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diff --git a/77753-0.txt b/77753-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1b7190 --- /dev/null +++ b/77753-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29151 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77753 *** + + + + + THE POPULATION PROBLEM + =A Study in= + HUMAN EVOLUTION + + + BY + + A. M. CARR-SAUNDERS + + + OXFORD + AT THE CLARENDON PRESS + 1922 + + + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + + London Edinburgh Glasgow Copenhagen New York Toronto Melbourne + Cape Town Bombay Calcutta Madras Shanghai + + HUMPHREY MILFORD + + Publisher to the University + + + + + PREFACE + + +Many different questions connected with population are frequently +discussed at the present day. This book is designed not so much as a +contribution to the study of any one of these questions in particular as +an attempt to trace back to their origin the main problems which now +attract attention and to indicate their relation one to the other—to +view the whole problem in fact from an historical and evolutionary +standpoint. The book is an accident of the war. When war broke out I was +engaged in collecting material which is incorporated in this book with +the object of discussing certain aspects of the population problem. It +had occurred to me that I might write an introduction showing how these +aspects are related to the problem as a whole. Further than that I had +not gone when there followed five years of active service during which +the project of writing an introductory sketch became converted into the +far more ambitious project of treating at some length the population +problem as a whole. Had it thus not been for these years during which it +was possible only to elaborate schemes for future work, I should never +have embarked on so ambitious a task. The task is not an easy one, +involving as it does both difficulties of proportion and difficulties +arising from the necessity of touching upon biological, anthropological +and economic problems, with regard to all of which no one man can +pretend to have extensive knowledge. Nevertheless, quite apart from the +question as to whether this book does in any measure achieve its +purpose, those best acquainted with modern population literature will +probably agree that there is room for an attempt to view the whole +population problem in historical perspective. If therefore this book +does no more than draw the attention of those interested in particular +aspects of the matter to the necessity of so doing, it will not +altogether have failed of its purpose. + +I wish to express my very great obligations to Professor L. T. Hobhouse, +who read through the whole book in manuscript and furnished me with +numerous most valuable suggestions and criticisms. To Mr. Julian Huxley, +who read the chapters which deal most directly with biological problems, +I am also indebted for valuable help. The calculations which appear in +the last section of the fifth chapter I owe to Mr. H. T. Tizard. + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I + PAGE + + HISTORICAL 17 + + (1) Problems of population fall under two headings—quantitative + and qualitative; the former have long attracted attention; the + latter have, until recently, only sporadically aroused interest. + (2) Numbers were discussed in a restricted sense in Greece and + Rome, but it was not until the sixteenth century (3) that + quantitative problems were considered from a modern point of + view when (4) a dense population was generally held to be + advantageous. (5) This view was not everywhere accepted, and (6) + the relation between numbers and the food-supply was from time + to time discussed, and the position of Malthus more or less + anticipated. (7) In 1798 Malthus published his book, which (8) + was favourably received. (9) Neomalthusian propaganda, though + not approved by Malthus, began early. (10) Darwin and Wallace + were influenced by Malthus in founding the hypothesis of natural + selection, and from 1858 onwards qualitative problems have come + to assume an equally important place. + + + CHAPTER II + + THE BASIS OF THE POPULATION PROBLEM: (1) THE QUANTITATIVE + ASPECT 37 + + (1) The ancestors of man were once subject to the conditions + prevailing among species in a state of nature. These conditions + are studied. (2) Reproduction, the necessity for which can be + explained, (3) always consists in the fusion of two gametes, but + (4) is accomplished by different methods. (5) Whatever the + method, most ripe ova are fertilized, though among lower forms + failures may not be infrequent. A reference to the nature of (6) + reflex action, (7) instinct, (8) intelligence, and (9) reason + shows that, (10) whatever the stage of mental evolution reached + among species in a state of nature, reproduction is essentially + ‘mechanical’. (11) The vast number of ova (12) is only partially + called for by the fact that a certain proportion only is + fertilized. The vast number is necessary because (13) owing to + the interdependence of all species a large proportion of the + young of (14) both animals (15) and plants perish before + maturity (16) and is determined by the sum of the dangers to + which the young are exposed. + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BASIS OF THE POPULATION PROBLEM: (2) THE + QUALITATIVE ASPECT 64 + + (1) In the chromatin of the nucleus we have apparently to + recognize the physical basis of the inherited qualities which + (2) take the form of predispositions towards the development of + certain characters. (3) Difference between modifications and + mutations. (4) ‘Pure Line’ and (5) Mendelian investigations + indicate nature and behaviour of latter on crossing. (6) + Germinal change consists in the apparent addition, dropping out, + or modification of ‘factors’, the causes of which (7) are + unknown, and are not due to the inheritance of acquired + characters. (8) Owing to the death-rate being selective, + different germinal constitutions are differently favoured, and + thus (9) permanent change among species in a state of nature + comes about. + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE POPULATION PROBLEM AMONG MEN 80 + + (1) The population problem among men has, owing to the evolution + of reason, assumed in both aspects a wholly different form. (2) + To follow the nature, causes, and results of these changes a + sketch is required of human evolution—especially of social + evolution. History only provides a partial record for a few + thousand years, and (3) we are thus dependent for social history + upon our knowledge of primitive races which may be applied to + prehistoric races. (4) Outline of future chapters. + + + CHAPTER V + + HUMAN FECUNDITY 88 + + (1) We have to ask whether human fecundity has changed and what + the effect of certain customs is upon fecundity. (2) It is not + to factors influencing the male (3) but to factors influencing + the female that we have to look. (4) The length of the mature + period increases with good conditions; (5) the interval between + births has decreased in mankind, (6) while the number at a birth + has probably increased (7) owing to good conditions. (8) That + human fecundity has increased is supported by other evidence, + (9) including the number of children, and (10) was held by + Darwin and others. (11) Polygamy has had no influence, but + lactation, age at marriage, early intercourse, and development + of fat adversely affect fecundity. (12) Calculations of possible + increase. + + + CHAPTER VI + + HUMAN HISTORY 106 + + (1) The outline of human history can be roughly dated by (2) + estimating the length of the geological eras. (3) Little is + known as to the evolution of the Primate stock, but (4) the + association of geological data, fossils, and cultural data give + a table of human history. (5) Fossil remains of man before the + fourth glacial epoch. (6) Neanderthal man in the fourth glacial + epoch. (7) Numerous remains in the post-glacial epoch. (8) + Putting aside eoliths, (9) we have Lower, Middle, and Upper + Palaeolithic cultures, followed by (10) Neolithic culture and + (11) the age of metals. (12) Putting together fossil and + cultural evidence, we reach a scheme the details of which can be + filled in by (13) our knowledge of existing primitive races with + (14) certain reservations. + + + CHAPTER VII + + HUNTING AND FISHING RACES 135 + + (1) A survey of these races is undertaken to show the prevalence + of factors bearing upon fertility and elimination, and evidence + of (2) pre-puberty intercourse, (3) prolonged lactation, (4) + initiation ceremonies, (5) postponement of marriage, and (6) + abstention from intercourse is given. (7) Evidence of small + average size of family. (8) Among factors of elimination, + abortion, (9) infanticide, (10) warfare, (11) feuds, (12) + killing of old and sick, (13, 14) disease, and (15) child + mortality are investigated. + + + CHAPTER VIII + + PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURAL RACES 162 + + (1) A similar survey of these races is undertaken, and evidence + is given regarding the prevalence in America (2) of pre-puberty + intercourse, (3) postponement of marriage, (4) prolonged + lactation, (5) abstention from intercourse, (6) small size of + the family, (7) abortion, (8) infanticide, (9) war, (10) feuds, + (11) disease, (12) and child mortality. (13) In Africa similarly + regarding pre-puberty intercourse, (14) lactation, (15) + marriage, (16) abstention from intercourse, (17) contraceptive + methods, (18) size of family, (19) abortion, (20) infanticide, + (21) warfare, (22) feuds, (23) disease, (24) and child + mortality. (25) In Oceania regarding pre-puberty intercourse, + (26) lactation, (27) marriage, (28) abstention from intercourse, + (29) contraceptive practices, (30) size of family, (31) + abortion, (32) infanticide, (33) warfare, (34) feuds, (35) and + child mortality. (36) In Asia of the same practices. + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE REGULATION OF NUMBERS AMONG PRIMITIVE RACES 197 + + (1) The theory of Malthus has long been disproved, and (2) has + been replaced by the modern theory of an optimum density of + population. (3) Territories are strictly defined among hunting + and fishing races, and (4) among primitive agricultural races. + (5) Among all these races there is co-operation in the search + for food. (6) The principle of the optimum number holds good for + all of them, and by the natural selection of customs, practices + restrictive of increase come everywhere into use in the shape of + abstention from intercourse, abortion, and infanticide. (7) + Evidence of these practices is incomplete, (8) but shows that + they are so practised as to keep numbers down to a certain + level, (9) and, though they may be adjusted solely by natural + selection, yet some semi-conscious adjustment may take place. + (10) That adjustment should take place, a certain standard of + skill is necessary on the part of those who set up new families + and is ensured by marriage customs. (11) General conditions of + savage life afford evidence that customs are effective. (12) + There is no correlation between these practices and economic + stages; though evidence is lacking, the presumption is that some + such practices were everywhere in use (13) not only among + primitive but also among prehistoric races, (14) who have moved + slowly away from the conditions prevalent in the intermediate + stage. + + + CHAPTER X + + HISTORICAL RACES 243 + + (1) These races fall under four sub-headings. For all of them + the evidence is discussed concerning (2) disease, (3) warfare, + (4) and child mortality. (5) In sub-groups 1 and 2 celibacy and + postponement of marriage, (6) pre-puberty marriage, (7) + lactation, (8) restraint from intercourse, (9) contraceptive + practices, (10) size of family, (11) abortion, (12) and + infanticide. (13) In sub-groups 3 and 4 pre-puberty intercourse + and lactation, (14) celibacy and marriage, (15) contraceptive + practices, (16) abortion and infanticide, (17) and venereal + disease. + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE REGULATION OF NUMBERS AMONG HISTORICAL RACES 270 + + (1) Among these races, in spite of certain complications, the + principle of the optimum number holds good. (2) The evidence for + the first sub-group is too scanty to base conclusions upon. (3) + Among the races of the second sub-group we see how the pressure + is felt, and (4) we have knowledge of the factors at work, but + (5) in India, China, and Egypt there is evidence that the + factors are not effective, and that over-population occurs. (6) + In the third sub-group, where the factors are different, (7) we + can see in disabilities placed upon serfs, and (8) in + difficulties, (9) restrictions, and (10) Poor Law provisions + hindrances to marriage. (11) The system was generally effective, + though over-population occasionally occurred. (12) In the fourth + sub-group there is no evidence of over-population; (13) the + factors are rather different, and (14) pressure comes about by + unconscious response to economic conditions. (15) Summarizing + the position for all groups we find that owing to the great + power of increase, customs restrictive of increase are always + necessary, and (16) have taken various forms (17) with varying + effectiveness. (18) Changes in quantity are a result rather than + a primary cause of historical events. (19) Neither migration + (20) nor war is due directly to over-population, though the + position as regards quantity may be an element in the situation + predisposing nations towards migration and war. + + + CHAPTER XII + + SOME MODERN PROBLEMS 308 + + (1) The recent increase in numbers was in response to economic + requirements, and affords no ground for pessimism as to the + future. (2) The density desirable may be considered from the + point of view of moral welfare (3) and of national safety, as + well as from the economic standpoint. (4) The importance of + minor fluctuations. (5) Methods of limiting increase at the + present day. (6) Different ratios of increase as between + different classes, (7) between different races in the same + country, and (8) between different countries. + + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE QUALITATIVE PROBLEM 322 + + We have to ask how far those changes which constitute history + are due to germinal changes, and are therefore comparable to + changes among species in a state of nature. Analysis of + remaining chapters. + + + CHAPTER XIV + + THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AMONG ANIMALS + AND PLANTS 325 + + (1) Observations show that environment and heredity are + complementary one to the other. (2) Abnormal stimuli may produce + almost any result, but (3) for each species there is a normal + environment, to certain elements in which marked responses may + be made, though (4) generally speaking sessile organisms are far + more responsive to differences in the environment than are + free-living organisms. (5) Among free-living species in a state + of nature closely related to man, modifications are not of great + importance in producing variations. + + + CHAPTER XV + + THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT UPON MAN 336 + + (1) Among men there is no normal environment. (2) The effect of + exercise, (3) of general conditions, (4) and of climate. (5) + Huntington’s theory of optimum climatic conditions. (6) The + effect of food, altitude, &c. (7) Statistical results. (8) + Effect of disease. (9) Evidence derived from twins. (10) + Conclusion that modifications, with the exception of those + produced by disease, are not of great importance, though of more + importance than in the case of species closely allied to man. + + + CHAPTER XVI + + HEREDITY IN MAN 356 + + (1) Recent work in heredity leads to the conclusion that at the + basis of all human characters lies a vast number of + unit-factors; but few have yet been recognized, and (2) we have + to depend upon statistical data, which show that all mental and + physical characters are inherited. Further discussion of the + inheritance of (3) disease, (4) temperament, (5) instinct, and + (6) intellect. (7) Conclusion. + + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE EVOLUTION OF PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 368 + + (1) Preliminary notice of certain difficulties—cause of + mutation, strength of selection. (2) During the intermediate + period great changes took place, but (3) in general during the + first and second periods the tendency was towards the evolution + and preservation of certain types, (4) which is comprehensible + when the conditions among primitive races are studied. (5) In + the third period more variations have been allowed to persist; + disease becomes of importance. (6) At all times warfare, + migration, and crossing have influenced physical characters. (7) + Factors of possible importance other than selection. (8) + Conclusion. + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + THE EVOLUTION OF MENTAL CHARACTERS 385 + + (1) We have to inquire into the stage of mental evolution + reached at different times. (2) After discussing evidence + derived from fossils, (3) from the study of primitive races, (4) + from Binet-Simon tests, and (5) elsewhere, we conclude that by + far the greater part of mental evolution had been accomplished + in Palaeolithic times. (6) Conditions in the intermediate period + strongly favoured intellect, (7) but in the first and second + periods there ceased to be any considerable premium upon + intellect, (8) while, though at the opening of the third period + some advance was favoured, later conditions merely allowed of + the existence of greater diversity. (9) Definite conclusions + postponed until tradition has been studied. + + + CHAPTER XIX + + THE NATURE OF TRADITION 407 + + (1) The evolution of conceptual thought went hand in hand with + that of language, (2) and has passed through a series of stages. + (3) The products of conceptual thought are stored up in various + ways, (4) are transmitted by language and by the operation of + suggestion and sympathy, and (5) are retained by habit. (6) In a + relatively unimportant way tradition is present among the higher + animals. (7) Tradition moulds the degree and direction of the + use of mental faculties, and (8) is naturally selected. + + + CHAPTER XX + + THE ORIGIN OF TRADITION 419 + + (1) Supposing other things to be equal, we have to study the + influence of differences in fertility and contact upon + tradition. (2) Fertility is a purely relative term. (3) The + greater the fertility, the greater the incentive to increase in + skill and to the transmission of skilled processes. (4) Since + fertility is relative there is a shifting of the centres of + progress. (5) Contact varies in quantity and quality, and + facilitates the transmission and encourages the formation of + skill. (6) Contact is hindered by isolation by sea, deserts, and + mountains, and is facilitated by rivers. Importance of location + and language. (7) Contact also influenced by economic factors + which have brought about (8) the evolution from the segmentary + to the organic form of social organization. (9) Thus the origin + and transmission of tradition have been very greatly encouraged + in the third period, (10) though certain influences work against + the full realization of the organic type in modern communities. + (11) Differences in economic organization are correlated with + other differences in social organization. + + + CHAPTER XXI + + THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITION AND HEREDITY 437 + + (1) Definite conclusions are difficult to reach. (2) History in + the intermediate period was due to germinal change. (3) The + natural endowment of America, (4) Asia, (5) Africa, (6) and of + other regions, (7) and their geographical features, (8) suggests + that history in the subsequent periods was chiefly of the nature + of traditional change. (9) Though germinal changes are important + they do not account for the outstanding events, though they have + contributed to them. (10) Lesser germinal changes colour + tradition, but are not determining factors in history. (11) + Known germinal changes, such as those produced by crossing, are + less important than accompanying traditional changes, (12) of + which there are many instances in the third period. (13) The + direct effect of the environment is not negligible, and has + influenced the course of history. (14) The cyclic course of + civilization, which has been attributed to germinal change, is + in the main due to traditional changes. (15) Tradition at the + present day overlays the manifestation of mental characters in + so great a degree that (16) differences between classes may well + seem wholly traditional, but (17) psychological tests and (18) + other evidence show that innate mental differences are present, + (19) though it is difficult to appraise their value and the + importance of modern differential fertility. + + + CHAPTER XXII + + CONCLUSION 475 + + Summary of the argument and of the conclusions. + + APPENDIX I 483 + + Summary of evidence as to restriction of increase amongst + Primitive Races. + + APPENDIX II 488 + + LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 489 + + INDEX 509 + + + + + LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS + + + _A. R. B. E._ = Annual Report. Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian + Institution. + + _A. R. S. I._ = Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. + + _Am. Anth._ = American Anthropologist. + + _Am. Jour. Obstet._ = American Journal of Obstetrics. + + _Am. Stat. Ass._ = Publications of the American Statistical + Association. + + _Ann. de Pal._ = Annales de Paléontologie. + + _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_ = Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. + + _Arch. für Anth._ = Archiv für Anthropologie. + + _Aust. Med. Jour._ = Australian Medical Journal. + + _Biol. Bull._ = Biological Bulletin. + + _Bull. Soc. Anth._ = Bulletin de la Société d’Anthropologie. + + _C. I. A._ = Congrès International d’Anthropologie. + + _Cent. für Min., Geol. und Pal._ = Centralblatt für Mineralogie, + Geologie und Paläontologie. + + _Coll. Mon. Eth._ = Collection de Monographies Ethnographiques. + + _Eug. Lab. Mem._ = Eugenic Laboratory Memoirs. + + _Eug. Rev._ = Eugenics Review. + + _Geog. Jour._ = Geographical Journal. + + _Int. Arch. Eth._ = Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie. + + _J. A. I._ = Journal of the Anthropological Institute. + + _Jour. Eth. Soc._ = Journal of the Ethnological Society. + + _Jour. Pol. Soc._ = Journal of the Polynesian Society. + + _Jour. Roy. Agric. Soc._ = Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. + + _J. R. S. S._ = Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. + + _Mem. Am. Anth. Soc._ = Memoirs of the American Anthropological and + Ethnological Societies. + + _Mem. Anth. Soc._ = Memoirs of the Anthropological Society. + + _Mem. & Proc. Man. Lit. & Phil. Soc._ = Memoirs and Proceedings of the + Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. + + _Mém. Soc. Anth._ = Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie. + + _Phil. Trans._ = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. + + _Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc._ = Quarterly Journal of the Geological + Society. + + _Q. J. M. S._ = Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. + + _Rev. Col. Inter._ = Revue Coloniale Internationale. + + _Rev. d’Anth._ = Revue d’Anthropologie. + + _Rev. d’Eth._ = Revue d’Ethnographie. + + _S. I. B. E._ = Smithsonian Institute, Bureau of Ethnology. + + _Soc. Rev._ = Sociological Review. + + _Trans. Amer. Gyn. Soc._ = Transactions of the American Gynecological + Society. + + _Trans. & Proc. N. Z. Inst._ = Transactions and Proceedings of the New + Zealand Institute. + + _Trans. Edin. Obstet. Soc._ = Transactions of the Edinburgh + Obstetrical Society. + + _Trans. Eth. Soc._ = Transactions of the Ethnological Society. + + _U. S. Geog. & Geol. Survey_ = United States Geographical and + Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. + + _Z. G. E._ = Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde. + + _Zeit. für all. Erd._ = Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde. + + _Zeit. für Eth._ = Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. + + _Zeit. für Morph. und Anth._ = Zeitschrift für Morphologie und + Anthropologie. + + _Zeit. für Soc._ = Zeitschrift für Socialwissenschaft. + + + + + I + HISTORICAL + + +1. Problems of population fall into two main groups—those connected with +the quantity and those connected with the quality of the population. +Considerations of the population problem are commonly devoted to one of +these chief aspects to the exclusion of the other with the result that +the relation between them is seldom appreciated. It is one of the +objects of this book to show that all problems of population have the +same origin. The development of biological knowledge in the last +century, and in particular the discussion of evolution, have made it +clear that the whole population question and all the problems arising +therefrom have their origin in the fact that mankind has a definite +position in the animal kingdom. In the next two chapters an attempt is +made to set out the basis of the whole question in the light of modern +research, and in the fourth chapter are discussed the nature of the +various problems and their relation to one another; first those which +are connected with the quantity and then those that are connected with +the quality of the population. + +This was not, however, the manner in which the question was first +approached. There was not, to begin with, an understanding of the +zoological position of man leading to a growing comprehension of the +problems to which it gave rise. From early days attention was +particularly directed to the question of numbers. Between the fifth +century b. c. and the eighteenth century a. d.—between, that is to say, +the time of Plato and that of Malthus—opinions were often expressed +regarding the desirability or otherwise of a dense population. The work +of Malthus focussed opinion upon this point. In a restricted sense this +problem can be solved without an understanding of the biological origin +of the whole question, and the discussion which followed the publication +of the _Essay on Population_ has resulted in the general acceptance of a +solution by students of political economy. In a wider sense the solution +of this problem depends upon a comprehension of its biological origin, +and it was not therefore until after the middle of the last century that +all the problems connected with quantity fell into their proper setting +owing to the work of Darwin and Wallace, both of whom acknowledged their +debt to Malthus. The latter, though he did not in any way realize the +fact, was discussing a point which is most intimately connected with +evolution, and both Darwin and Wallace were influenced by their +acquaintance with the work of Malthus in arriving at their explanation +of the process of evolution. Thus from the time of Darwin and Wallace it +has been possible to view the population problem as a whole, though the +discussions of the problems connected with quantity have been pursued +independently not only before but also after the publication of the +_Origin of Species_. + +Problems of quality did not arouse the same early interest. It is, of +course, well known that Plato was occupied with this aspect of the whole +problem;[1] Roman authors also commented upon the eugenic bearing of +certain practices.[2] In later days in a remarkable book Campanella +dwelt upon the importance of good breeding.[3] But the interest in +quality was not, as was the interest in quantity, widespread or long +maintained; it was not until the origin of living species by evolution +had been generally accepted and some knowledge of inheritance had been +gained, that problems of quality came to occupy anything more than the +passing attention of mankind.[4] J. S. Mill and Buckle, for instance, +both of whose opinions were formed just before the time when the +importance of heredity came to be appreciated, deny that it is in any +way relevant to the study of social problems.[5] + +2. In the preface to the greatly enlarged second edition of his famous +book Malthus stated that he had found many references to the subject of +which he had not been aware when he published the first volume.[6] He +acknowledged that several authors had shown themselves to have possessed +a grasp of the ‘principle’ which it was the object of his book to +demonstrate. Among these he mentions Plato and Aristotle. In these cases +Malthus was too anxious to attribute the first enunciation of the +‘principle’ to others. It was only owing to the very peculiar +circumstances of Greek life that the problem ever arose at all. A +consideration of the ideal city state involved the question as to what +was the most desirable number of citizens. This point occupied Plato’s +attention, and in one place he deals with it in detail. There should be, +he says, 5,040 citizens in the state.[7] In the _Republic_ he explained +that the number of citizens was to be kept about the same by a strict +regulation of unions.[8] In the _Laws_, however, no such system is +advocated, and he discusses the possibility of a failure to maintain the +number.[9] He appears to think that various checks such as infanticide +and ‘inundations’ will keep numbers close to the desirable level; if too +great an increase takes place, then recourse must be had to emigration. +It does not seem that the problem was ever approached more closely in +Greek literature. + +References to this subject by Roman authors are confined for the most +part to laments over the infertility of the old Roman stock. That which +drew the attention of the Romans to the subject was thus a peculiar +phase of the problem, and the views expressed by them were in +consequence usually limited to the search for a remedy for a particular +weakness in national life. As we shall point out later, it is doubtful +how far infertility was characteristic of all classes; that it was not +widespread seems incidentally to be indicated in the following curious +passage from Tertullian in which he is led to express views reminiscent +of many modern contributions to the subject. Tertullian is confuting the +Pythagorean theory of the transmigration of souls, and argues that, if +it were true, the number of men must remain unchanged. But, he says, +this is obviously not so; population continually increases. This leads +him to refer to the state of contemporary civilization. ‘We find’, he +says, ‘in the records of the Antiquities of Man[10] that the human race +has progressed with a gradual growth of population.... Surely it is +obvious enough, if one looks at the whole world, that it is becoming +better cultivated and more fully peopled than anciently. All places are +now accessible, all are well known, all open to commerce; most pleasant +farms have obliterated all traces of what were once dreary and dangerous +wastes; cultivated fields have subdued forests; flocks and herds have +expelled wild beasts; sandy deserts are sown; rocks are planted; marshes +are drained; and where once were hardly solitary cottages are now large +cities. No longer are savage islands dreaded, nor their rocky shores +feared; everywhere are houses, and inhabitants, and settled government, +and civilized life. What most frequently meets our view is our teeming +population; our numbers are burdensome to the world, which can hardly +supply us from its natural elements; our wants grow more and more keen, +and our complaints more bitter in all mouths, whilst nature fails in +affording us her usual sustenance. In very deed, pestilence, and famine, +and wars, and earthquakes have to be regarded as a remedy for nations, +as a means of pruning the luxuriance of the human race.’[11] + +3. It is not until we arrive at the sixteenth century that we discover +any considerable interest in the matter. From thence onwards references +are very frequent. In a general way it is not difficult to understand +how this comes about. The movement of thought at that time turned to +problems of practical importance. The interest in questions connected +with population was above all things due to the problems created by the +rise and consolidation of the great European states. In some measure +also the voyages of discovery and the foundation of colonies drew men’s +thoughts to these questions. It is, as we shall see, in the works of the +new class of political writers and theorists, and in the descriptions of +travel, that we find most references.[12] + +These references take for the most part the form of discussions as to +the desirability or otherwise of a large population. There is, indeed, +often but little discussion; the benefits of a large population seemed +so obvious. Men were mostly of the same opinion as the author of the +book of Proverbs, ‘in the multitude of the people is the king’s glory; +but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.’[13] The +reasons are not far to seek. A large population appeared to mean both +power and riches. The advantage of a large population in supplying a +large army proved most attractive and greatly influenced the authors of +the eighteenth century.[14] It has not altogether lost its attraction +for some people at the present day, as we shall have reason to notice in +a later chapter. This simple view of the benefits of a large population +coincided with the development of the mercantile theory of trade. +Authors of this school of thought also concluded that upon the whole the +larger the population the better. Protests against this point of view +are, however, met with from time to time. Those responsible for this +opposition to the prevailing opinion were influenced in some cases more +by observation than by theory and in other cases more by theory than by +observation. As instances of the former several English writers of the +end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries may be +cited; as instances of the latter several authors chiefly belonging to +the later part of the eighteenth century. The views of the +last-mentioned authors are often influenced by a conception of the +relation between population and subsistence closely similar to that of +Malthus. But they are not alone in their anticipation of his position. +From the sixteenth century onwards we find in passages dealing with +population more or less clear statements of the Malthusian position. +These authors, however, are not always led to an unfavourable view of an +increase in population. Many of them, indeed, support the current view +as to the advantages of large numbers. Nevertheless on the whole a +consideration of the connexion between population and the food-supply is +usually associated with a fear of increase. We may now review in more +detail the trend of opinion sketched above. This will bring us to the +publication of the _Essay on Population_.[15] + +4. Long before the sixteenth century men gave expression to the view +that large numbers are beneficial. ‘Quae familia plus multiplicatur in +prolem, amplius cedit ad firmamentum politiae,’ said Saint Thomas +Aquinas.[16] But it is only later that we meet with a marked insistence +on this view. ‘In my opinion’, says Bodin, ‘they erre much who doubt of +a scarcitie by the multitude of citizens and children, when as no cities +are more rich nor more famous in arts and discipline than those which +abound most with citizens.’[17] According to Botero ‘the greatness of a +citty is sayd not to be the largeness of the citty or the circuit of the +walls, but in the multitude and the number of the inhabitants and their +power’.[18] Machiavelli held very similar views, and Henry IV of France +is reported as saying that ‘the strength and riches of kings consist in +the number and opulence of their subjects’.[19] In accordance with the +views thus widely and strongly held, examples of which might be +multiplied almost to any extent, practical measures were taken to +encourage the increase of population. Of these the best known is the law +of Colbert passed in 1664. Like most of such laws it was modelled on the +laws of the later Roman Empire. Similar laws were at one time or another +in force in most European countries. + +Towards the end of the seventeenth century there arose a school of +writers who might be classed as political economists, though the term +was not in use. In accordance with the mercantile theory of commerce +then predominant a large population was held to be advantageous. The +older and vaguer theory that a dense population was necessary if the +state was to be powerful was found to coincide with the newer theories +as to conditions of prosperous trade. Of these authors Petty and Graunt +are celebrated as among the pioneers of statistics. According to the +former: ‘fewness of people is real poverty; and a nation in which are +eight millions of people are more than twice as rich as the same scope +of land in which are but four.’[20] ‘Forasmuch as princes’, says Graunt, +‘are not only powerful but rich according to the number of their people +(hands being the father as lands are the mother and womb of wealth) it +is no wonder that states by encouraging marriage and hindering +licentiousness, advance their own interest, as well as preserve the laws +of God from contempt and violation.’[21] Sir Charles Davenant and Sir +Josiah Child are two of the foremost authors of this school. The former +writes as follows: ‘people are the real strength and riches of a +country; we see how impotent Spain is for want of inhabitants with their +mines of gold and silver and the best ports and soil in the world; and +we see how powerful their numbers make the United Provinces with bad +harbours and the worst climate upon earth. It is perhaps better that a +people should want country than that a country should want people. When +there are but few inhabitants and a large territory, there is nothing +but sloth and poverty; but when great numbers are confined to a narrow +compass of ground, necessity puts upon them invention, frugality, and +industry; which in a nation are always recompensed with power and +riches.’[22] The latter refers more than once to the subject. ‘Whatever +tends to the population of a country tends to the improvement of +it.’[23] ‘Most nations in the civilized parts of the world are more or +less rich or poor proportionable to the poverty or plenty of their +people and not to the sterility of their lands.’[24] To these quotations +we may add one from Sir William Temple: ‘I believe the true and original +ground of trade to be a great multitude of people crowded into a small +compass of land.’[25] + +It would be possible to quote many similar remarks from authors who +wrote in the following century. Frederick the Great had very decided +opinions. In a letter to Voltaire he says: ‘Je regarde les hommes comme +une horde de cerfs dans le pare d’un grand seigneur et qui n’out pas +d’autre fonction que de peupler et remplir l’enclos.’[26] Hume speaks of +‘the general rule that the happiness of any society and its populousness +are necessary attendants’.[27] Adam Smith says ‘that the most decisive +mark of the prosperity of any country is the increase of the number of +its inhabitants’. Nevertheless that which interests us most in the +authors of this period is the growing interest in other aspects of the +subject. + +5. Before referring to the more or less close anticipations of the views +of Malthus we may note that these optimistic views were not everywhere +accepted. In England particularly, towards the end of the sixteenth +century, several writers expressed a dread of over-population. According +to Holinshed there were some men ‘affirming that we had already too +great a store of people in England; and that youth, by marrying too +soon, do nothing profit the countrie, but fill it full of beggars, to +the hurt and utter undoing (they saie) of the commonwealth’.[28] Later +we find Brückner speaking as follows: ‘there are some who believe that a +people can never be too numerous and who speak of increase as if it +always contributed to happiness, and who consequently continually urge +the sovereign to encourage multiplication. The truth of the matter is, +however, often far different, depending on the country and +circumstances. In a free and enlightened nation, which has great natural +advantages, and which is protected from the invasions of less fortunate +neighbours, increasing numbers are a good.... In countries not so +circumstanced increase is worse than useless; it is, as a matter of +fact, impossible, and attempts in this direction can but result in added +suffering and an increased number of deaths.’[29] Arthur Young said the +same in more emphatic terms. ‘Of all the subjects of political economy I +know not one that has given rise to such a crowd of errors as that of +population. It seems for centuries to have been considered as the only +test of national prosperity. The politicians of those times, and the +majority of them in the present, have been of the opinion that to +enumerate the people was the only step to be taken in order to ascertain +the degree in which a country was flourishing. In my tour through the +North of England, 1769, I entered my caveat against such a doctrine, and +presumed to assert “that no nation is rich or powerful by mere numbers +of people; it is the industrious class that constitutes a nation’s +strength”; that assertion I repeated in my _Political Arithmetic_ in +1774.’[30] About the same time Rousseau remarked that ‘il y a pire +disette pour un état que celle d’hommes’.[31] + +6. In the eighteenth century the problem was often discussed with +reference to the connexion between the population and the food-supply. +The contrast between the vast possibilities of increase and the +smallness of the actual growth in population also often attracted +attention. ‘Through various causes’, says Wallace, ‘there has never been +such a number of inhabitants on the earth at any one point of time as +might have been raised by the prolific virtue of mankind. The causes of +this paucity of inhabitants and the irregularity of increase are +manifold. Some may be called physical, as they depend entirely on course +of nature, and are independent of mankind. Others are moral and depend +on the affections, passions, and institutions of men.... To this last we +may refer so many destructive wars which men have waged against one +another; great poverty, corrupt institutions, either of a civil or +religious kind, intemperance, debauchery, irregular amours, idleness, +luxury, and whatever prevents marriage, weakens the generating faculties +of men, or renders them negligent or incapable of educating their +children, and cultivating the earth to advantage. ’Tis to such +destructive causes that we must ascribe the small number of men.’[32] +Sir James Steuart devotes a considerable amount of space to this +subject. ‘The generative faculty’, he says, ‘resembles a spring loaded +with a weight, which always exerts itself in proportion to the +diminution of resistance; when food has remained for some time without +augmentation or diminution, generation will carry numbers as high as +possible; if then food come to be diminished, the spring is overpowered; +the force of it becomes less than nothing. Inhabitants will diminish, at +least in proportion to the overcharge. If, upon the other hand, food be +increased, the spring, which stood at 0, will begin to exert itself in +proportion as the resistance diminishes; people will begin to be better +fed; they will multiply, and in proportion as they increase in numbers, +the food will become scarce again.’[33] + +Malthus tells us that when he wrote his first edition the only authors +‘from whose writings he had deduced the principle which formed the main +argument of the essay’ were Hume, Wallace, Adam Smith, and Price.[34] In +the interval between the publication of the first and second editions of +the Essay he found that he had been anticipated more or less by many +others. Subsequently many other similar passages have been brought to +light. It is not worth while to discuss how far Malthus had been +anticipated. It is enough to note some of the opinions that had been +expressed. In the eighteenth century the fact that there is a connexion +between the population and the food-supply had become a commonplace. ‘La +mesure de la subsistance est celle de la population,’[35] said Mirabeau, +and the remark could be paralleled many times over.[36] Frequent +references to the vast power of human increase may be found much +earlier. In his _History of the World_ Raleigh had remarked that were it +not for wars, famines, pestilences, and so on, a teeming population all +the world over would have resulted long ago.[37] Machiavelli refers more +than once to the existence of checks. He attributed the barbarian +invasions in the later days of Rome to an unusually rapid increase of +the tribes beyond the Rhine and the Danube.[38] One of the most +interesting references to the subject is to be found in the work of +Botero from which we have already quoted. ‘I say, then, that the +augmentation of Cities proceedeth partly out of the virtue generative of +men, and partly out of the virtue nutritive of Citties. The virtue +generative is without doubt to this day the very same, or at least such +as it was three thousand years past. So that if there were no other +impediment or let therein, the propagation of mankind would increase +without end and the augmentation of Citties would be without terme. And +if it do not increase in infinite, I must needs say, it proceedeth out +of the defect of nutriment and sustenance sufficient for it.’[39] Later +on he continues: ‘although men were as apt to generation in the height +and pride of the Roman Empire, as in the first beginning thereof; yet, +for all that, the people increased not proportionately. For the virtue +nutritive of Citties had no power to go further.... By the selfe same +reason, mankinde growne to a certain complete number, hath growne no +further. And it is three thousand years agone and more, that the world +was replenished as full with people as it is at present.’[40] + +What are perhaps more remarkable than these references to the relation +of numbers to the food-supply, so far as anticipations of Malthus are +concerned, are discussions mentioning the ratios which are found from +time to time. In the _Primitive Origination of Mankind_, Sir Matthew +Hale endeavours to show that mankind must have had a beginning and must +have an end, and finds support for this thesis in the facts regarding +human fecundity. He calculated that the numbers of mankind must increase +in a geometrical ratio unless hindered by checks. Obviously it has not +done so chiefly because, owing to absence of sufficient food, large +numbers are always being removed by various agencies which he enumerates +as plagues, famines, wars, floods, and inundations.[41] Sir William +Petty deals with the geometrical ratio at some length. He drew up an +elaborate table which, assuming four thousand years to have passed since +the flood, shows how an estimated world population of 320,000,000 could +have been arrived at.[42] The ratios, however, never played a very +prominent part in the discussion until after the publication of +Malthus’s book. They reappear now and again, as for instance in a book +by Saxe.[43] + +7. Malthus published his first edition in 1798. He was born in 1766 at +the ‘Rookery’, a country house of some size near Dorking. In 1784 he +went up to Cambridge. In early days he had shown signs of ability and at +the university fulfilled this promise; he gained some prizes and was +placed as ninth wrangler in the mathematical tripos of 1788. In 1793 he +was elected fellow of his college, but only resided occasionally. In +1798 he was curate at Albury, close to his birthplace; in 1799 he +travelled through Sweden, Norway, and Russia, to collect information for +his second edition; in 1802, owing to the Peace of Amiens, he was +enabled to travel through Switzerland and France. The second edition +appeared in 1803. It was virtually a new book. The four succeeding +editions that were published in his lifetime were mainly reprints of +this edition with some new matter added. In 1804 he married, and in 1805 +became Professor of History and Political Economy at Haileybury College, +which post he held until his death in 1834.[44] + +It would seem that Malthus and his father used often to discuss new +books and questions of the day. His father, Daniel Malthus, was inclined +to favour the revolutionary school; Robert Malthus thought that he saw +serious objections to Godwin’s views on the subject of ‘perfectibility’, +and was so much impressed by them that he decided to put his ideas in +writing. Whereas in the first edition Malthus was chiefly concerned with +controverting Godwin and his school, by the time of the second edition +he had lost interest in this side of the matter and his attention was +almost entirely devoted to the problem of population. + +Such was the origin of the book which focused the attention of men on +the population question. In the sixth chapter we shall have to review +the position which it sets out and to trace the subsequent development +of the theory. It is sufficient to say here that according to Malthus, +whereas population tends to increase in a geometrical ratio, food tends +to increase in an arithmetical ratio. As a result population is checked +by the operation of vice and misery, to which factors he added, in the +second edition, moral restraint. Statistics showed, even in the lifetime +of Malthus, that the increase of food was not limited to an increase in +an arithmetical ratio, and thus in reality the theory fell to the +ground. It was, however, only gradually realized that this was so and +that the relation between population and the food-supply is connected +with the question of the return to industry, which may at any one time +be increasing or decreasing according to the operation of many factors, +of which the increase in skill is the chief. The points which are of +interest in this historical sketch are the strong feelings which the +book aroused among the adherents of the various schools of thought, the +practical movement to which it gave shape, and finally the influence +which it had upon Darwin and Wallace. + +8. From what has been said, it is clear that the ground had been well +prepared for a favourable reception. Further the ‘populousness of +ancient nations’ was a famous theme for controversy in the eighteenth +century. There had also been much discussion as to whether the +population of England was increasing or decreasing.[45] Again, in part +owing to the industrial revolution, and in part owing to the war, +questions as to poverty had attracted much attention, and to them +Malthus’s book had direct reference. Thus it is not surprising that the +success of the first edition was great and immediate.[46] Godwin +admitted that it had ‘converted friends of progress by the hundred’.[47] +Pitt dropped his Poor Law Bill in 1800 partly because of the opposition +of those who had been influenced by the Essay. The earlier supporters of +Malthus belonged, for the most part, to the Whig and Utilitarian +schools. Pitt, Paley, Copleston, James Mill, Senior, Ricardo, Macintosh, +and Whitbread all adhered to Malthus. In 1819 Brougham referred to the +‘principle of population as one of the soundest principles of political +economy’.[48] Support for Malthus was especially strong among the +Utilitarians. Referring to about the year 1825 J. S. Mill says: +‘Malthus’s principle was quite as much a banner and a point of union +among us as any opinion especially belonging to Bentham.’[49] + +Opposition was chiefly to be found among the Tories, Revolutionaries, +and Radicals. Godwin published a reply to Malthus in 1801, and several +years later, finding that the ‘principle’ still gained ground, made +another attempt to refute it, which met with as little success as the +earlier attempt. As an example of the attitude of the followers of +Godwin towards Malthus, the following remarks by Shelley may be quoted. +‘Metaphysics and inquiries into moral and political science have become +little else than vain attempts to revive exploded superstitions, or +sophisms like those of Mr. Malthus, calculated to lull the oppressors of +mankind into a security of everlasting triumph.’[50] The Tory element of +the opposition was influenced by the feeling that the ordering of human +affairs could not be so innately bad as the Essay seemed to suggest.[51] +Southey and Coleridge represent this view; the former attacked the Essay +more than once with considerable violence.[52] Cobbett made himself +prominent among the critics by inventing the sobriquet ‘Parson’ Malthus. +It occurs in the following passage. + + +‘Why,’ said I, ‘how many children do you reckon to have had at last?’ + +‘I do not care how many,’ said the man, ‘God never sends mouths without +sending meat.’ + +‘Did you never hear,’ said I, ‘of one Parson Malthus?’ + +‘No, sir.’ + +‘If he were to hear of your works, he would be outrageous, for he wants +an Act of Parliament to prevent poor people from marrying young, and +from having such lots of children.’ + +‘Oh, the brute,’ exclaimed the wife, while the husband laughed, thinking +I was joking.[53] + + +Hazlitt, who may be classed as a radical, was one of the most violent of +the opponents. Indeed, as Mr. Bonar says, ‘Malthus was the best abused +man of his age.’[54] + +The Essay early became known on the Continent. As far as Germany was +concerned, this was attributable, according to von Mohl, to a work by +Luden.[55] During the lifetime of Malthus the violence of the opposition +gradually weakened and the principle was very generally accepted. For +many years such opposition as there was was based rather on religious +grounds than upon an understanding of true weaknesses of the theory. +Nevertheless Sumner, who was afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, and +Thomas Chalmers in early days both proclaimed their adherence to the +principle.[56] In 1840 three books were published which each attacked +the principle on religious grounds. Of the authors, Sadler was a +Churchman without apparently any strong political feelings, Alison a +Tory, and Doubleday a Radical.[57] That the religious motive continued +to inspire opposition may be gathered from an essay by W. P. Greg which +appeared at a much later date.[58] + +It may be noticed that strong opposition was nearly always exhibited to +the views of Malthus by socialistic authors.[59] According to Proudhon, +‘la théorie de Malthus, c’est la théorie de l’assassinat politique, de +l’assassinat par philanthropie, pour l’amour de Dieu.’[60] Karl Marx in +a well-known passage attacked Malthus in most violent and offensive +language.[61] + +9. As a result of the Essay, there began within the lifetime of Malthus +the advocacy of Neomalthusianism. Malthus himself definitely disapproved +of this practical application of his ‘principle’.[62] The practical +application of which he approved was made by Miss Martineau in one of +her _Illustrations to Political Economy_, which reads so strangely at +the present day.[63] As regards Neomalthusianism it is very generally +supposed that active propaganda only began about the time of the famous +Bradlaugh-Besant trial in 1876. This, however, is a complete +mistake.[64] The first publication of importance in which these ideas +were put forward was an article by James Mill in the _Encyclopaedia +Britannica_. His language was very guarded but the drift of his remarks +unmistakable. Four years later, in 1822, Francis Place wrote a reply to +Godwin. He covered much other ground but openly and deliberately +advocated these practices. For the next ten years there followed an +active propaganda. The events which first brought the whole question +into public notice are somewhat curious. In 1823 a number of handbills +were sent to Mrs. Fildes, well known in the North for her work among the +poor; these bills contained descriptions of the methods which the new +school of writers wished to see adopted by the working classes; an +anonymous letter accompanied them asking her to help in distributing +them. Mrs. Fildes was very indignant, and the whole story was published +in the journal called the _Black Dwarf_. The bills attained a great +notoriety and became known as the ‘diabolical handbills’. Suspicion +seems to have rested upon Robert Owen; it was stated in the _Black +Dwarf_, and has often been repeated since, that Neomalthusian methods +were in use at New Lanark. It is far more probable that Francis Place +was the author both of the handbill and of the letter. Whether this is +so or not, Place was occupied for the next few years in doing all he +could to spread the new opinions, for the sake of which he was prepared +to sacrifice much popularity.[65] In 1834 the Society for Promoting +Useful Knowledge refused his help because of his opinions on the +subject. He was violently attacked by Cobbett and Richard Carlile; the +latter was afterwards converted and published in 1825 articles +advocating these practices. The articles were reprinted in 1826 as +_Every Woman’s Book_, which went through several editions. At this early +date it is clear that on the one hand these books and pamphlets were +widely read among the working classes; Carlile in the _Republican_, for +instance, asserted that they were ‘circulating by thousands in the +populous districts of the north’. On the other hand Neomalthusian ideas +were held by many eminent men of the day. The Utilitarian leaders, if +not actually concerned in the propagation of these views, made their +approval known. J. S. Mill in his youthful days got into trouble with +the police through distributing some of these pamphlets. Grote somewhat +later presented to London University a copy of the famous _Fruits of +Philosophy_, of which there will be more to be said below. + +After a while the propaganda died down, and for some fifty years there +was little heard of it.[66] Some books were, however, published in the +interval which subsequent events made famous. R. D. Owen’s _Moral +Physiology_ appeared in 1830. Knowlton’s _Fruits of Philosophy_ and +Drysdale’s _Elements of Social Science_ appeared in 1833 and in 1854 +respectively. It was many years, however, before they became well known. +For many years no objection was taken to the _Fruits of Philosophy_, or +any similar work; such books were allowed to circulate freely. In 1876 a +Bristol bookseller, Cook by name, was condemned to two years’ +imprisonment for selling an illustrated edition of Knowlton’s work. Soon +after another bookseller was also fined. Thereupon Mr. Bradlaugh and +Mrs. Besant determined to take up the subject and fight for what they +considered to be the right of freedom of discussion in these matters. +They had an edition of the _Fruits of Philosophy_ printed, and took a +small shop where it was openly exposed for sale. A prosecution followed. +In 1877 they were tried before Sir Alexander Cockburn, the Lord Chief +Justice; the Attorney-General prosecuted. The summing-up was distinctly +in favour of the accused; the jury, however, returned a verdict of +guilty, adding a rider to the effect that they considered the defendants +to be innocent of any immoral intention. Judgement was reserved. But in +the interval Mr. Bradlaugh and Mrs. Besant continued to sell the book, +and the result was that, instead of merely being bound over, as had been +the intention of the judge, they were condemned to six months’ +imprisonment and to a fine of six hundred pounds. The judgement was +subsequently quashed in a higher court. + +The trial was a huge advertisement for Neomalthusianism. For some years +spasmodic efforts to punish the sale of Neomalthusian books only served +to encourage the propagandists. In 1877 the ‘Neomalthusian League’ was +founded and a vigorous propaganda was carried on. The activity of the +league in England gradually declined, but not before the movement had +spread to foreign countries. Propaganda in other countries followed a +very similar course; in 1888 there was a trial in Australia which is as +famous in that country as the Bradlaugh-Besant trial in England. +Prosecutions occurred in India and in America. In 1891 a remarkable +dispute took place in Norway, and a law was finally passed to prohibit +the sale of Neomalthusian books. As lately as 1908 a Belgian doctor was +condemned to imprisonment for spreading the knowledge of Neomalthusian +methods.[67] + +10. With this notice of the history of the development of +Neomalthusianism we may leave this side of the subject. The history of +speculation regarding evolution has been so often described that there +is no need to go into the facts here. + +It is well known that before Darwin and Wallace turned their attention +to the subject, the origin of organisms by evolution as opposed to +origin by separate acts of creation had often been suggested. There was +already at the beginning of the nineteenth century a considerable +accumulation of facts regarding the structure and relation of organisms +to one another and regarding the fossil remains of organisms. This +evidence was seen to point to evolution as against creation, but until +Darwin and Wallace produced their theories no one had been able to +formulate a satisfactory hypothesis as to how evolution could have come +about. It is of great interest to observe that it was after reading +Malthus that both Darwin and Wallace independently formulated their +theories. Malthus had, in fact, when taking up for consideration the +quantitative aspect of the problem, so far as man was concerned, been +dealing with that class of facts upon which, not only the quantitative, +but also the qualitative aspect of the problem is based. When Darwin and +Wallace, with the problem of evolution before them, which is essentially +the problem of quality—the problem of the manner in which one type of +organic form can be derived from another type—chanced to read Malthus, +their attention was called to the class of facts connected with the +birth-rate, the death-rate, and allied phenomena. They realized that +among species in a state of nature a somewhat similar state of things +existed to that which Malthus, with another aspect of the problem in +view, was investigating in the case of man, and from a consideration of +these facts they founded independently the hypothesis of natural +selection. + +It is of interest to note what Darwin and Wallace themselves say as to +their indebtedness to Malthus. In a passage in the well-known +autobiographical sketch Darwin writes as follows: ‘in October 1838, that +is fifteen months after I had begun my systematic inquiry, I happened to +read for amusement Malthus’ ‘Population’, and being well prepared to +appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on from +long-continued observation of animals and plants it at once struck me +that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be +preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result of this +would be the formation of a new species. Here then I had at last got +hold of a theory by which to work.’[68] In two letters that have been +published—one to Haeckel[69] and one to Wallace[70]—Darwin also recorded +in very similar words his debt to Malthus, and in the _Origin of +Species_, after describing what is meant by the struggle for existence +and how it comes about, says, ‘it is the doctrine of Malthus applied +with manifold force to the animal and vegetable kingdoms.’[71] So too +Wallace, in his reply, after having been presented with the first +Darwin-Wallace medal by the Linnean Society in 1908, acknowledged his +debt to Malthus in the following words: ‘both Darwin and myself, at the +critical period when our minds were fully stored with a considerable +body of preserved information and reflection bearing upon the problem to +be solved, had our attention directed to the system of positive checks +as expounded by Malthus in his _Principle of Population_. It is an +unimportant detail that Darwin read this book two years after his return +from his voyage, while I read it before I went abroad and it was a +sudden recollection of its teachings that caused the solution to flash +upon me.’[72] + +Since the publication of the _Origin of Species_ much attention has been +paid to the problem of quality as regards the human race. It was obvious +that if the human race had evolved from some lower type, it was probably +still in process of evolution, and that the direction of evolution was +by no means necessarily upwards. It was also obvious that the further +evolution of the race was to some extent at least within human control, +if and when men chose to use the means of control that lay within their +power. Great impetus was given to this side of the problem by the work +of Sir Francis Galton, who coined the word ‘eugenics’.