Houston R A
Department of Modern History, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Soc Hist Med. 1995 Apr;8(1):37-53. doi: 10.1093/shm/8.1.37.
Using a methodology previously applied to advocates, this article looks at the adult life expectancy of another group of Scottish lawyers, Writers to the Signet (WS). The mortality of WS fell decisively in the early eighteenth century. The social origins and living conditions of the WS are discussed and two conclusions drawn. First, improvements in mortality were not related to any significant change in hygiene, housing, or diet. Secondly, the lifestyle of WS probably typified that of Scotland's middling ranks and their demographic experience was likely to have been representative of the population at large. Comparisons are drawn with English and Continental data and the implications for understanding the course of population change in eighteenth-century Scotland are considered.
本文采用先前应用于倡导者的方法，研究了另一组苏格兰律师——苏格兰最高民事法庭辩护律师（WS）的成人预期寿命。18世纪初，WS的死亡率显著下降。文中讨论了WS的社会出身和生活条件，并得出了两个结论。第一，死亡率的改善与卫生、住房或饮食方面的任何重大变化无关。第二，WS的生活方式可能是苏格兰中产阶级的典型生活方式，他们的人口统计经验可能代表了整个苏格兰人口的情况。文中还与英国和欧洲大陆的数据进行了比较，并探讨了这些比较对于理解18世纪苏格兰人口变化过程的意义。
