ABSTRACT
The eighteenth century is, at least for France, of special demographic interest. The study of the population of France in the eighteenth century is rich in promise. The first of the problems posed by the eighteenth century concerns the evolution of the population. The quality of registration was perhaps more seriously affected, especially in small parishes, by the ignorance of the official replacing the priest as responsible for registration. The sample analysis of the population of France before 1800 is intended to throw light on these points which are still obscure. So far as it has gone up to the present time, the investigation gives some information only about the rural population of 9 departments of the Paris basin. The eighteenth century is usually considered to be a period of loose morals. This opinion is the result of observations based too exclusively on the aristocratic society of Versailles and Paris.
