TOWN LIFE AND ITS EFFECTS. 203 



the mere pursuit of life and life's avocations in a 

 big city must, in the cases of sedentary workers, be 

 attended not only by an increasing lack of vitality, 

 but by a transmission of the weakness to succeeding 

 units. And there comes a point in this handing on of 

 feeble health, says the sanitarian, when the climax is 

 reached in the shape of the absolute dying out of the 

 enfeebled stock. 



The author from whom I have already quoted re- 

 minds us that if we treat London as a kind of county 

 or area by itself, we find that out of every 1000 

 persons in London 371 are country-born. An immi- 

 gration of 37 per cent, thus represents what the 

 London population owes to country blood. Again, 

 Mr. Galton is emphatic enough in his calculations as 

 to the percentage of the supply of units (to the next 

 generation) which is represented in rural and city 

 districts respectively. Thus, IOOO families in rural 

 districts will supply about 2334 adults to the next 

 generation, while 1000 town families will only supply 

 1796. The town supply is only 77 per cent, of the 

 country instalment, and to the second generation it is 

 only 59 per cent, of the rural contribution. 



Attacked thus from the side of increase and con- 

 tinuance, we see that the failure of vitality in towns 

 makes itself felt on the population question in a very 

 marked fashion ; and this accords with what Mr. 

 Cantlie, as we have seen, tells us about the decadence 

 of the pure-bred Londoner. Statistics, proverbially, 

 may be made to prove anything ; but in the department 

 of health we tread on relatively sure ground in the 

 matter of figures. Taking London, typically so called, 

 and excluding districts which are more or less suburban 

 in character, we are told that, comparing it with healthy 



