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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
Tae following chapters are based on the courses of instruction 
given during my tenure of the Newmarch Lectureship in Statistics 
at University College, London, in the sessions 1902-1909. The 
variety of illustrations and examples has, however, been increased 
to render the book more suitable for the use of biologists and 
others besides those interested in economic and vital statistics, 
and some of the more difficult parts of the subject have been 
treated in greater detail than was possible in a sessional course 
of some thirty lectures. For the rest, the chapters follow closely 
the arrangement of the course, the three parts into which the 
volume is divided corresponding approximately to the work of 
the three terms. To enable the student to proceed further with 
the subject, fairly detailed lists of references to the original 
memoirs have been given at the end of each chapter: exercises 
have also been added for the benefit, more especially, of the 
student who is working without the assistance of a teacher. 
The volume represents an attempt to work out a systematic 
introductory course on statistical methods—the methods available 
for discussing, as distinct from collecting, statistical data—suited 
to those who possess only a limited knowledge of mathematics : 
an acquaintance with algebra up to the binomial theorem, 
together with such elements of co-ordinate geometry as are now 
generally included therewith, is all that is assumed. I hope that 
it may prove of some service to the students of the diverse 
sciences in which statistical methods are now employed. 
My most grateful thanks are due to Mr R. H. Hooker not only 
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