[73] Societies for +the study of eugenics and for the advocacy of eugenic ideals have been +started in England, in many European countries, in America and +elsewhere, and at the present day the educated classes in every country +are at least aware of the existence of the problem of the quality, as +they have long been aware of the existence of the problem of the +quantity, of population. + +The development of opinion on this subject has thus run a peculiar +course. Attention was drawn in early days to the existence of the +problem of numbers, but men were long satisfied with asserting on +comparatively simple grounds that a dense population was desirable or +undesirable, and they usually came to the conclusion that the more +inhabitants in a country, the better for the country. Long before the +time of Malthus, and by many different writers, attention was paid to +the connexion between numbers and the food-supply. It was Malthus, +however, who first aroused public interest in the subject. His book, +indeed, made an impression that few books have ever made. Since his time +every educated man has had the problem of numbers in mind, and current +opinion still often enough reflects the view put forward by Malthus if +not in detail—for it is difficult to say what exactly the views of +Malthus were—at least in the general and on the whole gloomy and +fatalistic manner of regarding the problem. It is owing to the fact that +those contributions which, after the time of Malthus, attracted most +attention, added little to the development of thought, and owing to the +influence of the writings of J. S. Mill, who himself never shook off the +profound impression made upon him early in life by the Essay, that the +views, or perhaps we should rather say the outlook, of Malthus so long +maintained their sway. The development of the modern view as expounded +by political economists was not set out in a form that attracted public +attention, and it was thus possible for the late Governor of South +Africa, when answering a question in the House of Commons a few years +ago, to refer to the problem as though no important contribution had +been made to the subject since the time of Malthus. + +Of the development of opinion regarding the qualitative aspect of the +problem there is little to be said. Popular interest in this subject is +of comparatively recent birth. That which is interesting to observe is +that, as a result of the course which thought has taken, the population +problem is seldom seen as a whole, and that the relations one to another +of the very numerous questions arising therefrom are scarcely ever +appreciated. + + + + + II + THE BASIS OF THE POPULATION PROBLEM: (1) THE QUANTITATIVE ASPECT + + +1. In what follows the evolutionary position is taken for granted. It is +assumed, that is to say, that the higher forms of life have evolved from +lower forms. If we make this assumption, we must suppose that at one +time the ancestors of man were living under those conditions to which +species in a state of nature are now subject. By species in a state of +nature are meant all species of animals and plants with the exception of +man and those species which have been domesticated by him. It is the +object of this and the following chapter to show that among species in a +state of nature the population problem exists both in its quantitative +and qualitative aspects, and further that in certain particulars of +fundamental importance the position is the same for all such species. +Certain propositions may be laid down which hold good for any one of +them, and in these chapters it is proposed to show what it is that may +be affirmed with regard to all of them. It follows that, since among the +ancestors of man the population problem must at one time have taken this +form, we shall, as the result of the discussion, arrive at a basis from +which we can proceed to study the shape which the problem in its double +aspect has assumed in the case of man. + +It is necessary to emphasize the fact that this argument does not take +the form of developing an analogy between the position of man and that +of species in a state of nature. What we are doing is merely to attempt +to ascertain the conditions under which the ancestors of man lived, in +order that we may follow the changes which have taken place. Further, it +may be well to point out that the argument in these chapters will follow +rather an unusual course. It may seem that certain facts of considerable +general importance are passed over and others of little obvious +importance emphasized. The justification for this course will be +apparent later when we come to deal with the position with regard to +man; for this sketch is not introduced primarily with the object of +throwing light upon the position of species in a state of nature, but in +order to prepare the way for a discussion of the shape which the problem +has assumed in the case of man. + +2. At the basis of both aspects of the problem lies the fact of +reproduction. All organisms reproduce their kind. Reproduction is +clearly a necessity, because all living things are liable to meet death +by accident and, unless there was reproduction, every species would soon +be extinguished. It is worth while observing that among all higher forms +of life a more or less clearly defined limit to the duration of life has +been evolved. In other words, natural death after a certain period +ensues. It would seem that natural death has been evolved in the +following manner. All organisms are subject to the wear and tear of +daily life, to meet which there is a faculty of recuperation. Among the +lower forms this faculty is very pronounced. The whole animal can be +regenerated from a small fragment and, as a result, very serious +accidents are not fatal. Among the higher forms there goes, generally +speaking, with the advance in structure a loss of the power of +regeneration, until among the highest there is little or no power of +regeneration; for a certain average length of time the highest organisms +withstand the batterings of daily life, gradually fail to recuperate, +and finally die. Given the necessity of reproduction to provide for the +continuance of the species against accident to its members, this further +evolution is not difficult to understand. A power of recovery from all +but the most extreme forms of accident is present among the simpler +types; the retention of such a power of recovery tends to be +incompatible with increasing complexity of structure, and it has, so to +speak, been more economical to evolve organisms provided with a power of +recuperation only against normal wear and tear over the period during +which they remain capable of reproduction. The higher types therefore, +after reproducing their kind, die and thus the battle of life is always +being resumed by fresh generations. + +3. That in some such fashion reproduction has to be explained seems +clear; but we are concerned here with the facts of reproduction. It will +be necessary later to go into the nature of reproduction in greater +detail; all that needs to be said here can be stated quite shortly. +There are two forms of reproduction, known respectively as the sexual +and asexual; the latter type of reproduction occurs only among plants +and the lower animals. As sexual reproduction occurs among all groups of +animals and plants, whether asexual reproduction occurs or not (except +among the bacteria where the latter type alone is known) and as it is +the only type which occurs among the higher groups, asexual reproduction +may be disregarded here. The asexual type of reproduction, it may be +remarked, introduces no new principle, and those groups among whom it is +found are not on that account to be set apart from other groups as +though the general conclusions at which we shall arrive were not +applicable to them. + +To make the process of sexual reproduction clear it is necessary to say +something regarding the structure of organisms. Excluding the Protista +for the moment, all organisms exhibit a cellular structure. Upon +examination under a microscope the living tissues are found to consist +of a number of compartments or cells. Among plants the typical cell is +in the nature of a small box with thick sides; among animals the sides +or cell-walls are very thin. Within the cell-walls there are to be +distinguished two chief elements, a central body, the nucleus, and the +surrounding cytoplasm. This cytoplasm consists of ordinary granular +protoplasm and the nucleus of a special kind of protoplasm. Only +protoplasm can properly be spoken of as alive. Those elements in the +body which are not protoplasm are either in the course of being turned +into protoplasm or are the products of protoplasmic activity. Examples +of the latter in man are the hair and the nails, and in the case of +other animals, feathers, shells, and so on. As a general rule, each cell +contains a single nucleus, but there are cells without a nucleus and +cells with more than one nucleus. The name Protista, mentioned above, is +given to the lowest animals and plants which are commonly said to +consist of a single cell. They may be thus thought of; but the group +includes forms with many nuclei of which it can only be said that cell +structure has not yet been differentiated. It is therefore possible that +the term cell should not be used at all in respect of this group. + +Among the Protista sexual reproduction takes very different forms. +Essentially, however, it consists in the fusion of two individuals, and +if we regard each individual as a cell, it may be said to consist in the +fusion of two cells. Among the higher forms the essential feature of +sexual reproduction is the same; it consists, that is to say, in the +fusion of two cells. It no longer consists in the fusion of two +individuals, but in the fusion of two cells, one given off by one +individual, and one by the other. + +The manner in which these cells, known as gametes, are given off by the +male and the female and the manner in which they fuse require some +further explanation. What happens in plants is in all important features +similar to that which happens among animals, and we may confine our +attention to the latter. In every normal member of every species there +is a generative organ.[74] It consists of a surrounding wall within +which is a mass of developing germ-cells. In the female the fully +developed gamete, called the egg or ovum, is, relative to the male +gamete, of large size. It is typically a motionless cell containing a +varying quantity of food substance which may, as in the case of the +bird’s egg, reach a large amount. The male gamete is a much smaller +cell. With a few exceptions it consists of a small oval-shaped head, to +which is attached, by means of an intervening neck or middle-piece, a +long vibratile tail. The head is the nucleus of the cell; if there is +any cytoplasm, it is reduced to a very small amount and its presence +cannot be readily demonstrated.[75] In strong contrast to the ovum the +spermatozoon is typically motile and can swim in those fluids in which +fertilization usually takes place. + +Fertilization consists in the penetration of an ovum by a spermatozoon. +The tail does not always enter the egg; as soon as the head has entered, +a change takes place in the egg which sometimes prevents the tail, and +usually other spermatozoa, from entering the egg. The head or nucleus of +the spermatozoon approaches the nucleus of the egg and fuses with it. At +this point, therefore, we have a single cell, known as the zygote, +formed by the fusion of two cells, one derived from the male and one +from the female. The zygote grows and divides and ultimately gives rise +to an adult; into this process of growth it is not necessary to go for +the moment. The zygote is to be regarded as a new member of the species +the existence of which dates from the fusion of the two nuclei. Whether +the zygote lives an independent existence from the beginning, or is +retained within the body of the mother for a longer or shorter period, +is immaterial so far as the dating of the beginning of the existence of +a new individual is concerned. Every man and woman is thus in reality +some nine months older than his or her nominal age. + +4. Such are the essential features of the process of sexual reproduction +through which new members of the species arise. We have now to consider +the outward features of the process, which vary very considerably. So +various are they, that at first sight it may scarcely seem likely that +there is any fundamental generalization that can be made regarding the +process as a whole among all species in a state of nature. When we have +glanced at the facts and at their interpretation we shall be in a +position to discuss what it is that holds good for all such species. + +Among all multicellular animals and plants the number of spermatozoa +produced is infinitely greater than the number of ova. A single normal +sexual emission in man is said to contain about 226,000,000 spermatozoa. +This immense production of male gametes makes it likely that a male +gamete will meet and fuse with each female gamete. Among the higher +animals there are certain instincts which further ensure that the male +cells will be brought into the proximity of the female cells. Among +other multicellular animals and plants there are no such instincts. +Generally speaking, among the latter types fertilization may be thought +of as fortuitous. In anemophilous plants, for example, such as the +Pines, the male cells or pollen-grains are specially adapted so that +they are caught and carried by the wind for long distances. Many million +times more male cells than female cells are formed in these plants, and +some of them, wafted by the wind, eventually light upon the ovule. So +too among such lowly animals as the sea-urchin the male and female cells +are extruded into the surrounding sea-water; as these animals live close +together, and as the male and female cells ripen and are extruded at the +same time, the chance that any egg will remain unfertilized is small, +the number of the active spermatozoa being so many times greater than +the number of eggs. This simple form of fertilization is characteristic +of most plants and of many animals. In plants there are certain +complications, in particular those connected with fertilization with the +help of insects, into which it is not necessary to go. + +The increasing complexity of animal structure is only roughly correlated +with increasing complexity in the processes connected with +fertilization. Though the most complex form of the process is found +among the highest animals, yet some animals, which stand relatively high +in the scale, exhibit a simple method of fertilization. Of this the fish +are an example, and, further, the more highly developed or bony fish +exhibit a simpler form than some of the more lowly-organized +cartilaginous fish. In fact, the stage next above that of which the +sea-urchin was given as an example can be illustrated from the bony +fish. The process in this group consists in the approach of the male to +the female alongside of whom he swims, led by a rudimentary development +of the sexual instinct. When the female ejects her gametes into the +water, the male does the same and the vastly greater number of the male +gametes ensures that all or nearly all of the eggs are penetrated by a +spermatozoon.[76] + +The next stage is that characterized by external copulation. The male +clasps the female and when the latter ejects her eggs, he extrudes his +spermatozoa at the same time. The meeting of the gametes thus still +takes place outside the body of the female. This form of fertilization +is found among the Amphibia; the male frog, for example, has specially +developed pads on his front feet with which he embraces the female. +Internal copulation, though it is to be regarded as the most complex +form of the process, is found among such low forms as flat worms,[77] of +which the common tapeworm is a member, among many higher Invertebrates +such as snails and insects, as well as among cartilaginous fish, birds, +and mammals. The essential feature of internal copulation is that the +male is provided with a special copulatory organ or penis which he +inserts into the female. The male gametes pass through the penis, which +takes the form of a tube, directly into the body of the female, and +fertilization thus takes place within the body of the female. + +5. When fertilization takes place without copulation it might be thought +that a small proportion of eggs only would be fertilized, that, so long +as fertilization, for instance, depends on the wafting by the wind of a +pollen-grain over a considerable distance until it alights on one small +spot, or upon the chance meeting of a spermatozoon and an egg in the +water, there would be but a small proportion of eggs fertilized. This, +however, is not so; observation shows that in a state of nature failure +is comparatively rare, and that the majority of female gametes are +fertilized. This is in the main due to the vast number of male cells +compared with the number of eggs. Among those forms in which copulation +takes place, fertilization is clearly dependent upon the strength of the +sexual instinct, which impels the male to seek the female. That this +instinct is very powerful is well known. It may for the time overcome +all other instincts. There is a frenzy of desire among many animals. +Male frogs and toads will remain clasping the female for many days +waiting for the extrusion of the eggs. Female toads have been discovered +smothered by the male in the sexual embrace.[78] It has been noticed +that birds, which under usual circumstances are frightened by the sound +of a gun, will take no notice when in pursuit of a female.[79] All the +evidence points to the fact that, owing to the strength of the sexual +instincts, females are rarely left undiscovered by a male in the sexual +season. Jenner records that one of a pair of magpies was killed and that +on the following day the survivor appeared with another mate. One of +this pair was killed and on the next day the survivor again appeared +with another mate. This was repeated for seven days and on each occasion +the survivor always appeared with a new mate.[80] In this connexion the +great development of those forms of secondary sexual characters may be +referred to which enable the two sexes to find and recognize one +another. Such are recognition marks, call-notes of many insects, birds, +and mammals, and the strong odours given off by many animals during the +sexual period. + +Generally speaking, the male is always prepared for the act of +copulation and the act takes place when the female is ready to receive +the male. This is so among mammals whether the male experiences a sexual +season known as the ‘rut’, as among stags, or whether he does not, as +among dogs; for the period of ‘rut’ lasts longer than the period during +which the female is ready to receive the male. The facts, however, +regarding the sexual season in mammals are somewhat complicated owing to +the nature of the sexual season experienced by the female. A number of +different types of mammalian sexual season have been distinguished; it +is not necessary, however, to go into these distinctions. It is +sufficient to say that each sexual season consists of one or more sexual +cycles, known as oestrous cycles. An oestrous cycle may be divided into +four periods; the first, known as the pro-oestrous, is the period of +preparation which ends in the rupture of the blood-vessels in the mucous +membrane of the uterus. When the blood passes to the exterior, it is +known as the menstrual flow. The second period or oestrous is the period +of desire. This period is always short; in the sheep it lasts about +twelve hours and often in other species does not last as long. Only +during this latter period will the female receive the male;[81] +copulation never takes place at any other period, and yet in spite of +the fact that the opportunity for copulation is narrowly restricted, so +strong is the sexual instinct in the male, that it is very rare for a +female, so far as observation goes, not to engage in copulation at each +oestrous. The period of oestrous is followed by the period of +metoestrous during which the activity of generation subsides, and the +metoestrous is followed by the anoestrous or period of rest, after which +another pro-oestrous period begins a new cycle. + +The period of oestrous, during which copulation takes place, is usually +marked by the presence of ripe female gametes which are therefore at +once fertilized. Ripe ova are, however, not always present at oestrous; +in the rabbit ovulation takes place an hour and a half after copulation. +In the bat there is a very marked want of coincidence between oestrous +and ovulation; copulation takes place in the autumn, but ovulation does +not take place until the following spring. In such cases the spermatozoa +remain alive in the uterus until the female gametes are ripe, when +fertilization is achieved; thus in the bat the spermatozoa remain alive +for several months. When such cases occur, therefore, it does not mean +that the ova are not fertilized. In the monkeys, however, ovulation may +occur independently of oestrous and in such a manner that the ova then +liberated may not be fertilized. + +What has so far been said all goes to show that the majority of ripe ova +are always fertilized among species in a state of nature. There must be +a certain number of failures among those species which copulate, as when +a mammalian female, as must now and again happen, does not engage in +copulation during oestrous. Among species which do not copulate, +failures are doubtless more frequent. There is probably a greater +wastage of eggs when they are adhesive and fixed to some object than +when they are pelagic, as is most often the case among marine animals; +for when eggs are adhesive the seminal fluid may drift away. + +We are now approaching a point at which it is possible to establish the +first generalization regarding the process of reproduction among species +in a state of nature. It is, however, not possible to make clear what it +is intended to convey until something has been said regarding animal +behaviour. Some of the most striking differences between one class of +animal and another as regards the process of reproduction are connected +with the evolution of animal behaviour. So far we have spoken of +instinct without defining what is meant, and until something has been +said regarding the course and limit of mental evolution among animals, +the nature of the common element in all forms of reproduction among all +species in a state of nature and the manner in which it differs from +what is found among men cannot be set out. It may seem that the +following review is taking us somewhat out of our path. It so happens, +however, that in view of the questions that will come up later for +discussion, such a sketch will be necessary and it may therefore be now +undertaken so as to render further amplification unnecessary. + +6. Putting aside the behaviour of plants, we find among the lower +animals a type of behaviour which, though simple in a certain sense, +cannot be adequately explained without a prolonged discussion. Some idea +can be obtained of its nature if we consider in what a reflex action +consists. When a definite and simple stimulus is followed directly by a +definite and simple reaction we have what is called a reflex action. +This term, it may be noticed, is usually restricted to cases where a +nervous system is present. When similar reactions occur among organisms +in which the nervous system has not been differentiated, it has been +suggested that the term ‘autotype’ should be used.[82] + +Reactions, however, probably never follow invariably upon the repetition +of the same stimulus. Among the lowest class of animals, the Protozoa, a +free-swimming ciliate Infusorian, will, if it comes into contact with +something in the medium which is abnormal, it may be, for example, an +alkaline solution, stop and go backwards. This is an example of a reflex +action. An analysis of its subsequent movements shows that, if it again +and again meets the alkaline solution, some modification of the reaction +takes place. The animal may show increased activity until either it is +overcome by the disturbing medium or it has freed itself from it. So +again after the digestion of food, such an organism shows a different +response to the presence of food. + +More definite instances of different reactions following upon the same +stimulus are provided by experiments of changing the nature of the +medium. An Infusorian will react violently against certain new elements +in the medium to which after a time it becomes habituated, when the +reaction no longer follows. Very interesting experiments have shown that +even among the simplest class of organisms there is a certain learning +from experience. ‘A Stentor (one of the ciliate Infusorians) if gently +touched upon one side will contract upon its stalk, but will soon open +out again. Touched once more, it will perhaps bend to one side, and if +continually molested in this manner, it will uproot itself in pardonable +dudgeon and swim away. That is to say it has several ways of reacting to +the stimulus and seeking equilibrium, and, if one fails, it tries +another. But now when it anchors itself again, it seems to have learnt +something, for if again touched it does not go through the stages of +contracting and of bending aside. It keeps to its more radical remedy +and moves off again.’[83] It is doubtful whether there is any further +complication of this type of behaviour among organisms which do not +attain to the kind of behaviour that we have now to describe. + +7. Herbert Spencer, as is well known, defined instinct as compound +reflex action. Though this definition cannot, for various reasons, be +accepted as adequate, it does suggest the essential nature of instinct, +which consists in the response to a given but often vague stimulus of a +more or less complicated series of reactions. Instinct is more than +compound reflex action because it involves the organism as a whole, and +is accompanied by, or is the outcome of, a mental process. All mental +process is said to involve three aspects—the cognitive or the knowing of +an object, the affective or feeling in regard to an object, and the +conative or striving to or from an object—and these three aspects are to +be found in all instinctive actions. The instinctive action is initiated +by a sense-impression and is followed by results so important because +the nervous system is innately organized to respond to certain +sense-impressions. It is presumed that some kind of emotional +excitement, however faint, always follows and that it gives rise to the +striving that we see in the form of movement. Instinct has been defined +as ‘an inherited or innate psychophysical disposition which determines +its possessor to perceive and to pay attention to objects of a certain +class, to experience an emotional excitement of a particular quality +upon perceiving such an object, and to act in regard to it in a +particular manner, or, at least, to experience an impulse to such +action’.[84] + +Every one is acquainted with many examples of instinctive action. ‘There +are many instances of insects that invariably lay their eggs in the only +place where the grubs, when hatched, will find the food they need and +can eat, or where the larvae will be able to attach themselves as +parasites to some host in a way that is necessary to their survival. In +such cases it is clear that the behaviour of the parent is determined by +the impression made on its senses by the appropriate objects or places: +e. g. the smell of decaying fish leads the Carrion fly to deposit its +eggs upon it; the sight or odour of some particular flower leads another +to lay its eggs among the ovules of the flower, which serve as food to +the grubs. Others go through more elaborate traits of action, as when +the Mason-wasp lays its eggs in a mud nest, fills up the space with +caterpillars, which it paralyses by means of well-directed stings, and +seals it up; so that the caterpillars remain as a supply of fresh animal +food for the young which the parent will never see and of whose needs it +can have no knowledge or idea.’[85] To take some examples from among the +Vertebrates, ‘pheasants, plovers, moor-hen, domestic chicks and +ducklings, with many others, are active soon after birth, and exhibit +powers of complex co-ordination, with little or no practice of the +necessary limb movements. They walk and balance the body so soon and so +well as to show that this mode of procedure is congenital, and has not +to be gradually acquired through the guidance of experience. Young water +birds swim with neat orderly strokes the first time they are gently +placed in the water. Even little chicks a day or two old can swim +well.’[86] + +Enough has been said in the way of illustration, as numerous examples +are familiar to every one. It is possible that instinctive behaviour may +have to be attributed to so lowly a group of organisms as the flat +worms. Instinct reaches its greatest development among the insects, and +some examples have been given above of the amazingly intricate series of +actions which are performed by insects, under the guidance of instinct. +There have been two lines of mental evolution among animals, one +culminating in the insects and the other in the Vertebrates. Among the +former instincts have become very specialized; among the latter they +have remained far more generalized. Among the latter again there has +been a far higher development of intelligence than among the former, +thus further distinguishing the two lines of mental evolution. It is +probable, however, that intelligence, though certainly at times in a +very primitive form, always accompanies instinct, and to the discussion +of intelligence we must now turn. + +8. We saw how as lowly an animal as an Infusorian can in a sense learn +from experience. It is only when learning from experience reaches a more +advanced stage that we speak of intelligent action. If we watch one of +the higher animals which, under the influence of desire, is striving to +satisfy this desire, we find that it behaves in the following manner. An +animal, for instance, is shut up in a box with food outside. It is led +by instinct to all kinds of sporadic activities; it will clutch and claw +and make every kind of effort to extricate itself. If some simple catch +has been contrived which opens the door and offers a way of escape, the +animal will probably sooner or later accidentally operate the catch and +escape. If the animal is replaced in the box many times, it is found to +escape on the average sooner. It learns in fact in some degree to +operate the catch and thus to gain freedom and food. The question which +arises is what degree of mental development we have to assume in order +to account for these facts. + +The stage in learning from experience which follows next upon that +present among some protozoa is exemplified by the chick which at first +instinctively pecks at various objects. If it pecks at a yellow +caterpillar with an unpleasant taste it will drop it. The next time, or +after a series of such experiences, it will avoid the caterpillar. The +explanation seems to be that a modified response arises directly from +the sight of the caterpillar. The sense-impression has become charged +with feeling that first arose as the result of experience. This simple +explanation is to be preferred to that which would assume the +realization by the chick of the relation between the position when it +again finds itself with a yellow caterpillar before it and the nastiness +which it previously experienced. The process is thus one of the revival +of acquired meaning, and we have now to ask if a higher stage of mental +process is ever to be attributed to animals or whether the behaviour of +the animal in the cage is to be explained on the same lines as the +behaviour of the chick. + +‘Let us suppose’, says Professor Hobhouse, ‘revival to operate in a mind +capable of perceiving three objects A B C in definite space and time +relations, C being something desirable, e. g. food. If the three objects +are present to the senses, the first two leading up to the third (e. g. +as intervening objects in space), conation will be definitely directed +to C via A and B. Let this have happened and then let A alone be given. +If the animal is hungry, i.e. if there is a conational basis to go upon, +A will, according to the law of revival, excite a conation corresponding +to the previous one, but this was a conation definitely directed to B +and C in succession as things standing in a definite relation to A. The +animal then directs its efforts to a point where, in accordance with the +first experience, B and C should be. It looks for them, or if B is some +change which brings C about, sets itself to perform B and so obtain C. +Its action is directed to something not given, and this appears to be +the germ of a conation or practical idea.’[87] It is thus possible that +in the behaviour of the animal in the box we may have to recognize the +first step towards a higher mental process. Effort may be directed to +something not given and thus there may be the first sign of the +emergence of an idea. Whether this is so or not, such an idea is +certainly not a general idea; it is merely a reference to something to +come, and that is all. This is the highest degree of mental development +that we can attribute to animals and it may be noticed that, this being +so, there can probably be no true memory among animals. Explicit ideas, +therefore, among animals, so far as they exist at all, do not give rise +to other ideas following one another in sequence. They are isolated and +serve merely to guide action. + +9. The highest form of mental process attributable to animals reaches a +fuller development among men. This stage of mental development has been +called the stage of perceptual correlation. How far the apprehensions of +direct relationships in consciousness are developed among animals is +doubtful; there is no doubt that among men such relations are +apprehended. Action, therefore, is not merely connected indirectly with +the result, as in the example of the chick; action is undertaken with an +end in view. If the chick came to apprehend the relation between the +caterpillar and the unpleasant taste, it would have reached the fully +developed stage of perceptual correlation; we have seen that we have to +assume in this case a simpler state of mental process, though in certain +cases a study of animal behaviour does suggest some approach to the +higher stage. At this stage, which is fully developed only in man, the +world ceases to be presented merely as sense-impressions charged with +feeling and takes the shape of a mass of objects of perception related +together and underlying the sense-impressions and the feelings evoked by +them. + +In man there is developed a still higher stage of mental process which +is his peculiar possession and chief distinguishing characteristic. This +is the stage of conceptual thought. In the perceptual stage activity is +guided solely by the presence of the objects perceived. If there is any +anticipation of the end, the action from moment to moment is still +always guided by what is actually given. In the conceptual stage action +is guided by an ideal anticipation of the end. What underlies mental +process at this stage is generalization. The situation as given is +broken up and analysed; elements common to it and to previous situations +are recognized and synthesized. These two processes of analysis and +synthesis go on side by side and concepts are formed which are outside +the world of perception. Common elements in the perceptual order are +recognized and there is thus made possible a grasp of the continuity +running through experience. + +Man is thus no longer guided by what is immediately given in experience; +he can make plans and shape his actions with an ideal end in view. With +the development of conceptual thought goes the development of language, +whereby man learns from others and passes on to others what is in his +mind. Of the stage of conceptual thought there will be more to say in a +later chapter. This further development is only mentioned here in order +to contrast mental process in its highest form in man with the process +in animals. + +10. We have now to consider the bearing of mental development upon the +process of reproduction. All animals are endowed with a certain power of +reproduction which we shall call fecundity. Fecundity is measured by the +number of ripe ova produced, the number of spermatozoa having no direct +bearing on fecundity. We have seen that the highest animals—those most +nearly related to man—are gifted with instinct and intelligence. The +value of intelligence lies in the fact that it enables instinct to adapt +itself to the special circumstances of the moment and thus to bring +about its end more surely. The sexual instinct is in this manner +assisted by intelligence, and among animals which copulate the power of +reproduction is thus able to realize itself to the full or almost to the +full. There may be certain failures to achieve reproduction and certain +cases of perverted instinct; to some of these cases we have already +referred. Broadly speaking, however, it is true that the highest +development in animals of instinct and intelligence works towards the +fulfilment of that degree of fecundity which is innately given. It +follows, therefore, that in this sense mental development among animals +has not in any fashion changed the position of the higher animals when +compared with that of the lower animals. Reproduction in the sea-urchin +and reproduction among the mammals—vastly as the mental processes +differ—is still similar in this respect. The power of reproduction is +realized to the full or almost to the full. All that instinct and +intelligence do is to ensure that in this more complex process of +fertilization the full power of reproduction is as nearly as possible +realized—that is to say, that nearly all ova are fertilized. + +Among men, even in the lowest stage in which they have been studied, the +position is entirely different. Owing to the development of conceptual +thought men act with some ideal object in view. Customs grow up which in +their origin must be traced to some process of reasoning, however +obscure, and action deliberately undertaken, as well as custom, may +affect the realization of the power of reproduction. Thus among the +lowest of primitive races we find that men abstain from intercourse for +various motives which we must regard as due to the presence of reason. +Or again, they may practise certain forms of mutilation of the sexual +organs which may affect the power of reproduction. The origin of such a +custom may be hidden; it may be almost certain that it was not +originated with any understanding of its effect upon reproduction and +even that its effect has never been recognized; nevertheless originally +such a custom could only have arisen if reason was present. Similarly, +among the lowest races there are abundant examples of the practices of +abortion and infanticide which, though they do not affect fecundity, +have an important bearing upon the quantitative aspect of the population +problem and are again the products of reason. + +Among men, therefore, owing to the development of a higher stage of +mental power, fecundity is not realized to the full, and we have to +distinguish between the power of reproduction, which we have called +fecundity, and the actual degree of reproduction, which we shall call +fertility. It may, perhaps, assist to emphasize what is meant if for a +moment we think of the reproductive process among animals as +‘mechanical’. The introduction of this term should not be taken to have +any ultimate significance—any reference whatever to the true nature of +mental process. It is only used as a convenient term to illustrate the +difference between reproduction among animals and among men. Among all +species in a state of nature reproduction may be thought of as +‘mechanical’, whereas reproduction among men is never ‘mechanical’. The +number of young produced in the case of the human species is far from +being completely correlated with the fecundity. There may be all degrees +of difference between fecundity and fertility. Among species in a state +of nature fecundity and fertility are for all practical purposes one and +the same thing because reproduction is ‘mechanical’ whatever may be the +stage which mental development has reached. Further, such differences as +exist among species in a state of nature between fecundity—the number of +ripe ova—and fertility—the number of fertilized ova—are due to failures +of the gametes to meet and may be called, just as the whole process may +be called, ‘mechanical’. Such ‘mechanical’ differences between fecundity +and fertility may also be found in man but the chief cause of the +differences in the case of man is altogether of another kind and is due, +as we have seen, directly to the development of conceptual thought. + +It was said above that it was proposed to show that certain +generalizations can be made regarding the process of reproduction among +species in a state of nature. This then is the first generalization. +(Fecundity and fertility are closely correlated and, compared with the +position among men, reproduction may be thought of as ‘mechanical’ and +even the failures to realize the full power of fecundity may be thought +of as ‘mechanical’.) + +11. It has been mentioned that fecundity is very large among all species +in a state of nature and we have now to ask what it is that determines +how large it shall be. As we have seen, the fecundity is roughly +measured by the number of ova produced, and this number clearly depends +upon many factors, such as the beginning and duration of the mature +period, the number of eggs produced at any one time, and the length of +the period between the epochs of egg production. Into details of the +proximate causes of the differences in fecundity it is not necessary to +go. What it is desired to know is what factor or factors in general +ultimately determine the strength of fecundity in each species. We may +first take some examples of the degree of fecundity drawn from various +groups. + +The common whelk lays its eggs in capsules of which a great number are +produced. It has been calculated that a small clump of such capsules of +about two cubic inches in size contains about 200,000 eggs. Another +mollusc, Aplysia, may lay from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 at a time. ‘An +oyster may have sixty million eggs and the average American yield is +sixteen millions.’[88] The number of eggs found attached to the edible +crab in the breeding season varies between half a million and three +millions. A single pair of flies may produce 20,000 larvae. The number +of eggs produced by parasites may very largely exceed these numbers. +Among the vertebrates the fish are the most prolific class. ‘In a Ling +61 inches long and weighing 54 pounds the ovaries contained 28,361,000 +eggs; a cod of 21½ pounds 6,652,000. The least prolific of British food +fishes is the herring, in which the number of ovarian eggs varied from +21,000 to 47,000 in four specimens examined.’[89] + +These vast numbers of eggs produced at any one time make theoretically +possible a prodigious rate of increase. It has been calculated that a +single cholera bacillus can give rise to sixteen hundred trillion of +bacilli in a day, forming a solid mass weighing a hundred tons. ‘Wallace +quotes Kerner to the effect that a common British weed (_Sisymbrium +sophia_) often has three-quarters of a million seeds; if all grew to +maturity for only three years the whole of the land surface of the globe +would not hold them. An annual plant with only two seeds would be +represented by 1,048,576 in the twenty-first year.... If all the progeny +of one oyster survived and multiplied, its great-great-grand-children +would number thirty-six with thirty-three noughts after it, and the heap +of the shells would be eight times the size of the world. Huxley +calculated that if the descendants of a single green-fly all survived +and multiplied they would, at the end of summer, weigh down the +population of China. The common house-fly lays eggs in batches of 120 to +150 at a time, and may lay five or six of these batches during its life +of about three weeks in very hot weather. At the end of summer, if all +developed, and if there were six generations, the progeny of a single +pair, pressed together into a solid mass, would occupy a space of +something like a quarter of a million cubic feet, allowing 200,000 flies +to a cubic foot.’[90] ‘There is no exception’, says Darwin, in a +well-known passage, ‘to the rule that every organic being naturally +increases at so high a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would +soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man +has doubled in twenty years, and at this rate in less than a thousand +years there would literally not be standing room for his progeny. +Linnaeus has calculated that if an annual plant produced only two +seeds—and there is no plant so unproductive as this—and their seedlings +next year produced two, and so on, then in twenty years there would be a +million plants. The elephant is reckoned the slowest breeder of all +known animals, and I have taken some pains to estimate its probable +minimum rate of natural increase; it will be safest to assume that it +begins breeding when thirty years old, and goes on breeding until ninety +years old, bringing forth six young in the interval, and surviving till +100 years old; if this be so, after a period of 740 to 750 years there +would be nearly ninety million elephants alive, descended from the first +pair.’[91] + +12. These examples show that the power of fecundity, which is always +huge, is in many instances much greater than in others. Were it not for +the fact that normally all but a small proportion of eggs are always +fertilized, it might be suggested that in those cases in which there was +no copulation a much larger number of eggs was necessary than among the +higher forms, in order that a sufficient number should be fertilized. +This, however, can only be a partial explanation of the larger number of +eggs among those lower forms where there is no copulation. + +In order to obtain an answer to the question as to what it is which +determines the fecundity of any species, it is necessary to look into +certain features of the life of animals and plants in a state of nature. +Observation and deduction bring one remarkable fact to light. The number +of adults of any species at any one season of the year, when compared +with the number in the corresponding period in other years, remains upon +the whole constant. This fact cannot be based upon statistics, for we +cannot take anything approaching to a census. Nevertheless, it is an +unavoidable deduction from the known facts. The more emphasis that is +laid upon variations in numbers from season to season, the more apparent +does it become that such differences are trivial when compared with the +possible rate of increase. But we know that all but a small proportion +of eggs are fertilized, and as we date the existence of a new member of +the species from the moment of fertilization, it is clear that the +numbers composing every new generation greatly exceed the number of +adults to which the new generation owes its existence. It follows, +therefore, that all but a small proportion of the young of each +generation perish before the adult stage is reached. The most remarkable +increases in the adults of any species ever recorded are negligible +compared with the possible increase, and observation shows that as a +general rule there is no increase at all. + +Fecundity is, therefore, in some manner connected with this fact that +the great majority of fertilized eggs do not give rise to adults, and in +order to throw further light upon this connexion we must ask how it is +that the young perish. + +13. To make clear how it is that the young of every species perish on so +large a scale, it is necessary to refer to the interdependence of all +living organisms. This can perhaps best be illustrated by reference to +the chief distinction between animals and plants. A difference in the +mode of nutrition is that which chiefly distinguishes animals from +plants. There are other differences but their importance is small +compared with that we may now describe. The need of food is common to +all living things and is due to the nature of the living substance +called protoplasm—the physical basis of all life. Protoplasm is of a +very complex constitution. It is for ever wasting away and if life is to +be preserved food must be supplied to compensate for the loss. The need +is as great among plants as it is among animals, but the means of +supplying it are fundamentally different. + +Plants feed upon very simple substances—salts of nitric acid, salts of +ammonia, and carbonic acid. Among green plants carbonic acid is taken in +from the air through small apertures in the leaves known as stomata; the +salts of nitric acid and ammonia are absorbed from solution in the water +of the soil. Carbonic acid and water are synthesized within the cells of +the plant into starch; starch is converted into sugar and the sugar is +combined with the salts of nitric acid and ammonia to form amino-acids +which are eventually transformed into proteids. Thus the plant makes +good the unavoidable waste of its living substance by elaborating the +highly complex protoplasm from the simplest elements. + +The method pursued by animals is entirely different. They feed upon +complicated substances, which may be divided into proteids, fats, and +carbo-hydrates. These substances do not take their places directly in +the living cells of the body; they first undergo a process of digestion, +after which they are assimilated. Digestion involves the breaking down +of these complex foods to a certain stage; proteids, for example, are +reduced to amino-acids, and starches to sugars. In these forms they are +soluble and are taken up by the walls of the alimentary canal and are +afterwards resynthesized into proteids and starches. + +The importance of this distinction lies in the fact that the only method +of obtaining the highly complex substances necessary for animals is to +feed upon the tissues of other animals or plants. It is obvious that +every animal species cannot feed upon some other animal species; in the +end animals as a whole must depend upon plants because plants alone are +able to elaborate the substances which animals need. In a sense, +therefore, animals are parasitic upon plants; in any case the existence +of animals is bound up with the continued existence of plants. This +interdependence of living organisms runs all through the conditions +under which species in a state of nature live and takes a variety of +shapes. The dependence of one organism upon another is largely connected +with the question of the provision of appropriate surroundings which are +often only found in the proximity of certain other species. Many species +can only flourish in the neighbourhood of trees. The interdependence +between certain species is very intimate. There are many examples of +what is known as symbiosis, as when a certain species of sea anemone +lives on the back of a particular species of crab. Again, parasites, +which alternate between one host and another, are dependent upon finding +a member of a particular species at a certain time in their +life-history, as otherwise they perish. Many examples of interdependence +are within common knowledge, and, bearing this feature of organic life +in mind, we may go on to ask how it is that, through the elimination of +a great proportion of the young of every species, the number of adults +remains upon the whole constant. + +14. Taking animals first, it is probable that the most common cause of +elimination lies in the fact that the young of all species are consumed +by members of other species. It is difficult to estimate even roughly +the relative importance of the various causes of elimination; ‘the +causes’, says Darwin, ‘which check the natural tendency of each species +to increase are most obscure’.[92] The particular factor mentioned, +however, certainly takes a very prominent place. The young of marine and +fresh-water animals almost all form food for other species and are +obviously exposed to attack. So too, though perhaps not to so great a +degree, are the young of terrestrial animals; whether we think of the +larvae of insects or the eggs of birds, we find that they are in most +cases liable to be consumed by enemies. Even where copulation is +internal, the developing embryo is, except among mammals, seldom long +retained within the body of the mother, and once exposed to the outside +world it almost invariably becomes an object of prey to many enemies. In +fact, wherever we look, this cause of elimination plays a very great +part, arising immediately from that aspect of the interdependence of +species which is derived from the mode among animals of making up for +the wastage of protoplasm. + +Elimination again is largely due to failure to find those conditions +under which alone life can continue. These conditions may be connected +with the nature of the organic or of the inorganic surroundings. When +the young of the flat worm, known as the Liver Fluke, which infects +sheep and causes a serious disease, passes from the sheep to the +exterior, it can only maintain itself for a certain time in the +free-living form. Unless within this time it meets with a certain +species of snail into which it penetrates, it will die. Besides such +failures to find suitable organic surroundings, there may be failures to +find suitable inorganic surroundings. The larvae of such species as the +mussel, which require suitable surroundings to which to attach +themselves in order that the adult form may develop, will perish if such +surroundings are not available. There is a further class of factors +connected with the inorganic surroundings which bring about elimination. +They may be summed up under the heading of external circumstances. +Variations in temperature, moisture and so on, when they pass beyond a +certain limit, which is more or less clearly marked for each species, +are followed by death. Under this heading comes also death from +accident, as when animals perish from the violence of storms and in any +similar fashion. It is of interest to note that starvation is seldom the +primary cause of death. It may be a secondary result of abnormal +external circumstances; extreme cold, though not affecting directly the +members of one species, may be fatal to members of another species upon +which the former feed. But when circumstances are normal, so far as +observation goes, starvation is rare. + +15. Among plants the same three groups of factors can be traced, though +their relative importance is not the same as among animals. Elimination +through consumption as food, for instance, by other species is not so +important. To a large extent plants can serve as food for animals and +survive. Nevertheless the young, especially in the form of seeds, are +very subject to attack by animals; seeds are one of the principal forms +of food for many animal species, and this form of elimination plays a +large part among plants. Dependence upon suitable organic and inorganic +surroundings plays much the same rôle as it does among animals. Some +species can only flourish in the shade of trees and others in the open. +Some species require one kind of soil and others another. The importance +of external circumstances again is very similar. + +There is another factor of a somewhat different nature which is of great +importance. ‘With plants’, says Darwin, ‘there is a vast destruction of +seeds, but, from some observations which I have made, it appears that +the seedlings suffer most from germinating in ground already thickly +stocked with other plants.’[93] In order that a seed may germinate, it +must not only fall upon suitable soil but must find enough suitable soil +unoccupied. Otherwise it will not germinate or will not develop into an +adult. This is different from anything which happens among animals, and +is clearly an approach to starvation. It is, however, better thought of +as the result of the inability of any given area to support more than a +given amount of life. The endowment of any area may be such as to render +it incapable of supporting life at all, or it may be such as to render +it capable of supporting any degree of life up to and beyond that for +which there is space. In the sea the amount of nitrogen is the limiting +factor, and the deficiency of nitrogen is such that the question of +space does not arise.[94] In many parts of the world’s surface, however, +the endowment is such that more plants could be supported than there is +space for. + +In this connexion it may be noted that the limitation of the surface of +the earth is not a cause of elimination in the true sense. This is best +seen if we imagine the surface to be extended. If to a continent already +inhabited there is added an unoccupied area, there will, if the new area +is generally of the same nature as that alone formerly existing, be a +spreading of organic life over the new area. It will only be at the +fringe of the occupied area that there will be any difference in the +amount of elimination of plant life. Unless the occupied area is of very +small extent, there will be no difference except within this narrow +fringe. In the fringe there will be a lessening of elimination, other +things being equal, because there will not be the same number of seeds +which fail to grow into plants owing to the previous occupation of +suitable soil, as in the more central parts of the area. When the new +area has been entirely occupied, the same conditions as existed in the +smaller area will exist throughout the larger area. Further, if the +surface available for occupation were indefinite in extent, there would, +except at the fringe, which would in this case be permanent, be no +difference as regards the amount of elimination. All that has been said +applies equally well if, instead of imagining these additions to take +place after evolution had reached its present stage, we imagine +evolution to have taken place from the beginning on an area of +indefinite extent. + +16. We have, therefore, some idea of the manner in which the young of +animals and plants perish. Let us consider any animal species; we find +that the young are faced with a large number of dangers. The new members +of the species may be consumed by some enemy before they have developed +beyond the stage of the fertilized egg or at any stage in their +development. They may in general not meet with favourable organic and +inorganic surroundings, or at some particular stage they may not meet +with the environment necessary. At any time they may perish from +unfavourable external circumstances. The position of young plants is +similar, and in addition they may fail to find sufficient space in which +to live. + +The dangers which any species encounters remain both in kind and in +degree fairly constant over a considerable period of time, and, unless +in each generation a number of young survives at least equal to the +number of adults in the generation to which it owes its birth, the +species will decline. It follows that the power of reproduction must be +such as to ensure that at least this number of young will survive. The +power of reproduction in any species is therefore connected with the sum +of all the dangers which the young of the species encounter. But it is +not true that the greater the fecundity the better for the species. +Reproduction over and above this degree would place the young in a less +favourable position. Competition bringing no corresponding advantages +would be increased, and starvation or injurious semi-starvation would +result. Any considerable increase in the strength of fecundity beyond +that which is essential could not therefore be beneficial.[95] + +The facts regarding the conditions of life and the dangers to which the +young of different species are exposed coincide with the view that the +strength of reproduction is in the main determined by the sum of these +dangers. The greater strength of fecundity among those species which +shed their eggs into the water cannot be attributed, as we have seen, to +any failure of fertilization on a large scale; it may be attributed, +however, to the numerous dangers which the young of such species must +encounter. The chance that any single fertilized egg will grow into an +adult is far less in these cases than when the eggs are retained in the +body of the mother and when the young are guarded by the parent, and, +unless fecundity was on a large scale, a sufficient number would not +survive. Among plants reproduction must always be on a large scale +because it is necessary to ensure that a sufficient number of seeds will +fall, not only on suitable ground, but on suitable ground that is not so +occupied as to prevent growth to the adult stage, in addition to the +necessity of providing such numbers as will ensure a sufficient number +passing through all the other dangers. Eggs and young abandoned by the +parents may be variously exposed to danger. The development of instincts +common among insects which lead to the hiding of eggs in places where +danger of destruction at the hand of enemies is decreased, and to the +provision of food for the young when they develop from the eggs, is +accompanied by a decrease in fecundity. Further developments of the +parental instinct are accompanied by decreases in fecundity as the +degree of danger lessens. Parental care for the young is not uncommon +among the invertebrates. There are a number of cases in which the young +are retained in brood-pouches, as for instance by the common water-flea. +The fresh-water leech, Clepsine, broods over its young. Among the +vertebrates the fish for the most part take no care of their young. Some +fish, however, such as Gasterosteus, the Stickleback, make nests. No +great advance is found among the Amphibia or among the reptiles. One +reptilian group, however, the Chelonia, shows a remarkable advance; they +live in pairs and guard their young with care. If marriage be defined as +‘a more or less durable connexion between male and female lasting beyond +the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring’,[96] +then the beginning of marriage is discernable in this group. This more +or less durable connexion between male and female is a well-known +characteristic of birds, as is also care for the young. ‘Most birds when +they pair do so for good and all until one or the other dies.’[97] The +connexion is not so durable, and the parental instinct is not so highly +developed, among mammals as among birds. The retention of the young +within the body of the mammalian mother, however, greatly decreases the +dangers to which the young are exposed. It is also worthy of note that +those species both of birds and mammals which prey upon others are on +the whole less fecund than other species, a fact which is to be +connected with the lower degree of danger to which their offspring are +exposed. + +The lower degree of danger to which the young are exposed, the less the +fecundity; and the less the fecundity, provided that it reaches the +strength necessary to preserve the species, the better on the whole for +the species. In this manner we reach the second generalization regarding +the quantitative aspect of the population problem among species in a +state of nature, which may be stated by saying that the strength of +fecundity in any species is determined by the sum of all the dangers to +which the young of that species are exposed. This must be qualified, in +so far as fecundity and fertility are not the same, by adding to the +dangers to which the young are exposed the danger that a certain +proportion of eggs will not be fertilized. It follows that among men, +since fecundity and fertility are not the same for quite other than +‘mechanical’ reasons, fecundity is not directly related to the dangers +to which the young are exposed. It is clear that, when men, as is now +the case on a large scale, both abstain from intercourse and interfere +with the natural result of intercourse, and at the same time increase in +number, the strength of fecundity is considerably greater than that +which would enable a sufficient number of young to escape the +unavoidable dangers. But the ancestors of man must once have been +subject to the same conditions as those to which species in a state of +nature are now subject, and it will be into the causes and results of +this progressive divergence from the former conditions that we shall +look in the first part of this book. + + + + + III + THE BASIS OF THE POPULATION PROBLEM: (2) THE QUALITATIVE ASPECT + + +1. We have now to consider the qualitative aspect of the population +problem. There are two questions to which an answer is required. First +we ask: What is the nature of the changes which occur? In other words, +if we may speak of history among animals and plants, we want to know +what kind of changes underlie the facts which go to make up that +history. The second question is: How have these changes come about? +There is no doubt about the answer to the first question, and it can be +given very shortly. Though there is a certain consensus of agreement +regarding the answer to the second question, there are considerable +differences, of opinion over points which are not unimportant, and in +order to deal adequately with these points a long discussion would be +required for which there is no space. All that can be done here is to +set out the most important facts; they will provide a satisfactory +answer to the first question and enable some indication to be given of +the lines which the answer to the second must follow. + +However slight the treatment of the problem, it must begin with a +reference to the physical basis of inheritance. Some description has +been given of the process of fertilization. It was said that only the +head and middle-piece of the spermatozoon penetrate the egg, and that no +cytoplasm or ordinary granular protoplasm can be demonstrated in these +parts of the spermatozoon. The head is the nucleus of the cell, while +the middle-piece contains the centrosome, a body which is attached to +the nucleus and plays an important part when the nucleus divides. From +these facts a very important conclusion follows. It is known that both +parents contribute equally to the offspring; therefore as the male +parent contributes only a nucleus and its appanage the centrosome, the +basis of the inherited qualities must be sought in the nucleus. + +Attention is thus directed to the nucleus, which can sometimes be seen +in the living cell. Its detailed structure can, however, only be made +out in specimens which have been preserved and stained. The nucleus is +then seen to consist of a thin wall within which is contained a +colourless sap. In the sap are a number of beads of a darkly staining +substance known as chromatin suspended on delicate threads of a +substance known as linin. The division of a cell is always preceded by +the division of the nucleus and, when the nucleus divides, the chromatin +undergoes certain remarkable changes. The beads of chromatin become +aggregated together into rods—the number of rods which appear being +invariably constant in the same species, though varying from species to +species. These rods are known as chromosomes. Beyond saying that the +rods divide into two and that each daughter nucleus, and therefore each +daughter cell, is provided with that number of chromosomes which is +typical for the species, it is not necessary to follow the details of +the process of division any farther. Stated in the briefest possible +form, this is what happens during ordinary cell-division, such as that +which takes place when a fertilized egg is growing from a single cell +into a multicellular adult. + +There is one remarkable exception to this type of nuclear division. In +the last division but one of those series of divisions which lead to the +formation of both male and female gametes, half, and not the full number +of chromosomes, is transmitted to each daughter nucleus. If therefore +the typical number of chromosomes in the nucleus of one species is eight +and in another four, the number of chromosomes in the gametes will be +four and two respectively. In the former species the nucleus of the egg +will have four chromosomes, and that of the spermatozoon also four, and +the full number typical of the species will only be restored when the +nucleus of the spermatozoon fuses with the nucleus of the egg in +fertilization. + +The invariable reappearance of the same number of chromosomes in +ordinary cell-division, their reduction to half that number in the last +division but one which precedes the formation of the gametes, the +complicated mechanism which is employed and other evidence all lead to +the conclusion that the location of the basis of the hereditary +qualities can be further narrowed and sought in the chromatin—in one +element, that is to say, of the nucleus.[98] + +2. The nucleus must not be thought of as isolated from the rest of the +cell; there is a constant and active interchange between the nucleus and +the cytoplasm. It has actually been demonstrated that at times particles +stream out from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. The nucleus is the +centre of activity; without the nucleus the cell cannot live. This being +so, how are we to view the process of development from the fertilized +egg to the adult? The process can be studied in detail. The egg divides +into two cells, then into four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two cells, and so +on. The gradual differentiation of the organs can be watched and their +lineage to certain cells in earlier stages traced. At every stage the +developing organism comes under the influence of certain stimuli +provided by the surrounding conditions. Very many elements in the +environment act as stimuli; among them are light, temperature, +gravitation, food, and so on. Provided that the environment is normal, +provided, that is to say, that the variations in the stimuli do not +exceed certain limits, an adult member of the species will be formed. +What is implied in the term ‘normal environment’ will be more fully +discussed in Chapter XIV, where the results of subjection to an abnormal +environment will also be studied. That a large number of stimuli varying +within only narrow limits are necessary, will there also be shown to +have been proved. + +The process of development, therefore, takes the shape of the growth of +a particular organic form through the play of certain stimuli upon the +germinal constitution. The germinal constitution has, as we have seen, +apparently to be identified with the constitution of the chromosomes of +the fertilized egg, of which half are derived from the father and half +from the mother. It is known that the characters, which the organism +exhibits, in some manner have a basis in the germinal constitution. The +number of these separate characters is very large. What view then are we +to take of the nature of the germinal constitution? In the first place +every character as seen in the organism is the result of the play of +certain stimuli upon something in the germinal constitution. This +something can only be thought of as predispositions to the development +of certain characters under certain stimuli and to the development of +characters differing in degree or in kind from the former characters +under other stimuli. It is altogether misleading to speak of anything +but predispositions as present in the germinal constitution, though, of +course, for the sake of brevity other phraseology may be employed once +this point is understood. When, therefore, we speak of the inheritance +of any character, we mean that there is a predisposition in the germinal +constitutions both of the parent and of the offspring to develop this +character under certain stimuli, which stimuli must play both upon the +parent and upon the offspring if the character is to be manifested in +both of them. + +If we have to regard the germinal constitution as somehow containing +very many separate predispositions or, as they are often called, +factors, is it in the second place possible to say in what these factors +consist? No definite answer to this question can as yet be given. +Certain hypotheses have been put forward. Weismann, for instance, +suggested that the factors were to be sought in groups of molecules of +chromatin. It is not necessary, however, to postulate definite and +separate particles as the physical basis of the predispositions. The +protoplasmic molecule is a very complex structure consisting of a very +large number of atoms. Similar atoms may be differently grouped within a +molecule, and different predispositions may well be functions of +different groupings. + +3. In order that we may answer the first of the two problems set out at +the beginning of the chapter we must consider in rather more detail in +what the development of an organism consists.