ABSTRACT
In endeavouring to elucidate the ultimate causes of the reduction of the death rate the authors may perhaps roughly classify them under the heads 'increasing wealth' and 'increasing knowledge', though these two are obviously mutually interdependent. The main cause of the increasing wealth was undoubtedly the growth of commerce and, as far as this country was concerned, the growth of the commerce of London. The commerce of London re-acted upon agriculture, providing it both with a market and with capital, and thus it was an important factor in a remarkable increase in both the quality and the quantity of the food supply. The growth of commerce itself had its origin in the great geographical discoveries of the 15th century, which also placed this country in a favourable position in regard to foreign trade. The growth of commerce thus directly added to the security of the national food supply but it also led to a revolution in agricultural organization and production.
