual increase of the number of suicides 
with the increase of the population, and in recent years a 
very slight increase beyond that proportion. 
An examination of the suicides in Philadelphia 
during the ten years from 1872 to 1881, made by Dr. J. S. 
Lee, coroner’s physician, shows no increase beyond that 
corresponding with the increase of the population. Like- 
wise an examination of the statistics of Michigan, from 
1874 to 1890, shows no decided evidence of any actual 
increase in the prevalence of suicide within that period. 14 
Returning now to the recent experience of The 
Mutual Life, we find the number of suicides for each 
year since 1879 has been as follows: 
Year. 
Number of Suicides. 
Year. 
Number of Suicides. 
1879 
23 
1887 
27 
1880 
2 X 
1888 
28 
1881 
16 
1889 
39 
1882 
21 
1890 
39 
1883 
19 
1891 
44 
1884 
32 
1892 
42 
1885 
3° 
i893 
62 
1886 
24 
During these fifteen years there has been a steady 
increase in the number of deaths, although with marked 
fluctuations in the different years. In the following table 
the cases are arranged for each year in accordance with 
the duration of insurance, and are grouped into two quin- 
quennial periods: 
Duration of 
Insurance. 
■4- 
00 
00 
VO 
00 
00 
00 
CO 
00 
Total for 
5 years. 
ON 
00 
00 
& 
00 
Ov 
00 
o> 
CO 
s 
00 
Total for 
5 years. 
Total for 
10 years. 
i st year . . 
2 
2 
2 
I 
I 
8 
2 
1 
4 
4 
5 
16 
24 
2d “ .. 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
8 
2 
3 
1 
2 
2 
10 
18 
3d “ .. 
1 
1 
2 
2 
- 
6 
5 
2 
9 
2 
7 
25 
31 
4th “ 
2 
2 
2 
- 
3 
9 
I 
4 
6 
4 
9 
24 
33 
5th “ . . 
2 
— 
2 
— 
2 
6 
3 
1 
— 
6 
4 
14 
20 
Under 5 yrs. 
8 
6 
10 
5 
8 
37 
J3 
11 
20 
18 
27 
89 
126 
6 to 10 yrs. 
6 
4 
2 
7 
2 
21 
6 
7 
4 
7 
*5 
39 j 
60 
Above 10 yrs. 
18 
20 
12 
15 
18 
83 
20 
21 
20 
J7 
20 
98 
181 
Total . . 
32 
30 
24 
27 
28 
141 
39 
39 
44 
42 
62 
226 
367 15 
An examination of this table shows that the large 
increase of suicidal deaths has occurred almost entirely 
among the risks insured during the past six or seven 
years, the period in which the growth of the Company’s 
business has been so enormous. Among the risks insured 
over ten years there has been very little increase of 
suicide. A further examination will show that this 
increase has been greatest during the third, fourth and 
fifth years of insurance. This certainly is not due to the 
numbers at risk, as these must be diminished with each 
year’s succession, and it is too early for any decided 
deterioration in the physical condition of the insured, It 
would be desirable to have an exact statement of the 
number of lives exposed at each period of insurance, but 
unfortunately no such table can now be furnished. The 
Actuary’s department has furnished me, however, with 
an approximate estimate of the lives at risk for the first five 
years of insurance, and during the second quinquennial 
period of the preceding table. On comparing the results 
of a calculation—based on this table—with the Company’s 
early experience (thirty years), it is found that in propor- 
tion to the lives at risk the number of suicides has been 
less now than formerly during the first two years’ expos- 
ure, but that for the third, fourth and fifth years of 
exposure the number has more than doubled its earlier 
proportion. In the absence of any apparent cause for 
this increase during these years, the suggestion is raised 
as to whether it may not have some connection with the 16 
recent change in the form or requirements of the policy. 
Since 1886 the only requirement or restriction, with refer- 
ence to suicide, is that the insured agrees not to die by 
his own act within two years. Almost immediately after 
this provision became effective the number of suicides, 
after the expiration of the second year, began to increase. 
It is not to be presumed or suggested that these persons 
had the slightest intention of committing suicide at the 
time that their insurance was taken, and that the delib- 
erate intention was held for two years. Such an idea is 
incredible. 
Suicide is the result of complex causes and the struggle 
of strong and conflicting emotions. The worries, anxieties, 
and disappointments of life sometimes lead to humilia- 
tions and extreme despondency. In this condition the 
mind requires every support and aid to enable it to see 
correctly, and there is probably no greater counteracting 
influence than the knowledge or belief that the comfort 
and happiness of a man’s family are dependent upon the 
maintenance of his insurance. 
It is possible that there are other undiscovered causes 
for this large number of suicides. The total number of 
cases is too small, and the series of years is too short, to 
consider the proof satisfactory, and the figures may be 
reversed by a longer experience. 
Respectfully submitted, 
Elias J. Marsh, M.D., 
June 27, 1894 Medical Director.