[99] Every character is, as +we have seen, the result of the influence of the environment upon what +is innately given. If two individuals were endowed with precisely +similar germinal constitutions, and if precisely similar stimuli played +upon each of them, then the adult forms would be similar in respect of +all their characters. But if the stimuli are not similar, if, for +instance, more food is provided in one case than in another, then, +though the germinal constitutions are similar, one adult may be larger +than the other. Again, let us suppose that the germinal constitutions +differ, that, for instance, there is in one case a predisposition to the +development of greater size than in the other, then, even if the stimuli +are similar, the adult forms will differ. The larger members of each of +these pairs may thus resemble one another very closely in outward +characters; but this close resemblance will not be due to similar +germinal constitutions. It follows that by mere outward inspection no +conclusion can be reached as to the germinal constitution. There are, +therefore, two classes of influences at work, and alterations in either +class of influence will bring about alterations in the resulting +organism; similar characters may be the product of one kind of +predisposition and one kind of stimulus, or of a different +predisposition and a different stimulus. It also follows that we cannot +speak of certain characters as inherited and of others as acquired. Let +us suppose that some departure from the normal structure occurs. It may +be due to a change in the environment, that is to say, to a new stimulus +acting upon an unchanged germinal constitution, or it may be due to a +change in the germinal constitution when no change in the environment +takes place. It should not be said that in the former case the new +departure is acquired and in the latter case that it is inherited. What +has happened is that in the former case a new stimulus acting upon the +old factors has brought forth a new character, and in the latter case +that the old stimulus has brought forth a new character because it has +acted upon a different factor. + +Though the popular distinction between characters which are acquired and +characters which are inherited is misleading, there are, nevertheless, +two kinds of variation. A new departure may be due to a change in the +germinal constitution. In this case the new character will reappear in +future generations, provided that the changed germinal constitution +remains and provided that the complex of stimuli which composed the +environment does not change. Such a variation may be called a +‘mutation’. A new departure may also be due to a new stimulus acting +upon an unchanged germinal constitution. In this case the new character +will only reappear in future generations provided that the new stimulus +remains. Such a variation may be called a ‘modification’. Mutations, +therefore, are transmitted in the germinal constitution, while +modifications are not so transmitted. + +4. Already we have reached the answer to the first problem. Permanent +change in organic form is due to germinal change. But before we go on +and ask how germinal changes, that have arisen, become established, we +must consider further the difficult problem of the manner in which +germinal changes arise. A reference first to what are known as ‘pure +line’ investigations and afterwards to Mendelian phenomena will +illustrate what is known as to the nature of existing germinal +differences; for until we have some such information, we cannot +profitably ask how existing germinal differences arise. The best known +‘pure line’ experiments are those carried out by Johannsen with beans. +The flowers of beans fertilize themselves; the offspring, therefore, +have approximately the same germinal constitution. The offspring +constitute a ‘pure line’, for by a ‘pure line’ is meant a group of +children which are the offspring of a single parent. The character +selected for investigation was weight and it was found that, if beans +were collected from a bean-field and weighed, every gradation occurred +between a minimum of about 20 centigrams and a maximum of about 90 +centigrams. When the beans were separated into three classes—heavy, +medium, and light—sown and plants raised from them, the average weight +of the beans produced by the plants derived from the heavier seed was +greater, though not proportionately greater, than the mean weight of all +the beans, and that the average weight produced by the plants derived +from the lighter seed was less, though not proportionately less, than +the mean weight of all the beans. There was, in fact, a certain +regression on the part of the heavy and light classes to the mean +weight. A similar tendency to regression to the mean can be observed +when other characters are similarly studied. The average stature, for +example, of the offspring of tall parents is slightly nearer the mean +stature of the race than the average stature of the parents. + +This tendency to regression to the mean has long been known, but it was +not until Johannsen proceeded farther and investigated inheritance +within a ‘pure line’ that it was understood. In the experiment +described, no attention was paid to the ‘pure line’. When Johannsen +separated the beans produced by the self-fertilization of a single +plant, divided them into heavier, medium, and lighter classes, sowed +them and weighed their progeny, he discovered a very interesting fact. +The average weight of the progeny of a heavy bean and of a light bean +belonging to the same ‘pure line’ was the same. The conclusion to be +drawn from this result is that the differences in weight between the +offspring of a single self-fertilized plant are due to differences in +the stimuli which play upon them. Obviously the stimuli do differ; the +weight is affected by differences in light, shade, number, and position +of the beans in a pod and so on. But since the offspring of a single +plant have approximately the same germinal constitution, the average +weight of the offspring of light beans, which are light because of +subjection to less favourable stimuli than the average, will not be on +that account lighter than the mean weight of the strain, and similarly +_mutatis mutandis_ with regard to the offspring of the heavy beans. + +It follows, therefore, with regard to this particular character that +there are a number of different strains in the population. The beans +arising from any one strain are not of the same weight because they have +been subjected to different stimuli. If each strain was pure and if +differences in environmental stimuli could be removed, then beans +gathered from a bean-field would not exhibit a simple gradation in +weight: there would be a number of steps and as many steps as there were +strains. In actual fact, the modifications produce the gradation which +is observed. The fact that the nature of the germinal constitution +cannot, as stated above, be determined by a mere inspection of the +characters is exemplified by this experiment. If we take a bean +weighing, say, 55 centigrams, it may belong to a strain which varies, +say, between 20 and 65 centigrams, or to a strain which varies between +40 and 90 centigrams. It is only when this bean is sown, and the weight +of the offspring calculated, that the strain to which it belongs can be +ascertained. The experiment further shows why regression towards the +mean is observed, when, instead of limiting investigation to a ‘pure +line’, beans differing in a certain respect from the average, by, for +instance, greater weight, are selected and sown. Such beans will belong +to several different strains; they will, however, include more which +have been favourably than unfavourably influenced by the surroundings. +The average of the weight of all their offspring will therefore be less +than the average weight of the parents. At this point we touch upon the +problem of selection, but before we go on to deal with this question, it +is necessary to say something more about variation and the origin of +variations. + +5. Self-fertilization is very exceptional, and what happens in the case +of the beans, though illuminating, is not typical. As a general rule in +reproduction, two parents contribute to the germinal constitution of the +offspring. Strains, therefore, do not remain pure, as in the case of the +bean, because they are continually crossed; we require to know what +happens when crossing takes place. This study, first successfully +undertaken by Mendel, has been greatly extended in late years. We may +first illustrate in the simplest form what it was that Mendel discovered +and then go on to inquire what deductions bearing upon the question we +have to answer are to be drawn from it. + +A large number of experiments of the following kind has been made. Two +strains in any species are chosen; these strains exhibit opposed +characters. Such characters may be tallness and dwarfness, colour of the +flower, shape of the comb in fowls, condition of the seed, whether +smooth or wrinkled, and so on. We may call one character A and the other +_a_. The two strains are crossed, and in the first generation the +offspring are all alike and exhibit a character, A′. This character may +be the same as either A or _a_, a blend between them or something wholly +new. Whatever form it may take, it is produced by the interaction of A +and _a_. The members of this first generation are then interbred, and of +the second generation one quarter exhibit the character A, one quarter +the character _a_, and the remaining half the character A′. If the +quarter exhibiting the character A are interbred, all the offspring +exhibit the character A, and the same holds good regarding the quarter +exhibiting the character _a_; but if the half exhibiting A′ are +interbred, the offspring will split up in the same proportion as in the +previous generation, one quarter exhibiting A, one quarter _a_, and +one-half A′. This result holds good for any number of generations so +long as interbreeding is continued. + +Into the very numerous complications which occur it is not necessary to +go. They are all interpreted by extensions of the simple explanation +which is applied in the elementary case given above. It is supposed that +all characters which behave on crossing as above are represented in the +germinal constitution by factors which behave as separate units; such +characters are called ‘unit-characters’, and such factors +‘unit-factors’. It is further supposed that each gamete bears one +unit-factor only in respect of each unit-character. If the strain is +pure, as in the case of the two strains exhibiting characters A and _a_, +then all the gametes will bear the unit-factors for A and _a_ +respectively, and the fertilized eggs resulting from the crosses between +them will therefore contain both unit-factors. The hybrids, which, as we +have seen, exhibit the character A′, will produce gametes, half of which +bear the unit-factor for A and half the unit-factor for _a_. When the +hybrids interbreed, on the average of chances one quarter of the +fertilized eggs will have two factors for A, one quarter two factors for +_a_, and one-half both a factor for A′ and a factor for _a_. In this +manner the splitting up of the second generation is explained. + +What is important in this explanation is the conception of unit-factors. +The extension of the explanation to cover the more complicated cases +does not involve any modification of principle. It follows that the +germinal constitution contains a very large number of unit-factors; what +therefore is innately given in the germinal constitution is a collection +of such unit-factors. Each unit-character based upon a unit-factor can +theoretically be separately distinguished and isolated. The +complications to which references have been made are in part due to the +difficulty of distinguishing unit-characters. What is apparently a +simple character may not be a unit-character, but a combination of +unit-characters. This apparently simple character cannot appear unless +all the unit-factors, upon which these unit-characters are based, are +present in the germinal constitution. + +It may next be asked whether all unit-factors behave in this manner when +crossed. To this no definite answer can yet be given. The successful +analysis of apparently contradictory cases and the continual discovery +of characters which do behave in this fashion seem to point to an +affirmative answer. The suggestion is that, when this mode of behaviour +cannot be demonstrated, it is because the unit-characters have not yet +been distinguished and isolated. + +This brief reference to ‘pure line’ investigations and to the Mendelian +analysis of crossing leads therefore to the following conclusions. When, +as in the case of the self-fertilizing bean, the strains are kept pure, +existing germinal differences in respect of any character are found to +be of the nature of steps which are usually small—though in outward +manifestation the differences are smoothed over by the influence of +environmental stimuli. This is the nature of the germinal differences, +and they remain what they are—apart from the origin of new factors or of +the loss of old factors, and apart from the effects of a differential +death-rate. When, as is usually the case, biparental reproduction takes +place, the position is more complicated: strains are being continually +crossed, and, as the result of the chance mixture of factors in the +germinal constitution of the children, the offspring of the same parents +differ in their germinal constitution one from the other. Therefore, in +any species in which biparental reproduction takes place, new +combinations are constantly arising; but, though in this manner the +germinal constitution may in a sense change, the change is due simply to +a shuffling of factors. What we require now to ask is what is known as +regards the manner in which new factors arise and are added to the +germinal constitution, and the manner in which old factors drop out and +are lost from the germinal constitution; for it is only owing to such +additions and to such losses that true germinal change occurs, and that +shuffling is rendered possible. + +6. The interpretation of the results of the crossing of different +strains has shown what kind of changes underlie the appearance of +certain mutations. It has been shown that many of the varieties of +domesticated species have originated by the apparent loss of one or more +unit-factors.[100] Thus the numerous varieties of domestic rabbits and +of sweet-peas are all descended from a single wild species of rabbit and +of pea, and differ from the wild stock not by an addition to, but by an +apparent subtraction from, the total number of factors in the germinal +composition of the wild stock. The reasoning which has led to this +conclusion need not be followed here; one proof is that when certain +varieties are crossed, characters of the original stock reappear, due to +the fact that, one variety having apparently lost one factor and the +other another, crossing results in the re-combination of the factors +necessary to the manifestation of the original character. + +This is a strange conclusion, but it seems nevertheless to be true that +in this manner many domestic varieties have arisen. If this was the only +manner in which mutations could come about, then we should be driven to +imagine that the most elementary form of life contained within it +innumerable factors, and that evolution has merely consisted in the +apparent dropping out of factors. This conclusion has indeed been +tentatively suggested. But until it has been definitely shown that this +is the only manner in which mutations originate, it must be supposed +that changes in and additions to the complex of factors can and do +occur. And we may note that certain distinguishing characters of +domestic varieties of fowls and of pigeons appear to have arisen by the +addition of factors; thus the ‘single comb’ of fowls is the original +character of the wild stock which has been modified by the apparent +addition of other factors and not by the dropping out of one or more +existing factors. It is again not necessary to go into the reasons which +have led to this conclusion. The conclusion is a deduction from the +analysis of crosses between different breeds of fowls. + +7. For the most part we are quite ignorant as to the causes which have +led to the apparent losses and apparent additions of factors, though a +few observations seem to indicate certain circumstances under which the +dropping out of factors may take place. In this connexion some reference +must be made to the problem as to the inheritance of acquired +characters, though it follows from what has been said above regarding +terminology, that we should more correctly speak of this problem as the +question whether modifications in any one direction tend to be followed +by mutations in the same direction. As the result of prolonged +discussion and controversy it is now generally held that nothing of the +kind takes place. It is almost universally agreed, for instance, that +such modifications as are induced among men at the present day do not +lead to mutations in the same direction. Therefore we may for the +purposes of this book, so far as man is concerned, take it that acquired +characters are not inherited. But looking at the problem as a whole it +cannot be regarded as settled. There is, for example, some evidence of +the parallel induction of modifications and of mutations; but the +question may be raised whether such cases if substantiated fall under +the heading of the inheritance of acquired characters. Again, some +biologists regarding the problems of evolution generally find difficulty +in arriving at an explanation unless under certain circumstances +adaptive variations are followed by mutations. + +We are thus left with the fact that mutations arise, and may be either +large or small. Outwardly, variations in characters are usually +continuous, because the environmental stimuli vary continuously, smooth +over and obscure the differences due to mutation, as in the case of the +beans mentioned above. But, discounting the influence of the +environment, the mutations themselves may form a series separated by +steps that are so small as to be scarcely measurable or which may be +very large. The weight of the beans is an example of the former kind of +mutation; the so-called ‘meristic’ variations, when another member is +added to a series, the addition, for instance, of a vertebra to the +vertebral column, is an example of the latter kind. + +Whenever a mutation occurs, we have to think of it as founded upon some +change in the germinal constitution. Such changes are of the nature of +modifications of factors—and may be positive (leading to the apparent +addition of factors), negative (leading to the apparent loss of +factors), or qualitative. But of the nature of these changes we know +little, and of their causes less. What is important, however, is that +these changes do occur. Further, they occur in all directions. The +direction is, of course, in a sense determined by the starting-point—by +what is already given in the germinal constitution—but, given the +starting-point, mutations apparently occur in all directions. It is a +matter of importance to know whether mutations ever tend to occur more +in one direction than in another. Nothing definite has been ascertained +as to this particular problem, though, as we shall note later, certain +facts with regard to the evolution of animals suggest that there have +been tendencies to change along certain lines. It may also be asked +whether the continued selection of a character in any way affects the +direction of the variation of the germinal constitution. To this again +there is as yet no definite answer. On the whole it is not probable that +selection has any such effect. + +8. So far, therefore, as we have at present gone, we have found that +permanent change is of the nature of germinal change. We have also +discussed the nature of germinal differences as they exist between +different individuals, and we have discussed the nature and causes of +germinal change. With regard to variation there is much which is +doubtful and obscure, but bearing in mind the essential features of what +is certainly known, we may turn to consider what passes in the organic +world. Upon this subject there is much less uncertainty. We have seen +how huge is fecundity. Of the young in any generation, only about that +number survives which equals the number of adults in the generation from +which they are derived. For normally in the organic world the total +number of adults of any species at corresponding periods in succeeding +years remains much the same. The instances of a marked increase in the +number of any species are rare, and are usually traceable to the +intervention of man, as the result of which certain of the dangers which +normally confront the young have been removed. It follows, therefore, +that normally of the many thousands of fertilized eggs of a fish, for +example, all but two perish. Even when the most rapid increase ever +observed is taking place, the great majority of young perish. From a +consideration of the circumstances it is evident that upon the whole +those individuals which present certain characters will have a better +chance of surviving than others which do not present these characters. + +This point demands further consideration, because upon it turns the +whole question of natural selection. What is involved in this theory is +that the death-rate is selective, that those individuals which are best +adapted to the surroundings which confront the species do, on the whole, +have a better chance of survival. It is adaptation which determines +fitness, but the concept of adaptation does not of necessity include any +idea of progress. Given any complex of surroundings such as that which +confronts any species, there may be a more or less close fitting of the +organisms to this complex. The closeness of this fitting may have been +obtained by a simplification of structure, a complication of structure, +or it may be that for long ages the closeness of the fitting has been +attained by the elimination of departures from the mean of the species +in any direction and the preservation of the average type. + +In this connexion it has often been pointed out that the death-rate in +certain cases is not selective, and does not therefore involve the +survival of the more fit and the elimination of the less fit. When the +whale opens its mouth and engulfs vast numbers of small organisms upon +which it feeds, there is apparently no escaping of certain types of +these organisms accompanied by a greater elimination of other types. But +these cases are not on the whole common, and further there is nothing in +such cases which counteracts selection; it merely means that sometimes +selection is not operative. A consideration of the mode of operation of +the factors of elimination, the general nature of which has been +indicated, leads without any doubt to the conclusion that in the vast +majority of cases, when any organism meets its death, either that +organism does not possess some character which other organisms possess +and which have enabled them to survive, or it possesses some character +which other organisms do not possess, and which at some crucial moment +has told against it. This subject could be considered at great length, +but it must suffice to say here that the more experienced naturalists +are, and the greater the knowledge they have of the conditions of +organic life, the more it is borne in upon them that the death-rate is +upon the whole selective, and that the best adapted types have a better +chance of survival than other types. + +From the nature of the case it must be difficult to obtain statistical +evidence of natural selection. There are, however, certain cases known +which are of great interest. Bumpus, for instance, after a storm in +America collected 136 sparrows, all of which had been injured. Of these +72 recovered, while the remainder died. He weighed and measured all the +specimens and compared the figures for the survivors with the figures +for those which had perished. It was found that the average type of the +latter was larger and heavier than the average type of the former. It +was also observed that there was a less wide range of variability among +the survivors than among the dead, showing that the favoured type +approximated more closely than the others to the average type of the +species. This favouring of the average type has been shown to occur by +other observations, and it may be supposed that normally it is the +average type of any species which is best fitted to the particular niche +in nature occupied by the species, and that therefore adaptation will be +measured by the nearness of approach to this type. When, on the other +hand, circumstances are changing, some deviation from the average type +will be favoured. + +9. This leads us to ask in more detail what it is that happens in the +process of selection. Selection has been likened in its action to a +sieve separating the fit from the unfit. But fitness is measured by the +characters exhibited, and these characters may be either of the nature +of mutations or of modifications. What is exhibited is selected quite +apart from the underlying nature of the character; but it is only when +variations of the nature of mutations are selected that there results +any change in the composition of the germinal constitution of the +species. So far as selection is merely that of modifications within a +strain, there will be no change in the average germinal constitution of +the progeny. It is only in so far as selection is a selection of strains +that there will be any change. If the strains among the beans referred +to above can be isolated, then the strain with the predisposition +towards the greatest weight can be isolated, the other strains +eliminated, and the average weight brought up to that found in this +strain. If the strains cannot be isolated, then an approximation only to +this result can be made by the continued selection of strains of the +greatest weight, and this is what occurs in nature. + +This leads to the most important conclusion of all. Selection can only +act upon what is given. We may put aside the possible but quite unproved +influence of selection upon the direction of mutation. Apart from this, +selection can have no other effect than to eliminate certain strains and +to favour others. Supposing that under changing circumstances a certain +character is favoured, all that can happen through selection is that the +strain exhibiting this character will be favoured and all other strains +gradually eliminated. Further than this change cannot proceed until +mutations have occurred in the direction of further increase in this +character. As has been said, selection is no more than a sieve; as a +rule it is occupied in separating out the extreme types and favouring +the mean, but at times under certain circumstances it will favour some +type that deviates from the mean, but it can do no more than favour what +types are at any given moment in existence.[101] + +10. We set out to answer two questions regarding quality. We asked in +what change among species in a state of nature consisted. The answer to +this is clear; it consists in changes in the germinal constitution. If +we can speak of history in connexion with species in a state of nature, +then their history is based solely upon germinal change. We also asked +how change came about. It is less easy to answer in a few words. Obscure +as are many of the details connected with the process, there is a +sufficient measure of agreement regarding the main facts to enable an +answer shortly to be formulated. The answer rests upon two series of +facts. The observed characters of organisms are based upon certain +predispositions in the germinal constitution. These predispositions or +factors under the stimuli of the environment give rise to the various +characters. These factors are derived from both parents through the +fusion of the gametes, and the complex of factors in the offspring is +the result of a chance mixture of factors. There may further at times be +a dropping out, an addition to, and perhaps a modification of the +factors. Secondly, the death-rate is selective. Although the result of +selection is confused by the effect of modifications which smooth over +the differences due to differences in the germinal constitution, the +effect is that individuals with certain factors are favoured and others +with different factors are eliminated. Therefore the average nature of +the factors may be changed should any type, other than that +approximating to the normal type, be favoured. + +It is possible in this manner to understand how change has come about. +There are many difficulties, but they are all capable of fairly +satisfactory explanation. None at least is insuperable. There is one +problem which is perhaps somewhat difficult to solve unless a particular +supposition is introduced. This problem is connected with the evolution +of organs along certain lines, as, for instance, the evolution of horns +and teeth in the vertebrates. This class of evidence has chiefly +impressed itself upon palaeontologists, and one of the most +distinguished of them has stated that from this class of evidence he +concludes that ‘there are fundamental predispositions to vary in certain +directions’.[102] This is the supposition which it may be necessary to +introduce, but which does not in any way conflict with what has been +said. + + + + + IV + THE POPULATION PROBLEM AMONG MEN + + +1. It has been shown in the last two chapters in what the population +problem among species in a state of nature consists. With regard to the +quantitative aspect in particular it has been shown that among such +species mental evolution, greatly as the stage reached differs between +the lowest and the highest forms, has not attained a point at which the +essential features of the position have in consequence been affected. +Enough has been said to show that in the case of the most primitive +races of man now living mental evolution has reached a point in +consequence of which the quantitative problem has assumed a totally +different aspect. + +With regard to the qualitative problem the question also arises as to +how far mental evolution in man has affected the position. In one very +important respect mental evolution has wholly altered the position of +man as regards this aspect of the problem, as it has regarding the +quantitative aspect. How this has come about may be considered after it +has been observed that mental evolution has also been the cause of other +changes which, while they do not alter the fundamental position of man +as regards the qualitative aspect, yet are of great importance. + +As we have seen among species in a state of nature change is founded +upon germinal change. So, too, among men there is germinal change, and +so far as history (using the term in the widest sense to include what is +often rather meaninglessly called ‘pre-history’) is connected with +germinal change, so far it is of essentially the same nature as change +among other species. But both the direction and intensity of germinal +change among men have been greatly influenced by mental evolution. +Certain causes of elimination have been removed wholly or in part, +others have been introduced. The facts are familiar; there is no need to +labour the point. It is also worth noting that, should it be found that +mutation frequently arises owing to alterations in the environment +during the formation of the germ-cells, such a discovery might have +considerable bearing upon the position in man. Owing to human activity +under the guidance of reason, the environment has been profoundly +changed in many directions, and without question in consequence of such +changes the germ-cells of human beings are subject during their +development to far more varied stimuli than are those of other species. +This, however, is only a possibility. Nothing is known with certainty +upon the subject. It may be that the great variety of foods, the +absorption of alcohol and nicotine, the various occupations and customs, +and many other factors, all ultimately traceable to reason, may, some of +them in some way, tend to bring about mutation in man. + +It is by making possible the development of tradition that the evolution +of reason has fundamentally changed the nature of the qualitative +problem among men. Into the nature and origin of tradition it will be +necessary to go in another chapter. Here all that is required is an +indication of its main features in order that its connexion with the +problem of change may be understood. In the stage of conceptual thought +reached by man, the formation of free ideas is the outstanding feature. +With the development of conceptual thought went the development of +language. By language ideas can be passed from one man to another and +also from one generation to another. There are other ways in which the +results of reasoning can be handed on, but they need not be considered +at present. What is important is that they can be and are handed on. Let +us consider for a moment the question of skill. Some improvement may be +made in the methods of hunting or of fishing. It may, of course, be +lost, but it may be, and perhaps usually is, transmitted to other men by +the inventor and afterwards to succeeding generations. Tradition is, in +fact, cumulative. Even among the most primitive races now existing there +is a huge mass of tradition. Succeeding generations do not necessarily +start at the beginning again. They start with the experience of the race +behind them, so far as it has been preserved. + +Among the higher animals there is a certain handing on of what has been +learnt by experience; to this extent there is tradition also among them. +We shall return to this point later. So relatively unimportant, however, +is tradition among other animals, that we may for the moment regard +tradition as something which is found among men only. It is clear that +tradition has played some part in any case in producing the changes +which we call history. We have only to think of the rise of Japan to the +position of a great power in the last half of the nineteenth century. +The rise of Japan was an outstanding fact in the history of that period +and it was clearly in the main, if not wholly, a traditional and not a +germinal change. It took the form of a rapid absorption of European +tradition. The evolution of reason has thus introduced into the problem +of the causes of human history a factor which is not present in the case +of other species; it has also modified the course of selection, but +this, as we have seen, has not made a fundamental difference between the +position of man and that of species in a state of nature. + +The problem before us is therefore as follows. Owing to the fact of +reproduction the population problem in both its aspects exists for all +species in a state of nature and further presents fundamentally the same +features for all such species. The ancestors of man were at one time +subject to the same conditions from which they have, step by step, moved +away owing to the development of the faculty of reason. We have to trace +the causes and results of this moving away—of the progressive +modifications of the conditions existing among species in a state of +nature. + +Though the problem has two aspects, they are closely interwoven. Changes +which affect numbers also influence the quality of population. The +discussion has hitherto taken the form of an introduction to the problem +as a whole, and the two next chapters, the subject-matter of which will +be indicated in what follows, will also be devoted to certain problems +which equally bear upon both aspects of the question. From the seventh +chapter onwards the two aspects are treated independently; we deal first +with the quantitative and then with the qualitative aspect. Nevertheless +we shall, when dealing with the quantitative problem, present evidence +which we shall consider again later when treating of the qualitative +problem. The book thus falls into three parts; the first six chapters +are introductory to the problem as a whole, the next six chapters are +concerned with problems of quantity (though many of the facts brought +forward will be found also to bear later upon quality), and the +following nine chapters with problems of quality. The last chapter sums +up our conclusions as to the whole problem. + +2. We may next ask what data are required in order that we may look into +the changes away from the conditions under which the pre-human ancestor +lived towards the conditions which now exist. In order that we may +consider the quantitative aspect of the problem, it is evident that we +require some knowledge regarding fecundity and as full details as +possible regarding the factors which bear upon fertility and +elimination. It is only when we are provided with such information that +we can hope to be able to determine how it is that numbers are regulated +among men. + +In addition to such information, it will be desirable to have +information regarding various social customs and the general conditions +of life. As regards the inquiry into the qualitative part of the +problem, it is clear that facts regarding fertility and elimination are +again of value inasmuch as they throw light upon the nature and +intensity of selection. For the second part of the problem it is also +necessary to have in mind the main facts regarding the changes which are +summed up as history into the causes of which we have to inquire; and in +addition it will be necessary, in order that we may attempt some +estimate of the relative importance of change in the germinal +constitution on the one hand and of the other factor or factors of the +nature indicated above on the other hand, to make some inquiry into the +conditions which determine the nature of these latter factors. This will +involve a reference to certain elementary facts of psychology together +with some discussion of the origin, formation, preservation, and so on, +of tradition. + +If we first ask how far the data desired are available, we may +afterwards go on to discuss how the facts are best presented. Our +information is obviously very incomplete as regards the history of +social habits and customs. Historical records do not take us farther +back than at the most six thousand years, and the information available +with respect to social customs, except for the latter part of the +period, is very inadequate. If we take a broad view of history, written +records have reference only to relatively modern times. There are two +other sources of evidence upon which we have to rely and they are as +follows. + +Some indication of the bare outline of the course which history has +taken can be gathered from a study of the fossil and cultural remains of +man. The fossil remains are in the form of skeletons or portions of +skeletons and the cultural remains in the shape of tools, weapons, and +other traces of his mode of life that man has left behind him. It is +interesting to observe that an attempt can be made to date these +remains. They occur in certain strata, and estimates can be made of the +length of time which has elapsed since these strata were deposited. +Though a very large measure of doubt must surround any such estimates, +nevertheless there is a certain measure of agreement concerning the +facts which is of great interest. It is, therefore, possible to draw up +a table showing these strata, together with what we should perhaps call +guesses at the dates at which they began to be laid down. It can also be +shown in the table what fossil and cultural remains are found in the +respective strata. + +The information, however, which we thus gain is very meagre. A study of +fossil remains can only provide us with an outline of the facts +connected with the evolution of the skeleton. More can be gathered from +a study of the cultural remains, and certain deductions of considerable +interest can be made especially in connexion with our present purpose so +far as the evolution of skill is concerned. But, of course, we can in +this manner gather nothing as to the nature of the social customs and +institutions belonging to the races which practised these skilled +methods. The question we have to face is whether this very bare outline +of the facts of history can in any manner be filled in. + +3. There is a further source of evidence which we have to consider. +There has come under the observation of civilized man a large number of +races in a low stage of culture. The evolution of culture or of control +over the surroundings took place more quickly among certain races than +among others. Some races got left out of the main stream of evolution, +and finally in relatively recent years the more advanced races arrived +at a stage where they were in a position completely to dominate the +latter. The more primitive races were unable to offer any serious +resistance to the civilized races. It was, therefore, possible to regard +these primitive races dispassionately and scientifically; this study has +led to the collection of a vast amount of information regarding these +primitive races. These data are for many reasons often of a very +unsatisfactory nature; of this the chief cause is that, before an +accurate study was begun, contact with civilized races had often had a +considerable influence upon the former mode of life of the primitive +races. What we require and what is difficult to obtain is information as +to the conditions under which these races lived before they came into +contact with Europeans. With regard to the unsatisfactory nature of the +evidence there will be more to say later. + +It is of primary importance to observe that these races are not to be +regarded as actual representatives of certain stages through which +civilized races have passed. We know that in the evolution of control +over nature civilized races have passed through certain stages of +culture; the first stage was marked by the use of unpolished stone +implements and the obtaining of food by hunting and fishing only; the +second stage was marked by the use of polished stone implements and the +obtaining of food by agriculture and the domestication of animals.[103] +These two broad divisions—the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic—may be +subdivided. But no primitive race can be regarded as representing any +definite stage in exact detail, whether in the first or in the second of +the two broad divisions through which civilized races have passed. While +the culture of the ancestors of civilized man was evolving from that of +the Palaeolithic stage to that of the present day, the culture of +certain other races did not progress as far even as the Neolithic stage. +But the culture of these races did not remain unmodified; it followed in +each case a line of evolution of its own. These races are therefore to +be regarded as specialized representatives of the earlier stages of +culture through which the civilized races passed. Nevertheless, +specialized though their culture may be, the general conditions of their +existence are certainly similar to the general conditions which must +have characterized the corresponding stage in the evolution of the +culture of civilized races. That is to say, the broad features which +characterize the conditions found among hunting and fishing races must +also have characterized the conditions under which our Palaeolithic +ancestors lived. + +There is here obviously suggested a method whereby the framework of +history arrived at by the evidence of fossil and cultural remains may be +filled in. The broad conclusions drawn from a study of hunting and +fishing races may be applied to Palaeolithic races. But this method must +be used with great caution; it has undoubtedly been pressed too far. It +is possible to divide hunting and fishing races into groups and to +compare these groups with stages in the evolution of Palaeolithic +culture. How far it is in any way valid to attribute in this fashion +particular social institutions which characterize lower, middle, and +upper hunting races to lower, middle, and upper Palaeolithic races +respectively is very doubtful. It is not proposed here to attempt to +carry the method as far as this. For one thing, so far as the subject +has been worked out, there is no clear correlation between different +factors affecting fertility and elimination on the one hand and stages +in culture among hunting races on the other hand. Thus, as it happens, +any attempt to carry this method into more detail is not productive of +results, and therefore it is not worth while to inquire whether results +would be valid or not. All that it is proposed to do here is to examine +the evidence regarding the prevalence of certain customs, habits, and so +on, among hunting races, and to apply the broad conclusions founded on +this evidence to the ancestors of civilized races who supported +themselves by hunting. In this manner only is it at all possible to fill +in the framework of history provided by the remains of culture and by +fossils, and thus to arrive at any conclusions regarding the course of +the movement away from the conditions found in the pre-human ancestor to +those found among civilized races. + +4. With regard to the question as to the way in which this evidence may +be most conveniently set out, it is proposed to proceed in the following +manner. Before we come to the evidence regarding fertility and +elimination, something has to be said regarding fecundity in man, and +that will be the subject of the fifth chapter. In the following chapter +the evidence regarding fossil and cultural remains will be very briefly +discussed, just so far as, in the first place, provides the necessary +historical facts to form a basis for the discussion of the qualitative +problem and as, in the second place, provides the framework into which +we can fit the conclusions which we shall draw from a study of primitive +races. In the seventh chapter the evidence drawn from a study of hunting +races will be reviewed in so far as it throws light upon fertility and +elimination. In the eighth chapter the evidence bearing upon these +problems, so far as the agricultural races are concerned, will be +similarly set out. In the ninth chapter the evidence will be discussed +in its bearing upon the quantitative problem among these races—all +reference to the qualitative problem being left for later chapters. In +the tenth chapter the evidence for the historical races will be +similarly reviewed, and in the eleventh chapter similarly discussed. The +twelfth chapter will be devoted to a discussion of certain problems +connected with the quantitative problem at the present day. The twelfth +chapter therefore will complete the treatment of the first or +quantitative aspect of the problem, and in the remaining chapters will +be discussed the second or qualitative problem. Already there will have +been presented a large part of the evidence necessary for the discussion +of the second problem—namely, the evidence connected with the outline of +the facts of history and that connected with fertility and elimination. +What other evidence is necessary can be given as and when required. + + + + + V + HUMAN FECUNDITY + + +1. As a preliminary to the separate inquiries into the two aspects of +the problem, it is necessary briefly to consider the question of human +fecundity. + +We may ask, in the first place, whether, taking a broad view of human +history, there is any reason to believe that human fecundity has changed +since the epoch of the pre-human ancestor, and, if so, whether it has +increased or diminished. Secondly, there are a number of habits and +customs which have been practised in different degrees at different +times, such as prolonged lactation, polygamy, and so on, and we may also +ask what bearing, if any, such habits and customs have upon fecundity. + +There is much connected with the subject which is difficult and obscure. +It is, in particular, often difficult to ascertain whether any +differences in fecundity, as may be found to exist, are of the nature of +racial or of environmental differences. Into such points, however, we +need not go. We are concerned only with the question as to whether there +are differences in fecundity, and we may confine our attention to a +notice of any broad differences which do exist and to the question +whether certain habits and customs widely practised at one time or +another and supposed to bear upon fecundity do or do not have the +influence attributed to them. We may begin with the first question set +out above. In order to obtain an answer to this question we have to rely +upon evidence derived from various sources, partly from primitive races, +which we assume in general to exhibit conditions prevalent among +prehistoric races, and partly from evidence derived from a study of the +mammalian species which have been subject to changes comparable with +those to which man has in the course of his history been subject. + +2. From what has been said regarding the nature of reproduction in +Chapter II, it follows that it is the female rather than the male that +we have to consider. The male gametes vastly outnumber the female, and, +generally speaking, the male is always ready for intercourse. When +studying the possibility of increasing the fecundity of domestic +species, attention can, as pointed out by Marshall in the case of +sheep,[104] be limited to the female. Taking a broad view of the matter, +it is clear that there has been no change in fecundity due to any change +in male reproductive power. + +There are, nevertheless, two points concerning the male which we may +notice before we pass to the consideration of the female. First, with +regard to the problem as to changes in fecundity during the course of +history, we shall bring forward evidence to show that good conditions +favour an increase in the reproductive power of the mammalian female. +There is reason to think that good conditions have a similar effect on +males. Thus among some mammalian species in a state of nature there is a +special ‘rutting season’ for the male, and it is not infrequently found +that in captivity the males of such species will rut all the year +round.[105] We shall also bring forward evidence to show that with +improvements in conditions, sexual excitement is more easily aroused and +that there has been an increase in the development of the generative +organs, and we may note here that these observations apply to the male +as well as to the female. As, however, any increase in male reproductive +capacity can have had no general influence upon fecundity, we may, so +far as the question of any general increase or decrease in fecundity is +concerned, neglect the male and confine our attention to the female. + +Secondly, with respect to the influence of certain factors at particular +times, it is in nearly all cases the female and not the male which is +affected. But it may be observed that sterile marriages are in part due +to male sterility. Mayer estimates that this is so in a third of such +marriages.[106] Kelly gives the result of an investigation into 110 +cases, of which 59 per cent. are attributed to the male.[107] Male +sterility is due either to inborn or acquired conditions. So far as +sterility due to the former is concerned, there do not appear to be any +grounds for thinking that it has to any important extent varied from one +epoch to another. So far, however, as sterility due to disease is +concerned, there have been in all probability certain changes. +Gonorrhoea is perhaps the most important of those diseases which bring +about sterility. Of the 59 cases mentioned above 12 per cent. were due +to gonorrhoea. Other diseases may cause sterility, such as tubercle and +epididymitis. Relatively to the historical period as usually defined, +gonorrhoea is an old disease; but we shall find reason for thinking that +the great majority of diseases have evolved since the time of the +pre-human ancestor, and to the extent to which this is true it must be +allowed that male sterility due to disease is more or less recent. With +these remarks we may leave the question of male sterility, as it is +relatively of little importance. + +3. It is therefore to factors which influence the female generative +process that we must look for the causes of such increase or decrease of +fecundity as are of importance. Certain factors may be put aside on the +grounds that there is no reason to think that they have been of more +importance at one time than at another. Such are malformations of any +kind that prevent the meeting of the male and female gametes.[108] With +regard to the factors of importance it is by their influence upon +different aspects of the female generative process that they are best +classified. There are three main aspects of this process, variations in +any of which will influence fecundity. These are the length of the +mature period, the interval between births, and the number at a birth. + +Some reference to the nature of the female sexual cycle in mammals has +been made. The beginning of maturity is usually measured by observing +the beginning of menstruation. It is, perhaps, worthy of mention that +the beginning of menstruation does not always coincide with the +beginning of ovulation. Thus the estimation of the duration of the +mature period made by watching for the beginning and end of menstruation +is not always exact; the difference is not of consequence here, but the +fact that a difference is possible emphasizes that what is essential in +the whole process is ovulation. The true mature period is the period +during which ovulation occurs. The interval between births is also +dependent upon ovulation and so is number at a birth.[109] In fact what +we are asking is in the main what factors influence ovulation. + +4. The information regarding the duration of the mature period is not +satisfactory. Though there is a large amount of information about the +beginning of menstruation, there is little information about the age at +which it ends. There are at least three factors which influence the age +at which menstruation begins—climate, race, and general nature of the +surrounding conditions. + +Generally speaking, the hotter the climate the earlier menstruation +begins. Englemann gives the following figures:[110] + + _Zone._ _Average Age for Menstruation._ + Tropics 12·9 years + Temperate 15·5 „ + Cold 16·5 „ + +and Krieger gives the following figures:[111] + + _Place._ _Average Age for Menstruation._ + Christiania 16 years 9 months 25 days + Berlin 15 „ 7 „ 25 „ + London 15 „ 1 „ 14 „ + Lyons 14 „ 5 „ 29 „ + Marseilles 13 „ 11 „ 11 „ + Calcutta 12 „ 6 „ 0 „ + Sierra Leone 10 „ 0 „ 0 „ + +It further appears that there is a tendency for menstruation to end +earlier in hot climates; so much so that upon the whole the mature +period is shorter in hot than in cold climates. + +There is, however, no very close or definite connexion between climate +and menstruation. In the United States it has not been found possible to +detect any influence of climate upon menstruation, though this country +stretches from 29° to 45° of latitude, and has a temperature the annual +average of which varies from 40° F. to 70° F. But if the conditions +concerning the different racial elements in the population of the +country are examined, it is found that in whatever part of the country +they may be the average age for each racial element remains constant, +and usually varies slightly from the average age for the whole +population.[112] There are other indications that the age at which +menstruation begins are connected with differences in race. Krieger +quotes the following from Joachim for girls in Hungary:[113] + + _Race._ _Average Age of Menstruation._ + Slavonic 16 to 17 years + Magyar 15 „ 16 „ + Jewish 14 „ 15 „ + Styrian 13 „ 14 „ + +Other figures show that Jewesses menstruate earlier than the average age +for menstruation in the country in which they live.[114] + +What is of chief interest to us is that good conditions also influence +the age at which menstruation begins. The better the conditions, the +earlier does it begin. Further, it is also known that the mature period +tends to be prolonged where conditions are good. It is known, for +example, that the mature period comes to an end earlier among the +labouring than among the richer classes.[115] Therefore good conditions +tend to be connected not only with an earlier beginning but also with a +longer duration of the mature period. Thus Mayer found the average age +at which menstruation began among 3,000 women of the upper classes to be +14·69 years, and among 3,000 poor women to be 16·0 years.[116] Several +observers have recorded the average age for the beginning of +menstruation among the different classes in the population. The +following table is given by Krieger:[117] + + _Brienne de _Tilt._ _Krieger._ _Ravn._ + Boisment._ + _Yrs._ _Mths._ _Yrs._ _Mths._ _Yrs._ _Mths._ _Yrs._ _Mths._ + Upper Class 13 8 13 5½ 14 1⅙ 14 3 + Middle Class 14 5 14 3½ 15 4–2/6 15 5½ + Lower Class 14 1 16 8⅙ 16 5¼ + +5. With regard to the question as to the interval between births some +interesting indirect evidence is obtained from what we can learn +regarding the former condition of the sexual cycle in man. A sketch was +given in the second chapter of the main features of the mammalian sexual +cycle. These cycles may follow one another without any prolonged +interval, or there may be a lengthy period of rest. In monkeys and also +in man the interval is short; but the former cannot breed at every heat +period; special sexual seasons are experienced at definite times of the +year when breeding takes place. It is probable that ovulation is limited +to this special season, and that, although copulation may take place at +other seasons of the year, conception can only follow copulation at this +special season.[118] In civilized man, so far as is known, ovulation is +never confined to any particular season of the year; conception can, +therefore, follow copulation at any period. But we do find evidence of +the former existence in man of a special sexual season, and this is of +particular interest because it suggests that at one time there was in +man, as there usually is in monkeys, one season only during which +conception could follow copulation. + +This evidence has been reviewed by Westermarck, by Ploss and Bartels, +and by Havelock Ellis.[119] Some examples of this evidence may be cited +in order to show upon what facts this suggestion is founded. According +to Mr. Johnston, the Indians of California “have their rutting season as +regularly as have the deer, the elk, the antelope, or any other +animals”. And Mr. Powers confirms the correctness of this statement, at +least with regard to some of these Indians, saying that spring ‘is a +literal St. Valentine’s day with them, as with the natural birds and +beasts of the forest’. As regards the Goddanes in Luzon, Mr. Foreman +tells us that ‘it is the custom of young men about to marry to vie with +each other in presenting to the sires of their future brides all the +scalps that they are able to take from their enemies, as proof of their +manliness and courage. This practice prevails at a season of the year +when the tree—popularly called by the Spaniards “the fire tree”—is in +bloom.’ Speaking of the Watch-an-dies in the western part of Australia, +Mr. Oldfield remarks, ‘Like the beasts of the field, the savage has but +one time for copulation in the year. About the middle of the spring the +Watch-an-dies begin to think of holding their grand semi-religious +festival of Caa-ro, preparatory to the performance of the important duty +of procreation. A similar feast was, according to Mr. Bonwick, +celebrated by the Tasmanians at the same time of the year.’[120] Similar +evidence is forthcoming as regards many other primitive races. It is +interesting to note that among civilized races there are traces of +customs which point to the former existence of a season of sexual +licence. Such were the mediaeval Feast of Fools, and the classical +festivals of Brumalia and Rosalia.[121] ‘Feasts, similar to the erotic +feasts which were indulged in by the ancients ... were still practised +to some extent in Russia and in some parts of India at a much later +date, while such customs as “gwneyd Bragod” and possibly our own “bean +feasts” may not improbably be the modern representatives of these +ancient customs in our own country.’[122] + +This evidence all points to a former condition when conceptions could +only take place at one season of the year. We must suppose that it has +gradually become possible for copulation to be followed by conception at +any period, and that therefore fecundity has increased.[123] Some light +is thrown upon the causes that underlie these changes by a reference to +certain facts regarding other species. Before we turn to this question +reference may be made to the phenomenon of ‘mittelschmerz’—or +intermenstrual pain. It is not uncommon and is sometimes accompanied by +a discharge. The interpretation of this phenomenon is doubtful. One +explanation, however, has some interest for us. It is suggested that it +may represent the first steps in the establishment of a different +variety of sexual cycle in which the dioestrous periods occur +fortnightly instead of monthly. If this interpretation is correct, it +would mean that the sexual cycle is evolving in the direction of still +greater fecundity.[124] + +6. It has frequently been observed that when members of a wild species +are brought into captivity there is a change in the sexual season. This +change may be in the direction of an increase or of a decrease in the +generative power. If the bringing into captivity involves such an +alteration of conditions as to disorganize the generative process, then +a decrease in fecundity may result. It frequently happens, for instance, +that carnivores are infertile in captivity, and this may be due among +other things to the absence of fresh meat.[125] Generally speaking, +however, if the alterations do not produce disorganization, an increase +in fecundity results, and as there is no reason to suppose that the +change in human circumstances was ever of such a nature as to produce +disorganization, we must suppose, on the analogy of what happens among +other mammalian species, that, if the betterment of the conditions has +had any effect, it has been in the direction of an increase in +fecundity. + +A few examples of what is meant may be given. The wild dog of South +America, the wolf, and the fox breed only once a year under natural +conditions; in captivity they experience two annual heats like the +dog.[126] The otter in the wild state breeds but once a year; in +captivity oestrous may occur at regular monthly intervals all the year +round.[127] Bears are monoestrous in the wild state; in the Zoological +Gardens oestrous may be experienced for two or three months.[128] With +regard to the Ungulata we have numerous facts of the same nature. The +red deer offers the best example; under natural conditions there are two +dioestrous cycles lasting three weeks; in captivity the sexual season +extends over the whole year.[129] The facts are somewhat similar in +respect to cattle and horses. Examples might also be taken from other +mammalian classes. The wild rabbit breeds from February to May; in +captivity the sexual season lasts nearly the whole year. Further it may +be noticed that among lower groups good conditions are, as is well +known, markedly favourable to increased fecundity. + +Before we go on to look into the causes of this increase in fecundity, +it may be noticed that the number of young produced at a birth among +domestic species is on an average greater than that produced by the wild +ancestor. This evidence, it will be observed, refers to the third factor +which bears upon the increase in fecundity. The wild rabbit is said to +produce at the most six young at a time; the tame rabbit has four to +eleven, and a case is known in which eighteen were born, all of which +survived.[130] The wild sow bears from four to eight, and sometimes +twelve, young. The domestic sow is considered to be of no value unless +she produces at least eight at a birth. Equally remarkable examples are +to be found outside the Mammals. ‘The hen of Gallus bankiva lays from +six to ten eggs; the tame one in the course of a year from eighty to one +hundred.’ + +7. It is clear that one common feature in the conditions surrounding +domesticated species and civilized man, as compared with species in a +state of nature, is the increase in the richness and regularity of the +food-supply, and the general betterment of the environment. In fact, +just as this increase in the richness of the surroundings may increase +the length of the mature period, so it may increase the number at a +birth and also decrease the interval between births. That this is the +result of an improved environment in the case of the sheep has been +shown by Marshall. He found, for instance, that in ‘Scotch Blackfoot, +Cheviot, and other Scottish sheep the normal percentage of ova +discharged at any single oestrous is not appreciably in excess of the +usual percentage of births at the lambing season’.[131] This, it may be +noted, is an example of what was said in the second chapter regarding, +in the first place, the measurement of fecundity by the number of ripe +ova produced, and, in the second place, regarding the fertilization on +the average of all, or nearly all, ripe ova. Marshall also found that +‘there was every reason for supposing that the processes of growth and +maturation can be very largely influenced both by insufficiency of +food-supply on the one hand and by artificial stimulation on the +other’.[132] What apparently happens is that insufficiency of food +retards the development of the ova and may cause the degeneration of +some of them. Therefore if the food-supply is good, there will be more +ripe ova at the sexual season, fewer sterile females, and a greater +number of twin births. ‘There is overwhelming evidence,’ says Heape, +‘that flocks in good condition at tupping time have a higher subsequent +development of fertility than flocks in poor condition at tupping +time.’[133] By ‘good’ condition is meant not a ‘fat’ but a strong, +healthy, and vigorous animal. + +It may be asked whether there is any evidence as to the increase in +numbers at a birth in the human female. Among civilized races about one +birth in eighty to ninety is on the average a twin birth. Our knowledge +of primitive races is not sufficiently precise to enable any estimate to +be made regarding the frequency of twin births among them. There are, +however, very numerous references in the accounts of these races to the +superstitions attaching to twin births. The nature of these +superstitions, and in general the mystery felt to surround twin births, +very strongly suggests that the phenomenon is rare. It can only be said +that it is probable that twin births are rarer among primitive races +than among civilized races. + +So far, therefore, as we have gone, the evidence points to the +conclusion that two of the three factors which determine fecundity have +varied in the direction of increasing fecundity, and that possibly the +third factor may have varied in the same direction. It has also been +noted that similar changes have been observed to take place in animals +which have been subject to better conditions. The fact that human +conditions have certainly been bettered suggests that the same cause may +have been at work in the case of man. There is, however, no doubt that +changes in the case of man are not wholly explicable in this way. In +part the differences are racial differences, and to the degree in which +the differences are racial they cannot be attributed to the direct +effect of the surroundings. + +8. Additional support to the view that fecundity has increased with +civilization is given by certain other types of evidence. In the first +place it appears to be a fact that the reproductive organs of the more +primitive races of mankind are smaller and in all respects less well +developed than those of civilized races.[134] It is not meant that the +organs differ qualitatively in any way; they are merely smaller +relatively to the other organs than among civilized races. It is +doubtful how we should interpret these facts; but it does not seem +unreasonable to assume a connexion between a lesser development of the +reproductive organs and a lower degree of fecundity. + +Secondly, we have a considerable body of evidence with respect to the +strength of sexual desire among these races.[135] Many observers have +recorded their opinion that the members of these more primitive races do +not experience sexual excitement to the same degree as do the members of +the more civilized races. There are other observations which record the +difficulty experienced in obtaining sexual erethism. It seems reasonable +to associate these observations with a lower degree of fecundity than +that found among civilized races. + +In this connexion the fact that lack of sexual excitement renders +fertilization less likely is relevant. As fertilization has been +achieved with the female in a condition of narcosis,[136] it is clear +that sexual excitement is not necessary. Nevertheless, if the question +of sexual excitement has any bearing at all upon the degree of fecundity +as between higher and lower races, it must be in the direction of +rendering the lower races less fertile. + +It was observed in the second chapter that the willingness of the female +to receive the male at any time in the sexual cycle is a peculiarity of +man. It may be observed in passing that evidence has lately been brought +forward suggesting that the indifference of the female to the point in +the sexual cycle at which intercourse takes place has been exaggerated, +or rather that the existence of periods of desire has been somewhat +overlooked.