T HE PUBLIC seems to be suspicious of statistics and statisticians for two reasons. First, anyone who has a sufficient knowledge of higher mathematics and of statistical method to be classed as a genuine statistician will of necessity find himself among the group of " highbrows" collectively labelled as experts, and there seems to be in the popular mind an inherent distrust of the expert. Secondly, the public is easily confused by figures; the methods employed by statistics are over its head, and it does not like what it cannot fully understand. Something incomprehensible offends the instinct for superiority. Any element in the environment, whether it be a statistical calculation or a foreigner, that is not easily understood, arouses distrust if not hate, because of a normal and almost universal instinctive reaction. For these reasons, if statistics are to be accepted by the public, and are to be useful in interpreting facts and in motivating action, they must be made as simple as possible. Too meticulous an explanation of technique wearies the casual reader and arouses rather than allays suspicion and antipathy. Hence, a simple presentation of statistical observations is to be desired. The chief points of interest should be stressed and the minor ones ignored. Otherwise the reader is very likely to miss entirely the very items one is most anxious to emphasize. Practically, this means that figures are greatly helped