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WILLIAMS' CASE. 235
country, without distinction as to particular places of habitation,
or any discrimination as to the people, other than the duration of
life of each sex; and also, that those state annuitants may be
regarded as a selection of the best lives from the common mass, (i)
Nevertheless, these tables of Finlaison's, are now considered by
many as the most comprehensive, accurate, and generally trust-
worthy tables extant for England, (j)
The only tables of the expectation of life which have been cal-
culated from any observations in this country are those founded on
the results furnished by the records of the Episcopal Church, and
of the Board of Health of the city of Philadelphia, which, it is
said, have been adopted by the Pennsylvania Company for insu-
rance on lives and granting annuities, (k)
All these tables however, relate simply to the expectation of the
life of individuals at various ages, and nothing more. But, in
many instances, the annuity, or life interest, is made to depend
upon two or more lives of the same or different ages; and, conse-
quently the expectation of each life must be considered, and the
case thus becomes more complex; but being deduced from the
same known facts, as to each life, an estimate of their joint value
is still nothing more than the result of a regular arithmetical cal-
culation according to rules and tables to be found in the books
which treat of such calculations.
There are instances, however, in which the annuity or estate
is made to depend upon other contingencies, in connexion with
that of the expectation of the life of the individual; as where
an estate is given to a person to hold until he shall receive an
appointment to some office of profit, or so long as he lives un-
married; in which case it is not only necessary to ascertain the
expectation of life which may be allowed to the individual; but
an additional estimate must be made of his expectation of receiv-
ing a profitable appointment, or of his marriage; and then, the
value of the two contingencies taken together may be calculated
in like manner as in the making of an estimate of the combined
value of two or more lives; except, that in the case of two, or
more lives, each life adds somewhat to the value of the expec-
tancy, whereas a contingency annexed to a life diminishes its
value. There may be very great difficulty in determining the
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(t) 2 Price Obser.. 454.—(j) 9 Westm. Rev. 398, 403.—(k) Seybert Stat. Ann.
51; Trans. Philo. Soci. Philad. vol. 3, No. 7, p. 25; 2 Malth. Popu. 16.
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