[137] However this may be, what concerns us here is the +peculiar fact that the male is received by the female at any time in the +sexual cycle. It is possible that copulation at one time in the sexual +cycle is more likely to result in conception than at other times, though +the facts are obscure. But whether this is so or not is scarcely +relevant to our purpose, because there is no reason to think that there +have been any variations in the practice of copulation between one time +and another or between one race and another, as could have sensibly +affected fecundity even if the limitation of copulation to one period of +the sexual cycle is of marked importance. + +9. Lastly, we have to refer to what we may call the statistical +evidence. The interpretation of the evidence as to number of children +among primitive races is so difficult a matter that it cannot in itself +be held to throw much light upon the question of fecundity. The trend of +the evidence, however, certainly supports the conclusion that fecundity +is less among primitive races than among civilized races. There are a +vast number of observations recorded by travellers regarding the number +of children among these races. For the most part these observations have +reference only to the number of children seen alive, and therefore are +not even a measure of the fertility—far less a measure of the fecundity. + +Practically all such observations emphasize the small size of the +families. When dealing with hunting and agricultural races in another +connexion we shall have reason to refer in some detail to this evidence. +Here we may give a few typical examples of this evidence, remembering +that it is evidence for the most part of the number of children seen and +not of the number of children born, though, in selecting the following +examples for quotation, an effort has been made to pick out those in +which the authors have attempted to discount the effects of infanticide +and other factors of elimination. + +Of the Australians Curr remarks: ‘I am of opinion that the Australian +females bear on an average six children, or did before the advent of the +whites and whilst living in their natural state.’[138] Spencer and +Gillen state that sterility is common among the Australians[139] and +that the number of children rarely exceeds four or five and is generally +two or three.[140] Of the Eskimos we read: ‘the women are not prolific. +Although all the adults are or have been married, many of them are +childless, and few have more than two children. One woman was known to +have had at least four. Dr. Simpson heard of a “rare case” where one +woman had borne seven children.’[141] ‘On the average the pure breed +Greenlanders are not prolific. Two, three, or four children to each +marriage is the general rule, though there are instances of families of +six or eight or even more.’[142] Of the American Indians there is a +large amount of evidence. Dr. Holder, who combined medical knowledge +with exceptional opportunities for observation, says: ‘With Indians +large families are the exception. The Crow tribe, of less than 2,500 +people, is divided into 630 families, which gives less than four to each +family, and this includes parents and often grandparents and relatives +by affinity or adoption, leaving the average offspring, to each +child-bearing woman decidedly lower than in white communities.’[143] +Speaking of the Indians of Vancouver Island, Sproat says: ‘As a rule +they have few children.’[144] Bancroft reports of the Nootka tribe: +‘Women rarely have more than two or three children.’[145] Of the +Chinooks: ‘Barrenness is common, the birth of twins rare, and families +do not usually exceed two children.’[146] Catlin says: ‘It is a very +rare occurrence for an Indian woman to be “blessed” with more than four +or five children during her life; generally they are contented with two +or three.’[147] + +It is merely suggested here that evidence of this kind, which will be +much amplified in the following chapters, may have to be interpreted as +pointing to a lower degree of fecundity among these lower races than +among the civilized races. The trend of the evidence is at least +suggestive when it is remembered that according to the estimate made by +Matthews Duncan a normal woman among civilized races living in wedlock +throughout the mature period under favourable circumstances should bear +from ten to twelve children.[148] + +If the view suggested is correct, we should expect to find in such +countries as India and China a higher fecundity than among primitive +races, but a lower fecundity than among European races. There is some +indication that this is so. At first sight it might seem that the +well-known fertility of these races indicated a higher fecundity than in +Europe. When, however, in the case of India, not the crude fertility, +but the fertility corrected for the number of married women of +reproductive age is calculated, it is found to be lower than in Europe. +The figures per 1,000 are 160 in India and 196 in England.[149] It has, +of course, to be remembered that there are in both countries certain +factors bearing upon fertility—early marriage in India and restraint +from intercourse and contraceptive methods in England. But it can hardly +be supposed that the former is more effective than the latter in +decreasing fecundity, and it is probable that we have here an indication +of lower fecundity in India. + +10. All the evidence, therefore, points to the same conclusion. If there +has been any general change in the strength of human fecundity in the +course of human history, using that phrase in the widest sense, it has +been in the direction of an increase. It is not necessary for our +present purpose to attempt to be more precise. This view is, as we shall +show below, that of the best authorities. It may be noticed that +different opinions are frequently expressed by authors who are not +professional biologists.[150] Such opinions are in most cases so vaguely +worded that it is seldom clear what precisely is meant. In many cases it +is fairly evident that it is intended to imply that there is some +connexion between growth of civilization and decrease in fecundity. So +far as this is what is meant, there is no evidence for this view. (There +is no indication whatever that increasing intellectual activity is +accompanied by decreasing fecundity. On the other hand, inasmuch as +intellectual activity is connected with an amelioration in the +conditions, to that degree there is a connexion between it and an +increase in fecundity.) Such views clearly owe their origin to the +attention paid to the decline in the birth-rate. It is not always +realized that a declining birth-rate may be due to a decline in +fertility alone, wholly unconnected with a decline in fecundity. + +That fecundity has increased was the opinion of Darwin. ‘There is reason +to suspect’, he says, ‘that the reproductive power is actually less in +barbarous than in civilized races.... It is highly probable that +savages, who often suffer much hardship and do not obtain so much +nutritious food as civilized men, would be actually less prolific.’[151] +According to Heape, ‘it would seem highly probable that the reproductive +power of man has increased with civilization, precisely as it may be +increased in the lower animals by domestication; that the effect of a +regular supply of good food, together with all the other stimulating +factors available and exercised in modern civilized communities, has +resulted in such great activity of the generative organs, and so great +an increase in the supply of the reproductive elements, that conception +in the healthy human female may be said to be possible almost at any +time during the reproductive period.’[152] + +It is interesting to note that no differences in fecundity can be +observed as between modern civilized races.[153] The conclusion we have +reached is merely that there has been, broadly speaking, an increase in +fecundity, and that in large measure this is explicable as a result of +the betterment of conditions, and there is nothing to lead us to expect +that there would on this account be any difference between modern +European races. + +11. We may now pass to a brief consideration of certain habits, customs, +and other factors which, operative from time to time, have, or are +widely supposed to have, an influence upon fecundity, and in some cases +upon fertility; for though fertility is not, properly speaking, +considered in this chapter, it is convenient to deal with certain +matters here. + +To polygamy has often been attributed a decrease in the number of +children born to a woman. Whether it is supposed that the practice of +polygamy in some way decreases fecundity or has an influence upon +fertility is not clear. In any case there is no evidence that it has any +influence either upon fecundity or upon fertility. There is no reason to +think that polygamy is attended by any structural or physiological +changes such as would influence fecundity, and the statistical evidence +does not show any difference in the average number of children born, +whether monogamy or polygamy is practised. Theal investigated this +question as far as marriages among Bantu women are concerned. He +collected a number of returns and sums up the returns as follows. +‘Altogether these returns embraced 393, the wives or widows of +monogamists, mostly professing Christians, and 591 women, the wives or +widows of polygamists. In a few instances it was noted that the women +might not have passed the age of child-bearing. The 393 women, wives of +monogamists, had borne 2,223 children, that is on an average 5·65 +children to a woman. The 591 women, wives of polygamists, had borne +3,298 children, that is on an average 5·58 children to each woman. Thus +monogamy made hardly any appreciable difference in the birth-rate.’[154] + +The question of the influence of lactation on fecundity is of +considerable importance, but unfortunately no very definite conclusions +can be drawn from the facts known. There is a considerable amount of +evidence to the effect that the continuance of lactation to some extent +inhibits heat in animals and menstruation in women. Though the effect of +continued lactation is doubtless in this direction, it cannot be said to +be of any very definite strength. It is stated that mares giving suck +are liable to miss a season.[155] ‘There can be no doubt that in the +case of sows early weaning is conducive to a more frequent recurrence of +oestrous and an increased number of litters.’[156] ‘The return of +menstruation during lactation in women has been dealt with recently by +Heil and Dingwall Fordyce. Heil, who has studied the conditions of 200 +nursing mothers, expresses the belief that the recurrence of +menstruation and not the condition of amenorrhoea is the normal state +during lactation, but that menstruation is not so frequent in the later +lactations as in the earlier ones. Fordyce has reached similar +conclusions, finding that menstruation occurred during lactation in 40 +per cent. of the cases in which suckling was performed, while in 92 per +cent. of the cases its return was within nine months of parturition, and +that menstruation during lactation was commoner with the earlier than +with the later lactations, showing that age is an important +factor.’[157] + +There is another question of importance. It may be asked what influence +age at marriage has upon fecundity. As far as the age of the husband is +concerned, there is scarcely any influence at all. For any given age of +wife the fecundity remains nearly the same, whatever the age of the +husband. The age of the wife, however, is of importance, apart from the +fact that delay in marriage reduces the use made of the limited period +of maturity. For a woman is not equally fecund throughout the mature +period. The earlier years are the most fecund years, and therefore +postponement of marriage reduces the fecundity, other things being +equal, by more than the fraction of the mature period which is passed in +celibacy. According to Dunlop’s observations on marriage in Scotland +‘the effect of one year’s delay of marriage is to reduce the average +family by fully one-third of a child, or that three years’ delay may be +expected to result in the family being one child less. This result may +be fairly correct in general, but it cannot be strictly applied, for the +crude observations show that the effect of one year’s delay is not +constant through the fertile period of the woman’s life, but is greater +for the younger and less for the later years. Thus a year’s delay when +the woman is aged from 20 to 25 averages 0·45 of a child, 0·37 when she +is aged from 25 to 30, 0·32 when she is aged from 30 to 35, 0·29 when +she is aged from 35 to 40, and 0·19 when she is aged from 40 to +45.’[158] It requires, it may be noticed, a delay of about forty years +on the part of the husband to decrease the number of children by one +child.[159] + +A further problem is the influence of sexual intercourse before puberty +upon fecundity. Exactly what influence early intercourse has upon the +generative organs and their functions is not clear. It is known, +however, that early intercourse is injurious to the general health, and +it is not difficult to understand in a general way how, if this is so, +the reproductive functions would be adversely affected. In the Punjab +Census Report ‘it has been shown that the states which practise early +marriage on an extensive scale have generally a smaller proportion of +females at the age period 12 to 15. Inquiries into a large number of +cases show that, when the marriage of young people is consummated at an +early age, a fairly large number of wives dies of phthisis or some other +disease of the respiratory organs or from some ovarian complication +within ten years of the consummation of marriage.’[160] It is also known +that when of two races both living a similar kind of life under similar +conditions, one practises early marriage and the other does not, as for +example the Hindus and Mohammedans in India, fertility is higher among +the latter than among the former.[161] + +Finally, it may be noted that the development of fat may lead to +sterility. It is a fact well known to breeders that excessive fatness is +accompanied by sterility. Animals that have been fattened for +agricultural shows are often barren. There is no doubt that the +development of fat may have the same effect in women. It is not quite +clear why the development of fat should be inimical to fecundity; +formerly it was supposed that the sperm was prevented from reaching the +ovum owing to the presence of a mechanical obstruction. Although this +may at times be the cause, it seems that the presence of an excessive +amount of fat has a deleterious influence upon the metabolism of the +organism and that the maturation of the ova must be in some way +affected. Marshall found signs of abnormal ovarian metabolism in +interstitial tissue of the ovaries of fat cows and heifers.[162] +Sterility, it may be remarked, is not to be regarded as an ultimate +consequence of ‘good’ conditions which have been made too ‘good’. ‘Good’ +conditions do not merely consist in abundant food, but also in +sufficient exercise and so on. The development of fat in such a degree +as to cause sterility is due to an excessive amount of food—an abundant +food-supply being one only of the factors going to make up ‘good’ +conditions—to the exclusion of other factors. + +12. In conclusion, some calculations may be conveniently added to +illustrate the strength of human fecundity, which, as we shall see, is +constantly under-estimated. Let us consider a population of a million +born in the same year, half of whom are males and half females. Let us +suppose that they all marry, each couple before the age of twenty +producing two children, half of whom are girls and half boys. For the +sake of simplicity we may imagine that at the end of each twenty-year +period the parents die simultaneously with the birth of their offspring. +Then, if the children marry and produce offspring as did their parents, +we shall have a standard population of 1,000,000, which will neither +increase nor decrease so long as these conditions are fulfilled. If, +however, the average number of children is 2½ per couple, then in 100 +years the population will be 3,050,000; if three, 7,954,000; if four, +32,000,000; if five, 97,650,000. + + + + + VI + HUMAN HISTORY + + +1. As a further preliminary to the separate inquiries into the two parts +of the problem, we have to sketch the main outlines of history in its +broadest aspect. The facts will in themselves form an important element +in the subject-matter when we come in the second part of the book to +discuss the qualitative problem. They also form, as explained in the +third chapter, a framework into which such knowledge as we have of +primitive races may be fitted with all the necessary qualifications and +safeguards. The procedure will be in the first place to glance at the +main subdivisions of the sedimentary deposits, and to ask how far they +can be dated. In this fashion alone can we arrive at any chronological +basis with regard to human evolution. We have then to refer to the +evolution of the Primate branch of the mammals to which man belongs, and +afterwards to the evolution of the bodily form of man. As the fossils +upon which the evidence is based are connected with certain geological +strata, some vague indication of their date, or at least of their +relative appearance in time, can be arrived at, in any case with regard +to the later forms. We can then refer to the evidence of the cultural +remains of man and correlate this evidence with that derived from the +fossil remains. In this fashion some indication can be obtained of the +evolution of culture and of the physical form of man anterior to the +last three or four thousand years. For the last period written records +are available, and supplement the evidence derived from cultural +remains. Finally we have to discuss the manner in which we can use the +evidence derived from primitive races to fill in the gaps in our +knowledge. + +2. The deposition of the sedimentary strata is usually divided into four +main periods, each of which is subdivided into smaller eras. The +following table shows the divisions most commonly adopted. + + { Recent + { Quaternary { Pleistocene + { + Cainozoic { { Pliocene + { { Miocene + { Tertiary { Oligocene + { Eocene + + { Cretaceous + Secondary { Jurassic + { Triassic + + { Permian + { Carboniferous + Primary { Devonian + { Silurian + { Cambrian + + Archaeozoic Precambrian + +It is with the Cainozoic period that we are alone concerned, and chiefly +with the Pleistocene and Recent subdivisions of that period. Before we +consider the Quaternary epoch, one or two facts with regard to the +dating of the other periods may be mentioned. However long it is +supposed that the deposition of the sedimentary deposits has occupied, +it is usually held that the Archaeozoic period occupied at least half of +the whole length of time. This supposition is rendered necessary by the +fact that already in the Cambrian era organisms of a high degree of +complexity are found; thus in this era Crustaceans, Brachiopods, and +Worms are common; Echinoderms, Coelenterates, and Sponges are also +known. In the Silurian most of the classes of the animal kingdom are +represented, the exceptions being amphibians, reptiles, birds, and +mammals. The presence of fish shows that by this time vertebrates had +already been evolved. Amphibians first appear in the Carboniferous and +reptiles in the Permian. Birds first occur in the Upper Jurassic and +mammals towards the close of the Triassic. The estimates as to the time +occupied by the deposition of all these strata taken together vary very +greatly—the average being about 100,000,000 years, though it should be +mentioned that as long a period as 1,000,000,000 years has been +proposed.[163] With regard to the length of time which it is supposed +that the later subdivisions of the Cainozoic period have covered, it may +be noticed that Penck estimates the length of the Pliocene and Miocene +periods at about two and three million years respectively. + +It is the dating of the subdivisions of the Pleistocene epoch that is of +interest here. This era is also known as the glacial epoch. During this +period large areas both in the northern and southern hemispheres were +covered by the formation of glaciers or by the advance of +previously-existing glaciers. It is now almost universally admitted that +in Europe at least there were four separate advances of the ice. After +reaching on each occasion a point of maximum extension, the ice +retreated, and there were thus three inter-glacial or genial epochs, +while the period since the fourth glaciation is known as the Recent +period. The limit of the extension of the ice varied in each glaciation, +and was at its maximum in the second glaciation. These separate +glaciations and intervening genial periods serve to subdivide the +Pleistocene era, and when fossil and cultural remains are discovered an +attempt is made to ascertain in which of these subdivisions they occur. + +Nothing more than guesses can be made as to the length of the glacial +period as a whole and of the subdivisions, and these guesses differ very +widely. Osborn gives the following list of estimates:[164] + + 1863. C. Lyell 800,000 years + 1874. J. D. Dana 720,000 „ + 1893. C. D. Walcott 400,000 „ + 1893. W. Upham 100,000 „ + 1894. A. Heim 100,000 „ + 1900. W. J. Sollas 400,000 „ + 1909. A. Penck 520,000–800,000 years + 1914. J. Geikie 620,000 (minimum) years + +Osborn adopts the more conservative estimate of Penck for the duration +of the whole period, and gives a subdivision of the period, which is as +follows:[165] + + │ _Period._ _Relative Duration._ _Grand Totals._ + ───────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────── + │Recent 25,000 25,000 + ───────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────── + Pleistocene│Fourth Glacial 25,000 50,000 + „ │Third Genial 100,000 150,000 + „ │Third Glacial 25,000 175,000 + „ │Second Genial 200,000 375,000 + „ │Second Glacial 25,000 400,000 + „ │First Genial 75,000 475,000 + „ │First Glacial 25,000 500,000 + +3. With man are associated among mammals more or less closely five +groups of animals—the Anthropoid apes, the Platyrrhini or Old World +monkeys, the Catarrhini or New World monkeys, the Lemurs, and the +Tarsii. It is clear that all these groups diverged from a common stem; +the first divergence, however, must have occurred not later than the +Eocene. To ascertain the interrelationship of these groups and the order +of their divergence we have to rely chiefly upon the evidence provided +by fossils. This evidence is very incomplete and, so far as the +definitely pre-human ancestor is concerned, is lacking entirely until we +come to a form known as Pithecanthropus, found in Java in a deposit +attributed either to the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene. With regard +to the evolution of the Primate stock it is usual to assume that the +Lemurs[166] and the Tarsii branched off from the main stem very early, +and that the Catarrhini followed by the Platyrrhini branched off in the +Eocene. It is usual, therefore, to assume that in Oligocene times there +was existing a Primate stock ancestral both to the anthropoid apes and +to man. It is possible that Propliopithecus from the Fayum is a +representative of this common stock from which the gibbons branched off +in the Miocene in one direction, and the orang, chimpanzee, gorilla, and +man in another. Man, it is imagined, branched off from this latter stock +in the early Miocene and the orang shortly afterwards, the separation of +the chimpanzee and gorilla occurring somewhat later. Various ancestral +gibbons (Pliopithecus and Pliohylobates) and ancestral anthropoids +(Dryopithecus, Neopithecus, and Palaeopithecus) are known from the +Miocene and Pliocene, but nothing has come to light as yet of the +distinctively pre-human stock in these times. + +Apart from the question as to how the distinctively human stock is +related to the rest of the primate stock, there is much to be said for +the view that the pre-human ancestor of Miocene times was a small +arboreal primate which probably lived in a restricted area. But of the +mode of life we have of course no direct knowledge. It is possible, +however, that the mode of life of the anthropoid apes may give some +indication of the conditions under which the pre-human ancestor lived. +That they are all confined to warm climates in the Old World is +suggestive when it is remembered that Pithecanthropus was found in Java. +They are all more or less arboreal. The orang seldom comes to the +ground; the chimpanzee, though more arboreal than the gorilla, is less +so than the orang, while the gorilla is the least arboreal of all. The +first two species construct nests in the trees, and the same is asserted +of the gorilla, though this appears to be doubtful. They all adopt in +varying degrees a semi-erect attitude from time to time. They exhibit a +certain development of the social instinct; the gorilla is seen in +bands, the gibbons congregate in the evening in groups. It seems certain +that marriage in the sense in which Westermarck employs the term exists +among them; it is asserted that they are all polygamous, though the +chimpanzee may be monogamous. In any case they are not promiscuous in +their sexual relations. + +If a guess is to be made at all as to the mode of life of the pre-human +ancestor, it is most reasonable to assume that it was something after +the same kind. But whereas the apes are powerful specialized animals, +the pre-human ancestor must have been a weaker and more generalized +primate, having specialized only in the increase of the brain. It was +this character which undoubtedly enabled him to maintain himself, and +which compensated for the relative absence of other means of defence. +The apes, on the other hand, are well able to look after themselves. +‘The orang, as Selenka informs us, is more than a match for the +dangerous carnivora with which he has to contend, and the gorilla is +monarch of the woods.’[167] + +When we survey the Tertiary period as a whole we see that there was a +rapid and varied evolution of the mammalian stock in Eocene and +Oligocene times which culminated in the Miocene. All classes of mammals +were in process of rapid evolution. After this epoch of evolution, +specialization, and adaptation, the way was opened to the taking of the +lead by a species which exceeded others rather in intelligence than in +bodily superiority. The pre-human ancestor, we must suppose, had +somewhat fallen behind in this contest to achieve adaptation by means of +specialization, and could not then have taken a prominent place among +mammalian species. Nevertheless, somehow he managed to maintain himself, +and ultimately, as we shall point out later on, the retention of a +generalized bodily form became of a very distinct advantage in that it +enabled the best use to be made of his growing intellect. + +4. The fossil remains of man from the Pleistocene are few and +incomplete. It is a matter of great interest to observe in what +subdivision of the Pleistocene these fossils occur, in which glacial or +genial epoch, that is to say, they are found, as in this manner some +indication can be gained, if not of their absolute, then of their +relative, distance from the present epoch in time. As already mentioned, +abundant evidence of human cultural remains are also found in the +Pleistocene, and these remains likewise can be associated with the +subdivisions of the period. Various names have been given to these +cultural periods, and we shall glance later at the evidence upon which +these periods are based. But it will be of assistance now to give a +table showing how the cultural periods are connected with the +subdivisions of the epoch, as it will thus be apparent how the fossil +remains stand in relation not only to the glacial and genial periods, +but also to the cultural periods.[168] + +With regard to this table, except in respect to epochs of the later +post-glacial period, the dates are only intended to give an idea of +relative distance in time.[169] Some approximation to accuracy can be +obtained for the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages. In the case of the +latter two epochs, different dates have been given for the beginning of +the period in the Orient and in Europe. The remaining dates refer to +Europe only. As many cultures, so far as can be deduced from the +evidence, came from the Orient, the beginnings of such culture periods +in the Orient are doubtless to be dated some considerable time before +they first appeared in Europe. The names of the cultural periods, it may +be remarked, are taken from the places where either specimens of the +culture were first found, or where they are seen at their best. Thus +Chellean is derived from Chelles—a palaeolithic station close to +Paris—Acheulean from St. Acheul in the valley of the Somme, Mousterian +from Le Moustier on the right bank of the Vézère, and so on. + + _Period._ _Date._ _Culture._ _Racial Type._ + ───────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────── + Post-Glacial 1,000 B.C. Iron │Europe + „ 1,800 „ „ │Orient + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + „ 2,000 „ Bronze │Europe + „ 4,000 „ „ │Orient + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + „ 5,000 „ Neolithic │Copper + „ 7,000 „ „ │Swiss Lake Modern racial + │ types. + „ 10,000 „ „ │Early + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + „ 12,000 „ Upper │Azilian + Palaeolithic│ + „ 16,000 „ „ │Magdalenian Brünn and other + │ races. + „ 20,000 „ „ │Solutrian + „ 25,000 „ „ │Aurignacian Cro-Magnon and + │ Grimaldi. + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + Fourth 50,000 „ Middle │Mousterian H. + Glacial Palaeolithic│ neanderthalensis. + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + Third Genial 150,000 „ Lower │Acheulean + Palaeolithic│ + „ │Chellean + Third Glacial 175,000 „ „ │Pre-Chellean Eoanthropus. + ───────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────── + Second Genial 375,000 „ │ H. heidelbergensis. + Second 400,000 „ │ + Glacial │ + First Genial 475,000 „ │ + First Glacial 500,000 „ │ + Beginning of 525,000 „ │ Pithecanthropus. + Pleistocene │ + +5. Turning to the fossil remains of man we have first to deal with +Pithecanthropus. In September 1891 Dr. Eugene Dubois of Amsterdam +discovered at Trinil in Java certain fossil remains; he continued to +excavate for some two years, and succeeded in finding other remains, all +of which he attributed to the same individual. To this individual he +gave the name of Pithecanthropus erectus.[170] Dubois considered that +the strata in which Pithecanthropus was found belonged to the Pliocene. +Very great interest naturally attaches to this question; Dubois’s view +has been challenged: subsequent visitors to Trinil have very carefully +considered the matter, and the weight of scientific opinion now favours +the attribution of the strata to the early Pleistocene.[171] + +The scantiness of the remains renders a reconstruction of the individual +a difficult and doubtful matter. Nevertheless, after some twenty years +of discussion there is a very general agreement that Pithecanthropus was +in many respects intermediate in type between modern man and the +hypothetical pre-human ancestor. The bones of the cranium are fused, the +brow ridges massive, and there is a marked narrowing behind the +orbit—all ape-like features. Further the cranium is flattened somewhat +as among the apes, but not to so great a degree; the altitudinal index +is 34·2; of the average European it is 52; of Neanderthal man 40·4. The +cranial capacity is about 855 c.c., or 250 c.c. greater than the largest +known skull of any of the Simiidae, whereas the average cranial capacity +of the Australian, the lowest living race, is about 1190 c.c. The femur +has only a slight curvature, and is decidedly human, indicating that its +possessor was some 1650–1700 mm. in height, and probably walked upright. +The teeth are simian rather than human, the roots diverge and the crowns +are large; they exhibit, nevertheless, certain human features. + +If we attempt to reconstruct Pithecanthropus, we must picture a creature +half ape, half man, which was probably terrestrial and erect. His body +weight must have been about 70 kilograms. If this fact is correct, it +provides a very useful method of estimating the relation of +Pithecanthropus to the apes on one hand and to man on the other. We know +roughly what proportion brain weight bears to body weight. If +Pithecanthropus had been human—given the brain weight deduced from the +cranial capacity—the body weight should be 19 kilograms. If +Pithecanthropus had been simian, the body weight should be 230 +kilograms. We have in fact reason to think that it was about 70 +kilograms, which emphasizes the intermediate position of Dubois’s famous +discovery. + +It is further probable that Pithecanthropus had free use of the arms, +the legs having become specialized for progression. It is quite possible +that he may have employed tools of wood or of stone, though there is no +evidence to this effect. It is further possible that some rudimentary +form of speech may have been employed. The motor centre for speech is +found in a particular area of the brain known as Broca’s area. This area +can be identified in the brain cast of Pithecanthropus, and it is stated +to be twice as great as in the apes, but only half as large as in man. +‘The undeveloped forehead of Pithecanthropus and the diminutive frontal +area of the brain indicate that the Trinil race had a limited faculty of +profiting by experience and accumulated tradition, for in this +prefrontal area of the brain are located the powers of attention and of +control of the activities of all other parts of the brain. In the brain +of the ape the sensory areas of touch, taste, and vision predominate, +and these are well developed in Pithecanthropus. The central area of the +brain, which is the storehouse of the memory of action and the feelings +associated with them, is also well developed, but the prefrontal area, +which is the seat of the faculty of profiting by experience or of +recalling the consequences of previous responses to experience, is +developed to a very limited degree.’[172] + +Pithecanthropus is thus a form of the highest interest in the history of +man. Provisionally, it may be put at the dawn of the Pleistocene. +Uncertainty also surrounds the position of the next human remains to be +mentioned, which consist of a lower jaw from the Mauer Sands near +Heidelberg.[173] It is generally agreed that these sands were deposited +in a genial epoch, and opinion now inclines to associate them with the +second genial epoch. The jaw itself is very simian, scarcely showing any +approach to human characters. The teeth, however, are remarkably human, +and it is said that in some respects the teeth of existing primitive +races approach the simian condition more nearly than do the teeth of the +Heidelberg race. The relation of this form to Pithecanthropus and to +those which follow may be left for consideration until we have completed +our sketch of human fossil types. + +There remains a third early form to be mentioned—Eoanthropus dawsoni +from Piltdown near Lewis.[174] The gravel in which Eoanthropus was found +was certainly deposited in a warm period. It probably dates from either +the second or the third genial epoch, but great uncertainty attaches to +the correlation of these gravels with the phases of the glacial period. +Some implements found near the bones have been referred to the +pre-Chellean culture period, which would indicate the third genial +epoch. The mammalian fauna seems also to favour the reference of these +strata to the same period. + +The remains of Eoanthropus consist of the greater part of the brain case +and part of the right mandible with the first and second molars _in +situ_. The canine tooth was found later. The skull has been +reconstructed from several fragments. There has been much controversy as +to the correct method of performing this reconstruction. The first +estimate of the cranial capacity put it at about 1,100 c.c. Woodward has +later revised his estimate, and arrived at a figure approaching 1,300 +c.c. Keith has suggested a higher figure. The bones of the skull are +very thick, brow ridges are almost absent, and the forehead is very +steep. The jaw, on the other hand, is even more ape-like than the jaw of +Heidelberg man; it slopes away with scarcely any vestige of a chin, the +pre-molar series of teeth is parallel, and the molars do not decrease in +size backwards. It is owing to the simian features of the jaw that the +authors felt justified in creating a new species for these remains. +Although the absence of brow ridges and the presence of a steep forehead +are characters which mark the higher human types, they are also found +among all young apes. It is thus possible that Eoanthropus may represent +in the general form of the skull the missing Miocene and Pliocene +ancestor more nearly than Pithecanthropus. The brain, though very +primitive, was decidedly human; there was a moderate development of +those areas connected with speech. + +6. It is a matter of doubt to what subdivisions of the Pleistocene the +types hitherto mentioned should be assigned and with what cultures, if +any, they should be connected. At this point we come to a region of less +uncertainty. Associated with Mousterian implements and with the deposits +of the fourth glacial period we find a distinct type of man whom we may +call Mousterian or Neanderthal; for it was in the Neanderthal near +Düsseldorf that the first specimen of this race was discovered in +1856.[175] Since that date several other examples of this type have been +found. Some of the specimens have been preserved almost complete, and +Professor Boule has been able to make a detailed study of the skeleton +from La Chapelle-aux-Saints.[176] In the course of his memoir he +institutes a comparison between this and other examples of Neanderthal +man, and shows that they all agree in the possession of certain features +of importance. Neanderthal man was small but massive; the facial portion +of the head was much developed in comparison with the cranial; the head +was low and narrow, the forehead receding, the occiput protruding, the +orbits large, and the brow ridges heavy. The lower jaw was strong, the +chin rudimentary, and the hinder molar teeth primitive. The vertebral +column indicates a less upright posture than that of modern man. With +regard to one feature—the cranial capacity—there is great variability. +The cranial capacity of the Gibraltar skull is only 1,296 c.c., whilst +that of the Chapelle-aux-Saints specimen is 1,620 c.c. According to +Boule, however, this variation is no greater than that found among +modern European skulls. He makes out the average capacity of Neanderthal +man as 1,400 c.c.; this estimate is far lower than that usually given; +it is often said that the average capacity approaches 1,600 c.c. + +The Neanderthal race forms a very distinct type. It is found only in the +Middle Palaeolithic period.[177] Of its origin there will be something +to be said later; it appears that it died out before the Upper +Palaeolithic age began, for, as we shall see, apparently none of the +types which occurs later descended from this race. + +7. The Upper Palaeolithic culture is associated with the end of the +fourth glacial epoch. In place of the remains of Neanderthal man we find +the remains of several types, none of which shows any affinity to +Neanderthal man. On the contrary they all approximate more or less +closely to modern man. At one bound we seem, when looking at the fossil +remains from this epoch in Europe, to have passed into the modern period +so far as human bodily form is concerned. As we shall see later, it is +probable that the various types entered Europe from the East, and +probably originated somewhere in Western Asia. The most important of +these types is known as Cro-Magnon man. It is found throughout the Late +Palaeolithic period. The first specimen was found at Cro-Magnon in the +valley of the Vézère. Other specimens have been found in the Grotte de +Grimaldi and assigned to the beginning of the Aurignacian, the first +subdivision of the Upper Palaeolithic, and others again at Obercassel, +and assigned to the Magdalenian, or last subdivision of the Upper +Palaeolithic. In modern France in the region of Périgueux there is +existing at the present day a type which in so many features resembles +Cro-Magnon man that it may be a survival from Upper Palaeolithic times. + +The general features of the chief types of the Upper Palaeolithic may be +very briefly indicated. The skull of Cro-Magnon man was narrow, the face +low and broad; the brow ridges project slightly; the orbits are low and +rectangular; the nose is long and narrow and the root broad. Cro-Magnon +man was tall, approaching an average of 6 ft. in height; the cranial +capacity was large, being somewhere about 1,600 c.c.[178] + +In the Grotte de Grimaldi were also found two skeletons of what has been +called the Grimaldi race. No other skeletons of this type have been +found in Europe. There are two points to notice about this type; first +it is not relatively speaking a low type; the cranial capacity was, for +instance, 1,580 c.c.; secondly, it shows undoubted resemblance to the +Negroid type. The skull is narrow, the face large and low, and +prognathism is marked. The orbits are large and of low vertical height, +the nose broad and flat. + +The third type is that found at Brünn and again at Brux in connexion +with Solutrian culture (middle of Upper Palaeolithic). The skull is very +long and generally of a lower type than the Cro-Magnon skull. In certain +respects there is a slight resemblance to the Neanderthal type. Finally +from deposits at the close of the late Palaeolithic period at Offnet two +further types are known. One of them is a long-headed race not unlike +the Mediterranean type of European at the present day. The other is a +broad-headed race, which is not unlike the Alpine type of modern +European. + +In a general sketch further details need not be added. There is no +essential difference between the physical type existing in Neolithic +times and that of modern man. Leaving the discussion of the +interrelationship and origin of these types until after we have spoken +of the evolution of culture, what we have found so far is that in the +beginning of the Pleistocene and in the early Palaeolithic there are +three primitive types of man known, and that in the Middle Palaeolithic +there is a peculiar type with many primitive features, whereas in the +Upper Palaeolithic we are in the presence of types which for the most +part differ but little from modern races, and even show affinity to +certain modern races in particular cases.[179] + +8. We have now to give some account of the evolution of culture as shown +by the implements and other remains left by primitive man. The story of +the first identification of stone implements by Boucher de Perthes is +well known. Gradually a succession of periods has been recognized, and +the names given to them have already been introduced in the preceding +pages. Of the two main periods—Palaeolithic and Neolithic—the first is +distinguished by the facts that stone implements were not polished, +agriculture was not practised, pottery was not made,[180] and animals +were not domesticated. Within the Palaeolithic period several successive +types of culture can be distinguished, but before we deal with them +something must be said regarding the so-called Eolithic period. + +There are found in many places stones supposed to exhibit a very +primitive form of human workmanship. To them the name of eoliths has +been given. They have been described from the + +Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene. Many archaeologists believe that they +are the remains of a primitive form of culture which preceded the +Palaeolithic form of culture. The matter is still under debate. + +We may note that eoliths exhibit very little variation. The same types +appear from the Oligocene onwards, and if there was an eolithic culture +it must have lasted some millions of years and been accompanied by +little or no progress in the fashioning of implements. An exception must +be made in the case of the so-called ‘rostro-carinate’ implements +described by Mr. Reid Moir, and attributed to the late Pliocene.[181] +These stones are of a distinctive type, and apparently do not occur in +the Oligocene and the Miocene.[182] There are several considerations +which make it difficult to accept eoliths as genuine remains of an early +culture; some of these considerations do not apply to the +rostro-carinate type, and some apply with less force, (_a_) Breuil has +pointed out that as good eoliths occur in the Eocene as in the later +strata.[183] Apart from this, the occurrence of eoliths in the +Oligocene, taken together with the immense length of the period during +which no progress in skill was made, is almost incompatible with what we +must suppose to have been the course of human evolution. The various +classes of mammals were in rapid evolution at this time, and it is +difficult to understand how, before this period of mammalian expansion, +man alone could have evolved to something akin to the type of the early +Pleistocene, and then for so long a period have failed to progress.[184] +If indeed Propliopithecus, or any similar form in the Oligocene, is a +type from or near the line of human ascent, then we cannot allow +Oligocene eoliths to be genuine artefacts, and there is no reason why, +if we reject Oligocene eoliths, we should consider Miocene or Pliocene +eoliths to be genuine. (_b_) Numerous observations have been made +showing that stones similar to eoliths are formed under natural +conditions of pressure, wave action, and so on. It is of particular +interest to note that even the rostro-carinate type can be thus +formed.[185] (_c_) Upon the whole eoliths are only found where other +stones of the same composition are found, whereas palaeoliths may be +found anywhere—the deduction, of course, being that eoliths, inasmuch as +they are formed under natural agencies, remain associated with other +stones of the same composition whereas palaeoliths were widely +distributed by those who used them. The question of eoliths is very far +from being settled. Lest it be thought that the difficulties in the way +of accepting eoliths as genuine have been exaggerated owing to some +bias, it may be mentioned that the chief deduction we shall draw from +human history as a whole would be considerably strengthened if eoliths +could be regarded as genuine artefacts. If we cannot accept eoliths as +without question genuine, it does not mean that before the Palaeolithic +period man did not make and use stone implements. Undoubtedly he did so. +But it may be from the nature of the case that it is impossible to +recognize these instruments.[186] + +9. In a warm period of the Pleistocene, now almost universally +identified with the third genial epoch, occur the first implements of +undoubted human workmanship. Within this early Palaeolithic epoch three +phases of culture are distinguished, the pre-Chellean, Chellean, and +Acheulean. It is worth while observing that M. Rutot, who is a foremost +supporter of the eolithic theory, remarks, on arriving in a general +review of the evidence at this pre-Chellean period, that there can be +observed the ‘apparition subite d’objets nouveaux’.[187] It is precisely +these ‘objets nouveaux’ which many authorities consider as the first +genuine artefacts, and not as mere improvements of a more primitive type +of implement. + +The typical instrument of the Chellean period was the hand axe—a stone +shaped to fit the hand, and used for striking blows.[188] Knives and +scrapers were also common. In the Acheulean or latest period of the +Palaeolithic there is seen a general improvement in workmanship. The +hand axe is lighter and more carefully worked. There is a great variety +of small implements, often showing a considerable degree of care and +skill. For the first time there is in the Acheulean era evidence that +man employed fire. It does not appear that bone was yet used for making +implements. It can be shown that early Palaeolithic implements represent +a steady and continual advance in skill with the improvement of old +types and the development of new types. + +During the late Acheulean period it was becoming colder, and the +succeeding stage, or Middle Palaeolithic era, falls almost wholly +within the fourth glacial period. Man began to make his home in caves, +and we are well acquainted with the physical type under the name of +Neanderthal man, described above. There are again traces of fire. Some +kind of ceremonial burial was employed. A skeleton found at La +Chapelle-aux-Saints showed that the body had been carefully disposed +for burial; implements had been placed close to the body, one fine +implement lying within reach of the left hand. There is a marked +difference as regards the stone implements between this and the +preceding period. A different method of shaping implements was +employed. There is some inclination to regard the Mousterian stone +industry as of a lower grade than the stage previously attained. With +regard to this stage in general we may note that it is the first in +which we have a detailed knowledge of the physical type and in which +we have some indication of the stage of psychical development as shown +by the employment of ceremonial burial. + +This stage is sharply divided from that which follows it. So far as is +known, Neanderthal man disappears at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic, +and Mousterian industry is replaced by the Aurignacian, a wholly new +type of culture, presumably introduced by some new racial element. As we +have seen, there are several racial types in the Upper Palaeolithic, and +the Cro-Magnon type, which occurs from the beginning of this period, may +have brought the new culture into Europe. The art of stone implement +making reached a height during the Aurignacian never previously +approached; knives and scrapers were especially finely shaped. In the +Solutrian, or middle period of the Upper Palaeolithic, stone implement +making reached the highest point to which it attained in the +Palaeolithic period. The workmanship exhibited in the well-known willow +and laurel leaf lance-heads is very fine. Bone tools are first found in +the Upper Palaeolithic. It is clear from the disposition of the +skeletons that burials were again employed, and indicate, if not a +belief in a future life in our meaning of the phrase, at least the +presence of a body of tradition regarding the state of the deceased. It +is not certain whether man at this stage possessed the bow and arrow. +Nothing can, of course, be known with certainty regarding the degree to +which perishable substances were manufactured; it can only be said that +in all probability skins and furs were used as clothing, that basketwork +was understood, and nets constructed. The most remarkable remains which +have been preserved from this period are the drawings and paintings on +the walls of caverns. They are found throughout the Upper Palaeolithic +period, and indicate a high degree of skill and taste.[189] + +That the Solutrian Age shows an improvement upon the Aurignacian from +the point of view of stone implement making has been indicated. It also +shows a similar improvement as regards bone implements; bone needles +with perforated eyes, for instance, occur for the first time. There is a +distinct improvement in the drawings and paintings. In the next or +Magdalenian period of the Upper Palaeolithic there is a loss of skill so +far as stone implements are concerned; there is no general decadence, +however, as the making of implements from bone, horn, and ivory shows a +considerable advance. Further, drawing and painting reached their +highest development. The remains from this era are very abundant and +well known, and exhibit a vast number of types of implements giving a +general impression of a considerable degree of material wealth +relatively to the fact that agriculture was not practised. + +At the very end of the Upper Palaeolithic the Magdalenian culture is +succeeded by a rather obscure stage known as the Azilian-Tardenoisian. +There is again a sudden and very distinct break in the evolution of +culture. In nearly all respects there is a failure to reach the previous +level of skill. Both flint and bone implements are of inferior +workmanship. The artistic spirit vanishes. Little is known about this +culture; possibly man at this period was not so unskilled, as at first +sight seems to have been the case, for he had apparently domesticated +the dog.[190] + +10. Neolithic culture is marked by the practice of agriculture, the +domestication of animals,[191] the polishing of stone implements, and +the making of pottery.[192] Though it is strongly contrasted with the +preceding culture, there is considerable evidence of a transition +period. This evidence, however, is generally interpreted as indicating +the infiltration of the new culture from the East, and not the evolution +of the new culture in Europe. Even at this relatively recent period in +history the chronology is vague. The Swiss Lake Dwellings (Robehausian +period) represent the typical fully developed European Neolithic +culture, and are dated about 8000 to 7000 B.C. Farther East there is +evidence of a far greater antiquity. Montelius on the basis of De +Morgan’s observations at Susa calculated that the Neolithic Age began +there about 20,000 years ago.[193] Sir Arthur Evans estimates that at +least 14,000 years have elapsed since the beginning of the Neolithic +period at Cnossus.[194] All that can be said is that the Neolithic +culture was flourishing in the eighth millennium B. C. in many parts of +Europe, having been brought from farther East, where it had originated +at a considerably earlier date. It has proved very difficult to +subdivide the Neolithic epoch into successive periods. In the +Palaeolithic period superimposed deposits containing relics of various +cultures are not infrequently found, thus enabling the succession of +culture periods to be made out. In the Neolithic period evidence of this +kind is for the most part lacking. It is not proposed to enter upon the +subject here beyond saying that three stages are recognized by French +archaeologists, the Campignienne, the Chasséo-Robenhaussienne, and the +Carnacéenne. The first of these stages is markedly more primitive than +the succeeding stages. The second is that of the Swiss Lake Dwellings, +and the third that of Megalithic monuments—Dolmens, Menhirs, Cromlechs, +Allées Couvertes, stone circles, and so on.[195] + +What has been said regarding culture periods in general—namely, that +they are not definite periods in time in the history of mankind as a +whole, but epochs through which different races have passed at different +times—is well illustrated in the case of the Neolithic. The Neolithic +culture had existed some thousands of years in Western Asia before it +penetrated into Europe, and was practised in some parts of Europe, in +Britain, for instance, up to about 2000 B. C. or later, for thousands of +years after metals had been taken into use elsewhere. In general the +Neolithic period has to be regarded as a period of great advance in +material wealth. Relatively to Palaeolithic men, Neolithic men were +rich, and often lived in villages of some size. Several animals were +domesticated, several varieties of cereals cultivated, linen was +manufactured, and the vine as well as a large number of fruit-trees +known. It appears that many at least of the well-known trading routes +used in the Bronze Age were open in the Neolithic Age. Some of these +routes brought the Baltic into communication with the Mediterranean, one +began at Venice, passed over the Brenner, and reached the Danube by +means of the Inn; thence it traversed the Bohemian forest to the Moldau, +and thus reached the Elbe, which was followed to its mouth. Another +began at Trieste, and passing through Laibach and Grätz reached the +Danube by means of the Leitha; thence it followed the March, traversed +Moravia, passed through Silesia along the Oder, while the Vistula was +reached by striking across Posen, the principal terminus being +Danzig.[196] + +11. Obscurity surrounds the location and date of the first use of +metal.[197] Gold was probably the first metal known to man; it is found +in the pure state in many countries, and would attract attention owing +to its lustre. It was not, however, of economic importance until much +later. In all probability man learnt the art of metal working from the +accidental reduction of ore that formed one of the ring of stones round +the camp fire. Copper may have been first used where it appears at the +surface in a pure state, having been beaten into implements, as was done +by the Indians near Lake Superior; the use of this metal is, however, +until heat is employed, to be regarded merely as a variation of the art +of stone implement making, and does not form the first step in the art +of metal working for which knowledge of reduction by heat is required. +It is frequently said that an age of copper preceded the age of bronze, +and in many places copper implements were used before bronze implements. +Probably the occurrence of a Copper Age in any one place was dependent +upon the nature of the ore found there. Copper is frequently associated +with tin and other metals in a state of nature. We may suppose that the +first metal workers were simply trying to get metal—being aware that +metal could be obtained by heating certain kinds of stone—and that in +some places they got copper and in other places bronze. Later they +learnt to add a definite percentage of tin or some other metal, and thus +to produce an alloy of definite composition. Thus a true Bronze Age +followed either a Copper Age or an accidental Bronze Age. It is somewhat +curious that iron was not taken sooner into use, for less heat is +required than in the case of copper for reduction—700° C. to 800° C. as +against 1,100° C. + +Whether there was more than one place of origin of the use of any metal +in the Old World is not known. Copper was independently taken into use +in the New World, and the use of copper may have originated +independently in North and South America.[198] Bronze was known in Peru. +Heat was certainly employed for hammering and annealing copper, and +casting may have been employed. Iron was sometimes used in North America +to make ornaments. With regard to the Old World a claim is made for many +countries as the original home of metal working. Reisner found copper +daggers, spear heads, harpoons, pins, needles, and bracelets in the +graves of the middle pre-Dynastic period of Egypt; by the time of the +first dynasty the Egyptians were ‘in possession of a full equipment of +copper weapons’.[199] In the early pre-Dynastic period metallic pigments +containing copper were in use, and it is possible that the reduction of +copper may have been first suggested by some accidental fusion of these +substances. It is further claimed that there is evidence of the local +evolution of copper implements since the earliest forms imitate stone +implements, and the later forms are merely improvements of pre-existing +types.[200] Reisner concludes that there is no reason to assume that the +invention came from beyond the frontiers of Egypt.[201] The Sumerians, +on the other hand, when we first meet them at a very early date, must +have been using copper for some considerable time. All that can be said +with certainty is that the use of metals originated in the Orient, +probably before 4000 B. C.—possibly some two or three thousand years +earlier. Copper, it may be noticed, occurs in Armenia, in the upper +basin of the Tigris and in Sinai amongst other places. The use of bronze +gradually spread over Europe. It is found in Crete about 3000 B. C., in +Southern Thessaly about 2500 B. C., and seems to have reached England +about 2000 B. C. or somewhat later. Generally speaking, we can connect +the taking into use of metals with the rise of the first civilizations. +These civilizations reached their greatest development before the +introduction of iron. The whole Minoan civilization, the Mycenean +survival of Minoan civilization on the mainland,[202] the most glorious +period of Egyptian history up to and including the greater part of the +Second Empire, the Sumerian kingdom, the earlier periods of Babylonia +and Assyria, all fall within the Bronze Age. + +Though it is clear that a great advance took place in the Bronze Age, it +is not evident how far this advance is attributable to the taking of +metals into use and how far to other discoveries which were made about +the same time. The first use of the wheel and of the plough, for +instance, dates from this period, and very considerable importance +without question is attributable to the plough. Still greater importance +is in all probability to be attributed to writing, which again was first +used about this time. At a far earlier period various methods of marking +sticks had doubtless been employed as aids to memory, as they are still +employed by the Australians, and some progress may have been made +towards such a system as that of the use of knotted cords in Peru. But +the invention of writing properly speaking came much later. By the time +of the fourth dynasty Egyptian writing had reached its final form, and +the Sumerians, when we first meet them, were using cuneiform writing. +This invention of such great import, whether it arose independently or +not in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, was evidently roughly coincident +with the first use of metals. + +Estimates as to the date of the first use of iron in the Mesopotamian +region vary considerably; 1500 B. C. to 1300 B. C. is the date most +usually given. In Egypt the earliest known iron weapon dates from 1200 +B. C. By 900 B. C. the use of iron had spread over most of Europe. It +reached Scandinavia about 500 B. C. It was introduced into Greece by the +Thresprotian invasion, which put an end to the Mycenean period, and +inaugurated the Homeric Age. It is possible that the Etruscans brought +the knowledge of iron to Italy where they arrived during the eleventh +century B. C. Upon the whole, opinion inclines to the view that the use +of iron originated in Western Asia. Claims have also been made for +Europe (neighbourhood of Hallstatt) as the place of origin,[203] for +Egypt, and for Africa south of Egypt.[204] With regard to Egyptian +claims it may be noticed that iron does not become common until after +1200 B. C. But four examples of iron have been found in Egypt from +periods before this date—some of them belonging to very early times. The +finding of these pieces of iron presents a rather difficult problem, of +which the solution seems to be that iron was very occasionally used, and +probably only for ornamental purposes, long before 1200 B. C. in Egypt; +it was not, however, brought into general use at this early date. + +It is not necessary to carry this sketch of cultural evolution any +farther. The Bronze Age marks a turning-point in history. The outline at +least of the subsequent course of events is sufficiently familiar. One +point may be noticed. We have found reason to place the centre of +progress somewhere in the Orient. After metal has been taken into use +the centre of progress begins to shift westwards. Once metals had been +introduced into Crete, for instance, Minoan civilization was in any case +largely an autochthonous growth. Speaking of Crete, Hall says: ‘We have +nothing to show any intrusion of any other culture system which in any +way suddenly modifies or alters the course of this development, which is +that of the civilization of a single people raising itself on its own +lines from Neolithic barbarism. Its first development from the static +condition in which it had existed for many centuries in the Neolithic +stage was sudden, and the dynamic influence which was given by the +acquisition of metal speedily carried it to the great height of +cultivation which we have seen.’[205] Hitherto—before, that is to say, +the taking into use of metal—the centre of progress has been looked for +in Central Asia.[206] There had been progress in Europe within the +culture periods, but the great steps in progress were made in the East. + +12. Let us now review what has so far been said in this chapter. Such +indications as the evidence provides point to the origin of man in the +eastern portion of the Old World, and probably in a warm climate. The +principal facts in favour of this view are the distribution of the +anthropoids, the occurrence of Pithecanthropus in Java, and the failure +to find any evidence of the antiquity of man in the New World.