The success of a compulsory sterilization programme depends on obtaining a correct history of family size from the couples concerned. Accordingly, we carried out a feasibility study at Prabhadevi Municipal Hospital, Bombay. At registration for confinement the women were required to produce some documentary proof such as a ration card, Employee's State Insurance Scheme card, or a letter from the Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat for women coming from villages, to indicate the number of their living children. The difficulties met by the staff in obtaining the necessary information and the problems of the women in providing documentary evidence are discussed, together with the results of the survey.

Matrices are derived for converting the proportions of couples wanting various completed family sizes to proportions attaining given sizes of families at a given time, based on a simulation model in which couples commence the regular use of contraception as soon as the decision is made to have not more than one further child. The matrices are adapted to include a proportion of ‘prospective aborters’ who are prepared to have recourse to abortion if contraception fails. A measure of consistency between the family size preferences estimated for different durations of marriage is introduced. This measure, together with the conversion matrices, is used to estimate the distribution of aborters and of family size preferences among a cohort of women married in England and Wales in 1920–24 at ages 20–24.

During the century before its final evacuation in 1930 the population of St Kilda declined from over 100 to 36. While undoubtedly emigration and natural disasters played a part in this depopulation, ongoing processes were also important. In particular, replacement levels were never sufficient to maintain a constant population size. In the early part of this period the main factor responsible was heavy neonatal mortality, almost all from tetanus (‘eight-day sickness’), but latterly the fertility of those who survived was low, even though mortality rates had declined. In part at least, this decline in fertility could be ascribed to a lower frequency of marriage—a phenomenon seen elsewhere in the Outer Hebrides during the latter part of the 19th century.

Estimates of the opportunity for selective pressure on the population suggest very high levels, due earlier mainly to high pre-reproductive mortality and later to lowered fertility.

A sample of 442 males living in Amsterdam and convicted for ill-treatment without malice prepense in 1970 and 1971, was drawn from the files of the Central Bureau of Statistics in The Netherlands to study a possible relationship between the birth month of male offenders, the annual period of perpetration and the age at which the offence is committed. The results suggest that in Amsterdam the perpetration of aggressive delinquencies during the annual period is to some degree correlated with the (calendar) month of birth. It seems that particular seasonal conditions only have an effect if these occur within a limited period before or after the birth month. Additionally, a long-term effect has been found, showing that the age at which the offence is committed is to some degree correlated with the month of birth. So far, causal factors are not known. However, other studies suggest the influence of seasonal meteorological conditions, although periodical social factors should not be excluded.

The high variability between centres in the incidence of side effects related to intrauterine devices (IUDs) is taken to indicate the need to direct research attention towards the context in which IUDs are inserted, as opposed to exclusive concern with the nature of the device. This paper considers the significance of psychological factors at the time of insertion in the light of recent studies indicating the benefits of adequate patient preparation.

The average male–female performance difference in the three sports of track athletics, swimming and time trial cycling are examined between the years 1948 and 1976. During this period females have gradually come to participate in a much larger number of events, particularly those of longer duration. In each of these three sports, women's performances in relation to men's have more or less continuously improved and it appears that if the changes between 1948 and 1976 are maintained, average female performance will equal that of males for all events currently competed in by both sexes in these sports at some time during the next century. Estimates as to when, precisely, this will occur vary somewhat according to the basis on which the calculations are made. The other main change evident during these years is that in all three sports women's performances relative to men's for events of long duration have become as good or better than their relative performance at events of short duration.

The study demonstrates that, regardless of location, a pronounced reduction in fertility is achieved in Sri Lanka by the completion of junior secondary or higher levels of education; the reduction seems to be more marked in rural than in urban areas. Increased efforts to ensure that a significantly higher proportion of girls in Sri Lanka complete at least the junior secondary level would be likely to effect a significant reduction in fertility. It is therefore important in developing countries to explore the potential influence of female educational attainment as an effective weapon towards fertility reduction and to ascertain the extent of the decline in fertility produced by varing degrees of education, according to various characteristics.

A survey was carried out on 108 Chilean children and a selection of their families. The factors studied were: (1) social, (2) demographic and dietary—to provide a background to the study, (3) nutrition—to assess the incidence and degree of malnutrition and (4) haematology—to determine the incidence of anaemia.

The major findings which have emerged are: (1) the diet of the people was not severely impaired, but it was observed that only small quantities of food with high nutritive value were consumed; (2) undernutrition was present with 41·5% of the children having first degree, 11·4% second degree and 1·0% third degree malnutrition (Gomez classification); (3) 46·1% of the children were anaemic, apparently because of iron deficiency.

The concluding discussion centres on some constructive suggestions for improvement of existing conditions leading to better standards of health.