INFLUENCE OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 343 



of venereal disease, a percentage which becomes relatively greater 

 with the increased size of the city and which cannot fail to have a 

 marked effect on individual and racial vitality. 



Cities generally exceed the neighboring country in the per.r 

 centage of illegitimacy, the proportion of stillbirths, the relative 

 number of married women who are sterile, the proportion of 

 mothers unable to nurse their children, and in the prevalence of 

 alcoholism and addiction to drugs. All these facts are indicative 

 of the deteriorating effects to which city populations are subject 

 and which cannot fail to affect either the average longevity of the 

 stock or its power of perpetuation. 



Further indications of the effects of the city are afforded by 

 the extensive statistics on the fitness of recruits for military 

 service. Where compulsory military service is in vogue and 

 where all classes are subjected to examination, the data yielded is 

 of much value. The percentage of recruits meeting the require- 

 ments for military service in Germany for 1907 and 1908 is given 

 in the following table which shows the proportions accepted from 

 cities of different sizes and from the country: 



Percentage of Recruits Qualifying for Military Service in Germany 



According to Bindewald the superiority of rural recruits is 

 not dependent upon occupation since it obtains within the limits 

 of each trade or profession. He cites the following statistics of 

 the percentage of those meeting the military requirements: 



