The authors review the Life Tables published in connection with the 1931 Census of Scotland.

They discuss the suitability of the enumerated population as a reliable index of the mean population to which deaths in the three calendar years nearest to the census date should be related, and explain the steps which were taken to obtain a more satisfactory representation of the true exposed to risk at periods of life when the census population was obviously unsuitable.

The methods used for the graduation of the crude data are explained. Comparisons are made of the mortality of the two sexes and in regard to varying marital status. Further figures are given showing the relation between the mortality shown by the more recent tables and that exhibited by earlier investigations. The mortality in various parts of Scotland is exhibited and the death-rates in the country as a whole are compared with those found in other parts of the United Kingdom.

The question of the most suitable function for use in comparing national life tables is considered and the popular misconception of the true meaning of the “expectation of life” is discussed.