INFLUENCE OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 339 



extensively and intensively than in the United States, and a vast 

 literature has been accumulated on these subjects. Up to the 

 last quarter century the urban death rates generally exceeded the 

 rural, but more recently, however, the death rate in cities has 

 decreased more rapidly than in the country, so that in several 

 countries the urban rate has become the lower of the two. 



This fact may be illustrated by the following table showing the 

 decline of the death rate in some of the principal cities and 

 countries of Europe: 



Decline of Urban and Rural Death Rates in Europe 



In the German Empire the death rates for cities of over 15,000 

 or more inhabitants have averaged lower than for the rural dis- 

 tricts since the seventies, although in Prussia the cities did not 

 take the lead until the nineties. 



Death Rates of City and Country in Germany 



