Not London alone, of course, but all the large cities have been engaged in this work of absorption.

Everywhere the centripetal forces are at work.
The larger the town the stronger the power of suction, and the wider the area over which the attraction extends.

There are three chief considerations which affect the force with which the attraction of a large city acts upon rural districts.

The first is distance.

By far the largest quantity of new-comers into London are natives of Middlesex, Kent, Bucks, and what are known as "the home counties." As we pass further North and West, the per-centage gradually though not quite regularly declines.