[207] +Unless Pithecanthropus is to be attributed to the Pliocene, we have no +knowledge of man before the Pleistocene. It would seem that the +pre-human ancestor of the Miocene and Pliocene was probably rather an +obscure member of the primate stock retaining generalized features. +Somehow without specialization he managed to survive—possibly in some +very limited area. When the rapid evolution of bodily form among the +mammals had slowed down, the only specialization in which the pre-human +ancestor had indulged began to stand him in good stead. That it carried +him as far as it did—to the dominion over all living things—was made +possible by the fact that his bodily form was not specialized, but was +capable of being turned into an instrument of the mind. The evidence +seems to indicate the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene as the era when +man began to develop along this path. + +Just as the East was probably the place of man’s origin, so it remained +the seat of both bodily and cultural evolution. There is no sign of the +evolution of human physical form in Europe, nor is there any evidence of +the evolution of the main stages of culture in Europe until after the +taking of metals into use, though there is evidence both of progress and +of decay within the culture periods. The evidence points to the +conclusion that successive waves of immigrants brought with them new +cultures from the East. Some may have entered Europe from Africa, as +perhaps did the Cro-Magnons, bringing the Aurignacian culture. These +waves of migration are not, however, to be regarded as comparable to +migrations within the historical period—the Islamic migrations of the +Arabs, for instance. These earlier movements were rather of the nature +of slow driftings of peoples. They may have been connected with climatic +changes and have occupied long periods of time. Quite possibly when we +appear to see the extinction of one culture and the sudden replacement +of it by another, what in fact happened was that, owing to climatic +changes, those who practised the earlier culture had shifted elsewhere +before the newcomers occupied the area in question. + +With regard to the bodily evolution of man the first detailed knowledge +we have is of the Neanderthal race. We know that Neanderthal man lived +in the fourth glacial period. Before this epoch we know nothing of human +bodily evolution except from three imperfect specimens which we cannot +assign definitely to any period in the Pleistocene beyond placing them +before the Middle Palaeolithic. No definite conclusions can be drawn as +to the relation of these three forms one to another, or to the forms +which follow. + +Pithecanthropus may or may not be on the direct line leading to all the +higher races. There is some probability that Heidelberg man is a +forerunner of Neanderthal man, whereas Eoanthropus would seem to be +related on the one hand to the hypothetical Pliocene ancestor, and on +the other hand to the Late and not to the Middle Palaeolithic races. It +is quite possible that, as Europe was not the scene of human evolution, +Piltdown and Heidelberg men represent varieties which have died out, and +not stages from the main line of human evolution. This is certainly the +case with the Neanderthal race. In the Upper Palaeolithic we find races +of as high a physical type as those of the present day, but we have no +certain knowledge of their direct ancestors. + +By far the most remarkable feature of the whole process has been the +speeding up of the rate of progress of the evolution of culture. This +speeding up would be very much emphasized if we could accept eoliths as +genuine, as indicating, that is to say, the existence of an eolithic +culture before the Palaeolithic culture extending over an immense period +of time. As it is, the acceleration of the rate of progress is striking +enough. The whole Palaeolithic period probably lasted at least 100,000 +years. Regarding this period as a whole, we can observe a noteworthy +speeding up of progress in the last part of the period. A few thousand +years only separate the early from the late divisions of the Upper +Palaeolithic and the progress exhibited is very considerable, whereas +but relatively little progress is visible during the huge length of time +which the Lower Palaeolithic must have occupied. The whole progress +made, however, up to the opening of the Bronze Age is insignificant +compared with that made since. Nevertheless, progress has not been +uniform within the historical era. There have been periods of stagnation +and even of decadence. Little progress in command over nature was made +between the time of the later Egyptian civilization and the later Middle +Ages as compared with the progress made in the last hundred years. +Progress in skill gathered speed in the thirteenth century, and the +speeding up became very marked in the eighteenth century. There has been +a similar lack of uniformity in the evolution of culture where culture +is judged by standards other than command over nature. + +13. How far can we employ our knowledge of primitive races to fill in +this framework? Some reference has been made in the fourth chapter to +the position which these races occupy. It was pointed out that they +represent ‘relicts’ of stages of culture through which the civilized +races have passed, due allowance being made for the fact that they have +developed to some degree on specialized lines of their own since their +separation from the main stream of progress. In some few cases, as in +the example of the Seri Indians, there may have been decadence. + +Broadly speaking, these races fall into two groups. There are the +hunting and fishing races, and there are those which practise a +primitive form of agriculture. The former, it is to be presumed, ceased +to be in any important manner influenced by, if they were not wholly cut +off from, the main current of cultural evolution before the end of the +Palaeolithic Age. The latter may have remained more or less in contact +with the main stream of evolution until late Neolithic times, or they +may have lost touch earlier and have acquired independently the art of +agriculture, as was presumably the case with those American Indians who +practise agriculture. The chief hunting and fishing races are the +Tasmanians, Australians, Bushmen, Eskimos, and certain of the American +Indians. Professor Sollas has drawn up a comparison between the culture +of some of these races and that of certain epochs in the Palaeolithic +era. He has shown that Tasmanian and Australian culture may be compared +with early and late phases respectively of the Middle Palaeolithic. A +very striking similarity indeed can be shown between the Aurignacian +culture and that of the Bushmen on the one hand and between the +Magdalenian culture and that of the Eskimo on the other. When we +consider the osteological evidence, however, we do not find any striking +similarity between Neanderthal man and Australians and Tasmanians. The +existence of the negroid skeleton of Grimaldi is suggestive, but the +likeness between it and the Bushmen type is not close. The skull found +at Chancelade, however, and generally considered as an aberrant type of +Cro-Magnon man does show a very curious resemblance to the Eskimo skull. +Thus though we cannot think of the Tasmanians and Australians as actual +relicts of the Neanderthal racial type, which we know in Europe, we may +think of Australian culture in its broad general features as +representative of the Middle Palaeolithic.[208] + +As has been already indicated in the fourth chapter, it is not proposed +to attempt to carry the method so far as to attribute to peoples of +different Palaeolithic cultures peculiarities of certain primitive +hunting and fishing races. All that it is proposed to do is to look into +the general conditions which obtain among hunting and fishing races with +the object of throwing light upon the conditions in the Palaeolithic era +as a whole. Similarly it is proposed to throw light upon the Neolithic +period by an inquiry into the conditions obtaining among primitive +agricultural races. This method is clearly legitimate. It may +nevertheless be said at once that as a matter of fact, so far as the +most important conclusions are concerned, we shall find no reasons for +thinking that hunting and fishing races differ from agricultural races. +The legitimacy of the method is therefore not strictly relevant. It +follows from this that the splitting up of the data and the +consideration separately of hunting and of agricultural races is in +reality only a matter of convenience. + +14. Before we embark upon this attempt to throw light upon such general +characteristics of prehistoric races as are relevant to our particular +purpose, there is another point to be considered. One supposition +regarding the mode of life of man in early days is that he lived in +groups of polygamous families. As monogamy occurs among some of the +lowest of existing primitive races, he may have been monogamous. In any +case it seems that early man was not promiscuous in his sexual +relations. Whatever his primitive mode of life may have been, man +gradually rose to the recognition of common bonds and to the observation +in common of certain rules and restrictions. Primitive social +organization in fact gradually came into being, and this step, slowly +and painfully achieved as it no doubt was, represents one of the most +important steps ever achieved by man. Then for the first time he began +to reap the benefits of co-operation. Clearly we must imagine a +primitive form of social organization to have existed in the late +Palaeolithic; the attainment to so relatively high a degree of skill and +achievement is not otherwise comprehensible. The achievements of late +Palaeolithic man indicate the presence of a considerable body of +tradition, and the presence of tradition in any considerable amount +indicates social organization. It is difficult to come to any conclusion +with regard to early and Middle Palaeolithic times. The mode of life of +Neanderthal man is perhaps apt to be considered as more primitive than +was in fact the case, owing to the somewhat brutal form attributed to +his bodily features. It has to be remembered that he practised +ceremonial burial, and was acquainted with the use of fire—very +significant facts which render it on the whole probable that social +organization of a kind existed. Possibly we may have to suppose that +social organization existed among lower Palaeolithic men. They too +employed fire, and it may well be that their mode of life was not very +different from that of the Tasmanians. + +Among all primitive races we find a form of social organization, and +unless it has been achieved more than once they are all ‘relicts’ of the +periods succeeding that in which men wandered in family groups. In the +first place, therefore, primitive races are only comparable with +prehistoric races which have achieved this great step forward. They +throw little or no light upon the conditions anterior to the taking of +this step. Further, when we look into the life of these races, we find +that the form of social organization is rigid. Men are bound hand and +foot by custom.[209] It has been suggested that the peculiarly rigid +nature of the social organization among these races—the fact that they +are soaked in tradition—is due to their having been left out of the main +stream of progress. It has been suggested in fact that, while other +races have gone forward, they have more or less stagnated, and that—this +is what is important—the relative stagnation has been the cause of the +rigidness of the organization. It follows that, to the extent to which +this is so, primitive races are not properly comparable with prehistoric +races. But it may be doubted if the facts are altogether as sometimes +alleged. Doubtless the earliest social organization was far less rigid +than it afterwards became, and we must beware of attributing to those +early races, which first became socially organized, the features +characteristic of primitive races, at least in many aspects. But we must +date back the origin of social organization in all probability nearer +100,000 than 50,000 years ago. In other words, later Palaeolithic races +must have had some thousands of years of social organization behind +them. Is then the peculiar rigidity of the organization of primitive +races altogether to be regarded as an acquirement attained during the +15,000, 20,000, 30,000 years, or whatever the period may have been, +since they have been out of the main stream of progress? It can scarcely +be so. A hardening of the system may have taken place, but not to such +an extent as to render it impossible to make comparisons between +primitive races and prehistoric races, and, what concerns us, to render +unacceptable the attribution to prehistoric races of those general +conditions of life found among primitive races, which will form the +subject-matter of the next two chapters. + + + + + VII + HUNTING AND FISHING RACES + + +1. We now pass to a consideration of the quantitative problem. In this +chapter we deal with hunting and fishing races. We require information +first regarding those factors which hinder the realization to the full +of the power of fecundity, and secondly regarding those factors which +cause elimination. Not until we have this information can we hope to +determine how numbers are regulated among these races. This inquiry is +not intended to be exhaustive; our aim is merely to gain an idea of the +nature of the more important factors which are in operation. When we +come to the interpretation of the evidence, there will be more to say +both as to the incompleteness of the evidence as here presented and as +to the inherent difficulties of ascertaining what the position was +before European influence had made itself felt. + +2. We may first consider sexual intercourse before maturity. It is +perhaps more difficult to determine the prevalence of this custom than +that of any other practice which we shall have to examine in the course +of this chapter. The difficulty is due to the nature of the facts under +discussion; first it is clearly not easy to ascertain them and +comparatively few authors have the intimate knowledge necessary to +enable definite statements to be made; secondly such veiled and guarded +language is often used that the true state of the case remains +uncertain. We shall see that marriage, or at any rate cohabitation, very +soon after puberty is the universal rule among these races. Statements +therefore concerning ‘very early’ marriage must, in the absence of more +exact information, be taken to mean no more than that marriage follows +at once after puberty. Of the Tasmanians there is no certain +information. Statements exist to the effect that marriages are sometimes +consummated in Australia before puberty;[210] these statements are +seldom specific or on good authority. The more trustworthy accounts +state definitely that, no matter at what age betrothal occurs, the +husband does not claim his wife until she is mature.[211] The existence +of early betrothal as a widespread habit has no doubt betrayed some +authors into an error.[212] We know little of the customs of the Bushmen +in this as in most other respects. Statements have been made, however, +to the effect that marriage took place at so early an age that the girls +could not have been mature.[213] + +Passing to the Eskimos it would appear that pre-puberty intercourse is +not uncommon. Of the Eskimos of Greenland we read as follows: ‘Often +indeed he marries before there is any chance of the union being +productive.’[214] Murdoch says of the Port Barrow Eskimos that +‘promiscuous sexual intercourse between married or unmarried people, or +even among children, appears to be looked upon merely as a matter for +amusement’;[215] similarly Turner says of the Eskimos of the Ungava +district that ‘many of the females are taken before that period’ (i.e. +before maturity).[216] There are some indications that similar habits +occur among the Indian tribes of the far north and of the Pacific Coast. +Ross reports of the Eastern Tinneh that ‘they marry sometimes, but not +often at ten, and have their menses at thirteen’.[217] Bearing in mind +the average age at which menstruation begins among American Indians, the +following statement by Gibbs, referring to the tribes of Western +Washington and North-western Oregon, points to the same conclusion. +‘Cohabitation of unmarried females among their own people brings no +disgrace if unaccompanied by child-birth. ... This commences at a very +early age, perhaps ten or twelve years.’[218] There does not seem to be +any definite statement with regard to the Californians; nevertheless the +common accounts of marriage at twelve or thereabouts, coupled with +statements as to freedom before marriage, are suggestive. Speaking +generally of the Californians, Powers says that ‘marriage frequently +takes place at the age of twelve or fourteen’,[219] and that ‘there is +scarcely an attribute known as virtue or chastity in either sex before +marriage’.[220] Another observer speaks of very early marriage among the +Comanches in such a manner as to suggest that it may be consummated +before puberty.[221] Lastly, there is some information for certain other +races which belong to this group. We are told that among the Fuegians +sexual relations begin at about ten to twelve years of age,[222] whereas +menstruation begins at about fourteen or fifteen years of age.[223] Of +the Veddahs we read that ‘marriage takes place at an early age; it was +said that marriage sometimes takes place before puberty, and as we have +heard of this at Herrebedda, Barrdaraduwa, and Omuni, we see no reason +to doubt the truth of the statement’.[224] + +3. There is ample evidence to the effect that the period of lactation is +always prolonged among these races. Speaking of the Tasmanians, Ling +Roth mentions two years[225] and Bonwick three to four[226] as the +length of this period. Of the central Australians Eyre says that +‘infants are not often weaned until between two and three years +old’.[227] Of the Western Australians Grey says that ‘the native women +suckle their children until they are past the age of two or three +years’.[228] For the Southern Australians, Eylmann mentions four +years,[229] for the Narrinyeri, Taplin two years,[230] for the +aborigines of Encounter Bay, Meyer ‘a considerable time, sometimes to +the age of five or six years’,[231] for the aborigines of Victoria, Curr +three years,[232] and for the natives of King George’s Sound, Brown four +to five years.[233] + +From America the evidence is similar. Among the Port Barrow Eskimos the +children are nursed until about three or four years of age.[234] Nansen +states that ‘Greenland mothers are very slow to wean their children. +They often give suck until the child is three or four, and I have even +heard of cases in which children of ten or over continue to take the +breast.’[235] Crantz, speaking of the same country, corroborates this +evidence,[236] and Bessels mentions a case from Smith Sound in which a +child was suckled up to seven years of age.[237] Heriot, speaking +generally of the Indian tribes of the North, mentions ‘the length of +time employed by the women in nursing their children, whom they nourish +for three or four years’,[238] and Long gives four, five, and even six +years.[239] For the Ingaliks Dall mentions three years,[240] for the +Eastern Tinneh Ross three or four,[241] for the Thlinkeet Krause four +years,[242] and Lord for the Indians of Puget Sound two or three +years.[243] Speaking of the Ahts of Vancouver Island, Sproat says he has +seen ‘a boy of four following his mother for her milk’,[244] and of the +tribes of California Schoolcraft that ‘children are sometimes not weaned +until five years of age’.[245] Similarly the Nootkas suckle their +children until they are three or four years old,[246] and Chinooks their +children ‘until three, four, or five years old’.[247] The facts are +similar for the inland Salish and Shushwap[248] as well as for the +tribes of Oregon and Washington[249] and the Chepewayans.[250] So also +in South America the Puelches[251] and the Abipones[252] suckle their +children for three years, and the same is reported of the Fuegians[253] +and of the Andaman Islanders who ‘never wean their babies so long as +they are able to suckle them’.[254] Among the Ghiliaks suckling is +continued up to the age of three years.[255] + +4. Initiation ceremonies at the period of maturity are of common +occurrence among primitive races. These ceremonies are sometimes +accompanied by mutilation of the genital organs; but there is apparently +no reason to believe that this mutilation has any effect upon fecundity, +except possibly among the Australians.[256] It is unnecessary to +describe the exact nature of the operations performed upon Australian +boys and girls. The operations are severe and it seems very possible at +first sight that they might affect the reproductive power. The opinion +of authorities is divided on this point. Spencer and Gillen think that +the operations may have an injurious effect;[257] others, such as +Roth[258] and Mathews,[259] hold the contrary view. Upon the whole, +opinion inclines to the latter side. + +Less doubt exists with regard to the assertion sometimes made that these +ceremonies are practised with the intention of producing sterility, or +in any case relative sterility.[260] For this there is no good evidence +and the best authorities definitely assert that it is not so.[261] +Another assertion has been made for which there is even less foundation; +it is said, for instance, that ‘in some tribes we find it a custom that +every man submits to this operation after the birth of his second or +third child’.[262] It would appear that as a matter of fact the +operation is performed at puberty and at no other time. + +5. The three further factors to be considered which may have a bearing +upon fecundity are all connected with marriage. It has been shown by +Westermarck that marriage exists as an institution among all races, +however primitive.[263] What we have to ask is whether there is any +postponement of marriage, whether, that is to say, there is any +temporary or permanent celibacy and, so far as fecundity is concerned, +the age of women at marriage alone is relevant. The evidence points to +the fact that marriage of women takes place almost universally among +these races if not before, then at or very soon after, puberty. This is +Westermarck’s conclusion, after a wide survey of the races belonging +both to this and the next group. It will be sufficient to give some +examples of the evidence and then to note a few cases in which some +postponement is reported. + +Summing up the evidence with regard to the Australians, Malinowski says +that in general it is true that there are no unmarried girls under +sixteen and no widows under forty-five, though there is some evidence +with regard to the existence of unmarried females;[264] thus Smyth, +speaking of the inhabitants of Victoria, records that girls were married +between the ages of ten and twelve,[265] and similar evidence is given +by Taplin of the inhabitants of South Australia.[266] In Australia there +is no evidence worth mentioning of either temporary or permanent +celibacy. Apart from the instances to be given below the evidence with +regard to other races in this group is very similar to that given before +of the Australians. Thus the average age for a girl to marry in +Vancouver Island was sixteen.[267] among the Californians generally +between twelve and fourteen,[268] and among the Stseelis and Skaulits +tribes fifteen.[269] Veddah girls married between eleven and +twelve.[270] + +There is no doubt that, generally speaking, postponement of marriage is +rare, though occasionally some slight delay is reported, as in the +instances given in what follows. It should be mentioned, however, that +from time to time there is quite a considerable delay upon the part of +the man amongst these races; to this point we shall return later. As +regards women, Crantz states that sometimes Eskimo girls do not marry +until they are twenty.[271] Hill Tout, speaking of the Salish and the +Tinneh, says ‘with the exception of the Carrier tribes early marriages +were everywhere the custom’.[272] The same author mentions that among +the Thompson tribes girls did not marry until seventeen or +eighteen,[273] and this is confirmed by Teit.[274] The latter author +gives somewhat similar evidence for the Shushwap,[275] and also says +that among the Lillooet Indians girls are isolated for two years after +puberty, and only marry when from sixteen to twenty years old.[276] As +regards South America we are told by Musters that among the Tehuelches +the girls ‘often remain several years spinsters’,[277] and by +Dobrizhoffer that among the Abipones girls do not marry before their +twentieth year.[278] + +There is one other matter to which reference may be made here. There is +often very considerable disparity in age between husband and wife at +marriage among primitive races. It is frequently the practice for the +girls on reaching the age of puberty to be taken in marriage by the +older men, while the young men marry women twice their age.[279] Since, +however, as pointed out in Chapter IV the age of the husband has little +or no effect upon fertility, this practice is of no importance from our +present point of view. The important fact which results from the +evidence is that almost universally among these races the women are +married at or soon after puberty and remain married throughout the +mature period. + +6. Among almost every uncivilized race there are numerous occasions upon +which sexual intercourse is tabooed. Common instances are those of taboo +during the preparations for a hunting party or a military expedition. It +is not worth while to enumerate these occasions, because with one +exception it does not seem that they can, even when considered together, +have any marked effect upon fertility.[280] The exception referred to is +the prohibition upon intercourse that follows the birth of a child. This +taboo is of very great importance among certain races that we shall +consider in the eighth chapter. As regards hunting and fishing races +there is no record of its existence in Tasmania, Australia, among the +Bushmen, the Eskimos, or any other people of importance with the +exception of the American Indians. The evidence in this case is scanty; +there are certain difficulties and the matter is better left for +discussion in the next chapter when we come to deal with the +agricultural races of this part of the world. It is enough to say here +that certain early observers, speaking generally of the American +Indians, refer to this custom, and that two early observers speaking +specifically of two hunting tribes—one in North and one in South +America—record this custom. Cabeça de Vaca says that the Yguazas abstain +from intercourse for two years after child-birth,[281] and Dobrizhoffer +records of the Abipones that ‘the mothers suckle their children for +three years, during which time they have no conjugal intercourse with +their husbands’.[282] + +7. At this point we may refer to the remarkable fullness and unanimity +of the evidence with regard to the number of children observed among +these races. The evidence is to the effect that the number of children +is always small.[283] Bonwick says that ‘families were never large with +the Tasmanians’,[284] and that ‘the native woman as a rule had very few +children, and fewer still were ... permitted to live’;[285] he +attributes this to the fact that women did not begin to bear children +until after several years of marriage,[286] and that women ceased to +bear at or soon after the age of thirty-five.[287] Abundant evidence is +forthcoming from Australia. ‘Large families of children are unusual +among the aborigines,’ says Dawson, ‘however many may be born, rarely +more than four are allowed to grow up.’[288] Lumholtz remarks that there +are seldom more than three or four children.[289] Mathew referring to +two Queensland tribes records that ‘the number of children in a family +was small on the average. Six would be rare. I know of no aboriginal +family with more than five who survived infancy.’[290] Grey obtained +some statistics in Western Australia with reference to the average +number of children born by women who had passed child-bearing age. +‘Forty-one females, of whose families I have obtained (from themselves +and others) lists upon the accuracy of which I can rely, had 188 +children, or about 4·6 children each.’[291] Among the native tribes of +Central Australia the number of children in a family rarely exceeds four +or five, and is generally two or three;[292] at the same time sterility +is common; the greatest fertility is noticed among the stout and the +strong, whereas the thin and weak have scarcely any children.[293] Eyre +quotes some observations of Moorehouse, also made in Central Australia, +and says that ‘his investigations have led to the conclusion that each +woman has on an average five children born (nine being the greatest +number known)’;[294] Eyre adds that he agrees with this estimate. +Schürmann records that ‘the number of children reared by each family is +variable, but in general very limited, rarely exceeding four’. He adds +the interesting information that in spite of early marriage he has not +observed that they have children at an earlier age than is common among +the Europeans, and says that it is rare for a mother to have children +‘in rapid succession’.[295] Wilhelmi’s evidence is similar; with +reference to the aborigines of the Port Lincoln district he states that +‘the number of children in a family varies considerably; but, on the +whole, it is limited—seldom exceeding four’; he also adds that it seldom +happens that ‘children are born in a family quick after one +another’.[296] + +Stow remarks that ‘the Bushmen seldom had large families’;[297] Theal, +on the other hand, says that ‘the earliest Dutch colonists observed that +they were remarkably prolific’[298]—one of the very few statements which +attribute a high fertility to any of these races. Passing now to the New +World we find a similar abundance of evidence pointing to the same +conclusion. ‘The Greenlanders are not very prolific. A woman has +commonly three or four children, but at most six; they generally bear +but one child in two or three years.’[299] Writing more than a hundred +years later than Crantz, Nansen gives very similar testimony, which has +already been quoted,[300] as has that of Murdoch for the Port Barrow +Eskimos.[301] The latter adds that ‘they do not commonly bear children +before the age of twenty’.[302] According to Bessels the number in an +Eskimo family near Smith Sound is on the average two; this low figure is +due to infanticide, he goes on to say.[303] In the Ungava district ‘the +number of children born varies greatly, for, although these Eskimo are +not a prolific race, a couple may occasionally claim parentage of as +many as ten children. Two or three is the usual number.’[304] Armstrong +notes of the Eskimos generally ‘that they are not a prolific race from +all that I could learn’.[305] Of the Aleutes Ritter says that the +average number in a family is two or three.[306] + +Writing of the neighbourhood of Hudson Bay, Hearne says: ‘Providence is +very kind in causing these people to be less prolific than the +inhabitants of civilized nations; it is very uncommon to see one woman +have more than five or six children; and these are always born at such a +distance from one another, that the younger is generally two or three +years old before another is born into the world.’[307] Among the Eastern +Tinneh to be confined once every three years is ‘a high average’.[308] +The author responsible for this statement goes on to say that ‘the women +are capable of bearing children from fourteen to forty-five—a long +period of their lives—but in it very few infants are produced. Families +on an average contain three children ... and ten is the greatest number +I have seen.’ In Alaska ‘the females of the coast tribes are not +fruitful, and to see four children of one mother is quite a rare +occurrence, one or two being the common number of children to a +family’.[309] The evidence of Sproat for the Ahts and of Bancroft for +the Nootkas and the Chinooks has already been quoted.[310] Among the +Omahas ‘the usual number of children may be stated at from four to six +in a family’.[311] Of the Sound Indians Bancroft states that ‘the women +are not prolific, three or four being ordinarily the limit of their +offspring’.[312] The woman of the interior of the Pacific Coast ‘is not +prolific’,[313] and the number in a Chepewayan family is on the average +four.[314] In California ‘barrenness was not infrequent, twins very +uncommon, and the general average of families did not exceed two +children’.[315] Of the same people Baegert states that ‘it is certain +that many of their women are barren and that a great number of them bear +not more than one child’.[316] Of the Comanches we read: ‘they are not a +prolific race; indeed it is but seldom that a woman has more than three +or four children.’[317] Among the Puelches of South America ‘children +are not nearly so numerous as might be imagined’; this is due in part, +however, according to the author, to infanticide.[318] According to +Bridges, in Tierra del Fuego ‘few women have more than six children +owing to the great length of time between the several births’.[319] Of +the same people, Hyades and Deniker record their opinion that four is +the average number of children to a married woman.[320] They add that in +spite of early marriage very few young couples of eighteen to twenty +years of age had any children, although sterility was rare.[321] + +Of the other races which belong to this group the evidence points to a +similar conclusion.[322] Man thinks that three or four is an average +number of children in an Andamanese family, and six is the largest +number he met with.[323] Portman mentions three as an average.[324] The +Sarasins are of opinion that Veddah women are fairly prolific and that +the small families recorded are due to infant mortality.[325] Of the +Tuski tribes Dall says ‘they are not prolific’,[326] and according to +Deniker ‘the Ghiliak women do not have many children; it is rare to find +more than two or three to a family’.[327] + +8. We now come to the consideration of the factors of elimination. The +first practice, the extent of which we have to investigate, is that of +abortion. The methods employed need not be specified in each case; the +use of violent physical means is perhaps the most common; among other +methods the drinking of various decoctions is frequently referred to. +Doubt is sometimes expressed as to the efficacy of some of these +means—especially that of the last named. It may be that in some cases it +is of the nature of a magical ceremony without any practical result; as +a general rule, however, there is no doubt that the methods used are +effective. + +Among the Tasmanians ‘abortion was frequently practised’.[328] +Statements are sometimes made which seem to imply that abortion was not +uncommon among the Australians.[329] A survey of the literature does not +support this view; the practice is indeed mentioned occasionally, but it +is clearly negligible in comparison with the universal presence of +infanticide. Curr says that it is occasionally employed.[330] In +Collins’s account of the aborigines in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson +there is a reference to ‘the horrid and cruel custom of endeavouring to +cause a miscarriage’.[331] Palmer records the practice as occurring +among the Mythuggadi tribe,[332] and Roth says it is common among +certain districts of North-west and Central Queensland.[333] Abortion +has been noticed among the Eskimos, but never as a common practice.[334] +It is among the Indian tribes of the North and the Pacific Coast that we +find the most numerous references to this custom.[335] Speaking of the +tribes near Hudson Bay, Ellis mentions ‘a very strange maxim of policy +which prevails much amongst them, which is that of suffering rather than +of obliging their women to procure frequent abortions by the use of a +certain herb common in that country’.[336] Similar facts are recorded of +the Knisteneaux.[337] Abortion is not ‘uncommon among the Haidahs’.[338] +The Nootkas ‘frequently prevent the increase of their families by +abortion’.[339] Lord says that the ‘causing of abortion’ is ‘not +uncommon’ among the natives of Puget Sound,[340] while we find this +practice spoken of as ‘common’ in Vancouver Island.[341] Teit mentions +abortion as being ‘rarely practised’ among the Thompson Indians,[342] +and as ‘rare’ among the Shushwap.[343] Gibbs speaks of abortion as being +‘almost universal’ among the tribes of Western Washington and +North-western Oregon.[344] According to Bancroft abortion is of +‘frequent occurrence’ among the Chinooks, and ‘not uncommon’ among the +inland tribes.[345] Powers also records the practice among the Kabinapek +of California,[346] and Castelnau among the Guaycurus[347] and Rengger +among the Payaguas.[348] Cooper, who has reviewed the evidence so far as +the Fuegians are concerned, states that ‘deliberate abortion is +common’.[349] + +9. There is one common form of infanticide—the killing of deformed +children—which can have no importance so far as numbers are concerned. +But this practice may be noted here because of its bearing upon quality. +We may also note in particular when the killing is said to be of female +children.[350] + +Bonwick states that infanticide was fairly prevalent in Tasmania.[351] +Ling Roth, who summarizes the evidence of several authors, finds it +somewhat conflicting; but it would seem that infanticide undoubtedly +occurred though it is not known with any certainty whether it was +practised on a large scale or not.[352] In Australia infanticide is +practised on a very large scale. Parker states that it was very frequent +and that deformed children were always killed.[353] Lumholtz’s testimony +is similar,[354] while, according to Dawson, no matter how many children +are born, ‘rarely more than four are allowed to grow up’—the deformed +children apparently always being destroyed.[355] According to an +estimate made by Curr of conditions in Victoria ‘nearly one-half [of the +children born to any one married woman] fell victims to +infanticide’[356], and more girls than boys perished.[357] According to +Wilhelmi, if, as rarely happens, births follow one another quickly among +the aborigines of the Port Lincoln district, ‘the youngest is generally +destroyed’;[358] Beveridge says that the practice prevails in Victoria +and Riverina ‘to a very considerable extent’.[359] This last statement +is supported by that of Mathews to the effect that ‘infanticide is +common’ in New South Wales and Victoria.[360] Among the inhabitants of +the River Darling region ‘it seems to have been the custom to kill many +of the children directly after birth’,[361] and in Southern Australia +infanticide was very prevalent.[362] According to Howitt infanticide was +practised ‘to some extent’ among the Mining Tribe,[363] in the +Tongeranka tribe it was ‘common’;[364] in the Mukjarawaint tribe ‘the +grandparents had to decide whether a child was to be kept alive or +not’;[365] in all the tribes of the Wotjo nation and also the Tatuthi +and other tribes of the Murray River frontage, when a child was weak and +sickly they used to kill its infant brother and sister and feed it with +the flesh to make it strong;[366] in the Wadthaurung tribe the practice +was evidently not uncommon;[367] in the Narrinyeri tribe infanticide +appears to have been very prevalent, so that ‘more than one-half of the +children fell victims to this atrocious custom’,[368] whilst deformed +children seem always to have been killed both in this case[369] and +among the aborigines of Encounter Bay.[370] Infanticide was common among +the tribes of Port Lincoln—girls being less often spared than +boys[371]—among the Dieyerie tribe, where deformed children were never +spared,[372] among two Queensland tribes,[373] in the neighbourhood of +Port Darwin,[374] in Central Australia,[375] and among the Northern +tribes of Central Australia.[376] In Western Australia deformed children +were always killed.[377] + +Our information with regard to the Bushmen suggests that infanticide was +prevalent, though not confined to new born children. ‘The Bushmen will +kill their children without remorse on various occasions; as when they +are ill-shaped, when they are in want of food, when the father of a +child has forsaken its mother, or when obliged to flee from the fathers +of others.’[378] Infanticide is more common than abortion among the +Eskimos.[379] Nelson says that in the neighbourhood of Behring Straits +even girls of four to six years of age are at times killed.[380] Among +the Central Eskimos ‘it is practised to some extent’, though apparently +only girls and the children of widows and widowers are destroyed.[381] +Murdoch never heard of infanticide in the Port Barrow region,[382] but +says that it is reported to be ‘frequently practised among the Eskimo of +Smith Sound without regard of sex’ and that female infanticide occurs +among the people of King William Land.[383] It is also recorded of the +inhabitants of Smith Sound by Bessels that, after two children have been +born, any others that may come are more often than not killed.[384] In +Greenland ‘the heathen Eskimo killed deformed children, and those that +seem too sickly to live, as well as those that lose their mothers at +birth, when no one else can be found to take charge of them’.[385] +Killing of deformed children is also reported by Smith,[386] and that of +children who have lost their parents by Rink.[387] Among the Aleuts +infanticide is said to be rare,[388] but among the Malemutes +infanticide, especially of girls, was not infrequent.[389] + +Infanticide is frequently practised among the Kutchins[390] and the +killing of deformed children by the inhabitants of the Copper River +District is especially mentioned in the account of Jacobsen’s +journey.[391] Among the Chinooks Lord says it is ‘not uncommon’[392] and +Bancroft that it is of ‘frequent occurrence’.[393] The Thompson Indians +seldom kill their children, and a woman who did so was reprimanded.[394] +With the Haidahs, on the other hand, infanticide is reported to be ‘not +uncommon’,[395] and among the tribes between the Frazer and Columbia +Rivers it was formerly common.[396] The same impression is gained from +accounts of the Chepewayans.[397] The Koniagas ‘prize boy babies, but +frequently kill the girls’.[398] Powers, referring generally to the +Californians, speaks of ‘the prevalence of the crime of +infanticide’;[399] in particular he records that it was common among the +Gallinomero, who never spared deformed children,[400] that among the +Kabinapek[401] and the Nishinan[402] children who had lost their mother +were killed, and that deformed children were destroyed by the +Woruk.[403] Among the Yguazes infanticide was fairly frequent.[404] The +Abipones of South America ‘do not bring up more than two children to a +family, the others being killed to save trouble;’[405] According to +another observer ‘they seldom rear but one child of each sex, murdering +the rest as fast as they come into the world, till the eldest are strong +enough to walk alone’.[406] This practice, on the other hand, is said to +be ‘extremely rare’ among the Botocudos.[407] It occurs among the +Guaycurus.[408] Among the Puelches infanticide is common and deformed +children are always killed.[409] In spite of what has sometimes been +said, infanticide ‘only occurs occasionally’ among the Fuegians.[410] In +the literature with regard to the Veddahs reviewed by the Sarasins, +there is only one author who mentions infanticide.[411] + +10. Wars[412] were apparently common between the Tasmanian tribes, but +we have no trustworthy information as to their character.[413] Of +conditions in Australia we have abundant evidence; the literature has +been recently studied by Wheeler.[414] He distinguishes between +regulated and unregulated warfare, of which the latter is rare.[415] By +regulated warfare is meant not only that the use of heralds, messengers, +and preliminary negotiations is recognized, but also that the fighting +itself is regulated in such a manner as to restrict bloodshed. Most +commonly, if it comes to fighting, the two opposing sides meet and throw +boomerangs until one or two men are knocked down. Then, before further +damage is done, fighting stops and peace is re-established—not a single +life perhaps having been lost.[416] Unregulated warfare is a more +serious matter; a war party may attack and destroy a local group of some +other tribe without observing any of the formalities described +above.[417] In the latter case women are sometimes slain, although this +never happens in regulated warfare.[418] On the whole the loss of life +owing to warfare in Australia must be very small. + +The Bushmen gained the reputation of being vigorous fighters during the +wars with the colonists and managed to inspire terror throughout a large +part of Africa. We have, however, but little information as to their +habits before they were so rudely disturbed and, it must be said, so +barbarously treated. ‘They never appear’, says Stow, ‘to have had great +wars against each other; sudden quarrels among rival huntsmen, ending in +lively skirmishes, which owing to their nimbleness and presence of mind, +caused little damage to life or limb, appear to have been the extent of +their individual and tribal differences.’[419] Of the Eskimos about the +Behring Strait Nelson says that ‘an almost continuous inter-tribal +warfare’ formerly existed;[420] such a state of things is clearly +uncommon; in Greenland, for instance, we are told that war is rare,[421] +whereas among the Central Eskimos real wars have never happened.[422] +Nevertheless a good deal of fighting seems often to occur between the +Eskimos and the Tinneh, whom they hate and fear. ‘Along the line of +contact with the Tinneh tribes of the Interior a bitter feud was always +in existence,’ says Nelson,[423] who is confirmed by Bancroft,[424] +Hall,[425] and Ellis.[426] Of the Malemutes we are told that ‘the +occupants of the several islands are almost constantly at war’.[427] + +It is among the American Indians both in the North and South that we +find war to be more frequent and sanguinary than elsewhere. Certain +tribes are more peaceful than others, but in the lives of only a few did +war play an unimportant part. In addition to the evidence of actual +fighting we have, what is suggestive in this connexion, many accounts of +the large part which martial training played in the upbringing of these +races. ‘The whole force of public opinion in our Indian communities’, +says Schoolcraft, ‘is concentrated upon this point, its early Lodge +teachings, its dances, its religious rites, the harangues of prominent +actors made at public assemblies, all, in fact, that serves to awaken +and fire ambition in the mind of the savage, is clustered about the idea +of future distinction in war.’[428] ‘They are’, says an +eighteenth-century traveller, ‘early possessed with the notion that war +ought to be the chief business of their lives.’[429] And war does play a +very large part in their lives. ‘All Indian tribes are frequently at war +with one another,’ says Harmon.[430] The Thlinkeet are often at war[431] +and the same applies to all the tribes of the Pacific Coast, including +the Haidahs,[432] the Ahts,[433] and the Kwakiutl.[434] Among some of +these tribes, however, as, for example, the Chinooks,[435] frequent as +fighting may be, it is not very sanguinary. The Northern tribes of the +interior we have seen to be at war with the Eskimos from time to time, +and we are told that among themselves it is practically continuous.[436] +The Inland tribes are perhaps somewhat less warlike,[437] though the +accounts of the Shushwap,[438] Lillooets,[439] and Thompson Indians[440] +give the impression of tribes among whom fighting—and fighting of a +severe kind—is by no means infrequent. The Crees and the Blackfeet, for +instance, waged ‘unceasing war’;[441] the warlike instinct of the +Chepewayans is well known.[442] The tribes of Western Washington and +Northern Oregon engaged in constant warfare, though the actual +encounters did not result in any great loss of life.[443] In Central +California ‘battles, though frequent, were not attended with much loss +of life’.[444] In Southern California we hear of ‘frequent and deadly +wars’[445] from one author and of ‘continual wars’ from another,[446] +the last laying stress upon warfare as an important factor in the +population question. The Seri Indians of Tiburon Island engage in +practically continuous warfare,[447] and the Comanches ‘highly honour +bravery on the battlefield’. From early youth they are taught the art of +war.[448] ‘In consequence of continual hostilities’ the Ygauzas ‘cannot +travel the country nor make many exchanges’.[449] Among the Puelches war +is both common and sanguinary,[450] and the same is the case with regard +to the Guaycurus[451] and the Charruas.[452] The Fuegians are ‘almost +always at war with adjoining tribes; they seldom meet, but a hostile +encounter is the result’.[453] + +11. Passing to the consideration of feuds it is found that they +originate largely from motives of blood revenge. The expression blood +revenge suggests retribution for a murder actually committed, but among +primitive races the origin of blood revenge is far more often the +natural death of some member of the tribe. Owing to the almost universal +belief among these races that death is never natural in our sense of the +word, the loss of a relation or fellow-tribesman is attributed to +magical influence, and the guilt fastened upon some individual by a +process of magical divination. It appears that women are judged to be +equally capable with men of causing death, and that therefore +elimination from this cause falls equally upon both sexes. + +‘No such thing as natural death is recognized by the [Australian] +natives; a man who dies has of necessity been killed by another man or +perhaps even by a woman.’[454] ‘If an Abipon die from being pierced by +many wounds, or from having his bones broken, or his strength exhausted +from extreme old age, his countrymen all deny that wounds or weakness +occasioned his death, and anxiously try to discover by which of the +jugglers and for what reason he was killed.’[455] I Among different +races the holding of this belief has different results. With regard to +Australia, Messrs. Spencer and Gillen in the passage quoted above +continue as follows: ‘sooner or later that man or woman will be +attacked. In the normal condition of the tribe every death meant the +killing of another individual’—the guilty person being indicated by a +medicine man.[456] The avenging party is at times merely directed by the +medicine man to proceed in a certain direction and after a march, it may +be of a considerable distance, discovers another local group which it +entirely wipes out.[457] At other times an individual near by is +indicated and at once dispatched. It is obvious that if such results +commonly followed upon the death of every tribesman the population would +rapidly diminish, and, as a matter of fact, serious as the consequences +of this belief are, there are many indications that blood revenge is not +carried out with the extreme rigour that the above passage would seem to +indicate. Probably most deaths go unavenged,[458] yet in spite of this +blood revenge must be accounted as a factor of importance in +Australia,[459] especially as it affects women as well as men.[460] + +Among the races belonging to the second group we shall meet with a +somewhat similar state of affairs. But, widespread as this belief is, it +does not appear to provoke bloodshed among the other races belonging to +this group on any large scale. We hear of feuds among the Eskimos and +the punishment of witchcraft by death. Murder is also reported as +occurring among the Eskimos. ‘It is not a rare occurrence that a man who +is offended by another man takes revenge by killing the offender,’ and a +feud then follows which may last for generations.[461] Blood feuds +originating in actual murder are also recorded of various Indian +tribes;[462] but it does not appear that bloodshed, owing to belief in +witchcraft, occurs on any significant scale either in North or South +America. Of the Haidahs we are told that ‘death is ascribed to the +ill-will and malign influence of an enemy and one suspected of causing +the death of a prominent individual must be ready to die’.[463] Niblack, +speaking of the Coast tribes from Southern Alaska to British Columbia +and thus including the Haidahs, says: ‘all severe diseases or illnesses +are ascribed to the evil influence of enemies, and in the case of the +death of an important personage, a victim is usually found who has +presumably charmed away the life of the deceased.’[464] The implication +is, of course, that a victim is only sought on rare occasions, as on the +death of a prominent man. + +12. The custom of killing the old and the sick is of sufficient +importance to deserve mention. Among these races it is not uncommon and +is connected with the nomadic nature of their existence.[465] The +Tasmanians would seem to have been in the habit of abandoning the sick +and infirm.[466] There is some evidence of this habit in Australia,[467] +but on the whole sick and aged are well looked after in that +country.[468] ‘The Bushmen frequently forsake their aged relations when +removing from place to place for the sake of hunting. In this case they +leave the old person with a piece of meat and an ostrich egg-shell full +of water; as soon as this little stock is exhausted, the poor deserted +creature must perish by hunger or become the prey of wild beasts.’[469] +The aged are not treated well by the Eskimos. In the Ungava district +they are put to death,[470] and among the Central Eskimos a man may kill +his aged parents.[471] ‘On the East coast (of Greenland) it sometimes +happens that old people, who seem likely to die are drowned, or else +drown themselves.’[472] For the most part the Indians treat their sick +and aged well; but there are some instances to the contrary. The Queka +Indians abandon the sick and aged.[473] The Ahts,[474] the tribes of +Washington,[475] and the Chepewayans[476] did the same. The Central +Californians killed the old people,[477] and, according to MacGee the +Seri ‘often abandoned the sick and aged who cannot keep up with them in +their constant wanderings to and fro’.[478] In some of the accounts of +the Fuegians similar habits are attributed to them; there is, however, +some reason to doubt their accuracy.[479] These practices certainly +occur among the Zaporos.[480] + +13. We have now to mention certain other modes of elimination. That form +of elimination, which we saw to be of great importance among animals in +a state of nature whereby the young perish on a large scale because they +are consumed by other species, is of little importance among men who +have reached the stage of the lowest races known to us.[481] + +The subject of elimination from disease can be approached from different +aspects. We can ask what evidence there is regarding the prevalence of +disease among primitive races when they first came under the observation +of Europeans. This evidence is of somewhat doubtful value. It is also of +assistance to ask how far these races were immune from diseases +prevalent in Europe; for it is in general to be inferred that marked +liability to disease is a sign that no immunity has been evolved against +disease because it was previously absent. We can further consider the +question of the evolution of disease in general and ask to what +conclusions it points. The latter aspect of the matter can be taken +first. + +The organisms which cause disease do not belong all to one class. Some, +such as the bacteria, are plants, others are animals. Further, those +species which cause disease are closely related to other quite innocuous +species. Non-virulent diphtheroid bacteria are, for instance, found in +the throat. What has happened has been that certain species, belonging +to different groups in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, have taken to +a parasitic mode of life. It is not very difficult to imagine how this +could occur. It is to be presumed that organisms now parasitic were once +free-living and saprophytic. There is a bacillus which lives on grass; +it is closely related to the tubercle bacillus but is harmless. Such an +organism might be frequently swallowed; if liable to destruction, +resistance might be evolved.[482] Its presence might be innocuous, or it +might not be so and a new disease might be the consequence. The invasion +of a host by a parasite appears usually to be followed by a struggle—on +the part of the host to get rid of the parasite, and on the part of the +parasite to maintain itself within the host—in the course of which +struggle the parasite may develop activities noxious to the host. To +this struggle there are different possible solutions. But, when we find +the struggle in progress, it is a fair assumption that the association +of host and parasite is recent. The very fact of disease, therefore, +suggests that it is of relatively recent origin. + +There are two further facts which are relevant in this connexion. +Diseases are very rare among species in a state of nature. Such diseases +as we know of among animals and plants occur for the most part among +domesticated species. Again, there are certain conditions which favour +the evolution of disease; these conditions are found among domesticated +species and also among civilized man. There are many ways in which +disease can be transmitted—by insects, by liquid particles in the air, +by drinking water, by water used for bathing, by water introduced within +the tissues, and so on. Transmission by all these means, with the +partial exception of transmission by insects, is obviously very greatly +favoured by the aggregation of the members of the host species. In fact +only when such aggregation occurs can we understand how disease on a +large scale could be evolved. The aggregation of men, such as occurred +within the third period, into villages and towns, gave rise to +conditions under which bacteria could flourish in close proximity to +man; under these conditions there was far more opportunity for bacteria +and other micro-organisms to become parasitic than before. The +suggestion, therefore, is that most diseases evolved in that relatively +recent period when, owing to the increase in skill, men came to live in +close proximity under settled conditions. + +This suggestion is supported by two other lines of evidence. It would +appear that Australia and America were upon their discovery free from +most of the diseases known in Europe. With regard to the former Davidson +says: ‘Australia presents us with a spectacle of a continent, from the +pathology of which entire classes of diseases, prevalent in other +divisions of the globe, were, until comparatively recent times, +completely absent. Thus the whole class of eruptive fevers—small-pox, +scarlet fever, and measles—so fatal elsewhere, were unknown. Epidemic +cholera, relapsing fever, yellow fever, whooping cough, and diphtheria +were equally absent, as also was syphilis.... Leprosy was absent from +the southern continent.’[483] The facts with regard to America are very +similar. It has been asserted that the only lethal disease of importance +present in America before the visit of Columbus was malaria, and it is +worthy of note that malaria is an insect-born disease. The question +whether tuberculosis was known in America before the discovery has been +studied by Hrdlicka, who concludes that, though it cannot be affirmed +that it did not exist, it is highly improbable that it did.[484] Again, +the marked liability on the part of primitive races to common European +diseases points strongly to the fact that no immunity had been evolved +against these diseases because they were formerly unknown. Since contact +with Europeans has been established, these races have been swept by +epidemics, such as the epidemic of measles which carried off a large +proportion of the population of Fiji in 1875. + +It is not to be concluded that most diseases are recent in the ordinary +sense of the word, but only when a broad view is taken of human history. +It is known, for instance, that tuberculosis, plague, leprosy, and +bilharzia existed in ancient Egypt. Where and when diseases originated +we cannot say, but the fact that certain widely-spread diseases can be +traced to a previously limited and localized incidence—cholera, for +instance, to the Ganges Valley—suggests that such diseases originated in +those places in relatively recent times and spread thence. But in spite +of such indications the place of origin of most diseases is obscure; +syphilis was often said to have been introduced from America; the +evidence, however, that it was apparently present in Germany in 1495 is +against this view.[485] It is further of great interest to note that +certain diseases may have evolved in very recent days. Diphtheria may +date from the beginning of the last century and trench fever may be a +new disease. + +Little as we may know regarding the facts concerning any one disease, +the general conclusion is not doubtful. It was not until the third +period, and, therefore, only among the races of the third group, that +disease became a factor of the first importance in elimination. Some +diseases may have reached the African races through Egypt; and to the +extent to which this has occurred they are not typical representatives +of the time preceding the last of the three periods.[486] + +14. In further support of this conclusion some passages may be quoted +regarding the races in this group when they had been little influenced +by contact with Europeans. Such passages are perhaps not of great weight +as evidence of the former absence of disease; they are, however, worth +notice because they also bear upon another subject that will come up for +discussion in the ninth chapter. According to Bonwick ‘there are strong +reasons to believe that, before connexion with the whites, the +aborigines [Tasmanians] were a healthy as well as a happy people’.[487] +Of the Australians Curr says that ‘as a rule the health of the blacks in +their wild state was excellent’.[488] Longevity may be considered as +evidence of good health, and of the presence of aged people in Australia +many observers speak. ‘From numerous instances it would appear that the +former generations were fairly long aged. Almost every small community +would have in it two or three men or women over seventy years of age, +and here and there some centenarians would be met with.’[489] So, too, +Burchell records having noticed many old people among the Bushmen.[490] +Writing of the Eskimos in a medical journal Smith calls them ‘uncommonly +healthy’.[491] This is the opinion that one gains from other +accounts,[492] some of which specially mention longevity as a +characteristic.[493] ‘The North Americans are in general robust and of a +healthful temperament, calculated to live to an advanced age.’[494] +Another author says that the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains are ‘in +general subject to few diseases’.[495] Krause quotes the opinion of a +doctor who lived among the Thlinkeets in the year 1836 to the effect +that they were a strong, healthy people.[496] Of the Shushwap we are +told that they were formerly healthy and lived to a great age.[497] Hill +Tout sums up the situation with regard to the Salish as follows: ‘the +great age, to which both men and women formerly lived, shows the vigour +of the race and the general wholesomeness of their lives and +condition.’[498] ‘The Nootkas are generally a long-lived race, and from +the beginning to the failing of manhood undergo little change in +appearance. Jowitt states that during his captivity of three years at +Nootka Sound, only five natural deaths occurred, and the people suffered +scarcely any disease except the cholic.’[499] Powers, referring to the +Californians as a whole, calls them ‘a healthy, long-lived race’,[500] +and Baegert speaks of them as ‘strong, hardy, and much healthier than +the many thousands who live in daily abundance’[501] [in civilized +countries]. Among the Abipones ‘the diseases which in Europe fill houses +with sick persons and graves with the dead bodies are unknown here.... +You scarce hear once in three years of any of them dying of a fever, +pleurisy, or consumption.’[502] Hardt mentions the good health of the +Botocudos[503] and King and Fitzroy consider the Patagonians to be very +healthy.[504] + +15. There remains one other matter to be mentioned. There is abundant +evidence that the rate of child mortality is very high amongst all these +races. The causes of death are various; disease is seldom mentioned, and +death is most often due to exposure as the result of improper treatment +or of certain customs, or to want of suitable food. In Tasmania it was +difficult to rear children largely owing to the fact that suitable food +was not available.[505] Turner says of the Eskimos of the Ungava +District that ‘many die in early childhood’,[506] and this would seem to +be generally true of this race. The reason usually given is the absence +of proper food;[507] and it is not difficult to understand that the +peculiar Eskimo diet should be unsuitable for children. Child mortality +is heavy among the Indians, ‘only a small proportion coming to +maturity’.[508] The reason given in this case is generally the absence +not only of knowledge with regard to the simplest requirements of +children, but of any reasonable care of them.[509] To this we may add—as +the evidence will show—the practice of extraordinary customs which seem +designed to eliminate all but those with the strongest constitutions. +‘With all the affection of the mother, the women are almost completely +ignorant of ordinary sanitary rules as to feeding, exposure, &c., with +the result that infant mortality is something terrible in almost every +tribe.’[510] Heriot speaks of ‘incredible fatigues, whose excess +occasions the death of many long before the age of maturity’.[511] +According to Domenech: ‘many Indians die in infancy; their mothers, to +inure them to suffering and to strengthen their constitution, do not +take all the necessary care of them.... Till the age of ten or twelve +years they are kept quite naked, having only in winter a garment which +we would hardly call such in the warmest summer.’[512] Throughout +America it is a common custom to bathe even new-born children in cold +water at all seasons of the year, and to this Krause attributes the high +child mortality that he records among the Thlinkeet.[513] ‘Many children +[of the Eastern Tinneh] die at an early age,’ according to one +author,[514] whilst from another we hear that ‘the infant is not allowed +food until four days after birth, in order to accustom it to fasting in +the next world’.[515] Nootka mothers ‘roll their children in the snow to +make them hardy’,[516] and the Thompson Indians take small care of their +children, allowing them to run about without any protection.[517] Of the +Californians the Jesuit missionary Baegert, who dwelt long among them +when they were almost uninfluenced by European culture, says: ‘that many +infants die among them is not surprising: on the contrary, it would be a +great wonder if a great number remained alive. For when the poor child +first sees the light of day, there is no other cradle provided for it +but the hard soil, or the still harder shell of a turtle, in which the +mother places it, without much covering, and drags it about wherever she +goes. And in order to be unencumbered and enabled to use her limbs with +greater freedom while running in the fields, she will leave it sometimes +in charge of some old woman, and thus deprive the poor creature for ten +hours or more of its natural nourishment. As soon as the child is a few +months old the mother places it, perfectly naked, astraddle on her +shoulders, its legs hanging down on both sides in front, and it has +consequently to learn how to ride before it can stand on its feet. In +this guise the mother roams about all day, exposing her helpless charge +to the hot rays of the sun and the chilly winds that sweep over the +inhospitable country.’[518] Conditions seem to be much the same in South +America. Dobrizhoffer tells us that the Abipones plunge their new-born +babies into a cold stream,[519] and Guinnard says that very few diseases +occur among the children of the Puelches, though child mortality is +high.[520] ‘Few [Fuegian] women save all their children; most die in +early infancy.’[521] So, too, among the Andamanese child mortality is +said to be excessive[522] and is ascribed to injudicious management on +the part of the parents.[523] According to the Sarasins it is the high +death-rate that is the cause of the small size of the Veddah families +which they observed.[524] New-born Ghiliak children are bathed ‘often +when it is 40° below zero. The children who can survive such an +experience are necessarily very strong.’[525] ‘According to Schrenck, +the Ghiliak woman never dares “to give birth to a child at home; she +must, in spite of severity of season or of stormy weather, go out of the +hut for the purpose. In late autumn or in winter they build a special +hut for the woman, but a very uncomfortable one, so that the mother and +the child suffer the cold and feel the wind”.’[526] + +This concludes our survey of the races of the first group. Before we +consider what conclusions are to be drawn from these facts, we have to +deal in the same fashion with the races of the second group. This will +form the subject-matter of the next chapter. + + + + + VIII + PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURAL RACES + + +1. It is necessary first to explain what races will be considered. The +lower limit has already been made clear. As regards the upper limit, +some description has been given of the stage of Neolithic culture, and +the races to be considered here are those which may be in general +compared with the Neolithic races. The comparison can only be rough; as +we saw, the subsequent evolution of culture was rapid; metals came into +use, and, generally speaking, about the time of the first taking of +metals into use arose the first great empires. At this point we clearly +enter upon a new epoch and the upper limit in time is defined by the +rise of Eur-Asiatic civilization. We wish to study here the conditions +anterior to this step in the evolution of culture. It so happens that +this Eur-Asiatic culture has influenced in varying degrees many of the +races of Africa, Oceania, and Asia. The upper limit among the races to +be considered here is best defined by the degree to which they have been +influenced by this culture. America stands apart as there has clearly +been no influence of this culture upon the races in that continent. But +it should be remembered that in some places in America a degree of +culture was reached which was probably higher than that to which any +Neolithic race attained.[527] Nevertheless all the races of America not +already dealt with may be considered here. Many African races are +acquainted with the use of iron; it has been suggested that the +knowledge of the use of this metal originated in Africa; this, however, +is doubtful and the existence of this practice is probably to be +regarded as due to the spread of an element of Eur-Asiatic culture. The +use of the plough is also an example of the spread of an element of this +culture;[528] roughly speaking the use of the plough does not spread +towards the west, south of the latitude of Lake Chad; towards the east +it extends farther south, and on this account the Gallas, Somalis, and +Abyssinians can scarcely be considered as representative of the second +group of races.[529] The peculiarity of the Oceanic region is that many +of the races now found there undoubtedly migrated from some point on or +close to the Asiatic coast after Eur-Asiatic culture had reached a high +degree of development. Nevertheless they are for the most part ignorant +of the use of metal and of the plough.[530] The Dyaks are metal users +and the plough is known in parts of Borneo. We shall not on this +account, however, exclude the Dyaks from consideration here. The true +Malays on the other hand will be excluded; they are Mohammedans and, +originally located in Sumatra, spread in the twelfth century over a +large part of this area. On the fringe of Asia are a number of races +which, though in a broad survey are of no great importance, may be +noticed here. Such are the Ostiaks, Yakuts, Chuckchees, Samoyeds, and so +on.