P. 299, §2 line 5: ‘Duvillar’ should read ‘Duvillard’.

P. 302, line 5: –dy–sdxnm should read –dy–sdx/nm

P. 304, Note below Table 2: 7.4.1. should read 714, 1.

1.1. This is intended as a discussion paper or a working paper. It does present new data; but that is not its main purpose. Its aim is to stimulate thinking about possible techniques for studying mortality through morbidity, rather than to produce results. The Secretary of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population when outlining the purpose of a new committee of the I.U.S.S.P. on “factors affecting mortality and the length of life” stated that “it is a common feeling that the traditional demographic and actuarial approach to mortality produces diminishing returns. It is also a common feeling that closer links with other biomedical disciplines, with genetics or biology, are essential if we wish as demographers to improve our contribution to the study of mortality.”(1) The formation of that Committee was a major factor prompting me to set down some views which I have long held on the subject of mortality studies.

1.1. In 1968 the government of the day set up a committee under Lord Crowther to carry out a wide-ranging review of consumer credit. At that time only a few aspects of this complex field were covered by legislation and there was a minimal degree of control and consumer protection. The Crowther Committee reported in March 1971 with a fairly voluminous report, making extensive recommendations for changes in the law and for greatly increased control of this increasingly important area of consumer affairs.

1.1. This paper is intended as a tribute to a man who died at the age of 49 just over 200 years ago having made material contributions to what is now regarded as actuarial science, as well as to many other branches of science, but whose work has largely been overlooked.

1.2. Johann Heinrich Lambert was born in Mulhouse, Alsace on 26 August 1728 and died in Berlin on 25 September 1777. He was largely self-taught, having had to leave school at the age of 12 to help his father in his tailor's shop. At the age of 20 he became tutor to the children of a noble Swiss family; this ended 10 years later when he had taken the children on an educational tour of Europe during which he was able to meet eminent scientists of the time and go to lectures at universities and learned societies. Eventually, in 1765, he obtained a post at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin where he stayed until his death.