INDEX.

i.

.

.

.

Page The Busy-Body, No. I.

. . . . . . . 3
II. .
III. . . . . . . . .
IV. . . . . . . . . 13
V. . . . . . . . . . 20

VIII. . . . . . . . 30
Dialogue between Philocles and Horatio .....
A second dialogue ....

. •
Public men ...............
Self-denial not the essence of virtue . . . . . .
On the usefulness of the mathematics ..
On true happiness . . . . . . . . . . . .
On discoveries . . . . . . . . . .
The waste of life . . . . .

.
The way to wealth. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Necessary hints to those who would be rich ....
Advice to a young tradesman .........
The may to make money plenty in every man's pocket 88
New mode of lending money . . . . . . . . . 89
An economical project .. . ........ 90
On early marriages . ............ 96
Effect of early impressions on the mind ..... 98
The whistle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.
A petition to those who have the superintendency of

education . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 The handsome and deformed leg. · · · · · · · 105 Morals of chess . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

.

. 113

Page
The art of procuring pleasant dreams

0 Procuring pleasant dreams
Precautions to be used by those who are about to under-

take a sea voyage . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout ..... 125
A parable against persecution . . . . . . . . . 132
On the death of relatives ..

.... 134
The ephemera an emblem of human life... 135
Account of a whirlwind at Maryland

aryland . . . . . 138
On the saltness of sea water . . . . . . . . . 140
On the effect of air on the barometer, and the benefits

derived from the study of insects . . . . . 142
On the art of swimming . . . . . . . . . . . 145
On the same subject............ 150
On the free use of air ............ 153
On the causes of colds ... .... . ... 154
Tendency of rivers to the sea.--Effects of the sun's

rays on eloths of different colours . . . . . 155
On the magnetism and theory of the earth .
Queries and conjectures relating to magnetism and the

theory of the earth . . . . . . . . . . 105
On the nature of sea coal . . . . . . . . . . 169
Effect of vegetation on noxious air. . . . . . . 170
Observations on the prevailing doctrines of life and

death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

END OF VOL. L.

T. Davison, Printer, Whitefriars.

BY D# BENJ. FRANKLIN,

VOL.I.

ESSAYS AND LETTERS

ON

COMMERCIAL AND POLITICAL SUBJECTS. ,

OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE IN.

CREASE OF MANKIND, PEOPLING OF
COUNTRIES, &c.

Written in Pennsylvania, 1751. 1. TABLES of the proportion of marriages to births, of deaths to births, of marriages to the number of inhabitants, &c. formed on observations made upor the bills of mortality, christenings, &c. of populous cities, will not suit countries; uor will tables, form. ed on observations made on full settled old countries, as Europe, suit new countries, as America.

2. For people increase in proportion to the number of marriages, and that is greater, in proportion to the ease and convenience of supporting a family. When families can be easily supported, more persops marry, and earlier in life.

3. In cities, where all trades, occupations, and offices are full, many delay marrying till they can see how to bear the charges of a family; which charges are greater in cities, as luxury is more common: many live single during life, and continue servants to families, journeymen to trades, &c.