[531] What races are dealt with here may be made more clear by a +reference to those which will be considered in Chapters X and XI. In +those chapters we shall consider the ancient empires, the classical +races, mediaeval and modern Europe and its derivatives as well as the +chief races of Asia, whether pastoral such as the Arabs or existing by a +higher form of agriculture than that practised by the races to be +noticed here. In this manner we shall obtain a broad view of the +conditions both before and after the rise of Eur-Asiatic civilization. + +It is obvious that we have before us a very large mass of material—too +large, in fact, to be dealt with without further subdivision. It might +seem that the only reasonable course is to distinguish between various +grades of agricultural progress, and to consider in turn those races +which fall into each grade. Such distinctions have been made by +Professor Hobhouse and his collaborators, who recognize three grades of +agriculture and two grades of pastoral nomadism. As has already been +indicated, we do not find any correlation between economic stages and +the factors bearing upon fertility and elimination. What we do find is a +certain correlation between these factors and large geographical areas, +and in what follows the races of the second group will be considered +according to the geographical areas in which they are situated, and not +according to the stage of economic progress which they have reached. The +areas selected are as follows. There is, in the first place, America; +secondly, there is Africa, and thirdly Oceania. The first two areas are, +on the whole, fairly homogeneous; though the third area is not so +homogeneous, the level of agricultural skill is fairly uniform—nearly +all these races falling into Hobhouse’s second grade. Lastly, there are +the Asiatic peoples among whom Eur-Asiatic culture has not penetrated; +many of them are inhabitants of the northern fringe of the continent. It +will be noticed that the pastoral races chiefly fall within the last +group. The so-called pastoral races of America—the Navahos, for +instance—have only acquired domestic animals since coming into contact +with Europeans. The pastoral races of Africa are with difficulty +distinguished from their neighbours, who also raise cattle but practise +some agriculture at the same time. It will thus be observed that this +mode of classification is, as a matter of fact, roughly in +correspondence with the mode of classification based upon the stage of +economic progress reached. + +_America_ + +2. We have now to examine in turn the races of these four regions. The +procedure will be that followed when dealing with hunting and fishing +races. As before we begin with examples of intercourse before maturity. +This may take the form of marriage before puberty or of less regular +connexions. As Mr. Hartland says, ‘it would appear that sexual +intercourse before puberty is either recognized by a formal marriage or +tolerated as the gratification of a natural instinct among a great +variety of peoples in all quarters of the globe’.[532] It will be +sufficient here to note a few instances of this practice. Of the tribes +of Guatemala, Bancroft says that ‘marriages take place at an early age, +often before puberty’,[533] and the same would seem to be the case among +the Navahos.[534] Accounts of the great laxity of manners and of early +intercourse are given of some North American tribes—as, for instance, of +the Hurons and the Illinois by Charlevoix.[535] The same is also +commonly reported of the Brazilian tribes in such a manner as to leave +little doubt that intercourse before puberty is common among them.[536] + +3. Generally speaking, throughout America lactation lasted two years or +more.[537] The suckling period indeed sometimes extended over several +years; thus among the Sioux it might be continued until the child was +five years old;[538] of the Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco, +Hawtrey says that ‘it is customary to suckle children till five or six +years of age’;[539] Bancroft reports that a child might be suckled until +eight years old among the Chichmics.[540] Two years would appear to be +about the minimum; in Mexico[541] and Guiana[542] it was three years or +more. D’Orbigny gives three years,[543] and Forbes one or more, often +two, for the Aymara Indians.[544] In Mexico suckling was said to last +three or four years.[545] + +4. With regard to postponement of marriage the facts are very similar to +those in respect to the races of the first group. As an almost universal +rule girls are married soon after puberty, if not before. There is no +postponement of marriage of a nature to affect fertility in any +noticeable manner. There is at times a certain postponement of marriage +among the male part of the population, and occasionally some evidence of +lifelong celibacy. This, however, has no bearing upon fertility; it is +of interest in another connexion, and we shall on that account return to +it later. + +5. As noticed in the last chapter there are among nearly all primitive +races a number of occasions upon which sexual intercourse is prohibited. +Alone among these prohibitions, that against intercourse for some time +after the birth of a child is of importance as a factor bearing upon +fertility. We shall find that in Africa this prohibition becomes of very +great importance. The evidence as to the existence of this prohibition +in America is somewhat puzzling. In the last chapter two instances were +given in which intercourse during lactation was prohibited in two +hunting races. Both these instances are reported by authors who made +their observations many years ago when the customs of the American +Indians had been less modified by contact with white men than is the +case with most of the observations upon which we have to rely. We also +find that two other observers, who wrote more than a hundred years ago, +record the existence of this custom. It is not clear to what tribes +these remarks refer—whether to hunting peoples or to agricultural +peoples, or to both. Weld says: ‘They suckle the few children they have +for several years, during which time, at least among many of the tribes, +they avoid all connexion with their husbands.’[546] Heriot speaks of +‘the length of time employed by the women in rearing their children, +whom they nourish for three or four years, during which period they +cohabit not with their husbands’.[547] In addition to this evidence we +have the following records of the existence of this practice for various +agricultural races. Two eighteenth-century writers—Le Beau, speaking of +the Iroquois,[548] and Charlevoix of the Illinois[549]—state that +intercourse was prohibited during lactation. Speaking of the Crow tribe, +Holder mentions that abstention from intercourse during lactation was +observed.[550] In Mexico, according to Bancroft, the suckling period +lasted for three years or longer, and during this time there was often +no intercourse.[551] D’Orbigny says of the Moxos and Chiquitos that the +mother ‘invariably suckles her children for three years or more, during +which time she has no relations whatever with her husband’.[552] There +do not seem to be any denials of the existence of this practice except +in the following instance; in most individual cases there is no mention +of the practice. The exception referred to is in the case of the +Fuegians. Hyades and Deniker, referring to the statement of D’Orbigny +mentioned above, remark that sexual relations are resumed within two +months of the birth of a child among the Fuegians.[553] It is not +possible to arrive at any conclusion as to what the condition of affairs +was before the habits of the Indians had been much modified by contact +with white men. The fact, however, that the habit is definitely recorded +by various authors, who for the most part made their observations at a +time when the habits of these races were far less modified than when the +more detailed accounts were written from which these races are best +known, strongly suggests that this custom was formerly widespread. + +There is no evidence of the use of any effective methods to prevent +fertilization. We are told that among the Shawnees ‘the girls drink the +juice of a certain herb which prevents conception, and often renders +them barren throughout life’.[554] But in those cases which have been +carefully investigated it would seem that such methods are not in fact +effective. Hrdlicka, for instance, referring to a number of tribes, +among whom are the Apaches, Navahos, Pueblos, Pimas, Nahua, Aztec, and +Uti, says that ‘there is a very general belief among the Indians visited +that sterility may be artificially induced’.[555] On investigation, +however, it was found that the substances used were quite ineffective. + +6. Among agricultural, as among hunting and fishing races, we find +numerous references to the small average number of children in a family. +Speaking generally of the Indians of the North, Weld states that the +number of children is small,[556] and Le Beau that the number of +children born is less than in Europe.[557] Charlevoix comments on the +small size of the family among the Iroquois and attributes it to early +intercourse, abstention from intercourse during lactation, and to +prolonged lactation.[558] Catlin, whose experience was chiefly obtained +among the Mandans, has given the estimate quoted in the fourth +chapter,[559] and Holder’s estimate for the Crow tribe has also been +cited.[560] Of the Sioux we are told that ‘sterility among women is by +no means uncommon’,[561] and of the south-west Texas tribes ‘they are +not prolific—a woman seldom having more than three children’.[562] In +South America the facts are similar. Nordenskiöld visited the tribes +between Peru and Bolivia. ‘The families are not large,’ he says, ‘they +live in monogamy, and one sees in each family one to three children; in +the largest family that I saw (and that was among the Atsahuaca Indians) +there were four children.’[563] Of the Aymara Indians of the same +district we are told that ‘there seem to be but few large families—very +seldom more than four children, and often less than that number’.[564] +Spix and Martins, travelling in Brazil, ‘seldom saw more than four +children in a family’.[565] Azara was much impressed by the small number +of children that he observed in South America. He investigated the +matter among the Guaranis with particular care, and found that the +average number in a family was four.[566] Taking into account various +factors he came to the conclusion that the number of children born was +less than among the Spaniards.[567] Rengger, who also visited the +Guaranis, is of the same general opinion though he estimates the average +number in a family to be smaller than does Azara;[568] to the Guanas he +allows only two or at the most three children.[569] According to von +Martius the marriages of the Macusis ‘are not rich in children’.[570] +D’Orbigny carefully investigated the average number of children in a +family among the Moxos and Chiquitos; he found it to be roughly about +two in the case of the former and three in that of the latter. He +attributed the small number to early intercourse and also to abstention +from intercourse at certain periods.[571] Two is the average number of +children in a family of the tribes of the Upper Hualaga, and marriages +are often sterile.[572] + +7. We have now to examine the extent of the practices of abortion and +infanticide; with regard to the former, we may repeat what was said +above—namely, that there is every reason to suppose the methods used are +usually effective. Among the Sioux, Keating says that ‘married females +frequently obtain miscarriages with the knowledge and consent of their +husband’;[573] this fact is confirmed by Schoolcraft.[574] It was very +common in the Crow tribe.[575] In a report upon the tribes of the +South-western United States and Northern Mexico, Hrdlicka states that +‘artificial abortion is practised by all the tribes visited’.[576] The +tribes visited include, among others, the Apaches, Navahos, Pueblos, +Pimas, Nahua, Otommi, and Aztec. The Pima Indians practised abortion if +conception took place before the previous child had been weaned; the +suckling period among these people lasted until the child was six or +seven years old.[577] The habit is recorded of the Menomini tribe and of +the Zunis, though it is rare among the latter.[578] Among the Cheyennes +‘it has long been the custom that a woman should not have a second child +until her first is ten years old’.[579] Abortion is not mentioned in +this case, but in view of the widespread prevalence of this custom, +abortion is presumably the means used to bring about this result. In +Mexico[580] and throughout South America abortion was commonly employed. +‘The use of the means of abortion is common and explains the small +number of children’, says Karl von den Steinen of the Bakairi.[581] It +is especially frequent in Brazil and among the Indians of the +Chaco.[582] + +8. Compared with the prevalence of abortion, infanticide was not very +common among the agricultural tribes of the northern half of the +Continent. It was occasionally practised among the Sioux, and more girls +were killed than boys.[583] Of the Creeks it is said that ‘to destroy a +new-born infant is not uncommon’.[584] It was common among the +Pimas.[585] Infanticide is usually confined to the killing of deformed +children, and in this form it is recorded of the Apaches, Mohaves, +Navahos, Zuni, and the Tepecano.[586] Infanticide is more common in +South America. It is found in Brazil among the Guanas[587] and the +Mbayas.[588] The former are said to kill more girls than boys. It is +also practised to a considerable extent in the Chaco. ‘Infanticide is +quite common among the Lenguas, an interval of seven or eight years +being always observable between children of the same family.’[589] Grubb +states that the first child is always killed if a girl.[590] The killing +of deformed children is reported from many parts, including Dutch +Guiana[591] and Peru.[592] + +9. War plays no less a part in the lives of the agricultural than of the +hunting tribes in America. It was perhaps more murderous among the +famous tribes of the Atlantic coast and the great plains than anywhere +else except possibly Brazil. ‘As all nations of the Indians in their +natural condition’, says Catlin, ‘are unceasingly at war with the tribes +that are about them, for the adjustment of ancient and never ending +feuds, as well as from a love of glory, to which in Indian life the +battlefield is almost the only road, their warriors are killed off to +that extent, that in many instances two and sometimes three women to a +man are found in a tribe.’[593] Another author, himself a member of the +tribe, describes the manner in which the young Ojebway Indian is brought +up to regard war as his chief object in life. ‘When they are young a +spirit of war is instilled into their bosom; and in order to excite them +to courage and ambition, the parents and the old wise men recount to +them the wonderful exploits of the braves in former days, such as a +single warrior stealing up secretly to a village, killing a number of +the enemy, taking off their scalps, and making his escape before the +remainder were apprised of the slaughter.’[594] So again, ‘among the +earliest songs to which a Dacotah child listens are those of war. As +soon as he begins to totter about, he carries as a plaything a miniature +bow and arrow. The first thing he is taught as great and truly noble is +taking a scalp, and he wants to perform an act which is so manly. At the +age of sixteen he is often on the warpath.’[595] + +The neighbouring tribes maintained feuds that must have been the cause +of a regular and by no means inconsiderable amount of elimination. The +Crows were at war with the Blackfeet,[596] the Sioux with the +Ojebway,[597] the Minnetanes with the Shoshones.[598] The Sioux are said +to have killed women.[599] Farther south the Yuchi and other members of +the Creek Confederacy were very warlike.[600] The Pueblo Indians were +more peaceful, though they were subject to vigorous and frequent attacks +from the Apache and other neighbours.[601] The wars undertaken by the +empires of Mexico and Peru were of rather a different nature. Both +states pursued a regular policy of aggression towards the less advanced +peoples who surrounded them. These wars partook more of the nature of +raids upon the weaker nations for the purpose of robbery than of great +sporting contests, as were on the whole the wars of the northern tribes. +Throughout South America warfare seems to have been a regular feature of +inter-tribal relation. It was usually very sanguinary. According to +Wallace the Mandrucos fight with their neighbours every year.[602] Much +the same is reported by Church of the Araras, Mogos, Masas, and other +tribes of the Amazon basin,[603] and also by White of the north-western +regions of the southern half of the Continent.[604] The peoples of the +Chaco were formerly at continual war with the Guaranis.[605] + +10. There are frequent references to blood feuds in the accounts of +these races. Blood feuds are only to be with difficulty distinguished +from warfare; feuds between man and man and between family and family +merge into those feuds between tribes that are called warfare. It will +be sufficient here to note that a considerable amount of elimination +must among certain tribes arise from that peculiar form of blood feud +which is connected with the belief that natural death is caused by some +enemy. In Guiana ‘a person dies and it is supposed that an enemy has +secured the agency of an evil spirit to compass his death. Some +sorcerer, employed by the friends of the deceased for that purpose, +pretends by his incantations to discover the guilty individual or +family, or at any rate to indicate the quarter where they dwell. A near +relative of the deceased is then charged with the work of vengeance.... +If the supposed offender cannot be slain, some innocent member of his +family—man, woman, or little child—must suffer instead.’[606] The Uaupes +of the upper waters of the Rio Negro ‘scarcely seem to think that death +can occur naturally, always imputing it either to direct poisoning or to +the charms of some enemy, and on this supposition will proceed to +revenge it. This they generally do by poison.’[607] It is difficult to +ascertain how far these beliefs are acted upon; it seems nevertheless +clear that among certain tribes a considerable amount of elimination +must be attributed to this source. + +11. It is not necessary to repeat here what was said in the former +chapter with regard to disease. Our conclusion was that in all +probability most diseases did not evolve until at or about the beginning +of the third period. We therefore regard this source of elimination as +of relatively small importance among the races of this group whether in +America or elsewhere. We may note a few examples of the evidence to the +effect that these races were formerly on the whole remarkably healthy +and long-lived. Catlin says that the Mandans were ‘undoubtedly a longer +lived and healthier race’ than most civilized peoples.[608] According to +Le Beau the Iroquois were ‘practically never ill’; in spite of a climate +that he himself found trying, ‘they were’ he says, ‘nearly all strong +and robust’, and had few diseases.[609] ‘On the whole, the Yuchi, men, +women, and children, are a remarkably healthy set of people.’[610] The +Shawnees are ‘very healthy and are exempt from many diseases’.[611] Spix +and Martius, with their extensive knowledge of the Indians of Brazil, +say in general that ‘the Indians are seldom sick and generally live to +an advanced age’.[612] + +12. There is among the agricultural races of America as among the +hunting races, and, as we shall see, among all primitive races, a very +high rate of child mortality. As before we find the chief causes to be +lack of knowledge, lack of care, lack of suitable food and surroundings, +and certain peculiar customs.[613] It is not necessary to review the +evidence in detail. Of the Sioux we are told that ‘many die in infancy +caused by exposure’.[614] Another observer uses the same phrase, and +adds that ‘their mothers, to inure them to suffering and to strengthen +their constitution, do not take all the necessary care of them’.[615] +Lumholtz attributes child mortality in part to the eating of unsuitable +food.[616] Not only in North America but also in Brazil are new-born +children regularly dipped in cold water.[617] + +_Africa_ + +13. Pre-puberty intercourse is common throughout Africa both in the form +of recognized early marriage and of irregular but tolerated early sexual +relations. Among the Cross River natives ‘until she reach the age of +puberty, a girl is permitted by her parents and by her betrothed to go +about freely and have as many lovers as she pleases’.[618] A +considerable proportion of marriages among the Ibo-speaking people of +Nigeria take place before puberty.[619] In the Congo districts the habit +is specially common.[620] Sexual relations commence early among the +Bushongo; after reaching the age of puberty ‘a girl is not supposed to +have further sexual relations before marriage’.[621] It is also recorded +by van Overbergh of the Mangbetu,[622] by Delhaise of the Warego,[623] +by de Rochebrune of the Onolove.[624] Speaking of the Bangala, Weeks +says that ‘above the age of five years it would be impossible to find a +girl who was a virgin’.[625] ‘The sexual morality of the Bahuana is +conspicuous by its absence; the unmarried indulge as they please from a +very early age, and the girls before puberty.’[626] Torday and Joyce, +who are responsible for this statement, speak very similarly of the +Bambala,[627] and du Chaillu of the Mpongwe.[628] The Masai and the +Nandi in East Africa have a regularized system of intercourse before +puberty.[629] It also occurs among the tribes inhabiting the Baringo +district[630] and among the Swaheli.[631] Children of the Wapagoro, in +what was German East Africa, are brought together by their parents when +about seven years of age, and are separated for a period when +menstruation begins—that is to say, about three years later.[632] +Pre-puberty marriage was formerly very prevalent among the Makonde[633] +and the Wanjamuesi[634] of the same district. ‘As regards the little +girls over nearly the whole of British Central Africa, chastity before +puberty is an unknown condition. Before a girl is become a woman it is a +matter of absolute indifference what she does, and scarcely any girl +remains a virgin after about five years of age.’[635] Similar testimony +is given by Stannus[636] and by Maugham[637] for the same district. + +14. The suckling period would appear to last nearer three than two years +on the average. A few examples may be given. Ewe-speaking people, two or +three years;[638] Yoruba-speaking people, three years;[639] the Tenda, +two and a half to three years;[640] in Liberia, three or four +years;[641] the Kagero, two to three and sometimes five years;[642] the +Hausa, two years;[643] the Bushongo, two years;[644] in the Congo Basin, +at least two years on the average;[645] the Mangbetu, a year and a half +or longer;[646] in West Africa, on the average two to three years;[647] +the Mayombe, two years or longer;[648] in Uganda, at least two +years;[649] the Nandi, two years;[650] the Kuku, three years;[651] the +Wamakonde, Wakaua, and Wamuera, three years;[652] the Baganda, three +years;[653] the Wadschagga, two years[654] the Wanjamuesi, two to three +years;[655] the Wazaramo, two to three years;[656] the Baronga, three +years;[657] in the Madi district of Central Africa, three years;[658] in +South Africa, two years, according to Lichtenstein,[659] frequently +until three years, according to Kidd.[660] + +15. There is little or no evidence of any postponement of marriage among +girls. The facts with regard to men will be given later. According to +Denham and Clapperton, girls in Bornu ‘rarely marry until they are +fourteen or fifteen; often not so young’.[661] Among the Bangala, girls +marry at the age of sixteen to eighteen.[662] ‘In the primitive Bantu +tribe every girl gets married, some, however, sooner than others.’[663] +The average age at marriage among girls south of Lake Nyassa is +fifteen.[664] ‘For the whole of the Bantu tribes south of the Limpopo +the average [age at marriage for girls] would probably be between +fifteen and sixteen.’[665] + +16. Throughout the negroid and Bantu races of Africa sexual intercourse +is almost invariably prohibited for some time after child-birth. As a +rule the prohibition holds good so long as suckling lasts, and this we +have seen to mean more nearly three than two years. In some cases the +period is shorter, and there are instances where it only endures for a +few months. There are also very rare examples of the exact +opposite—namely, of a prohibition against breaking off intercourse. As +the evidence given below shows, to this custom we must attribute very +great importance. + +A Ewe-speaking woman ‘may not admit the male ... while suckling’.[666] +Among the Yoruba-speaking people ‘during the period of lactation the +wife must not cohabit with her husband’.[667] Intercourse during the +suckling period is prohibited by the Kagero,[668] the Hausa,[669] and in +Benin.[670] In the Warri district of the Niger Protectorate it is +‘customary for a woman to avoid cohabitation with her husband for nearly +three years after pregnancy’.[671] Mungo Park, who travelled through +this district, observed that ‘three years’ nursing is not uncommon, and +during this period the husband devotes his whole attention to his other +wives’.[672] Other authors record similar facts for other West African +races. The Moioa abstain for four years,[673] the Gallinas until the +child can talk and walk,[674] the Hobbés during lactation;[675] Nassau, +speaking generally of the Cameroon district, mentions three years,[676] +and Reade, speaking of Ashanti, mentions the period of lactation.[677] +With regard to the Congo district, Cureau,[678] Johnston,[679] and +Ward[680] mention prohibition during the suckling period. Among the +Bangala ‘during the suckling period the husband has no sexual relations +with his wife, or the child will become thin and weak and probably +die’.[681] Another account of the same people mentions two years as the +length of the period.[682] Prohibition during lactation is also recorded +of the Mayombe,[683] the Ababua,[684] and the Bayaka.[685] Intercourse +is only resumed among the Mandja[686] and the Warega[687] when the child +can walk. The Adio of the Upper Congo region form a curious exception; +soon after birth intercourse again takes place; if it did not, the child +would die, since the father would thereby show no affection for the +mother.[688] The Kuku only interrupt intercourse for three or four +months,[689] although suckling lasts three years,[690] and among the +Nandi prohibition only extends over a period of three months,[691] while +lactation lasts two years.[692] Similarly ‘among the Awa-Wanga many +believe that within five or six days of the birth of a child the parents +must cohabit or the child will die’.[693] + +The last-mentioned cases are rare exceptions; the customs that we saw to +be normal in the west of Africa are also normal elsewhere in Africa. In +Uganda ‘a woman must live apart from her husband for two years, at which +time the children are weaned’.[694] A Baganda woman ‘lived apart from +her husband for three years while nursing her child’.[695] When a woman +in the region of the Rovuma river ‘bears a child she lives completely +apart from her husband till the child is able to speak, as otherwise it +is believed that harm, if not death, would come to the infant’.[696] A +year is mentioned as the length of the prohibited period among the +Swaheli,[697] and the duration of lactation as the period among the +tribes of the Baringo district[698] and among the Wanjamuesi.[699] On +the other hand the prohibited period is short among some of the tribes +of what was German East Africa; it is two months in Konde-land,[700] +three months among the Wapagoro,[701] and ‘a few months’ among the +Wagogo.[702] In British Central Africa the wife does not resume sexual +intercourse with her husband for two years, unless she is the only wife, +when six months to one year is allowed to elapse.[703] In the Miri +district the period is six months, although suckling lasts for two +years,[704] and the same is recorded of the Atonga.[705] Speaking of +Baronga, Junod says that there is no cohabitation until the child is +weaned, and mentions that this is so among all the Bantu races of South +Africa,[706] Kidd confirms Junod’s statement, and says that most Kaffir +women live in strict seclusion from their husbands while they are +suckling their children, which frequently lasts for three years.[707] In +Loango the suckling period is the prohibited period.[708] + +17. Among the races hitherto surveyed there is no evidence of the +existence of any practice that renders sexual intercourse fruitless. +There are numerous instances of magical practices that are supposed to +have this result, but we have no reason to think that any of them are +effective. In Africa we again meet with similar magical practices, and +we must similarly account them to be without effect. In this area, +however, we also meet with for the first time practices of quite a +different nature. Many races in different parts of the Continent are +acquainted with means of preventing fertilization. It is not necessary +to describe how this end is achieved.[709] Any one who is interested in +the subject can turn to Junod’s account. The methods employed in other +parts of Africa are apparently similar to those there described. +Knowledge of these methods extends throughout South Africa,[710] the +Congo,[711] what was formerly German East Africa,[712] and probably +elsewhere. Generally speaking this practice is employed under two +different circumstances; measures may be taken to prevent conception by +those who are not married and who do not wish to be married for some +time; they may also be used by married people under certain +circumstances, as for example by parents in the Thonga tribe who may +have intercourse when the child begins to crawl, but who must avoid +conception until the child is weaned.[713] Again, young married couples +in the neighbourhood of Port Herald live in a special house so long as +they are unable to build a house for themselves, and during this time no +children must be conceived.[714] + +18. Almost without exception the average number of children is +everywhere recorded as small. Mungo Park, referring apparently to the +Mandingoes, says that ‘few women have more than five or six +children’.[715] In Northern Nigeria, four to five is given as the +maximum number.[716] Talbot collected some statistics for the Ekoi +people; the average number born to sixty-one married women was 4·3.[717] +‘The marriages’, says Burton of the Egbas, ‘are not very prolific’.[718] +Assinien women very exceptionally have more than six children, according +to Mondière:[719] in Liberia families are said to be small.[720] Among +the Bangala ‘it is rare for a woman to have more than two or three +children’;[721] another observer, speaking of the same people, remarks +that ‘there was much sterility’.[722] Cureau, speaking generally of the +tribes of the Congo Basin, says that families are small.[723] Kuku women +bear three children on the average.[724] The number of children is given +as three to five for the Baholoholo,[725] three to four for the +Bambala,[726] and the same for the Warega;[727] among the Mangbetu +families are not large,[728] while ‘on an average a Bayaka woman bears +three children; families of more than four are rare’.[729] Turning to +the races of the eastern side of the Continent we find that the average +Swaheli family is given as consisting of two children.[730] Figures have +been collected concerning forty-nine families of the Akikuyu, from which +it appears that the average number of children is between three and +five.[731] The Bakene women ‘are, as a rule, strong and healthy and have +children, though few of them ever have so many as six, three being the +average number for each wife’.[732] Two or three—at the most +five—children are born to the Wanjamuesi mother.[733] Among the tribes +south of Lake Nyassa ‘the average number of children in a family is +three to five’.[734] The Makalaka ‘race is not prolific, and the +women ... seldom bear more than an average of three children.’[735] +Lastly, the Hottentots have ‘seldom more than two or three children’, +and ‘many of the women are barren’,[736] while similarly in Madagascar +the natives ‘do not, as a rule, have large families, and a considerable +portion is childless’.[737] + +19. Abortion is practised by many races in various parts of Africa. +Among the Tenda people married women rarely practise abortion, unmarried +women more frequently;[738] Tremearne mentions it in speaking of some of +the Nigerian tribes.[739] It appears to be on the whole more common in +the Congo district than elsewhere in Africa. ‘The practice of provoking +abortion is a very common one throughout Congoland (though ignored, for +example, by the Bayaka), but most of all in the North and Centre.’[740] +With regard to particular races in this district, we find abortion +mentioned as common among the Bangala,[741] Bahuana,[742] Warega,[743] +Ababua,[744] and Onolove[745]; it exists but is less common among the +Mangbetu,[746] and the Bushongo.[747] In what was German South-west +Africa abortion is very frequently employed.[748] It would appear to be +less frequently practised in the eastern half of the Continent. It is +known among the Akamba[749] and the Swaheli.[750] In what was formerly +the German Nyassa district[751] and in British Central Africa it is said +to be not uncommon[752]; the same is said of the Zambezi Valley.[753] +Abortion is ‘almost universally practised by all classes of female in +Kaffir society’.[754] It is mentioned in connexion with Madagascar.[755] + +20. Almost every tribe throughout Africa kills children under certain +circumstances which they believe to be unpropitious. Examples of such +circumstances are peculiarities in the process of birth, the birth of +twins, or the cutting of the upper teeth before the lower. Motherless +children are also sometimes killed. The cumulative effect of these +habits cannot be considerable, and we may disregard them. It is an +almost invariable rule that infanticide—in the sense in which we use the +term when speaking of the Australians—is unknown in Africa. The only +exceptions are to be found among the Hottentots and in Madagascar—in +both cases the races practising infanticide not being of Negroid or +Bantu stock. The former are said to have killed their female children +fairly frequently;[756] in Madagascar infanticide was very common.[757] +Among the various unpropitious circumstances mentioned above, there is +one which is widely recognized in Africa, and which is of interest to +us. Children who are abnormal or deformed are nearly always killed. +Among other instances this practice is recorded of the Hausa,[758] +Kagero,[759] the Congo tribes generally—the Fangs being especially +mentioned in this respect[760]—the Mandja,[761] the Basonge,[762] the +Ababua,[763] the Bushongo,[764] the Wanika,[765] the Wakamba,[766] in +the Lenda district,[767] in the Lind Hinterland,[768] in British Central +Africa,[769] in Portuguese East Africa,[770] among the Kaffirs[771] and +the Hottentots.[772] + +21. The nature and frequency of warfare varies very greatly in different +parts of the Continent. Although among some few tribes and in some +districts war is as murderous as in America, it is on the whole far less +effective as an agent of elimination than in that country. The position +is somewhat complicated by the fact that the more northern Negroid races +have long been in contact with Hamitic and Semitic tribes; the latter +have made war on the former and greatly influenced the history of the +Negroid races. Movements have been set on foot and passed like waves +over the whole Continent. + +War is not a very serious matter among the Gallinas of Sierra Leone[773] +or the Ewe-speaking people of Togoland.[774] It was very different in +Dahomey[775] and Benin;[776] the Amazons of the former region have often +been described.[777] Tremearne gives an account of the head hunters of +Nigeria, whose habits must have been the cause of a great deal of +elimination.[778] Throughout the whole of this region, especially in +Ashanti[779] and Benin, human sacrifice is practised on a large scale, +and results in a considerable loss of life.[780] Passing farther south +towards the Congo region, we find that warfare is a moderately important +factor of elimination.[781] Weeks describes family, town, and district +fights—the last two developing out of the former; considerable loss of +life and material damage appears to follow.[782] Du Chaillu describes +what he calls ‘blood feuds’ in the Shekiani tribe; ‘frequently a dozen +villages are involved, ... the killing and robbing goes on for months +and even for years’.[783] Again, ‘when war has rarely broken out in the +country [of the Bakalai] there is no rest or safety. No man or woman in +any village can take a step in any direction, day or night, without fear +of death.... At last whole districts are depopulated; those who are not +killed desert their villages.’[784] Burrows, describing the tribes of +the Upper Welle district, says that they all live ‘in a perpetual state +of internecine warfare’.[785] War and human sacrifice have a perceptible +effect upon the numbers of the Banyala;[786] fighting is frequent among +the Bambala, but is not very sanguinary.[787] Of the Bahuana we hear +that ‘wars are frequent, and in some cases last for years’,[788] of the +Bayaka that, though ‘frequent’, wars ‘do not seem to have any +appreciable effect upon the population’.[789] The Baganda are a warlike +people, and fighting occurs yearly with the neighbouring tribes. Though +a regular cause of the loss of life, such wars are not so serious as the +intermittent civil wars ‘which also broke out from time to time in +Uganda between rival princes who laid claim to the throne. These latter +wars were by far the most disastrous that could happen to the country; +and during the few weeks they lasted, untold damage was done and a great +loss of life took place.’[790] In this district the presence of the +Masai tribe was a continuous source of murderous war.[791] Among the +Akanda ‘no warriors but those who had killed a Masai were supposed to be +able to marry’;[792] between the Akikuyu and the Masai perpetual war was +waged.[793] Of the tribes of the Baringo district it is said that they +are all good fighters, and that war is a sanguinary affair.[794] The +pastoral Bahima are, on the other hand, a peaceable people.[795] ‘It is +doubtful whether (in Central Africa) great loss of life occurs in any of +the wars among the natives.’[796] In South Africa the military qualities +of the Zulus are well known; all through this region in former days +warfare was regularly waged, and was a constant source of +elimination.[797] Of the Hottentots we hear that the tribes ‘were +constantly at war with each other’;[798] from another account it would +seem that the fighting was neither very prolonged nor sanguinary.[799] + +22. Belief in witchcraft as the cause of death is common throughout +Africa; furthermore as a result of this belief the supposed offender is +often slain. There seems to be no doubt that among many tribes this +factor of elimination is of some importance. Speaking of Kalabar, +Hutchinson says: ‘They cannot believe, or at least they will not try to +understand, how natural causes create diseases, but attribute them and +subsequent death to “ifod” or witchcraft. Hence a plan is adopted to +find out the perpetrator by fixing on a number of persons, and +compelling them as the alternative of the Egbo law of decapitation, to +take a quantity of a poisonous nut, which is supposed to be innocuous if +the accused be innocent, and to be fatal if guilty.’[800] Even among the +relatively advanced Baganda, ‘death from natural causes rarely presented +itself to the native mind as a feasible explanation for the end of life; +illness was much more likely to be the result of malice finding vent in +magical art’.[801] Torday mentions the Bayaka as an exception to the +general rule in that they accept illness as a cause of death, though +‘trials for witchcraft are not unknown’.[802] Though the belief is +widespread that the cause of death is to be sought in magic, the amount +of elimination varies considerably from place to place. Formerly in +British Central Africa ‘it was so general that deaths due to it were in +the larger villages matters of daily occurrence’.[803] Among the South +African tribes ‘the number of persons who perished on charges of dealing +with witchcraft was very great’.[804] In West Africa it was undoubtedly +common.[805] For the Congo district, Burrows[806] and Du Chaillu,[807] +for Central Africa, Werner[808] and Macdonald,[809] for South Africa, +Junod,[810] and for Madagascar, Parker,[811] bring similar evidence. +Speaking of the Congo region, Weeks says that three forms of death are +recognized; (1) by act of God; (2) by another’s witchcraft; (3) by one’s +own witchcraft. Thus to die by the swamping of a canoe is a case of the +first, to die by being swamped and eaten by a crocodile is an example of +the second, because ‘no crocodile will upset a canoe unless told to do +so by a witch’. Deaths from the second cause and executions following +upon them appear to be frequent.[812] + +23. With respect to disease the African races are in a somewhat +different position when compared with the other races of this group. +Owing to the fact that they have never been wholly cut off from +Eur-Asiatic civilization, some diseases have penetrated among them which +are not found, for instance, among the American agricultural races who +were cut off from the rest of mankind long before the origin of the +third period. It is a very difficult matter to decide what diseases are +African in origin and what diseases have found their way into Africa +from the north. It is possible that sleeping sickness and black-water +fever are African in origin. It is certain, however, that most of the +diseases which cause a large amount of elimination among the African +races at the present time have been imported from Asia. Among the latter +are dengue fever, small-pox, bubonic plague, cholera, Asiatic relapsing +fever, dysentery, typhus, and syphilis.[813] Nevertheless in spite of +the fact that disease is of more importance in Africa than in America, +there is a considerable amount of evidence to the effect that upon the +whole before the advent of the white man the African races were healthy +and long-lived. Thus Theal says that the Bantu races of South Africa +were formerly ‘subject to few diseases’,[814] and Roscoe, that the +Baganda ‘were happy and healthy before the introduction of European +civilization’.[815] In earlier days the Basuto were remarkable for their +healthiness;[816] they lived to a great age. We are also told that the +Hottentots suffered from few diseases.[817] + +24. We find many records of a high death-rate among children. +Undoubtedly this is largely due nowadays to diseases that have been +introduced into Africa within the last few hundred years. The evidence +seems to show, however, that, when we discount this factor, child +mortality is still high, and is due to ignorance and want of care on the +part of the mother. Both Harris[818] and Talbot,[819] speaking of West +Africa, remark upon the high rate of infant mortality, and connect it +with want of care. ‘As soon as an infant is able to walk, it is +permitted to run about with great freedom,’ says Mungo Park.[820] +According to Du Chaillu, ‘they know nothing scarcely of the care of +children, and lose a great proportion through mistake in treatment in +infancy’.[821] In the Congo region, ‘that a great portion of the +children die—once they are born—is evident from the Baptist Mission +records, extending over more than twenty years. This is chiefly due to +unsuitable, indigestable, or insufficient food. Grenfell has some notes +on the preposterous attempts to feed infants a few weeks old with manioc +paste.’[822] Among the Mangbetu many children die, ‘as they are left to +look after themselves at about two or three years of age’.[823] +Weeks[824] and van Overbergh[825] also record high infant mortality for +other tribes of this region. It is interesting to observe that Delhaise, +speaking of the Warega—an isolated and primitive people—says that +disease is rare among the children, though the death-rate is high.[826] +According to Gutmann, many children die in infancy among the Wadschagga, +owing to the very unsuitable methods of feeding. A mother takes food +from her mouth and presses it into that of her child.[827] Similarly a +high infant death-rate and want of care is recorded of the Zulus,[828] +Basutos,[829] and Kaffir[830] races generally. + +_Oceania_ + +25. Intercourse before the age of puberty is not very common among the +races of Oceania. In New Zealand, however, it was frequent. ‘It often +happened that a girl would have intercourse with a youth before she +arrived at puberty. At times marriage took place and was consummated at +this early age.’[831] This state of things is confirmed by several other +authors.[832] Dumas says it formerly occurred in Hawaii,[833] and from +an account given by Kubary it seems to have been practised in the Pelew +Islands.[834] Although Brainne does not actually say so, his account +seems clearly to indicate that intercourse occurs before puberty in New +Caledonia,[835] and the same may be deduced from Codrington’s account of +Banks’s Island[836] and from Danks’s description of the marriage customs +of the New Britain group.[837] Krieger mentions pre-puberty intercourse +in British New Guinea,[838] while Murray says that among the Baru and +other tribes girls are married when between seven and ten years old, +adding that marriage is consummated immediately.[839] According to +Seligman among the Sinaugolo ‘connection often takes place before +menstruation is established’.[840] The same is reported as occurring +among the Javanese[841] and very occasionally among the Topebatos of +Celebes.[842] + +26. The average length of the suckling period would seem to be at least +two years and is probably longer. A few facts may be given. In Samoa it +lasts two years,[843] in the Solomon Islands two years or more,[844] in +New Caledonia more than three years,[845] in Fiji two or three +years,[846] in the Bismarck Archipelago often up to three years,[847] in +what was German New Guinea about three years,[848] in Sarawak three to +five years,[849] among the Bontoc Igorot slightly less than two +years,[850] and among the Ainu four or five years.[851] + +27. Of postponement of marriage among girls there is again practically +no evidence. In the Society Islands girls were married when between +twelve and sixteen years of age.[852] In the Western Islands of the +Torres Straits girls marry a few years younger than the men, of whom the +age of marriage is given as between twenty and twenty-five.[853] Very +occasionally, as in the above cases, there would seem to be some +insignificant postponement of marriage. In general, however, it is clear +that practically all women are married from the beginning of and +throughout the mature period. + +28. The important taboo upon sexual intercourse for a period after +child-birth is common. The Maori cease to cohabit ‘after child-birth +till the child is weaned’.[854] ‘Throughout the Western Islands (of the +Torres Straits) cohabitation ceases early in pregnancy and is not +resumed for some time, the baby sleeping between the husband and wife. +This restriction is in force in Maburag until the child spontaneously +endeavours to move about. As a matter of fact another child is seldom +born until the previous one is some three or four years old.’[855] In +Savage Island ‘the child was usually suckled about twelve months, during +which period there was strict sexual abstention between the +parents’.[856] According to Kubary the prohibited period lasted ten +months in the Pelew Islands,[857] and according to Krämer, six months in +Samoa.[858] A married woman among the Sinaugola ‘is supposed to forego +cohabitation during the period of suckling’.[859] In the neighbourhood +of Finschafen in New Guinea, intercourse is not resumed until the child +can walk and speak.[860] With regard to the Solomon Islands, Ribbe +speaks of a ‘long period’ of prohibition;[861] with reference to New +Caledonia, Glaumont speaks of several months[862] and another observer +of a considerable time in this connexion.[863] ‘After the birth of a +child (in the Bismarck Archipelago) the husband was not supposed to +cohabit with his wife until the child could walk.’[864] ‘During the +whole of this time [two or three years], unless he had more than one +wife, a Fijian was obliged to lead a life of celibacy.’[865] The same +author says that ‘in Tonga and the Gilbert Islands the separation is +rigidly enforced’.[866] Another account places the length of the period +of separation in Fiji at three or ‘even four years’.[867] + +29. Here, as elsewhere, we find numerous references to practices +intended to render conception impossible. A good example is found in +Seligman’s account of the Sinaugolo. ‘There is generally a woman in the +village or one of the surrounding villages who is supposed to be gifted +with a power inherited from her mother of causing women to become +“hageabani”, literally incapable of having more children. Suppose that a +woman considers that she has had enough children, she will by stealth +seize an opportunity of consulting such a woman and will pay for +services. The woman gifted with the power sits down behind and as close +as possible to her patient, over whose abdomen she makes passes while +muttering incomprehensible charms. At the same time herbs or roots are +burnt, the smoke of which the patient inhales.’[868] Such practices are +obviously purely magical, and are quite ineffective. There are many +definite statements with regard to particular races that no effective +practices are known. In a few cases it is asserted that conception can +be and is prevented. Krieger, for instance, says that in what was German +New Guinea methods of preventing conception are known.[869] Pfeil gives +a circumstantial account of a method said to be employed in New +Ireland.[870] It seems clear, nevertheless, that the prevention of +conception can be of but little importance in this region. + +30. There is the same remarkable unanimity of evidence with regard to +the small average size of families in Oceania as elsewhere. In New +Zealand ‘families are usually small in number’.[871] According to +Dieffenbach, ‘families are not large; there are rarely more than two or +three children’,[872] while Brown says ‘they have very few children. +Large families are never seen among them; perhaps two would be a high +average compared with the number of marriages.’[873] There are rarely +more than three children in a family in the Western Islands of the +Torres Straits;[874] in the Eastern Islands the number varies from two +to six, leaving childless marriages out of account.[875] In the Sandwich +Islands the average is said to be three.[876] ‘There were few instances +of large families’ in Samoa; ‘four or five would be the average.’[877] +Three is said to be the average among the Aru Islanders,[878] while in +the Pelew Islands marriages are reported to be often childless.[879] ‘I +have never known’, says Melville of the Marquesas, ‘of more than two +youngsters living together in the same home, and but seldom even that +number.’[880] Tautain, who collected some figures for these islands, +found the birth-rate to be very low.[881] In the Kingsmill Islands ‘a +woman seldom has more than two children, and never more than +three’.[882] Dr. Seligman is under the impression that ‘childless +marriages are not very uncommon’ among the Koitu and Motu of New +Guinea;[883] and Stone says of the latter that ‘as a rule their progeny +is not numerous’.[884] Krieger remarks upon the small families in New +Guinea, attributing the fact to abortion and infanticide.[885] In the +Bismarck Archipelago ‘families as a rule are not very large.... A large +number of the women have no children.’[886] Three is the average number +in New Ireland; a family of four or five is considered large.[887] In +New Caledonia there are seldom more than three in a family.[888] Fijian +women are not prolific.[889] Ling Roth, surveying the literature of +Sarawak, notes that the small size of the families has often been +remarked upon, and quotes the statements of Houghton and Whitehead.[890] +According to the former, ‘in general there are more than two children in +a family; on an average three or four, very seldom only one child’. ‘The +families of the natives’, says Whitehead, ‘are very small; in one or two +instances I have known them to contain eight or more by one mother, but +many women have only three or four, most one or two children; and it is +by no means uncommon to find them childless.’ Brooke estimated ‘four or +five births to every married woman’.[891] Wallace was impressed by the +same fact, and took some pains to investigate the matter. ‘From +inquiries at almost every Dyak tribe I visited, I ascertained that the +women had rarely more than three or four children, and an old chief +assured me that he had never known a woman have more than seven.’[892] +So, too, according to Bock, ‘a Dyak family seldom consists of more than +three or four children’.[893] Hagen estimates four children born per +fertile married woman as the average among the Orang Kubu of +Sumatra;[894] while Marsden, writing in the eighteenth century, was +struck by the small average fertility; ‘women are by nature unprolific’ +in Sumatra, was his opinion.[895] Two or three is the average in +Nias;[896] ‘the average number of persons in one family in Java, where +it is perhaps as large, if not larger than elsewhere, is estimated at +only four or four and a half’.[897] Kreutz has compiled some figures for +Celebes. He makes two and a half children to be the average per married +woman among the Tolage and four among the Topebatos.[898] The Ainus ‘are +not at all prolific’;[899] while according to another author, ‘not many +children are born, usually three or four’.[900] + +31. Abortion and infanticide are common, and there are many places where +both practices are employed. Abortion is often spoken of among the +Maoris; it would appear to be fairly common.[901] In the Murray Islands +of the Torres Straits ‘abortion was very common’;[902] and in the +Western Islands it is very frequent according to Haddon,[903] and +similar facts are recorded of the Eastern Islands.[904] Abortion was +known in Hawaii;[905] in the Kingsmill or Gilbert Islands it was +extremely prevalent,[906] and also in Samoa.[907] It was practised at +times in Rotuma[908] and in Savage Island.[909] Abortion seems to be +fairly common in Fiji.[910] It is said to be ‘fairly frequent’ in the +New Hebrides;[911] according to Jamieson, ‘a certain proportion of women +die in endeavouring to procure abortion’.[912] There is very similar +evidence from New Caledonia[913] and the Solomon Islands; it was +probably more prevalent in the latter than in the former, especially +among the south-eastern islands of the group.[914] In the Bismarck +Archipelago it is reported to be frequently practised,[915] and so also +in the Aru Islands[916] and the island of Flores.[917] Similar evidence +comes from all parts of New Guinea.[918] It is specially mentioned for +the Gulf of Geelink,[919] among the Baru tribe,[920] near Dorej,[921] +among the Mafulu people,[922] among the Koitu and the Motu,[923] and the +Southern Massim.[924] It is also practised in Nias,[925] Central +Celebes,[926] among the Bontoc Igorot,[927] and in the Mitchell +group.[928] + +32. Infanticide was very prevalent in New Zealand—far more so than +abortion. ‘Infanticide is frequent among the New Zealanders’;[929] +according to another observer ‘it was formerly very common’;[930] or +again, ‘it was formerly very prevalent’.[931] We hear of the ‘wholesale +destruction of human life through infanticide’.[932] There is evidence +that girls were more often killed than boys.[933] Infanticide occurred +in the Western Islands of the Torres Straits;[934] among the Eastern +Islanders ‘after a certain number had been born, all succeeding children +were destroyed’.[935] In the Gilbert Islands it is very prevalent;[936] +in Samoa and Tonga,[937] on the other hand, it is either absent[938] or +very rare.[939] It appears to have been fairly common in Savage +Island,[940] in Tikopia (Barwell Islands),[941] and in Nissau.[942] +‘Infanticide was committed on a large scale’ in Rarotonga[943] and in +Funafuti,[944] but it probably reached its greatest extent in Tahiti. +The famous secret society known as the Areoi is said to have enjoined +the killing of all children upon its members. In any case it was very +prevalent in the island, and not confined to the Areoi.[945] ‘The first +missionaries have published it as their opinion that not less than +two-thirds of the children were murdered by their own parents.’[946] +Infanticide was not known in the Caroline Islands[947] (with the +exception of Pelew). It was apparently as common in the Sandwich Islands +as in Tahiti.[948] It was also practised in Fiji, but girls were +destroyed in preference to boys.[949] Glaumond states that it is ‘very +common’ in New Caledonia,[950] and this is confirmed by Bernard[951] and +Moncelin.[952] The last named mentions that girls are killed in +preference to boys. It is moderately common in the New Hebrides, and +again more girls are killed than boys;[953] according to Meinecke it is +not so frequent in Tala as in Fate.[954] Infanticide is ‘very common’ in +Banks’s Island,[955] in Radack,[956] in Vaitapu,[957] and in the +Marquesas.[958] It would not seem to be very prevalent in the Solomon +Islands, except in Ugi, where both Elton[959] and Guppy[960] report it +to be common. Otherwise, in the rest of the group it seems to be +rare,[961] and is absent in San Christoval.[962] It was formerly common +in the Bismarck Archipelago.[963] There is evidence of the existence of +the habit in various parts of New Guinea; according to Seligman it is +‘common’ among the Southern Massim;[964] among the Northern Massim it is +practised if there is a large family of girls.[965] The same is said of +the Mafulu people.[966] Otherwise it would seem, generally speaking, +that infanticide is somewhat rare in New Guinea. Murray suspects its +existence among the Baru tribe,[967] and Erdweg among the inhabitants of +Tumleo.[968] Newton says that he only knows one district in British New +Guinea where it is frequently practised.[969] So, too, among the Dyaks +it is decidedly uncommon.[970] Lastly, it may be noticed that there +exists ‘in some parts of the Solomons and New Hebrides a most remarkable +state of things, all the children are killed, chiefly by infanticide, it +would appear, and substitutes purchased’.[971] + +33. Warfare occurs everywhere in Oceania;[972] apparently there is not a +single case in which it is definitely recorded to be absent. In some +islands it is as murderous as anywhere in America, though on the whole +it cannot be regarded as anything like such an important cause of +elimination as in that Continent. The Maories were especially skilled in +the art of war which ‘carries off a large number of their strongest men, +and has often proved so destructive to a tribe, that it has been broken +up entirely and has disappeared’.[973] In the Murray Islands there is +frequent fighting and raiding of the neighbouring islands and +coasts;[974] and the same is true of all the islands of the Torres +Straits, though it is commoner in the western than in the eastern +islands.[975] ‘A life for a life’ is, we are told, the principle +underlying warfare among these people;[976] in the Sandwich Islands +elimination from this cause must have been very considerable; we hear, +for example, of ‘the sanguinary character of their frequent wars’.[977] +It is much the same in Tahiti; ‘their wars were merciless and +destructive’;[978] ‘occasions of hostility were also at times remarkably +trivial, though not so their consequences.’[979] War seems to be equally +frequent in Samoa, though possibly less murderous.[980] Brown believes +that ‘the wars of the Samoans tended for a long time to check the +natural increase of the population’.[981] ‘There was never any +difficulty in finding a reason, if a fight was desired (in Rotuma), as +any pretext could be seized.’[982] Such fights were sometimes followed +by very considerable slaughter.[983] ‘War, either offensive or +defensive, was their continual delight [in Rarotonga]. A state of peace +was rarely known to continue long between the tribes.... These quarrels +invariably led to fighting, in which the warriors of each tribe engaged +with the utmost desperation and cruelty.’[984] War was the favourite +occupation of the Kingsmill Islanders,[985] and in the Pelew Islands it +was their ‘daily concern’.[986] Warfare is said to have been especially +developed in the Marshall Islands.[987] According to Williams, ‘Fiji is +rarely free from war and its attendant evils’;[988] ‘natural deaths are +reduced to a small number among the heathen Fijians, by the prevalence +of war and various systems of murder which custom demands.’[989] On the +other hand, it is interesting to note that Thomson thinks that the +destructive nature of warfare in Fiji is exaggerated as elsewhere in +Oceania. He gives the following account of his own experiences in +another island as an example of what he found warfare really to mean. +‘As we travelled along the coast we found that every village had its +frontier; a stream mouth, or a sapling stuck upright in the sand, beyond +which none would venture. The natives did their best to dissuade us from +crossing these boundaries by representing their neighbours as thirsting +for the blood of strangers. But on the other side of the frontier we +found a meek folk, lost in wonder that we had come through the last +stage of our journey unscathed, so cruel and ferocious were its +inhabitants. Every man lived in active terror of his neighbours, and +went armed to his plantation, but this did not prevent him from being a +most skilful and industrious husbandman, or from living to a good old +age. The fear being mutual, there was scarcely any war; an occasional +attack upon a woman or upon an unarmed man served to keep the hereditary +feud alive.’[990] It may very well be that the murderous nature of +warfare has often been exaggerated, and that as a matter of fact the +true state of affairs often approximates more closely to the picture +given by this author. + +In the New Hebrides fighting is said to be fairly frequent;[991] in New +Caledonia it is certainly common, though perhaps not very serious.[992] +So too in the Solomon Islands there is ‘unceasing war’.[993] According +to Romilly, ‘in a battle the victorious party, if they can surprise +their enemies sufficiently to admit of a wholesale massacre, kill not +only the men, but also all the women and children’.[994] A very similar +general impression is gained from descriptions of New Guinea. ‘The +Western section of the Koita, especially the Arauwa and the Rokurokuna, +were formerly involved in almost continual warfare with Kabadi; apart +from this long continual struggle the Koita appear to have carried on +little inter-tribal fighting.... A considerable number of people fell in +these encounters.’[995] Other accounts of New Guinea give the impression +that, however frequent the fighting, the losses were not large.[996] +Among the Dyaks, on the other hand, warfare is not only frequent but +also sanguinary;[997] women and children are killed at times.[998] +Fighting occurs between the Ainu clans, and is the cause of much loss of +life.[999] + +34. It is not necessary to discuss the prevalence of feuds in general, +as they are not to be distinguished from warfare. But in addition to the +special case of murder following upon natural death, one form of +homicide deserves mention as it is of considerable importance in this +region, though not uncommon elsewhere—especially in Nigeria. Head +hunting is popularly connected with Borneo, but it is also practised in +New Guinea and the neighbouring islands. The taking of a head is counted +a proof of manliness; in Kiwai Island, Fly River, it enables a young man +to secure a wife more easily.[1000] Thomson saw thirteen skulls over the +door of a house in an inland village in Normanby Island.[1001] Woodford +found whole villages devastated owing to the prevalence of this +habit.[1002] Speaking of the New Hebrides, Hickson says that ‘in the +olden times a fresh human head was an indispensable preliminary to any +marriage negotiations’.[1003] Among the Sea Dyaks (Ibans) it is +certainly a form of sport; the other inhabitants of Borneo are said only +to practise it as a part of warfare.[1004] It is not true to say that in +Borneo the taking of a head is indispensable for a youth who wishes to +marry,[1005] though considerable prestige clearly attaches to it.[1006] +Without doubt the practice is responsible for a large number of +deaths,[1007] and the head of a woman or child is equally valuable as +that of a man.[1008] The habit is also very prevalent among the Bontoc +Igorot. ‘For unknown generations these people have been fierce head +hunters. Nine-tenths of the men in the pueblos of Bontoc and Samoki wear +on the breast the indelible tatoo emblem which proclaims them takers of +human heads.’[1009] Women and children over five years of age are +killed.[1010] + +The failure to recognize natural death as such is as prevalent in this +region as in the others which we have surveyed. Speaking of New Guinea, +Romilly says ‘in the native opinion there is no such thing as a “natural +death”. If a man escapes a violent death and dies of fever or pneumonia, +it is said that he has been bewitched and that a devil has killed +him.’[1011] So, too, von der Sande in his description of Humboldt Bay +records that ‘the opinion is generally held that death is always caused +by the evil desire of other persons’;[1012] in consequence numerous +murders follow. + +35. With regard to the prevalence of disease it is sufficient to say +that disease was certainly less common than in Africa. It is probably +true that disease was of as little importance as a factor of elimination +as in America.[1013] + +The evidence with regard to infant mortality shows that it is again +considerable, and due to ignorance and want of care. Speaking of New +Guinea, Newton says that ‘the rate of infant mortality is high, but it +is often due, so we suspect, to the absolute belief that a child must +have some taro to eat—where taro is the staple food—if it is to +thrive.... Infants not twenty-four hours old have had taro given +them.’[1014] Kreutz found that many more children died in the second +than in the first year; this he attributed to the fact that, whereas +while in the first year they are well looked after, in the second year, +when they begin to crawl about, they often die from want of +attention.[1015] Turner states that not less than two-thirds of the +children in Samoa died in childhood from carelessness and +mismanagement,[1016] and of the Bontoc Igorot we are told that children +are brought up without any sign of knowledge as to how they should be +treated from the point of view of health.[1017] + + + _Asia_ + +36. It is not worth while to deal at length with the remaining peoples +who are to be classed with this group. For the most part they are +herders of reindeer; the more western races have long been in contact +with Eur-Asiatic civilization; even the Chuckee were discovered in the +first half of the seventeenth century,[1018] while the Yukaghis were +converted to Christianity two hundred years ago.[1019] It is interesting +to note, however, that generally speaking the conditions among them are +similar to what we have found elsewhere. + +Suckling lasts three years among the Koryak[1020] and the +Tunguses,[1021] while Yakut mothers sometimes suckle their children +until the latter are five years of age.[1022] There is no evidence of +postponement of marriage; the early age at which it takes place has been +remarked on for most of these races.[1023] As regards the number of +children, Krasheninicoff says of the inhabitants of Kamtchatka that ‘in +general these people are not fruitful’.[1024] Sograff comments on the +small number of Samoyed children.[1025] Jochelson found an average of +over five to married women above forty years old.[1026] Abortion and +infanticide are common in Kamtchatka;[1027] Stellers comments especially +on the prevalence of abortion which is very frequently employed.[1028] +The Samoyeds destroyed deformed children.[1029] There are the usual +comments on the general good health of these people. Both Ostyaks and +Samoyeds ‘enjoy the best of health and attain a very old age’.[1030] +Infant mortality is large.[1031] + + + + + IX + THE REGULATION OF NUMBERS AMONG PRIMITIVE RACES + + +1. We have now to ask what light these facts throw upon the quantitative +aspect of the problem. Remembering that among all the races concerning +which facts have been given there exists that form of primitive social +organization the nature of which has been referred to, we may first +examine briefly the theory of population as it applies to society in +which there is co-operation; for the existence of this primitive form of +social organization implies co-operation. We may then go on to apply +what we learn from this review of the theory of population to the facts, +so far as they concern the races of the first and second groups. We may +next ask how far we can apply what we learn from primitive races to +prehistoric races up to the opening of the third period, and finally we +may inquire how it is to be supposed that the transition took place from +the conditions under which the pre-human ancestor, lived to those under +which the earliest societies, of which we can indirectly gain any +knowledge, must be supposed to have lived. + +Malthus was the first writer to set out a theory in detail and to +support it with evidence.[1032] Of the origin of his book some account +has been given in the first chapter. In this book Malthus, according to +his own account, attempted to show three things—that population was +limited by the means of subsistence, that it almost always increases +when the means of subsistence increase, and that there are three checks +upon increase—vice, misery, and moral restraint. By ‘vice’ and ‘misery’ +he meant disease, war, poverty, and so on. By ‘moral restraint’ he meant +restraint from sexual intercourse. This last check was not mentioned in +the first edition of the Essay; it was introduced for the first time in +the second edition. + +It is important to observe the nature of the argument put forth by +Malthus. (The whole theory is one of the comparative rapidity of the +increase of population and of the increase of food.) Population, he +said, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, food only in an +arithmetical ratio. Therefore there must always be checks at work +limiting population. He made a survey of the social conditions in +different countries, and pointed to the evidence of the existence of +various forms of vice and misery; where moral restraint was practised, +there was less vice and misery; where no moral restraint was practised, +vice and misery reached their greatest prevalence. Furthermore the +checks taken together must always be effective; it was, according to +Malthus, merely a question of what kind of checks should be in +operation. It was desirable in his view to increase ‘moral restraint’ in +order to decrease ‘vice’ and ‘misery’. It also follows that, if the +checks were always effective, there could be no such thing as +over-population. The conception of over-population, properly speaking, +did not enter into the theory at all. It belongs to the later theory, +which is based upon the productiveness of industry—an idea which finds +no place in his book. + +In the later editions Malthus made certain reservations about the +impossibility of subsistence increasing faster than in an arithmetical +ratio. Facts incompatible with the theory regarding the increase of +population in America had come to light, and he admitted the possibility +of the increase of subsistence in a geometrical ratio in new countries +under certain conditions. He maintained, however, that in general +subsistence could not increase faster than in an arithmetical ratio, and +that his theory was therefore in essential features still correct. The +ratios were at the basis of his theory, and sum up the whole essence of +the argument. It has frequently been said, however, that Malthus did not +attach much importance to the ratios. Professor Nicholson, for example, +says that he used them ‘not strictly—but as the basis for a +simile’.[1033] But Professor Cannan has shown that there is no +foundation whatever for this view, and quotes a passage from Malthus +exhibiting the importance which the latter attributed to this part of +his theory.[1034] + +That subsistence can only increase in an arithmetical ratio, or in other +words that the periodical additions to the average annual produce cannot +be increased, has long ago been disproved by statistics. Such figures as +caused Malthus to make his reservations about new countries have been +forthcoming for old countries also. In his own lifetime the census +showed the falsity of the arithmetical ratio for so ‘old’ a country as +England. It is not necessary to go into the facts, which are well known +and beyond dispute. It is only the result of the proof of the fallacy +contained in the arithmetical ratio part of the theory that concerns us. +The result was that the whole argument collapsed, founded as it was on +the comparative rapidity of the increase of population and of food. As +Professor Cannan says: ‘The _Essay on the Principle of Population_ falls +to the ground as an argument, and remains only a chaos of facts +collected to illustrate the effect of laws which do not exist. Beyond +the arithmetical ratio theory, there is nothing whatever in the _Essay_ +to show why subsistence for man should not increase as fast as an +“unchecked population”. “With every mouth God sends a pair of hands,” so +why should not the larger population be able to maintain itself as well +as the former?’[1035] + +2. The answer to this question was in process of being discovered during +the lifetime of Malthus. In the early years of the century attention was +drawn to the high price of corn, to the position of agriculture, and +especially to the fact that less rich land was being brought under +cultivation. From the discussion which ensued, and to which Malthus +contributed, there arose the idea of decreasing returns to agriculture. +It has been pointed out that it must always have been recognized in +practice that it did not ‘pay’ to employ more than a certain amount of +labour on a given area of land. In these years, however, for the first +time the principle which underlay this fact was made clear. West and +Ricardo were chiefly responsible for bringing the matter to light. The +development of the theory need not occupy us. It may be formulated +shortly here. ‘Whether we consider an acre of land or a whole country, +after a certain point is reached, the return to a given amount of labour +and capital will diminish. It will do so, however, only under the +supposition that the arts of agriculture, using the phrase in the +broadest sense, remain stationary.’[1036] The law is not limited to +agriculture. It is applicable to all industry. Whenever some agent in +production, upon which an industry is absolutely dependent, is strictly +limited, after a time equal increments of capital and labour will not +produce equal returns. In other words the returns to the same doses of +capital and labour will diminish. This, however, will only occur when, +as stated above, the supply of some agent in production is restricted; +otherwise when an industry enlarges there will, as a rule, be an +increasing return. The more labour, apart from diminishing returns, the +better. + +When speaking of agriculture it was said that diminishing returns only +supervene when there are no improvements in the arts of agriculture. +This is true in general of all other industries. Any increase in the +arts of production will in general admit of more labour and capital +being profitably employed; if there are no further improvements, there +will after a time come a point when diminishing returns will again +supervene. The following out of the working of these laws in detail +would call for a long and intricate discussion. Since the problem of +quantity is only touched upon in its broadest outlines, such a +discussion is not necessary here. The broad fact which emerges, and +which alone is relevant here, is that, since the laws in general are +applicable to all industry, there will be, taking into account on the +one hand the known arts of production and on the other hand the habits +and so on of any people at any one time in any given area, a certain +density of population which will be the most desirable from the point of +view of return per head of population. There will, in fact, under any +given circumstances always be an optimum number; if the population fails +to reach that number or if it exceeds it, the return per head will not +be so large as it would be if it attained that number. This conception +is of such importance that its formulation in other words by a modern +economist may be quoted. ‘At any given time, or, which comes to the same +thing, knowledge and circumstances remaining the same, there is what may +be called a point of maximum return, when the amount of labour is such +that both an increase and a decrease in it would diminish proportionate +returns.... If we suppose all the difficulties about the measurements of +the returns to all industries taken together to be somehow overcome, we +can see that at any given time, or knowledge and circumstances remaining +the same, just as there is a point of maximum return in each industry, +so there must be in all industries taken together. If the population is +not large enough to bring all returns up to this point, returns will be +less than they might be, and the remedy is increase of population; if, +on the other hand, population is so great that the point has been +passed, returns are again less than they might be, and the remedy is +decrease of population.’[1037] + +This idea of an optimum number is one which can be developed in great +detail. It is only necessary here to notice that when, as in the higher +economic stages, the arts of production on the one hand are improving +and the habits and so on of any people are on the other hand constantly +altering, the most desirable density is in consequence frequently +changing. In the lower stages, when progress in skill is slow and social +conditions more or less stationary, the optimum number may remain about +the same over long periods of time. Further, with regard to progress in +skill, inasmuch as the productivity of labour is enhanced by every +improvement in the arts of production, the result of such progress will +be that the return per head will, as a rule, increase. Such progress +will thus, as a rule, allow of a larger population which will have a +larger income per head. + +This idea of an optimum density of population is wholly different to +that put forward by Malthus. To him the problem was one of the relative +increase of population and of food; with us it is one of the density of +population and of the productiveness of industry. To Malthus the +position was much the same in all ages; in his view population, except +under unusual circumstances, had in any country at any given time always +increased up to the limit of subsistence, and was in process of being +checked—chiefly by vice and misery. In the modern view increase in skill +has brought to an increasingly dense population a larger income per +head. The chief cause of the largest possible income not on all +occasions being reached is that at times the density of population +increases beyond the optimum number for the given conditions, though at +other times the failure of population to reach the desirable level may +produce the same result. + +Though the problem of diminishing returns was being discussed as the +successive editions of the _Essay_ appeared, the idea was not applied by +Malthus to the population question. This was undertaken by later +writers. The development of the modern theory need not detain us; it is +of interest, however, to observe that J. S. Mill, whose influence over +contemporary thought was so great, never shook off the deep impression +made upon him early in life by the Malthusian theory. He exhibited a +remarkable dread of over-population, and in his _Principles of Political +Economy_ seems to have regarded diminishing returns as so often arising +that only rarely could an increase in population be advantageous. He +appears in fact to have thought that after a certain stage all further +increase in population was harmful, and to have looked upon ‘the degree +of industry which is required for the maximum productiveness of industry +as something fixed once and for all’.[1038] Mill’s view, therefore, +though founded upon the productiveness of industry, differs from the +modern view to which it has given place. It has since been clearly +established that there is no maximum density desirable from the point of +view of productiveness; so long as skill increases, other things being +equal, so long will the desirable density increase. The influence of +Mill’s writings has had the effect of keeping alive in England longer +than elsewhere the pessimistic view of the problem which the teaching of +Malthus had originally given rise to.[1039] So strong were Mill’s +opinions that he regarded the limitation of the family by virtuous +restraint as one of the most desirable of social reforms. He was led in +the following passage to express views that are strongly in contrast +with those of the many who now deplore the decline of the birth-rate +among the upper social classes of to-day. ‘Little improvement’, he said, +‘can be expected in morality until the producing of large families is +regarded with the same feelings as drunkenness or any other physical +excess. But while the aristocracy and clergy are foremost to give the +example of this kind of incontinence, what can be expected of the +poor?’[1040] + +3. This conception of an optimum number holds good wherever there is +social co-operation between groups of men living within definite areas. +As we have seen a primitive form of social organization exists among all +these races. This implies in itself a certain degree of co-operation. It +remains to show that these races are all, without exception, divided +into groups which are strictly limited to definite areas—contrary to the +still common notion that they wander where they please—and we may +further note that the inhabitants of these areas co-operate to a greater +or less degree in the search for food, and that there is a social +obligation upon each man to do his share. We may review the evidence, +beginning with the first point, which is of such importance that it may +be treated at some length. + +It is both misleading and dangerous to apply terms carrying modern legal +conceptions to these races; unfortunately, any terms that may be used +are to some extent biased. We have, however, somehow to describe the +results of investigation into the customs of these races, and it has +been found that among all these races, without exception, groups of men +are recognized as, if not owning, then as enjoying the usufruct of +certain very clearly defined areas. According to Ling Roth it is not +clear whether the Tasmanian tribes had any definite hunting grounds or +not.[1041] Bonwick confidently asserts that it was so,[1042] and Wheeler +thinks that the conditions in Tasmania were probably the same as in +Australia.[1043] From Australia we have abundant evidence; the facts +recorded from different parts of the continent vary considerably, and we +must either believe that customs differed from place to place, which is +not at all unlikely, or that many observers are mistaken, which, +considering the positive nature of their assertions, is not very +probable. Wheeler has reviewed the evidence and sums up his conclusions +as follows: ‘Our information shows the existence in some, at any rate, +of the areas of Australia of what must be held to be private ownership +in land, but it does not follow that the whole of the tribal territory +was so allotted. The unit would generally be the individual family, but +there are a few indications that the ownership might even be vested in +single persons within the family, other than the head. The clearest +mentions of individual or of family ownership seem to come from the +south-eastern area, where the physiographic conditions are most varied, +and where, in consequence, fishing rights become important. But it seems +likewise that the rights of families or of individuals, as also those of +local groups, were, in general, subject to tribal over-rights, though we +have no clear information on this point.’[1044] + +There is no doubt, in the first place, that the tribes were everywhere +restricted to clearly defined territories.[1045] Doubt only arises with +regard to the smaller groups. The usual mode of living is in small +groups of one to three families, which usually form a portion of a local +group, but which may exceptionally be actual local groups. Only in the +more fertile districts is the number of families living in contact +greater.[1046] These local groups, into which the tribes are divided, +seem generally to have their clearly defined areas within the tribal +territory. Thus Brown, speaking of the Kariera tribe of Western +Australia, says that ‘the country of a local group, with all its +products, animal, vegetable, and mineral, belongs to the members of the +group in common. Any member of the group has the right to hunt over the +country of his group at all times. He may not, however, hunt over the +country of any other local group without the permission of its +owners.’[1047] + +In some parts no further subdivision of the land was recognized. +‘I could not find’, says Brown of Western Australia, ‘any evidence +of the individual ownership of any part of the soil or of any of +its products. The whole of the territory of the group and +everything in it seem to belong equally to all the members of the +group.’[1048] In other parts we hear of family ownership; +Stanbridge says of Victoria that the tribal land ‘has been from +time immemorable parcelled out among its families and transmitted +by direct descent to the present generation’.[1049] Further, some +accounts speak of individual ownership. The natives of King +George’s Sound ‘who live together have the exclusive right of +fishing and hunting upon the neighbouring grounds, which are, in +fact, divided into individual properties, the quantity of land +owned by each individual being very considerable’.[1050] Eyre +speaks of the parcelling out of territory among the individual +members of the tribe. ‘Every male has some portion of land, of +which he can always point out the exact boundaries. These +properties are subdivided by a father among his sons during his +own lifetime, and descend in almost hereditary succession.’[1051] +As further examples of the ideas held by the Australians on the +subject of property, it may be noticed that Smyth describes +individual property in trees which passes by inheritance,[1052] +while Lumholtz says that ‘if a native finds a hive of honey in a +tree, but has not an immediate opportunity of chopping it out, he +can safely leave it till some other day; the discoverer owns it, +and nobody else will touch it, if he has either given an account +of it or marked the tree, as is the custom in some parts of +Western Queensland’.[1053] + +Wherever we turn we find similar evidence of the recognition of distinct +areas over which groups have more or less exclusive rights.[1054] Every +tribe certainly has its own clearly defined territory; it seems further +very probable that in most places the tribal territory is divided among +local groups, if indeed the subdivision does not go farther. The Bushmen +were formerly divided into tribes occupying ‘well defined tracts of +country, which they looked upon as their own ancestral hunting +ground’.[1055] Their respect for property is shown by the fact that, +when a man found a bees’ nest, he put his mark upon it, and +thenceforward it became ‘the sacred property of the finder’.[1056] +Klutschak describes distinct territories for the Eskimo tribes, who +confine their seasonal migrations to these definite areas.[1057] +Subdivision of land does not seem to go farther than subdivision among +the villages; the inhabitants of a village had the right to refuse to +allow any strangers to settle permanently in the neighbourhood. ‘If a +new family wished to settle at an inhabited place, the newcomers had to +await the consent of the people already settled there, which was given +by certain signs of civility or welcome, the strangers having meanwhile +put their boat ashore, but not yet begun bringing up their goods. If +these signs were not given they pushed the boat off again and went on to +look for another place.’[1058] It is so well known that the American +Indians recognized clearly defined tribal boundaries that we need not +attempt to illustrate the fact by means of references.[1059] It is +perhaps not so well known that there are also many indications of family +and even of individual property in land. In the first place we often +hear of the right of the inhabitants of a village to clearly defined +tracts. ‘Each tribe had its village sites and contiguous hunting and +fishing grounds; as long as the people lived on these sites and +regularly went to their hunting grounds, they could claim them against +all intruders.’[1060] Of the Carrier Tribes, Harmon says that ‘the +people of every village have a certain extent of country, which they +consider their own, and in which they may hunt and fish; but they may +not transcend these bounds, without purchasing the privilege from those +who claim the land’.[1061] Of the Western Tinneh, Hill Tout records that +the heads of the clan own the hunting grounds, ‘the limits of which were +always very clearly defined’.[1062] Among the more nomadic Eastern +Tinneh we hear that bands used the same hunting grounds; these areas, +however, were not regarded as belonging exclusively to them.[1063] Among +the Salish of the Interior, ‘all hunting, fishing, root and berry +grounds were common property and shared in by all alike’; whereas among +those of the coast the food grounds were the property of the septs and +local groups.[1064] From other accounts it appears that family and +individual ownership were recognized in some places. This applies +especially with regard to the fishing stations of the Pacific Coast +tribes, where ‘varying lengths of shore were held as private fishing +rights by heads of families, and these rights were passed from father to +son and were always respected’.[1065] Swanton gives an especially +interesting account of the practices of the Haidahs of Queen Charlotte +Islands. ‘Each Haidah family had its own creek or creeks, or portion of +a creek, where its smoke houses stood. Some of the smaller creeks are +said to have no owners; and, on the other hand, some families are said +to have had no land. In the latter cases they were obliged to wait until +another family was through before picking berries, and had to pay for +the privilege. Any family might pick berries on the land belonging to +another after the owners had finished picking, if it obtained the +consent of the latter and paid a certain price.’[1066] Referring to the +Sitkin Indians, Elliot says that ‘the coastline, and especially the +margins of streams and rivers, are duly divided up among the different +families. These tracts are regarded as strictly private property.’[1067] +Krause further gives an account of what can only be called individual +private property in land among the Thlinkeets.[1068] The remarkable +system in vogue among the Veddahs deserves notice. ‘The whole Veddah +country was divided into small hunting regions, of which each family +possessed one. The arrangements were most elaborate; the size of the +tracts varied in accordance with the goodness of the land, and each +included a portion of hill country to which each family thus had access +during the rainy season without trespassing upon the ground of other +families.’[1069] Cooper has very fully reviewed the evidence for the +Fuegians. It has been stated that communism existed among them. This is +not correct. ‘While all Fuegians are nomads,’ he says, ‘yet a Yaghan, +for instance, is chary of poaching on Alacalufan or Onan territory. Even +within recognized tribal territory the existence of more or less +definitely marked off family hunting grounds is explicitly attested for +the Onas by Professor Furlong and Dr. Dabbene and implicitly by Dr. +Gallardo.’[1070] + +4. Passing now to the races of the second group it is everywhere found +that tribal territories are recognized, and it has been shown that, +compared with hunting and fishing races, there is an increase in the +number of cases in which land is held by smaller groups, if not by +individuals, and a corresponding decrease in the number of cases in +which communal ownership is recognized.[1071] The details of the +variation in land tenure are not relevant, and a few descriptions of the +conditions among different tribes will serve as examples of the manner +in which groups of men among these races drew their means of subsistence +from clearly defined areas. ‘Among the Navahos a section of territory +was parcelled out and held as clan land and, as descent in the tribe was +traced through the mother, was spoken of by members of the clan as “my +mother’s land”. Upon such tracts the woman worked raising maize, &c., +and the product was recognized as their property.’[1072] Of the North +American Indians generally we are told that ‘occupancy gradually +established a claim or right to possess the tract from which a tribe or +individual derived food. This occupancy was the only land tenure +recognized by the Indian; he never of himself reached the conception of +the land as merchantable.... As long as a person planted a certain tract +the claim was not disputed, but if its cultivation were neglected, any +one who chose might take it. Among the Zuni, according to Cushing, if a +man, either before or after marriage, takes up a field of unappropriated +land, it belongs strictly to him, but is spoken of as the property of +his clan, or on his death it may be cultivated by any member of that +clan, though preferably by near relatives, but not by his wife or +children, who must be of another clan.’[1073] So, too, among the Omahas +maize was cultivated in patches of one-half to three acres in size; +property in these patches was recognized so long as cultivation was +continued. Afterwards any one could take them.[1074] In Mexico there was +an elaborate system of land tenure.[1075] Conditions in South America +were very similar to those in North America. Spix and Martius speaking +of Brazil say: ‘The savages consider the lands they have put under +cultivation to be in some measure the property of their tribe.... One or +several families unite to clear a part of the virgin forest and plant +maize, manioc, cotton, or bananas.... The same ground is cultivated +every year, because it would be too difficult every year to clear new +portions of the forest.... A field cultivated for several years is +considered to belong to a family, and the neighbours recognize these +rights.’[1076] + +The rights over land are very similar in Africa. Bartle Frere says that +‘it is clear, from the accounts of early Dutch and other travellers in +South Africa, that every Hottentot tribe had its territory, into which +strangers might not intrude for pasture or hunting, without the leave of +the whole tribe; each kraal had its pasture lands distinct, over which +the people of that section of the tribe moved their mat huts, as the +need of their herds, for grass or water, rendered advisable. As each +kraal had more or less of a family constitution, it is difficult to say +how far the pasture lands were held in common, or as the property of the +individual occupant.’[1077] Of the Ewe-speaking people, Ellis says that +among most tribes there is no private property in land but that the +family in occupation of any tract cannot be disturbed.[1078] Of the +Yoruba-speaking people the same author says that land, belonging to the +community collectively, is vested in the chief, who distributes among +households and families as required. No man can be depossessed of land +once allotted to him, and the usufruct descends to his children, but the +land cannot be sold.[1079] ‘It is doubtful’, says Talbot, ‘whether any +part of the Ekoi country remains at present unowned.’[1080] According to +Scott Elliot the rights of property in land of the different families in +Sierra Leone are carefully maintained, especially in times of +famine.[1081] In Northern Nigeria a ‘man is free to mark out a farm on +any unoccupied land’, and has a claim to it as long as he cultivates +it.[1082] Among the Bangala of the Upper Congo ‘the boundaries of a town +are well defined, and the lands belonging to a town are well known to +all other towns in the neighbourhood. If an animal is killed on ground +owned by a town other than that to which the huntsman belongs, he has to +send a portion—generally the head—to the chief of the town which claims +the ground.’[1083] Further, ‘every woman had her farm, which was her +exclusive property, and not even a fellow wife had any rights over +it’.[1084] The hunting grounds of the Bushongo are well defined; the +usufruct of the soil belongs to individuals, and trees are private +property.[1085] Among the Mangbetu ‘every tribe has an accurate +knowledge of the boundary of the territory over which it can hunt, move +about, and establish its villages’.[1086] Hobley states that among the +Akamba there is individual property in land which passes on the death of +the father to the sons.[1087] The limits of the properties are very well +defined and well known among the Ababua; cultivation renders the title +good.[1088] The Baganda ‘lived in their gardens or plantations. These +gardens were often joined one to the other, and a number of people lived +in a community, often forming four or five miles of continuous garden +with families living each on their own plot.’[1089] Even the fallow land +among the Akikuyu was ‘all in private ownership’, and could not be +brought into cultivation without the owner’s consent.[1090] In British +Central Africa a man making a garden is ‘perfectly free to choose so +long as the ground is not in cultivation, or has not been bespoken by +some one else; and, once marked, no one can interfere with it’.[1091] Of +the same region we are told that ‘these negroes have clear ideas of +property. The waste land is usually considered to belong to the chief, +but plantations and enclosures belong personally to the individual who +originally made them.... Natives have clear ideas of large or small +estates, or of their kingdom; and in the case of the former they are +marked by the planting of certain trees of thick growth, while of course +streams and mountains are recognized as boundaries and natural limits of +territories.’[1092] Of the Thonga tribe in Portuguese East Africa we +hear that ‘each man has his own field which he tills’.[1093] Speaking of +the Bantu races south of the Zambezi, Theal says that ‘the chief +apportioned to each head of a family sufficient ground for a garden +according to his needs, and it remained in that individual’s possession +as long as it was cultivated’.[1094] So Conder says of Bechuanaland, +‘the land belongs to the chief. He divides it among his head men and +they in turn among their people. There is no division of grazing land. +The mealie fields are practically the property of the cultivator so long +as they are tilled. I found each patch to belong to an individual, and +to be divided generally by untilled land from the next patch.’[1095] +Among the Ovaherero the whole land is common property, but the rights of +tribes and also of individuals to particular spots are recognized so +long as they are occupied. Whoever first appropriates a spring and the +surrounding pastures can maintain his right.[1096] + +The conditions in Oceania are in their main elements, which alone are +relevant, similar to those in America and Africa. In the Pelew Islands +every family had its plot of land, which was considered as private +property so long as it was occupied and cultivated.[1097] In New Zealand +‘land was held primarily by tribal rights; and within this tribal right +each free warrior of the tribe had particular rights over some +portion’.[1098] In Sarawak ‘each tribe had its limits, which have been +handed down from father to son for ages, so that every old man of a +tribe knows the exact extent of its district’.[1099] In British New +Guinea we hear of ‘properly regulated and well-defined property rights, +certainly not bounded by surveyed lines commonly used to indicate +European land claims, but marked and known by natural features such as +surface conditions afford’.[1100] It may also be noticed that rights +over certain areas are recognized by the peoples of Northern Asia, such +as the Tunguses and the Yakuts.[1101] + +5. Passing to the second and third points we find that within these +areas there is evidence even among the most primitive hunters of +co-operation in the search for food and of strict rules for the division +of the available food. Coupled with this we find that there is a social +obligation which is strongly enforced for every man to do his share. +Thus, where hunting and fishing can only be carried out by joint +parties, strict rules exist for the division of the catch among those +who have taken part and among their dependents. This may be illustrated +by a few examples. Howitt gives many details of the rules in force in +Australia with regard to the division of food. These rules not only +differ from place to place but also for the various forms of game. Thus +among the Kurnai ‘a wombat is cooked, then cut open and skinned. The +skin is cut into strips and divided with parts of the animal thus. The +head to the person who killed the animal. His father the right rib; +mother the left ribs and backbone, which, with some of the skin, she +gives to her parents. Her husband’s parents receive some of the skin. +The elder brother gets the right shoulder, the younger the left. The +elder sister gets the right hind leg, the younger the left hind leg, and +the rump and the liver are sent to the young men in the camp.’[1102] ‘If +a man only killed enough game or procured enough food for himself, his +wife and his children, then he need not divide with others; but if he +found that his father had no food, he would give them what he had and go +out and look for more.’[1103] ‘All the males in the Chepara tribe are +expected to provide food, if not sick. If a man is lazy and stays in +camp, he is jeered at and insulted by the others.’[1104] + +The principal features of the Australian customs as described above are +to be found among all hunting and fishing races, though such elaborate +rules as are usual in Australia are somewhat uncommon elsewhere. The +Bushmen may have had their rules for the division of game; all we are +told is to the effect that they shared food. ‘When one feasted they all +partook; and when one hungered they all equally suffered.’[1105] We have +evidence both of the sharing of food and of the dividing up of game +among the Eskimos. Details of the latter are given by Nansen;[1106] with +regard to the former we have frequent references to the division of food +within the villages among all who need it.[1107] Of the Eskimos we are +also told that ‘it might be considered a law that every man, as far as +he was able to do it, should practise the trade of a hunter on the sea, +until he was either disabled by old age or had a son to succeed him. +This duty neglected, he brought upon himself the reprehension not only +of the other members of his own family, but also of the wider +community.’[1108] Rules for the division of food were almost universal +among the Indians; when a hunter of the Hare tribe kills an animal, he +is only allowed the tongue and ribs; the rest is distributed according +to a system.[1109] So, too, among the Lillooet a regular partition of +the game took place, of which one of the features was ‘that the persons +who had the game had no preference over others’.[1110] Such phrases as +‘studied equity in the distribution of necessaries’,[1111] which is +applied to the Seri Indians, indicate the existence of similar +rules.[1112] + +Conditions are similar among the races of the second group. In Fiji +‘public opinion took care that no man in the community shirked his +work’.[1113] In New Ireland, ‘should a man neglect his family, a mode of +punishment very similar to one practised by schoolboys among civilized +races is adopted. A double row of men, women, and children—the whole +population of the village—armed with stiff birches is formed; and at a +signal from the chief the delinquent is obliged to run a certain number +of times through the lines and receive a general castigation from the +rods of the villagers’.[1114] Of the Pawumwa Haseman says ‘all work +together.... If any one refuses to assist in planting, the chief forces +him to work. I saw one Indian with a long scar on the side of his head +and neck, the result of punishment for laziness.’[1115] + +6. It is thus clear that within any group in any primitive race, the +members of which co-operate together to obtain their food from a +definite area to which they are confined, the principle of the optimum +number holds good. There is, that is to say, taking into account the +abundance of game, the fertility of the land, the skilled methods in +use, and all other factors, a density of population which, if attained, +will enable the greatest possible average income per head to be earned; +if the density is greater or if it is less than this desirable density, +the average income will be less than it might have been. Obviously it +must be a very great advantage for any group to approximate to this +desirable density. There are three possibilities open to any group. The +desirable number may be approached, it may be exceeded up to the point +where men can only just exist, or it may not be reached. Extreme +departures from the optimum number must be very disadvantageous; if +numbers increase until they are limited by starvation only, then no +benefit arises from the use of any skilled methods that may be known. +Under such circumstances all inventions in the methods of hunting, +fishing, and cultivating the ground profit nothing. Social conditions +must also inevitably be unstable where starvation alone limits numbers. + +This being so, how are numbers regulated? We may observe to begin with +that there is a number of factors at work among all these races which +incidentally limit increase. This they may do either by decreasing +fertility or by increasing elimination. To the former class belong +pre-puberty intercourse and prolonged lactation, to the latter war and +lack of care of children. Two characteristics of these factors are +noteworthy. The effect they have upon the limitation of increase is +incidental; it is the chance accompaniment of the practice of certain +customs or of certain habits. In the second place the working of any +single factor, so far as it reduces fertility or increases elimination, +is fairly regular; in any primitive race at any given time such habits +as prolonged lactation and early intercourse, when they occur, cause a +certain definite reduction of fertility; and such customs as those of +war and those connected with the upbringing of children cause a certain +definite amount of elimination. The nature of the factors present and +the degree of their incidence varies considerably from race to race, but +it follows from what has been said above that in any primitive race over +a considerable length of time the amount by which fertility is decreased +and the amount of elimination which is caused remain fairly constant. + +There is another class of factors the primary and not the incidental +function of which it is either to reduce fertility or to cause +elimination. These factors are prolonged abstention from intercourse, +abortion, and infanticide. The view put forward here is that normally in +every primitive race one or more of these customs are in use, and that +the degree to which they are practised is such that there is an approach +to the optimum number. With regard to this view we may first deal with +the question as to the prevalence of these customs. We may then refer to +the evidence as to the nature and origin of these practices. We shall +then be in a position to ask how it may be supposed that they are so +practised as to bring about that amount of restriction of increase which +will result in an approach to the optimum number being made. + +7. The evidence regarding the practice of these customs—prolonged +abstention from intercourse, abortion, and infanticide—has already been +given in the last two chapters. This evidence is also summed up in the +Appendix to which the reader is invited to turn. No attempt has been +made to conduct an exhaustive inquiry; but it is claimed that there is +ample evidence of the widespread prevalence of one or more of these +practices. There is no indication of the correlation of any one practice +with any one economic stage. As far as the evidence goes, any practice +may be in use in any economic stage. To the meaning of this we shall +refer later. It is further claimed that, when the influence of contact +with Europeans is taken into account, the evidence of the existence of +these customs is still more impressive; for the observations upon which +we have to rely have for the greater part been made after these races +had been in contact with Europeans, and such contact is followed by a +diminution of these practices. + +One of the first changes brought about by this contact is connected with +the introduction of diseases previously unknown. These diseases are +often peculiarly fatal, causing a very high death-rate, and it is clear +that, unless the practices of abstention from intercourse, abortion, and +infanticide were largely abandoned, the race would perish. There is no +difficulty in understanding how these practices would actually be +abandoned soon after the introduction of disease. The proximate causes +of these practices are largely, as we shall see, the difficulty of +transporting many young children and the undesirability of having more +than one child during the period of lactation. If disease began to carry +off many children, the immediate causes for these practices would +largely or entirely disappear and so would the customs themselves.[1116] + +Apart from the introduction of disease, the effect of contact is in +other ways to reduce the extent of these practices. Contact has often +resulted in warfare between aboriginal races and European settlers—as in +Tasmania, Australia, and America, or as between the Bushmen and the +Boers. The largely increased death-rate would, as in the case of +disease, be followed by a diminution of the extent of these practices. +Further, under other conditions, as for instance in Polynesia, the +efforts of missionaries have long been directed to putting a stop to +these customs.[1117] We may also note that there is often a bias on the +part of observers to under-estimate the extent of the employment of +infanticide and abortion. Many observers are attracted by the races who +come under their notice and seem to think that these practices are +incompatible with the kindly nature or pleasant disposition of the +people they describe—that in fact the attribution to them of such +customs as a normal feature of existence is a kind of libel—and if they +report them at all, they persuade themselves into thinking that they are +infrequent and abnormal. We have only to remember the objection taken to +the interpretation of the finds in neolithic graves in England as +evidences of infanticide—an objection based on the dislike of believing +that our ancestors could have been guilty of such a habit. Or, again, we +may remember that Tacitus, when desirous of holding up the Germanic +tribes as an example to the Romans of his day, declared that they never +committed infanticide—the implication being again that infanticide is to +be regarded as a degenerate and unworthy custom.[1118] + +Nevertheless, in spite of all such tendencies working for the rapid +disappearance of these customs, and in spite of the bias against +believing in their existence, there is, as the Appendix shows, ample +evidence that one or more of these practices are recorded for almost +every people. + +8. We may now consider the evidence regarding the origin and nature of +these practices. We shall find that abortion and infanticide arise owing +to the difficulty of providing for more than one child at a time. We +shall also find that these customs are practised as normal features of +social life and in such a manner as to keep the number of children at a +fairly constant average figure. There is frequently a belief that a +particular number of children is the right number of children. Further, +it will be seen that the number of children to be preserved is a matter +for consideration in which the wishes of not only the parents but also +of the relations and of the community in general have to be taken into +account, and that the practices are enforced by social pressure. + +A large amount of evidence has been given to the effect that the number +of children is always small—the number, that is to say, after these +practices have taken effect. This is in itself evidence, it may be +noticed, that these practices do result in reducing the number of +children to a small constant average. Some additional evidence may now +be noted. + +According to Curr infanticide in Australia ‘resulted principally from +the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of transporting several +children of tender age from place to place on their frequent +marches’,[1119] and later he observes that ‘infanticide was common among +the Bangerang.... They themselves gave as their reason for it the +impossibility of the woman carrying more than one infant in their +constant wanderings.’[1120] ‘Every child which was born before the one +which preceded it could walk was destroyed, because the mother was +regarded as incapable of carrying two,’[1121] says another observer of +the Narrinyeri tribe. Considerable information is given by Howitt for +various Australian tribes. ‘Infanticide is practised by the Mining to +some extent, the mode of killing being by starvation. After a few days +of short commons the child becomes peevish and troublesome, and in +consequence more neglected, being placed by itself away from the camp +and fires, and it is said to be afflicted with Mupurn (magic). When +death ends its sufferings Mupurn is the cause. The reason they give for +this practice is that if their numbers increase too rapidly there would +not be enough food for everybody. Yet they are very fond of their +offspring, and very indulgent to those they keep, rarely striking them, +and a mother would give all the food she had to her children, going +hungry herself.’[1122] ‘In the Tongaranka tribe the practice of +infanticide was common, because a baby was frequently too much trouble +to look after, and it was often the mother who killed it. But it was not +done until the family consisted of three or four; but after that too +much work in hunting had to be done to keep the family in food.... In +the Mukjarawaint tribe the children belonged to the grandparents, though +the parents had care of them. If, for instance, a boy was born and then +a girl, the father’s parents might take them, or the mother’s parents, +and so also with another couple of children. If, then, another child was +born and one of the grandparents took it, it would be kept. If not, it +was killed, there being too many children. The grandparents had to +decide whether a child was to be kept alive or not. If not, then either +the grandfather or father killed it, by striking it against the mother’s +knee, and then knocking it on the head.... According to Buckley, if a +family increased too rapidly in the Wadthawing tribe, as, for instance, +when a woman had a child within twelve months of the previous one, there +was a consultation in the tribe as to whether it should live or not.... +Infanticide in the Kurnai tribe arose through the difficulty of carrying +a baby when there were other children, especially when the next youngest +was not able to walk.’[1123] Of the aborigines of the River Darling we +are told that ‘it seems to have been the custom to kill many of the +children directly after birth, to save trouble and privation in time of +drought, when long distances must be travelled in the search for food +and water’,[1124] and the same proximate cause of infanticide is +mentioned by Beveridge.[1125] Of the women in the Port Lincoln district +it is said that they put forward as the cause of infanticide the fact +that they ‘cannot suckle and carry two children together’;[1126] similar +reasons are said to be given by the women of Central Australia.[1127] +Speaking of the natives of Port Darwin Foelsche says that the reason for +infanticide is that ‘too many children encumber the parents in +travelling about for food’.[1128] It is also worthy of note in connexion +with Howitt’s statement about there being at times a dread of +over-population that, according to Spencer and Gillen, this is not the +case at any rate in Central Australia;[1129] according to Curr, however, +‘in many tribes there is a great fear of a want of food arising from +over-population’.[1130] Among the tribes of Port Lincoln ‘the number of +children reared by each family is ... very limited, rarely exceeding +four’, and ‘if a mother has children in rapid succession ... the young +infant is killed’.[1131] In the Dieyerie tribe about 30 per cent. of the +children are destroyed at birth.[1132] In the neighbourhood of Port +Darwin children are killed ‘where a woman has more than three or +four’.[1133] In Central Australia ‘each mother only rears, upon an +average, two children’.[1134] Among the Northern tribes of Central +Australia the number of children is kept down by infanticide to two or +three.[1135] + +Similar evidence is forthcoming for other races of this group. Thus of +the Puelches Guinnard says that ‘among these almost primitive creatures, +children are not nearly so numerous as might be imagined, for the +existence of the new born infant is submitted to the judgment of the +father and mother, who decide on its life or death’.[1136] Charlevoix +says of the Abipones that ‘they seldom rear but one of each sex, +murdering the rest as fast as they come into the world, till the eldest +are strong enough to walk alone. They think to justify this cruelty by +saying that, as they are almost constantly travelling from one place to +another, it is impossible for them to take care of more infants than two +at a time; one to be carried by the father, the other by the +mother.’[1137] + +Turning to races of the second group in Funafuti every mother was +allowed to keep alternate children, but the second, fourth, and so on +had to be destroyed.[1138] ‘A Tikopian family is usually limited to four +children, any excess of this number being killed by burying them alive +in the house or just outside it; occasionally five or six may be kept +alive but never more. If the first four children are girls one or more +of these may be killed in the hope that the succeeding children may be +boys, in which case the lives of the boys would be spared.’[1139] In New +Guinea, in the later years of marriage, abortion is used in order to +lessen the number of children, since a large family would mean too much +work for the parents.[1140] In the Kingsmill Islands ‘a woman seldom has +more than two children, and never more than three; when she discovers +herself to be enceinte for the third or fourth time, the foetus is +discharged by a midwife’.[1141] In the Sandwich Islands, ‘however +numerous the children among the lower orders, parents seldom rear more +than two or three, and many spare only one; all the others are +destroyed, sometimes shortly after birth, generally during the first +year of their age’.[1142] ‘They consider three children a burden,’ says +the same author in another passage, ‘and are unwilling to cultivate a +little more ground, or undertake the small additional labour necessary +to the support of their offspring during the helpless period of infancy +and childhood.’[1143] ‘No married pair (among the Gilbert Islanders) are +allowed by their law to have nor bear more than four children, that is +only four children get the chance of life. The woman has the right to +rear or to endeavour to rear one child. It rests with the husband to +decide how many children shall live, and this depends on how much land +there is to divide.’[1144] In Fiji ‘infanticide is more prevalent among +the poor classes than the rich’.[1145] Speaking of the Murray Islands +Hunt says that ‘after a certain number had been born, all succeeding +children were destroyed, lest the food-supply should become +deficient’.[1146] Codrington says of the Melanesians that ‘abortion and +infanticide were very common. If a woman did not want the trouble of +bringing up a child, desired to appear young, was afraid the husband +might think the birth before its time, or wished to spite her husband, +she would find some one to procure abortion.... Infanticide was more +prevalent in some islands than others.... The old women of the village +generally determined whether a new-born child should live; if not +promising in appearance or likely to be troublesome, it was made away +with.’[1147] Among the Mafulu of British New Guinea a woman must not +give birth to a child unless she can give a pig to a village feast, and +consequently children are often destroyed either by abortion or +infanticide, both of which are common.[1148] Of the Western Islands in +the Torres Straits we hear that ‘few women rear more than three +children, and besides most of those born before marriage are doomed to +be killed immediately after birth, unless the father—which is seldom the +case—is desirous of saving the child.... Even of other infants some, +especially females, are made away with in a similar manner when the +mother is disinclined to support it.’[1149] Of the Eastern Islands it is +said that ‘after a certain number had been born, all succeeding children +were destroyed, lest the food-supply should become insufficient’.[1150] + +Rengger, who remarks upon the small number of children among the +Guaranis, traces it to the regular practice of abortion after a certain +number had been born.[1151] ‘Infanticide is quite common among the +Lenguas, an interval of seven or eight years being always observable +between children of the same family. Not only are babies, which are born +in the interval, immediately killed, but abortion is also +practised.’[1152] Among the Creek Indians ‘to destroy a new-born infant +is not uncommon in families that are grown so numerous as to be +supported with difficulty’.[1153] Of the Cheyennes it is said that ‘it +has been the custom that a woman should not have a second child until +her first is ten years old. When that age is reached, the man is likely +to go with his wife and child to some large dance or public gathering, +and there ... to announce publicly that now this child is going to have +a little brother or sister.’[1154] There is sometimes evidence, for +instance among the Sioux[1155] and the Brazilian tribes,[1156] that +abortion is committed after consultation with the husband. Among the +Pima Indians ‘sometimes a mother nursed a child until it was six or +seven years old, and if she became pregnant in the meantime she induced +abortion’.[1157] In Fiji there was no cohabitation until the child was +two years old. ‘This separation ... was in bygone times invariably +enforced’ and abortion was practised when there had been enough +children.[1158] Speaking also of Fiji Seeman says that ‘relatives of a +woman take it as a public insult if a child should be born before the +customary three or four years have elapsed, and they consider themselves +in duty bound to avenge it in an equally public manner’.[1159] Similarly +Gutmann says of the Wadschagga that it is considered most disgraceful if +a woman, who is still suckling a two years child, again becomes a +mother, and that in consequence abortion is frequent.[1160] In German +New Guinea, according to Krieger, only three children are as a rule +brought up owing to a fear of scarcity of food.[1161] In Radeck ‘every +mother is allowed to bring up only three children; every fourth and +succeeding one she is obliged to bury alive herself’.[1162] Infanticide +was ordered by law in Vaitapu and not more than two children were +allowed in a family.[1163] Of the Roro-speaking tribes of New Guinea we +are told that ‘formerly it was not customary for a woman to have +children until her garden was bearing well’.[1164] In the New Hebrides +‘infanticide was sadly prevalent. As the burden of plantation and other +work devolved on the woman, she thought she could not attend to more +than two or three children, and that the rest must be buried as soon as +born.’[1165] In the New Britain group ‘after marriage children are not +borne by the woman for a period of from two to four years. I am informed +that this is the result of a popular dislike to speedily becoming a +mother on the part of the women, who use various means to procure +abortion and use them successfully.... A considerable period elapses +between the birth of one child and the birth of another. The general +term is about three years. One child is always well out of hand before +another appears.’[1166] We may also note that, according to Rivers, +infanticide is frequent among the Todas and is practised not when food +runs short but as a regular custom.[1167] + +It will be remembered that, when setting out in the last two chapters +the evidence for the extent of abortion and of infanticide, these +practices were in many cases stated to be committed when there was a +certain number of children thus corroborating the evidence given to this +effect above. + +9. We are now in a position to discuss the manner in which numbers are +regulated among these races, leaving until later the discussion as to +how the position among these races was derived from that among species +in a state of nature. Everywhere groups of men are, as we have seen, +confined to definite areas. Among the few things which the men composing +these groups do know with accuracy are the limits within which their +food must be obtained. Further they co-operate in the search for food. +It follows, therefore, that within any such area there is—taking all the +relevant facts into account—an optimum number. The advantages to any +group of approaching this number are immense; a wide departure from this +number can only be socially disastrous. We found that within any group +there is a number of factors—some of which reduce fertility and others +of which increase elimination—and that the average amount of restriction +of increase resulting from the action of these factors was fairly +constant. We also found that there were certain other factors—prolonged +abstention from intercourse, abortion, and infanticide—which are +everywhere present and considerably restrict increase. If, as we shall +see later, there is reason to think that some approach to the optimum is +everywhere attained, it is clear that the former factors cannot of +themselves alone sufficiently restrict increase. It is therefore to the +latter factors, the primary function of which it is to restrict +increase, that we must look when we seek for the mechanism by which +numbers are brought near the desirable level. + +It is clear how these factors originate. Among more or less nomadic +peoples abortion and infanticide are practised because of the difficulty +of transporting and of suckling more than one child at a time. +Abstention from intercourse arises as a taboo. The problem we have to +face is how these practices could come to be of the necessary intensity. +Now men and groups of men are naturally selected on account of the +customs they practise just as they are selected on account of their +mental and physical characters. Those groups practising the most +advantageous customs will have an advantage in the constant struggle +between adjacent groups over those that practise less advantageous +customs. Few customs can be more advantageous than those which limit the +number of a group to the desirable number, and there is no difficulty in +understanding how—once any of these three customs had originated—it +would by a process of natural selection come to be so practised that it +would produce an approximation to the desirable number. There would grow +up an idea that it was the right thing to bring up a certain limited +number of children, and the limitation of the family would be enforced +by convention. + +Though, however, adjustment is understandable as the result of a natural +selection of customs, the evidence shows that there is even among the +most primitive races at times at least some deliberation as to whether a +child shall be allowed to live. In the more advanced races there is +increasing evidence of deliberation. It cannot be supposed that in +deliberation of this kind there is any grasp of the true position +regarding the importance of the optimum number, but it may be supposed +that under these circumstances the actual position at the moment as to +whether there are too many or too few in the group does weigh when +taking the decision. To all members of such a group, confined as they +are within the knowledge of them all to a limited area, the +disadvantages of too many mouths must be obvious. Therefore even among +the more primitive races there may be some semi-conscious adjustment of +numbers by means of one of these methods. However this may be, it is +clear that, even if there is no semi-conscious deliberation among the +lower groups, there is to some extent an automatic adjustment to the +needs of the moment. Suppose disease or severe weather, for instance, to +produce a higher rate of infant mortality, then abortion and +infanticide, inasmuch as they are practised because of the difficulty of +transporting more than one child, will be less practised. + +10. Leaving aside for the moment the evidence that an approximation to +the desirable number is in this manner attained, we may note that in +order that the system should be effective, something more is necessary. +The conception of an optimum number involves the idea of a standard of +living. The attainment of the optimum number indicates that the highest +standard, which is possible taking all the circumstances into account, +has been reached. In order that the standard of living may be +maintained, it is not merely enough that numbers should be restricted; +the younger generation must become proficient in the skilled methods +which make this standard possible of attainment, and in particular it is +important that the young men should not marry unless they are both +energetic and skilful—unless, that is to say, they are both willing to +keep up and are capable of keeping up the standard of living previously +attained. There is abundant evidence to the effect that pressure is +exerted upon the younger generation. It is commonly recognized that +among primitive races the girls marry at or soon after puberty. It is +not so often recognized that the young men not infrequently do not marry +until some years later. The inefficient and the physically incapable +sometimes do not marry at all. In such facts we may see evidence of the +pressure exerted by social conditions and conventions. We find also that +not only are young men carefully instructed in the skilled methods, but +that the parents of the bride anxiously inquire as to the bridegroom’s +energy and capability of supporting a family. The conditions regarding +marriage have been much studied, and in marriage by service and marriage +by purchase we can observe the pressure which forces a young man to show +himself proficient in the skilled methods which are in use among his +people. Obligations on the would-be bridegroom to work and save up the +purchase money or to serve his future parents-in-law make it necessary +for the young man to learn skilled methods and to exhibit energy and +competence before marriage, whereby it is in any case rendered unlikely +that new families will be set up which will adopt a lower standard of +living than that of the previous generation. At the evidence for these +facts we may now glance. + +In Australia betrothals generally take place in infancy and marriage +follows later; these betrothals are usually arranged as exchanges, but +the system shows some features of marriage by purchase.[1168] +Considerable postponement of marriage is often observed, especially +among the less skilled members of the community; thirty is mentioned as +a not uncommon age for marriage.[1169] Among the Eskimos there is a very +strong feeling that a boy must show himself proficient in the difficult +arts of hunting and fishing as practised by them. A young man seldom +marries until he is over twenty, though often betrothed when an +infant.[1170] Before that age he cannot learn all the methods of hunting +game, managing a kayak, and so on. Marriage is considered impossible +because he would not be in a position to maintain his family, and it is +the necessity of showing that he is in this position before marriage is +allowed which is remarked upon by all observers of Eskimo life.[1171] +The usual form of marriage in America is by purchase.[1172] As a rule, +the amount to be paid is relatively large, and the boy must either spend +some time in getting it together or else obtain it from his father. At +other times marriage is by service. Thus among the Kenai the bridegroom +performs a year’s service,[1173] and among the Haidahs boys were often +betrothed at an early age and went to live with the girl’s family and +worked for them until marriage.[1174] A Seri bridegroom leaves his own +family and enters that of the bride for a year; ‘he must display and +exercise skill in turtle fishing, strength in the chase, subtlety in +warfare and all other physical qualities of competent manhood’.[1175] +Among the Jakun a husband ‘is expected to provide a hut, cooking pots +and other necessary articles such as will suffice to enable +house-keeping to be started with reasonable comfort’.[1176] Among the +Fuegians ‘as soon as a youth is able to maintain a wife by his exertions +in fishing and bird catching, he obtains the consent of her relations, +and does some piece of work, such as helping to make a canoe, or +preparing sealskins’.[1177] + +In this connexion it may be noticed that we often hear of the scorn +poured upon the weak and unsuccessful; it appears to be the case that +such men sometimes never marry.[1178] Among the Kutchins ‘poor men, +whose abilities as hunters are small, and who have been unable to +accumulate herds, remain bachelors’.[1179] One of the most difficult +things an Eskimo has to learn is how to catch seals. ‘The poor wretch’ +that cannot do so ‘is despised to the last degree, and is obliged to +subsist on women’s diet, such as scolpings, which he can fish for on the +ice, mussels, periwinkles, dried herrings, &c.’[1180] With regard to +postponement of marriage, from twenty-three to twenty-five is the usual +age of marriage for men among the Thompson Indians,[1181] from +twenty-one to twenty-five for men among the Lillooets,[1182] and +twenty-five among the Abipones.[1183] + +With regard to the races of the second group, among the Topebatos men +marry when about eighteen. They have both to present gifts to, and to do +work for, their future parents-in-law.[1184] The bridegroom also works +for his future parents-in-law among the Bontoc Igorot.[1185] In Fiji +‘young men of the lower orders married rather late in life for a +primitive people, rarely, it appears, before the age of +twenty-five’.[1186] Later the same author says that ‘marriages were +often delayed for years when the bridegroom’s family were too poor to +acquire property commensurate with their pride’.[1187] In the Maldive +Islands ‘although a man is allowed four wives at a time, it is only on +condition of his being able to support them’.[1188] In the Caroline +Islands ‘a suitor serves for his wife in the house of his father-in-law +elect as Jacob did with Laban and frequently has his pains for +nothing’.[1189] Marriage by purchase is common in New Guinea and often +results in a postponement of marriage while the purchase money is being +collected.[1190] Speaking of the New Britain Group, Danks says ‘some I +have met who have never married, but the cause lay in their inability to +raise the shell money with which to purchase a wife’.[1191] In Sumatra +marriage by purchase is said to constitute a certain hindrance to +marriage, in spite of which, however, there are few celibates.[1192] +Among the Negritos of Zambala the amount of the purchase money is large +and ‘there is no doubt that the gifts made represent almost all the +wealth of which a young man and family can boast’.[1193] In the Western +Islands of the Torres Straits men marry when between twenty and +twenty-five years old,[1194] marriage being by purchase.[1195] In +certain cases where head hunting is practised prowess in this art must +be shown before marriage.[1196] In certain parts of Borneo ‘it is a rule +among all the tribes that no youth can regularly wear a mandan, or be +married or associate with the opposite sex, till he has been on one or +more head hunting expeditions’.[1197] + +Marriage by purchase is often found in Africa. The necessity of +collecting the purchase money frequently involves some postponement of +marriage. Formerly among the Thonga a man generally married when about +twenty-five years old,[1198] but there was some variation in the age +owing to the varying difficulty experienced in getting together the +necessary cattle.[1199] Sooner or later nearly all the men among this +tribe get married;[1200] and this is true of all Bantu peoples. ‘The +kind of individual called a bachelor does not abound among the Bantu. +The wretched, the invalids, the weak-minded only, are deprived of the +legal marriage which for the black man is and remains the one object in +life.’[1201] Sometimes in South Africa ‘a young man too poor to acquire +a wife by the transfer of cattle would make an arrangement with the +father of the girl to live with her and serve him’.[1202] Among the +Baronga young men do not marry for several years after puberty.[1203] +Werner’s description of marriage among the Zulus is of particular +interest. ‘The price paid by the Zulus (under the name of Lobola) and +others cannot properly be called purchase, being rather in the nature of +a settlement or guarantee that the suitor is able to support a wife; it +is held by her family in trust for her and her children.’[1204] The same +author, speaking generally of British Central Africa, says that ‘young +men may have to wait for some years, owing to lack of means or other +reasons. In the country under the Angoni chiefs they are called on ... +to “serve their time”, herding the chief’s cattle, and later, perhaps, +going to war.’[1205] The men of the Akikuyu are described as ‘not +marrying very young’.[1206] Roscoe enumerates the various articles +required to make up a bride’s price among the Baganda, and adds that +‘they were difficult to obtain and represented a large sum to a poor +person, so that it took him a long time to collect them; a man +frequently spent twelve months begging among his relatives and friends +the amount asked; for though as a rule he had secured some of the things +before he went to ask for the lady, there would still be a balance to +find’.[1207] Among the Wapagoro regular sexual intercourse is practised +by children. At puberty they are separated and the boy must then begin +to collect the purchase money, and not until he has finished may +intercourse be resumed.[1208] Plas notes postponement of marriage among +the Kuku owing to the amount of the purchase money.[1209] An interesting +account of the Akamba is given by Dundas. ‘During his lifetime a man so +divides his stock that he allots a portion to each of his wives. On his +death the portion of each wife goes to her son or sons.... If the cattle +left are not numerous enough to buy a wife for each son they are left +with the eldest son until the increase suffices for the purchase of a +wife for him. When the increase is again large enough it is given to the +second son to buy a wife, and so on until each has a wife.’[1210] +According to Johnston, ‘the Masai warrior is not allowed by the elders +of his tribe to marry until he has reached about thirty years of age and +has accumulated a fair amount of property or else so distinguished +himself by his bravery as to merit an early retirement’.[1211] Among the +Bangala, if a man is accepted by a girl he has to pay the ‘bespoke’ +money, after which ‘the girl is reserved for him until such time as he +can pay the whole or larger part of the marriage money’, and, while he +is collecting this money, he will build a house if he does not already +own one.[1212] Further, ‘a man can marry as many women as he can afford +to pay marriage money for, but to each he must give a house’,[1213] and +as a result of the high marriage price, if his family cannot help him, a +man ‘cannot save enough to procure a wife until he is thirty or even +older’.[1214] Cureau states that in the Congo basin a bride’s relatives +are much interested in estimating a suitor’s capabilities of supporting +a family and of, in general, doing well.[1215] Among the Ekoi people, +‘by a native custom if a man wishes to marry an Ekoi maiden he must +serve her people for some considerable time, usually from two to three +years. His work mostly consists in helping to clear bush for next +season’s farms, but other services may be required of him. During this +time he is expected to make presents to the relations of his future +wife.’[1216] + +Very similar institutions are found in America. Among the Nandowensis, +‘when one of their young men has fixed upon a young woman he approves +of, he discovers his passion to her parents, who give him an invitation +to come and live with them in their tent. He assiduously accepts the +offer, and by so doing engages to reside in it for a whole year, in the +character of a married servant. During this time he hunts, and brings +all the game he kills to the family, by which means the father has an +opportunity of seeing whether he is able to provide for the support of +his daughter and the children that might be the consequence of their +union.’[1217] Among the Ojebway Indians marriage is also by service and +the future father-in-law is described as being anxious that the suitor +should be a good hunter.[1218] Of the Natchez it is said to be ‘rare for +young men to marry before they be five-and-twenty. Till they arrive at +that age they are looked upon as too weak, without understanding and +experience.’[1219] According to Dorsey, men of the Omaha tribe did not +marry formerly until between twenty-five and thirty.[1220] Among the +Attakapas, ‘if a savage desires to marry a girl whose father is still +living, he approaches the latter; the latter then inquires if he is a +brave warrior, a good hunter’, if he can make weapons, and so on.[1221] +In Mexico men married about twenty.[1222] In British Guiana marriage is +by service, and the bridegroom must show that he is capable of taking a +man’s part; within a certain time he must clear a piece of land of a +given area.[1223] Another author gives further details: ‘Before he is +allowed to choose at all he must prove that he is a man and can do a +man’s work.’ There are various tests. Among others ‘he clears a space in +the forest to be planted with cassaba, and brings in as much game and +fish as possible, to show that he is able to support himself and +others’.[1224] In Peru a man had to be twenty-four years old before he +could marry.[1225] Von Martius states that the system of marriage by +purchase in Brazil is to be regarded as a symbol that the bridegroom can +support a family.[1226] Men among the Guanas marry when over +twenty.[1227] + +11. The evidence so far adduced shows that the mechanism whereby numbers +may be kept near to the desirable level is everywhere present. When +inquiring into the nature of the mechanism, we found certain indications +that it was effective. The regularity with which certain customs are +practised, the small average number of children, and other facts afford +strong but not conclusive evidence that an approach is normally made to +the optimum number. We may now ask what further evidence there is as to +the position in this respect. + +Conclusive evidence is not available. It is only when we are able, as +among some of the races in the third group, accurately to measure the +average income over a period of years during which numbers are changing +that we can arrive at a definite result. With regard to other races we +have to adopt methods which, though less precise, nevertheless afford +important evidence. We may inquire into the general conditions of life +and ask whether there are indications of the approach to the highest +standard of living within reach, or whether living is more usually +reduced to the bare level of subsistence. We may ask whether famine and +starvation frequently occur, what the average physical condition of the +people is, whether old age is often reached, whether, in short, the +conditions are such as we should expect to find them when the optimum +number was approached, or as we should expect to find them when the +numbers reached the maximum which could just be kept alive. + +The conception of savage life which formerly prevailed was that +primitive races were always in a condition of semi-starvation.[1228] In +this connexion it has to be remembered that the conception of the +optimum number has regard to all the conditions, and that among these +races, taking the degree of skill, social customs, and so on into +account, there would be, even if the optimum number was attained, times +of scarcity, if not of famine. The existence of times of scarcity, +therefore, is no evidence that, so far as numbers are concerned, these +races have not attained the best conditions possible for them. It is +undoubtedly the fact that they are physiologically adapted to withstand +periods of scarcity in a manner that civilized men are not adapted, and +it is interesting to observe that, according to the results of certain +experiments, occasional periods of semi-starvation are far less harmful +than is continual under-feeding.[1229] + +Descriptions of the Australians suggest the picture of anything but an +emaciated people in a condition of semi-starvation. In one place Spencer +and Gillen speak of them as well nourished;[1230] in another place they +describe a typical Arunta as ‘by no means poor in physique; in fact he +might often serve a sculptor for a model, and, when walking behind a +native, you are continually struck with his proportions and beautiful +carriage’.[1231] These authors go on to say, however, that ‘there are +times when he is hard pressed and during a long continuance of drought +his life is not a happy one’.[1232] So, too, Schürmann says of the +tribes of Port Lincoln: ‘the male sex exhibits a great deal of unstudied +natural grace in their deportment, their walk is perfectly erect and +free, motions of the body easy and gestures natural under all +circumstances.’[1233] Further, we are told that ‘their food, if of +indifferent quality, was at least wholesome and readily procurable, six +hours a day abundantly sufficing for that purpose, so that hunger was +little known’,[1234] and that ‘in most of the districts with an +indigenous population game is so abundant compared to the number of +inhabitants, as to enable every one to procure for himself and his +family as many pounds of meat a day as his heart desired’.[1235] Perhaps +this is too optimistic a view; there are certainly many references to +lean times when food is difficult to procure. ‘In few parts of +Australia’, says Thomas, ‘can the native count on anything like regular +supplies of food’,[1236] and we hear of those powers of enduring hunger +and thirst so common among these races and so incomprehensible to +Europeans.[1237] + +Burchell is enthusiastic about the Bushmen; ‘as we rode onwards, I could +not cease admiring the beautiful symmetrical form of our Bushman guide, +who walked and sometimes ran before us, with a gait the most easy and +free that I ever beheld. All the limbs, unshackled by clothing, moved +with a grace never perhaps seen in Europe. The contemplation of his +well-proportioned, although small and delicate figure, his upright manly +port, his firm and bold step, and the consciousness of liberty which +beamed in his countenance afforded us indescribable pleasure.’[1238] +Nevertheless the Bushmen had ‘periods of fasting’[1239] and were ‘often +destitute of food for several successive days during seasons when both +roots and game were scarce’.[1240] They were also ‘capable of remaining +a long time without food, and could then devour immense quantities of +meat without any ill effect’.[1241] + +In most countries a lean season occurs periodically once or more every +year. Such lean seasons are more exacting in some regions than others. +The Australians manage to subsist for the most part without storing up +food;[1242] in other countries the storing of food becomes a +necessity.[1243] We often find that where food has to be stored up the +stock runs low towards the end of the lean season. The Eskimos have to +depend for many months upon the food they have preserved, and if for any +reason, as for instance the late formation of the floe, their +calculations are upset, they may be placed in a very trying +situation.[1244] Of them we hear stories, as of other races, regarding +their powers of withstanding hunger; ‘a man who has eaten nothing for +three days, at least nothing but sea grass, can manage his little kayak +or canoe in the most furious waves’.[1245] + +Of the Kutchins of the Peel River we are told that they are ‘an athletic +and fine-looking race, considerably above the average stature, most of +them being upwards of six feet in height and remarkably well +proportioned’.[1246] ‘The Indians north of the Columbia are, for the +most part, good-looking, robust men, some of them having fine, +symmetrical forms. They have been represented as diminutive; with +crooked legs and uncouth features. This is not correct; but, as a +general rule, the direct reverse is the truth.’[1247] The Montagnais are +described as ‘tall, strong, erect, well-proportioned and agile’;[1248] +on the other hand, we hear that they are liable to shortages of food, +are able to go without food for three days together at a time, and are +guilty of great excesses of eating and drinking when food is +plentiful.[1249] Hardisty says that the Loucheux can always obtain food +except under very unfavourable circumstances.[1250] ‘It sometimes +happens that the Ahts are in straits for want of food, when the fish do +not appear until late in the spring,’[1251] but ‘they can bear the want +of food a long time without becoming exhausted’.[1252] The account of +the Californians given by the acute Jesuit missionary Baegert is of +particular interest. ‘Notwithstanding the barrenness of the country, a +Californian hardly ever dies of hunger, except perhaps now and then an +individual that falls sick in the wilderness and a great distance from +the mission, for those who are in good health trouble themselves very +little about such patients, even if these should happen to be their +husbands, wives or other relations, and a little child that has lost its +mother or both parents is also occasionally in danger of starving to +death.... The food of the Californians is certainly of a mean quality, +yet it keeps them in a healthy condition, and they become strong and +grow old in spite of their poor diet.’[1253] ‘Californians can endure +hunger easier and much longer than other people; whereas they will eat +enormously if a chance is given.’[1254] Three days without food appeals +differently to an observer in a mission station on the one hand and to a +prisoner among the Indians on the other. ‘So protracted was the hunger +we experienced,’ says Cabeça de Vaca, ‘that many times I was three days +without eating anything. The natives also endured as much, and it +appeared to me a thing impossible that life could be so prolonged.’ The +same author goes on to say, however, that ‘they are a merry people +considering the hunger that they suffer; notwithstanding they never +cease to dance nor to observe their festivities and ceremonies. To them +the happiest part of the year is the season of eating prickly pears; for +then they have hunger no longer, and pass all the time in dancing and +they eat day and night.... It occurred to us many times while we were +among this people, and there was no food, to be three or four days +without eating, when they, to revive our spirits, would say to us not to +be sad, that soon there would be pears and we should enjoy plenty, and +drink of the juice, and that our bellies would be very big, and we +should be content and joyful, having no hunger.’[1255] + +It is submitted that the conditions indicated by the type of evidence of +which examples have been given above are not compatible with the state +of existence on the bare means of subsistence.[1256] With this evidence +there should be considered the facts given in the sixth chapter +regarding the good health and advanced age to which these races +generally attain. + +Turning to races of the second group, in the Eastern Islands of the +Torres Straits ‘nutritious food is generally very scarce at the end of +the dry season’.[1257] The Dyaks usually experience a season when it is +difficult to procure food.[1258] We are told that famine was unknown in +Fiji,[1259] but that from November to February there was sometimes a +scarcity when the last yam crop had been consumed and the next crop had +not ripened.[1260] So too among the Baganda ‘no one ever went hungry +while the old customs were observed’,[1261] but there are at times lean +seasons. ‘When food is abundant they have their three meals daily; when +it is scarce they content themselves with two, and hope for the rain and +a plentiful supply of fruit.’[1262] Cureau, describing the races of the +Congo Basin, gives a general description of the conditions which +corresponds very closely with that just quoted for the Baganda.[1263] In +British Central Africa “the time of hunger” comes after the rains, when +the last year’s corn is eaten, and the new is not yet ripe—about +March’.[1264] Of the Kagero of Northern Nigeria we are told that the +‘people are naturally more healthy and better conditioned in December, +say, than in August’, because towards the end of the year there is +plenty of food from the harvest whereas later in the wet season there is +usually a scarcity.[1265] So of the Mandja of the Northern Congo we are +told that ‘generally by the month of October, the Mandja family has +consumed its reserves of food; thereupon follows want for two +months’.[1266] In North America Catlin describes times of scarcity among +the Mandans[1267] and im Thurm describes similar conditions in +Guiana.[1268] + +Of the fine development of physical form there is abundant evidence. The +inhabitants of Timor Laut are ‘handsome-featured fellows, tall, erect, +and with splendidly formed bodies’.[1269] One of the earlier travellers, +Kotzebue, was very much struck with the physical features of the +inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands[1270] and of Radeck.[1271] So, too, +in Africa the Akikuyu are ‘exceedingly strong, muscular, healthy and +well set up’.[1272] ‘The Damaras, generally speaking, are an exceedingly +fine race of men. Indeed it is by no means unusual to meet with +individuals six feet and some inches in height, and symmetrically well +proportioned withal. Their features are, besides, good and regular; and +many might serve as perfect models of the human figure.’[1273] As in the +case of the races of the first group, we are told that formerly these +people lived to a great age. ‘Under natural conditions the Bantu were a +longer lived people than the Europeans.’[1274] Catlin was greatly +impressed with the physical fitness of the North American Indians. He +never saw ‘a more hardy and healthy race of men’, while the women were +‘exceedingly healthy and robust’.[1275] According to Heriot, ‘the North +Americans are in general robust, and of a healthful temperament, +calculated to live to an advanced age’.[1276] Du Pratz speaks highly of +the physical characteristics of the Natchez and much similar evidence +could be quoted.[1277] Azara, for instance, says that the Payaguas lived +to an advanced age[1278] and also mentions especially the fine physical +features of the Mbayas[1279] and of the Charruas.[1280] Of the Mandrucos +Wallace says that ‘their figures are generally superb; and I have never +felt so much pleasure in gazing at the finest statue, as at the living +illustrations of the beauty of the human form. The development of the +chest is such as I believe never exists in the best formed Europeans, +exhibiting a splendid series of convex undulations, without a hollow in +any part of it.’[1281] Humboldt remarks of the Chaymas that both men and +women ‘are very muscular, but fleshy and plump’.[1282] So, too, Spix and +Martius, speaking of Brazilian tribes, say that ‘the Indians are seldom +sick and generally live to an advanced age’.[1283] + +Lastly it may be observed as evidence of some weight that, as between +different races, the higher the skill and the greater the natural +richness of the surroundings, the higher, so far as we can judge, is the +return per head. Though the return cannot be measured, all that we know +of the conditions of life point to this conclusion, whether we contrast +the agricultural races in general with the hunting and fishing races, or +whether we contrast such hunting and fishing races as those of the +north-west coast of America with the Fuegians. + +12. The conclusions derived from a study of the first two groups are +therefore to the effect that an approximation to the desirable number is +normally attained by the practice of one or more of the three customs +mentioned. As a result, the small average size of the family is arrived +at—the size being just about that which allows for the average mortality +from various causes later in life, so that in the next generation there +will be as nearly as possible the same number of adults as in the former +generation. It may be that, as an occasional coincidence, just that +amount of reduction of fertility and just that amount of elimination +necessary to bring about approximation are effected by means of those +factors which were described as having incidentally these results. But +such a coincidence must be very rare and the evidence shows that the +practice of one or more of the other class of factors is widespread, if +not universal. Further, it has been shown that a more or less automatic +adjustment is attained by means of variations in the intensity of the +operation of these latter factors, whereas it is difficult to see how it +could come about by variations in the former factors only, and, however +unprogressive social organization and general conditions may be, some +adjustment must be necessary from time to time. + +It has been observed that there is no apparent connexion between the +practice of any of these customs and the different economic stages, and +it may be stated that an investigation undertaken to see if any +connexion could be detected was without result. This conclusion is not +surprising. The problem of how to control numbers is one which is +presented to all races at all times. We have grouped races according to +their economic status; but there is no reason to expect that under any +one economic system a particular method of controlling population would +be adopted more than any other method—no reason, for instance, why +infanticide rather than abortion should be practised under one system +rather than under another. As has been said, the problem is always +present, and the method adopted must originally have depended upon some +factor quite independent of the economic stage; abortion, for instance, +might have been practised in one country because of the presence of some +herb which experience showed to be effective, while in another country a +taboo upon sexual intercourse for magical reasons might have been +developed into a taboo during lactation. + +This survey of primitive races is limited to the elucidation as to what +is normally the position as regards the regulation of numbers. The +evidence is not sufficiently detailed to allow us to judge whether in +any one particular instance there was or was not a close approximation +to the desirable number before contact with Europeans had changed their +conditions. It is merely suggested that there was in general a tendency +for such an approximation to occur and it may further be deduced that, +since the desirable number remained the same over a great length of +time, rendering the approximation, so to speak, easy of attainment, the +adjustment to the optimum number normally came about. And in this +connexion the limitation to clearly defined areas may be borne in mind. +The very fact of the universal recognition and careful maintenance of +these areas is an indication that such was the normal condition. +Migration is abnormal, and this fact is apt to be forgotten for two +reasons. First, when reviewing the course of history, migrations stand +out as the chief, if not the only, known facts and the huge intervals of +time between one movement and another are forgotten. Secondly, our +knowledge of primitive races is largely derived from observations made +when migration had been set on foot owing to contact with Europeans, as, +for instance, in America. Migration may be a disturbing factor, +upsetting the adjustment of numbers; but it is an abnormal condition and +hence it is disregarded here. + +And here, in answer to the objections that a greater prevalence of +infanticide and so on is assumed than there is evidence for, we may, +bearing in mind the many reasons why the evidence is deficient, reply +that this assumption is not unreasonable. If such an assumption is not +made, the position among these races is not comprehensible. It may be +granted, for instance, that there is evidence of the practice of +infanticide on a large scale among certain Australian tribes; but it may +be pointed out that similar evidence is lacking in the case of other +tribes. Allowing that a far more detailed examination of the evidence is +desirable than there is space for here, especially with regard to the +nature of the evidence and the date to which it refers, we may ask what +it is supposed was going on among those tribes who did not, as it may be +alleged, practise infanticide—abortion and abstention from intercourse +being uncommon or unknown in Australia. The fecundity of all Australians +is presumably very similar; it would be very remarkable indeed if it +were not. The factors tending to lessen fertility and to produce +elimination do not differ so very much from one tribe to another. It +must follow that, if one tribe practised infanticide on a large scale +and maintained its numbers nevertheless, another tribe which did not do +so must have been rapidly increasing. This rapid increase is not +compatible with the strict maintenance of well-defined territories and +with all that we know of normal inter-tribal relations, and it is +submitted that the assumption made here, namely that infanticide or some +other custom was almost always practised, provides the only explanation +of the position.[1284] + +Lastly it may be recalled that there are many indications that fecundity +is somewhat less among these races than among modern races. However this +may be, it has always to be remembered that the power of increase is +nevertheless huge. It has been, for instance, calculated that between +the years 1906 and 1911 the population of the world was increasing at +such a rate that it would double itself in about sixty years. At this +rate of increase the estimated population of the world in 1914—namely, +1,694,000,000—would be produced by the progeny of a single pair in 1,782 +years.[1285] Furthermore, this is occurring under conditions in which +the increase is everywhere obviously and severely checked in very many +ways; therefore, even if the fecundity among these races is less than +among civilized races, it must not be thought that there is thereby +brought about any considerable alleviation of the problem as to how +numbers should be controlled. + +13. We have now to ask how far the conclusions to which we have come +regarding primitive races are applicable to prehistoric races. In the +first place, they are clearly only applicable to races among whom social +organization has become established; for it is only when men begin to +reap the advantages of co-operation that the conception of the optimum +number arises. As we have seen, it is not possible to say when primitive +social organization arose. It must certainly have been present in the +Upper Palaeolithic; the evidence of the presence of a large body of +tradition is otherwise incomprehensible. As suggested, it may very well +be that we should look for the origin of social organization in the +Lower Palaeolithic. Among the Tasmanians, whose skill was not much in +advance of that of Acheulean man, there was a primitive form of social +organization. Nevertheless, wherever the beginnings of social +organization are to be placed, we must suppose that a long period of +time elapsed before it assumed that rigid form characteristic of +primitive races. Giving all due weight to this consideration, we must +assume that in, and perhaps before, the Upper Palaeolithic era the +position with regard to numbers was in all essentials similar to that +among primitive races. It is not uncommon to meet with statements to the +effect that man was a wanderer until he began to practise agriculture. +This is a mistake if it implies that after social organization had +arisen definite areas for different groups of men were not recognized. +There can be no direct proof of this; but the fact that, wherever we +look, absolutely without exception we find among all primitive races the +recognition and careful maintenance of such areas, just as much among +hunting and fishing as among agricultural races, must lead us to suppose +that among the more skilled hunters of pre-history similar conditions +normally obtained. It is altogether unreasonable and without foundation +to suppose that the recognition of areas is a development subsequent to +the separation of primitive races from the main line of social +evolution. If then the recognition of areas, which probably arose with +the development of social organization, was a characteristic of the +later prehistoric races, we are led to conclude that the desirability of +attaining to and maintaining the optimum number must have had the same +consequences as among primitive races. It must, in other words, have +resulted in the practice of infanticide, of abortion, or of abstention +from intercourse. For there is no reason to assume that the factors +bearing upon fertility and elimination reached a considerably greater +intensity than among primitive races. We have, however, no reason to +assume that any one of these habits was practised rather than another, +for there is, as we have seen, no correlation between these factors and +stages in economic development. All that we assume is that in one way or +another adjustment was brought about, and in corroboration of this we +may note, as will be pointed out in the next chapter, that as +prehistoric races emerge into the light of history there is abundant +evidence of the practice by them of one or other of these customs. + +14. Lastly we may ask how we are to view the change from the conditions +under which the pre-human ancestor must have lived to the conditions +which we have found reason to attribute to prehistoric races. The +conditions to which species in a state of nature are subjected, and to +which therefore we assume the pre-human ancestor to have been subject, +were described in the second chapter. We found that the fecundity of any +species was connected with the sum of all the unavoidable dangers as we +called them to which the young of the species are exposed. A limit is +set to the development of the strength of fecundity beyond a certain +point by the fact that it cannot be to the advantage of any species that +its “fecundity should increase considerably beyond the point which +ensures the survival of the species, as such an increase would intensify +the struggle between the members of the species—this intensification of +the struggle not bringing any corresponding advantages.” + +We are ignorant with regard not only to the form of the pre-human +ancestor, but also with regard to the conditions under which he lived. +We must suppose, however, that his fecundity, like that of any other +species in a state of nature, was of a strength that enabled a +sufficient proportion of his offspring to survive the unavoidable +dangers. As we have seen, that which marks the setting out of man on the +path which led to the dominion over all other species was the growth of +his intellect. The most obvious consequence of this increase in +intellectual power must have been to enable man to protect himself +against many of these dangers. We do not know to what dangers he was +subject, but they must in all probability have been many and serious in +view of his relatively poor equipment with means of defence. Yet we have +only to look at the Tasmanians to find that, when a degree of skill had +been reached not far superior to that of Lower Palaeolithic man, he had +freed himself from most of these dangers. Parasites were not then, so +far as we can tell, a serious menace, and against the attacks of other +species he could defend himself with almost complete success. Whether +his fecundity had come to differ from that of the pre-human ancestor by +that time we cannot tell; in any case the fecundity of prehistoric man +was evidently in the main a legacy of the pre-human ancestor—a degree of +fecundity that had been evolved in the face of quite other conditions. +Since the time of prehistoric man fecundity has increased—this increase +being apparently in the main in the nature of a modification due to +changed conditions of life. + +It appears that we must regard the growth of intellect as having enabled +man to avoid the serious consequences which a fecundity in excess of +that necessary to ensure survival would otherwise have brought about. +Excessive fecundity, not therefore being a disadvantage, was not reduced +by selection. It must be remembered that human fecundity is only +relatively excessive; actually man is a slow-breeding animal, and when +we speak of this relatively excessive fecundity, we are not to think of +such a degree of fecundity as would occupy so prominent a place among +the bodily functions as to render man less adaptive than he would have +been had it been less. Fecundity, in other words, could only have become +disadvantageous had it led to greatly increased competition among the +members of the species without any corresponding advantage. This might +perhaps have happened, had not the growth of the intellect indirectly +produced new causes of elimination and intensified some of the formerly +existing factors. Thus the change in food and in the mode of life was +evidently productive of a higher infant mortality; such changes were due +to the growth of the intellect, and the higher mortality consequent upon +them, if not, as is possible, an actual advantage, was at least +countenanced by natural selection.[1286] Such changes therefore were, +other things being equal, tolerated, as were also abstention from +intercourse due to taboos, pre-puberty intercourse, prolonged lactation, +and so on. The practices of abortion and infanticide together with +prolonged abstention from intercourse—also due to the intellect—enabled +man completely to escape any disadvantages which might have arisen from +his relatively excessive fecundity—the reserve, so to speak, of +fecundity being possibly an advantage. + +In some such manner as this it seems that we have to regard the present +position of man with reference to fecundity. The strength of fecundity +is in the main a legacy from ancestors who were subject to wholly +different conditions. It is excessive relatively to his present needs; +this excess has, however, not been a disadvantage; for the consequences +which might have been deleterious have been avoided owing indirectly to +the modifications of the conditions of life and directly to the rise of +certain customs all ultimately traceable to the growth of the intellect. + + + + + X + HISTORICAL RACES + + +1. In this chapter we deal with the factors bearing upon fertility and +elimination in the third of the three groups described in Chapter V. In +one important respect this and the following chapter are contrasted with +the preceding chapters. In the latter we were dealing, not with the +facts derived from the peoples whom it was our object directly to +investigate, but with the facts derived from primitive races with the +object of throwing light upon prehistoric races. Here we are dealing +with the facts relating to the peoples whose position it is our object +to consider. The setting out of the facts relating to these races +presents great difficulties. The amount of information is huge, but for +the most part it is far from being of a satisfactory nature, and the +rapid changes which have occurred within the historical period increase +the difficulties. Only a brief review of the subject, designed to +illustrate the more important features, is attempted. + +The races under consideration are divided into four sub-groups. +Sub-group 1 includes the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, +and Rome up to the fall of the Western Empire. In these countries we +have some knowledge of the progress from Neolithic culture to a culture +exhibiting a far greater command over nature. From this culture is +derived the later civilization of Europe, which we consider under +sub-groups 3 and 4—the former beginning with Europe after the fall of +the Western Empire and ending roughly about A. D. 1760, the date given +by Marshall as marking the beginning of the industrial system, the +latter beginning about 1760, and including all European races and their +derivatives in America, Australia, and so on. Generally speaking, +therefore, sub-group 1 includes the ancient empires, sub-group 3 Europe +from the Roman Empire to the rise of the industrial system, and +sub-group 4 the epoch of the industrial system. + +There remain those races which have passed beyond the culture of the +races included in the second group, but which have been out of the main +stream of the evolution which led to the industrial evolution. In +sub-group 2 are included India, China, Persia, Japan, and also the +partly nomadic Arabs and certain other Asiatic peoples. In late years +the customs of the races in this sub-group have been influenced by +contact with Europeans; changes due to this contact will be disregarded, +as were similar changes in the races belonging to the first and second +groups. + +In one very important respect the conditions with regard to all races in +the third group differ from those in the preceding groups. Disease is a +factor of the greatest importance, and we may consider in the first +place the facts regarding the prevalence of disease in all groups. What +little there is to be said regarding war, famine, and child mortality in +all the races of this group may also be considered together. With regard +to the other factors we find that in many respects the conditions in the +first two sub-groups are similar and are contrasted with those in the +latter two sub-groups. Therefore, after considering disease and the +other factors mentioned for all groups taken together, it will be +convenient to deal with the sub-groups separately, taking the ancient +empires and the Asiatic peoples first, and mediaeval and modern Europe +afterwards. + +2. Something was said in Chapter VI with regard to the evolution of +disease. It was there shown that in all probability most diseases +evolved relatively late in history. The more settled conditions of the +Neolithic Age may have provided the first suitable surroundings for the +evolution and spread of disease. The taking of metals into use was +followed by an increase in the density of population when conditions +became yet more favourable. The use of metals was followed by the rise +of the first civilizations. It was then that men first came to dwell in +towns and cities, and it is interesting to observe that the earliest +cities were very compact. Mr. Hall, speaking of Minoan civilization, +says that the towns were very cramped, ‘more so than the most confined +of European mediaeval cities’.[1287] On the rise therefore of these +early civilizations the conditions were strongly contrasted with those +which, we imagine, must have been prevalent before, and favoured the +spread of disease as it had never been favoured before. From the rise of +the early civilizations until within the last hundred years, conditions +have remained favourable. They may perhaps have been most favourable in +European towns in mediaeval and later times. According to Rogers, ‘the +habits of the people were favourable to pestilence. Every writer during +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who makes his comment on the +customs and practices of English life, adverts to the profuseness of +their diet and the extraordinarily uncleanliness of their habits and +persons. The floor of an ordinary Englishman’s house, as Erasmus +describes it, was inconceivably filthy, in London filthier than +elsewhere, for centuries after these events. The streets and open +ditches of the towns were polluted and noisome beyond measure. The +Englishman disdained all the conditions of health.’[1288] + +Turning to the evidence, we find that facts are very scanty for the +earliest times of this period. Such evidence as we have points to the +prevalence of disease during the early civilizations. We know that +pestilence swept over Egypt—the references to the subject in the Bible +being familiar. But precisely what diseases were prevalent are not +known; the descriptions of the symptoms are seldom sufficiently accurate +even in mediaeval times to make it possible to identify the +diseases.[1289] From other evidence it appears that in any case +tuberculosis, leprosy, plague, and bilharzia were common in Egypt. There +is much evidence to show that most diseases only reached Europe in +relatively late times. Plague, for instance, probably first reached +Europe in A. D. 542. It is possible, however, that the pestilence which +ravaged most of Europe between A. D. 164 and 188 was plague.[1290] +Generally speaking, the evidence points to the conclusion that many +diseases came from the East, where they in all probability originated. +Plague, cholera, and small-pox all seem to have had their origin in +India. This conclusion is in harmony with what we know of the origin of +civilization, for it is where men first came to dwell in close proximity +that we should expect to find that disease originated. + +With regard to mortality from disease very little accurate information +is available until modern times. It is quite impossible to say, for +instance, whether disease was the cause of a higher mortality in the +Middle Ages than in the times of the Early Empires. All we know is that +it was in both cases an important factor of elimination. Within the last +century disease has come to be in an increasing degree under the control +of scientific methods. Some diseases such as small-pox have been almost +banished from this country; others, such as diphtheria, have been +rendered less lethal. Of the Early Empires there are of course no exact +facts. Macdonell, working on figures from the _Corpus Inscriptionum +Latinarum_ of the Berlin Academy, found that there was a very low +expectation of life in ancient Rome as compared with the present day. +Whereas in England at the age of fifteen the expectation of life for +boys is forty-five years and for girls forty-eight years, in Rome it was +twenty and fifteen years respectively; and again, whereas in England at +the age of thirty the expectation of life for men is thirty-three, and +for women thirty-six years, in Rome it was nineteen and fourteen +respectively. He also found that, though the death-rate was less high, +the position was much the same in the provinces of Hispania and +Lusitania as in Rome. In Africa, however, the expectation of life was +higher, but this may perhaps be due to the presence of a large number of +colonists.[1291] There is abundant evidence of a high rate of mortality +in Europe up to the opening of the last century. We must remember, says +Rogers, that ‘in the Middle Ages the risks of death from disease were +far greater than they are at present, that medical skill was almost +non-existent, that the conditions of life were eminently unwholesome, +that the diet of the people, during fully one-half of the year, though +abundant, was insalubrious’;[1292] and in another place he says that ‘in +the large towns the deaths, to judge from the return up to the +eighteenth century, greatly exceeded the births’.[1293] Theilhaber, +quoting Goldstein, gives figures which corroborate this view for Basel +and Frankfort.[1294] Halley constructed one of the earliest tables of +mortality for the city of Breslau for the years 1687 to 1691, and they +show that the mortality was ‘considerably higher than that shown by +modern statistics’.[1295] Price constructed a table for Northampton for +the years 1735 to 1780, and it shows a death-rate of 249·31 per thousand +for the ages 0–2, which is far higher than at the present day.[1296] + +Finally, though disease has nowadays very largely come under scientific +control, by far the greater number of deaths is due to disease. Thus in +1917 there were 498,922 deaths among the civilian population of England +and Wales. Of these, 20,480 were due to violence (not suicide), 2,495 to +suicide, 2,485 to ill-defined or unknown causes, and 2,598 took place +during pregnancy. Of the remainder all were due to defined diseases. +Enteric fever (typhoid and paratyphoid) accounted for 977, measles for +10,538; whooping cough, 4,509; tuberculosis for 59,934; syphilis for +2,127; cancer for 41,158; pneumonia for 39,832; diphtheria and croup for +4,498; meningitis for 4,761; organic heart disease for 52,692; +bronchitis for 38,907; other respiratory diseases for 7,031; diarrhoea +for 13,311; nephritis and Bright’s disease for 14,298; and congenital +debility for 23,850.[1297] + +3. Warfare is the second factor—disease being the first—which among +these races is remarkable in that its effects are not regular. It is +wholly impossible to estimate the loss of life in war until modern +times. Contemporary statements nearly always hugely exaggerate the +numbers engaged in battle and the number slain. ‘In the first Battle of +St. Albans we have been told that five thousand persons were slain. It +is almost certain that not much more than half that number were in +action.’[1298] This is probably equally true of nearly all such +statements. With regard to elimination through warfare there are two +facts to be borne in mind. The first is that, even if the contemporary +statements were correct, war is by no means so important a factor as it +seems at first sight. A practice which resulted in the conscious +limitation of each family by one child would have greater results over a +period of years than there is ever claimed as the direct result of +warfare in reducing numbers over a similar period. The second is that +the indirect elimination following upon warfare is of far greater +importance than the direct elimination. Famine and disease following +warfare were until recent times responsible for many more deaths than +warfare itself. When we are told that during the Thirty Years’ War the +population of Würtemberg was reduced from 500,000 to 46,000,[1299] it +has to be remembered that disease and famine played a greater part than +loss of life in battle. Further, when the direct effects of warfare as a +whole are contrasted with those of disease, it is apparent that they are +relatively insignificant. Elimination from disease, though irregular, is +always in progress within this period; there are lengthy epochs when +there is little or no loss through war. Again, the great epidemics are +far more destructive of life than the great wars; Hecker, for instance, +after a lengthy examination of the various accounts, came to the +conclusion that about a quarter of the inhabitants of Europe perished +during the Black Death.[1300] + +The nature which warfare assumed in this period is obviously connected +with the rise and consolidation of large states. Warfare becomes a +matter of policy; it is no longer a cause of a regular degree of +elimination. There is among the races under review in this chapter every +degree between the kind of warfare typical of the races previously +reviewed and that typical of this period. The nomadic races of Asia have +at least until recent times maintained a form of regular warfare. +Vambéry states that there is ‘inveterate and irreconcilable enmity’ +between two tribes of Turkomans.[1301] We are told that among such a +primitive people as the Nagas the tribes were formerly in a state of +constant hostility.[1302] Among these people also head hunting was +formerly common and the victims sometimes included women.[1303] ‘One +individual showed Mr. Carnegie his apron which recorded the deaths of +twenty-five individuals—men, women and children—slain by his own +hand.’[1304] Generally speaking, however, we have in this period to +think of warfare as typically of a different nature to that which we +have noticed before, but whether it on the whole accounts directly for a +higher degree of elimination, it is not possible to say. + +The features of warfare which are of importance here are its relatively +slight effect in producing elimination, its irregular action, and its +important consequences in bringing about disease and famine. With +disease we have already dealt. Famine appears here for the first time +among the more important factors of elimination, and its appearance is +obviously connected with the higher organization of society which, if +broken down, as by warfare, may give rise to famine.[1305] Social +organization may be broken down by other causes than war, as by some +failure in government. Famine may also result from exceptionally bad +weather in any period; but it would seem that when a certain stage of +organization has been reached the danger is greater than before or +afterwards. There were great famines in England in the years 1194 to +1196, 1257 to 1259, and 1315 to 1316, since when famines have been +unknown. These famines were all connected with bad weather, but the fact +that they have not occurred since is to be attributed rather to superior +social organization and increasing knowledge than to better climatic +conditions. The sudden and prolonged changes of climate which occur in +certain places, as for instance in Peninsular India, tax the resources +even of modern knowledge and skill. In the case of famine, more so even +than in the case of warfare, the loss of life is apt to be +overestimated. Famine somehow strikes the imagination and gives it a +prominence in history which it does not deserve. It is in reality a +minor factor. + +Before leaving the subject of warfare, it is interesting to note, in +view of what will be said later regarding the influence of Christian +teaching in assisting to put a stop to abortion and infanticide, that +the early Church was also opposed to warfare. According to Clement of +Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and Lactantius, all warfare was unlawful +for the converted. Under Domitian a Christian soldier who refused to +fight was executed. There was a controversy between Celsus and Origen on +this matter. The view of the latter was that the prayers of Christians +were more effective than their swords. This attitude, however, was soon +abandoned, and by the time of Constantine the army was largely +Christian.[1306] + +4. In the groups already discussed we have found child mortality to be +an important factor. We traced it to certain factors such as +carelessness, ignorance, and practices such as bathing new-born babies +in cold water. Within the historical period child mortality also plays +an important part. Though there is little or no evidence of the practice +of such customs as those referred to, ignorance and carelessness are +familiar enough among the less educated classes at the present day, and +in addition disease exacts a very heavy toll of infant life. In fact, +whereas among primitive races the actual cause of the death of children +appears generally to be exposure or debility following on the results of +ignorant and careless treatment, among the races of this group the +actual cause of death is usually disease to which children have been +more or less predisposed by the treatment they have received. + +There is little exact evidence as to the conditions among the historical +races, but the general impression gained from the literary evidence is +that infant mortality was high. The high rate of child mortality among +Asiatic races is well known. In the period 1902 to 1911 the average +deaths of children for one thousand births was in the United Provinces +352, in Bombay 320, in Burma 332, and in the Punjab 306.[1307] Referring +to these figures, Wattal comments on the ‘extremely unsanitary +conditions of child-birth and the appalling ignorance prevalent on the +subject’.[1308] With regard to ignorance it is everywhere the same +story. Of the modern Egyptians we are told that ‘the children are foul +in the eyes, and are allowed to munch such indigestible dainties as +beans and bread as soon as they have teeth with which to bite, while the +mother protests to the lady doctor that nothing but milk has ever passed +the child’s lips, though its little hand may actually be holding a hunch +of raw potato’.[1309] + +Of the Middle Ages again there is no exact evidence, but all we know +points to a very high child mortality. Some figures for the eighteenth +century from the country have been quoted and doubtless there was a +considerably higher death-rate in the towns.[1310] From the general +conditions and from the prevalence of disease it is obvious that it +could not have been otherwise. + +Within the last century there has been in most European countries a +considerable decrease in child mortality. The degree of mortality varies +greatly from country to country. For the same period as that for which +the Indian figures were given the figures are for England and Wales +127·3, France 132·4, Germany 186·6, Hungary 207·6. New Zealand 64·4, +Sweden 84·4, Australia 87·5, and Scotland 116·1.[1311] Some further +reference to this subject and particularly to the differences between +the various countries will be made in Chapter XI. + +5. With this reference to the importance of disease, war, famine, and +child mortality throughout the historical period we may pass to the +consideration of the remaining factors, dealing first with the ancient +empires and Asiatic peoples and afterwards with Europe from the fall of +the Roman Empire. We shall find that considerable differences exist +regarding the importance of the various factors as between these two +divisions. Roughly speaking, with the exception of the importance of +disease, conditions in the ancient empires and in Asiatic countries are +similar to those in previous groups. In Europe after the introduction of +Christianity we shall find that certain factors become of little or no +importance, whereas others appear for the first time, and finally in the +modern period we shall discover further changes. It is therefore +convenient to consider the conditions in the first two sub-groups taken +together and afterwards those in the latter two sub-groups. + +All the evidence goes to show that celibacy and postponement of marriage +were very rare in the ancient empires and are very rare among Asiatic +peoples. The only instances to the contrary are such cases as those of +the later days of the Roman Empire; such cases are wholly exceptional +and what there is to be said about them will be deferred to the next +chapter. Generally speaking, every one married at or soon after the age +of puberty. In Greece ‘in various places criminal proceedings might be +taken against celibates’.[1312] Though the figures on which he worked +were small, Macdonell found that marriages in Rome took place between +the ages of ten and twenty.[1313] In all these countries we find +examples of religious celibacy. In Egypt[1314] and Chaldea[1315] there +were celibates of both sexes for religious reasons, in Rome there were +vestal virgins, in Persia Sun Priestesses who did not marry, and in +India and Tibet there are similar examples.[1316] But unlike Christian +celibacy, these instances of celibacy were of no importance whatever as +regards the question of numbers. The religious celibates never formed +more than an insignificant fraction of the whole population. In general, +as we shall see later, marriage was strongly encouraged by religions +other than Christianity for the mass of mankind. The one other important +exception would seem to be Buddhism, which not only forbade marriage to +the sacerdotal caste, but discouraged marriage among all those who would +attain to wisdom. It would appear, however, that celibacy, though +possibly widespread in the earlier days of Buddhism, soon ceased to be +practised except by a small proportion of the adherents of Buddha. ‘It +is said that in Nepal, under the modern Gurkha rule, the celibate +occupies a lower position than the married monk, to whom the services in +the temples are committed. It is said, too, that the Lamas of Sikkim and +other northern countries constantly have children living with them, +though they do not admit them to be their own. Yet for all that celibacy +is the rule, and, nominally at any rate, the great majority of Lamistic +monks in Western Asia are unmarried coenobites, who live together in +monasteries.’[1317] + +Much evidence could be given as to the view taken of celibacy and of the +duty of marrying early. ‘The Oriental’, says Polak, ‘does not understand +how any one can remain a celibate who has the chance to marry.’[1318] +‘Le célibat’, says Fustel de Coulanges, ‘devait être à la fois une +impiété grave et un malheur; une impiété, parce que le célibataire +mettait en péril le bonheur des mânes de sa famille; un malheur, parce +qu’il ne devait reçevoir lui-même aucun culte après sa mort et ne devait +pas connaître ce qui réjouit les mânes. C’était à la fois pour lui et +pour ces ancêtres une sorte de damnation.’[1319] Doughty describes the +reasons for the absence of celibacy among the Arabs.[1320] The same +conditions are found in China.[1321] Of Corea, Ross says ‘the male human +being who is never married is never called a “man”, whatever his age, +but goes by the name of “yataw”, a name given by the Chinese to +unmarriageable young girls, and the man of thirteen or fourteen has a +perfect right to strike, abuse, order about the “yatow” of thirty who +dares not so much as open his lips to complain’.[1322] ‘Among natives of +India’, says Kerr, ‘it is considered an indispensable duty to enter into +the marriage state.’[1323] ‘A Hindoo male’, according to Wattal, ‘must +marry and beget children—son, if you please—to perform his funeral rites +lest his spirit wander uneasily in the waste places of the earth. The +very name of son, “Putra”, means one who saves his father’s soul from +the hell called “Puta”. A Hindoo maiden unmarried at puberty is a source +of social obloquy to her family and of damnation to her ancestors. Among +the Mohammedans, who are not handicapped by such penalties, the marriage +state is equally common, partly owing to Hindoo example, and partly to +the general conditions of life in primitive society where a wife is +almost a necessity both as a domestic drudge and as a helpmate in field +work.’[1324] + +Early marriage is considered to be a duty for all. Westermarck quotes +Mohammed as saying: ‘whenever a servant of God marries verily he +perfects half his religion’.[1325] According to the Laws of Manu it is a +religious duty incumbent upon all.[1326] In the Vedic Age marriage was +much encouraged and offspring greatly desired.[1327] Confucianism and +Zoroastrianism similarly encouraged marriage. ‘A youth’, says Dubois, +speaking of India, ‘who was not married before he was eighteen was +considered by them to be sinning against the command of the Creator, +which says “Increase and Multiply”.’[1328] ‘Almost all Chinese,’ says +Gray, ‘robust or infirm, well formed or deformed, are called upon by +their parents to marry so soon as they have attained the age of +puberty.’[1329] ‘Marriage and the upbringing of offspring became a duty +incumbent upon every Chinese who is normally fit for marriage’,[1330] +say two modern Chinese authors. Similar statements are to be found +regarding Burma,[1331] Upper Siam,[1332] Persia,[1333] the +Mongols,[1334] and the Kalmucks.[1335] + +6. Marriage before the age of puberty is not uncommon and is very +prevalent in India. It is doubtful how far intercourse takes place +before maturity. In the North-West Provinces of India it is stated that +in most cases there is no cohabitation before puberty.[1336] This +statement is confirmed by Risley; he further states that in Bengal +cohabitation begins at once.[1337] In India in 1901, 243,500 girls were +married under the age of five, 2,030,000 between the ages of five and +ten, and 6,585,000 between the ages of ten and fifteen.[1338] Eram, +speaking generally of the East, states that pre-puberty marriages are +not rare.[1339] We hear that 10 per cent. of the Kirghiz marry before +the beginning of menstruation.[1340] Among the Annamites[1341] and the +Todas[1342] intercourse sometimes occurs before puberty. Macdonell’s +figures for Rome, already referred to, show that marriage must sometimes +have taken place before puberty. + +7. The ancient Egyptians suckled their children for two or three +years.[1343] The suckling period is prolonged in Arabia.[1344] In the +Koran mothers are recommended to suckle for two years.[1345] Among +Asiatic races lactation is usually extended for a considerable length of +time. The Japanese sometimes do not wean their children until the fourth +year.[1346] The poorer classes in Persia suckle until the third +year.[1347] In Upper Siam ‘infants are generally suckled three +years’.[1348] In Turkey lactation is also prolonged.[1349] Generally +speaking, the evidence is to the effect that the suckling period is +always prolonged—the average being perhaps somewhere about two to three +years. + +8. In sub-group 1 many examples are found of restraint from sexual +intercourse being imposed upon married persons at certain seasons. +Examples from Egypt are given by Müller.[1350] According to the Laws of +Manu separation from the wife was obligatory at certain periods—for +instance, at new and full moon and on certain days of the month.[1351] +Similar conditions existed in Persia.[1352] Such restrictions, however, +are not of much importance. Of prolonged abstention from intercourse +there is little evidence. In China, according to Gray, ‘a husband is not +expected to cohabit with his wife after she has conceived, nor after the +child is born, during the whole period that it is being nourished at the +mother’s breast. Any violation of this rule is supposed not only to +cause the child to become sickly but to provoke the displeasure of the +ancestors and to bring misfortune upon all members of the family. +Wealthy Chinese are generally very careful in the practice of such +abstention.’[1353] It is quite clear, however, from what we know of +Chinese fertility that this custom is not widely practised among the +people as a whole. Smith speaks of ‘the objection of the Arabs to +intercourse with a nursing mother which was supposed to hurt the +suckling’.[1354] In Turkey also there is said to be no intercourse +during lactation.[1355] There are thus indications of the practice of +this important custom, and it may be that it existed in such a degree as +to have exerted considerable influence.[1356] + +9. There is a general impression that the knowledge of contraceptive +methods has only been acquired in modern times. This, however, is not +correct. We have already seen that there is evidence of their use in the +second group. In the third group there is evidence of the knowledge of +certain methods in early times. Theilhaber gives some particulars +regarding their employment among the Jews, German tribes, Arabs, the +Franks before their conversion to Christianity, the Greeks, and the +Romans.[1357] Methods are employed at the present day in China[1358] and +in India,[1359] though there is some doubt as to how far they are +effective. According to Wattal there is some statistical evidence from +India which may be interpreted either as a result of such practices or +as a result of abstention from intercourse.[1360] There is not +sufficient evidence to allow of any exact estimate being made of the +extent of these practices. Generally speaking, however, it would appear +that it is not until we arrive at the latest period of human history +that we find these practices to be of considerable importance. + +10. With regard to the size of families in early times there is little +exact evidence. Among Asiatic peoples at the present day we have some +evidence of the degree of fertility, whereas hitherto the evidence has +been only that of the number of children surviving after infanticide and +infant mortality had taken their toll. This evidence from the Asiatic +races we may now turn to discuss, but we may note before doing so that +the evidence for the remaining races of the first sub-group gives a +rather different impression than that which we obtain when studying +primitive races; upon the whole we get the impression that families were +at least not so markedly small as among primitive races.[1361] + +Fertility is often said to be higher in the East than in Europe. So far +as India is concerned this is not so. The error has arisen because +attention has been paid to the crude birth-rate. When the crude +birth-rate is corrected for the number of married females of +reproductive age, then the true birth-rate is found to be lower than in +Europe. ‘The total number of births registered in England and Wales +during the year 1911 was 881,138, which when calculated on the total +population gives a crude birth-rate of 24·4 per thousand. The total +number of births registered in India during the same year was 9,209,703, +which when calculated on the total population gives a crude birth-rate +of 38·59 per thousand. It would seem therefore that the fertility in +India is higher than in England. But this is not so. The total number of +females of reproductive age (15 to 45) in England and Wales at the +census of 1911 was 8,988,745 and if we calculate the births per thousand +of such females the figure stands at 98. The total number of females of +those ages in India in 1911 was 71,535,861 and the corresponding Indian +figure is 128. If, however, we calculate the births on the number of +married females of reproductive ages the Indian figure stands at 160 +while the English figure is 196.’[1362] + +The fertility in other Asiatic countries is often said to be very high; +it is asserted to approach 50 per 1,000 in China. Exact figures are, +however, lacking. There is no doubt that the corrected birth-rate would +be much less. Among nomadic people the evidence is to the effect that +the number of children is small, and this is probably connected with the +practice of abortion, which is common for instance among the Arabs. + +11. We have now to give some account of the factors which have a bearing +upon elimination in the third group. Of these the first is abortion. +Classical literature is full of references to the subject. Plato and +Aristotle both permitted abortion. ‘No law in Greece or in the Roman +republic or during the greater part of the Empire condemned it.’[1363] +‘A long chain of writers both pagan and Christian represent the practice +as avowed and almost universal. They describe it as resulting, not +simply from licentiousness or from poverty, but even from so slight a +motive as vanity which made mothers shrink from the disfigurement of +child-birth. They speak of a mother who had never destroyed her +offspring as deserving of signal praise and they assure us that the +frequency of the crime was such that it gave rise to a regular +profession.’[1364] The practice was more common in Rome than in +Greece.[1365] It was deplored, nevertheless, by many authors including +Ovid, Juvenal, and Seneca. Some details of the methods employed are +given by Theilhaber.[1366] + +In sub-group 2 we find the practice to be widespread. Eram comments upon +its frequency throughout the East.[1367] Wilkins says that ‘the crime of +procuring abortion is one of the commonest in India’, and quotes Dr. +Chevers as saying that abortion is ‘an act of almost daily commission’ +and has become ‘a trade among certain of the lower midwives’. It is +especially common in Bengal—perhaps 10,000 being destroyed +monthly.[1368] According to Matignon, in China abortion is legal and +usual during the three-year suckling period.[1369] It is also common in +Annam,[1370] in Japan,[1371] Persia,[1372] and Turkey.[1373] Infanticide +was condemned by Mohammed but not abortion, which is frequent among the +Arabs.[1374] In Turkey it is very common;[1375] it is said to be brought +about after the second birth if the husband consents.[1376] The fact +that in later times we hear of enactments against abortion among the +Burgundians, Ripuarians, Visigoths, Bavarians, Saxons, Frisians, and +Lombards seems to point to the conclusion that the practice was common +before their conversion to Christianity.[1377] + +12. There is some reason for believing that infanticide was common among +the Egyptians at the time of Moses.[1378] ‘The ancient Jews seem to have +themselves practised infanticide, for as late as the time of Isaiah they +are reproached with the habit of “slaying the children in the valleys +under the clefts of the rocks”. In 2 Chron. xxviii. 3 and xxxiii. 6 the +same statement is made. It is true that these cases may have partaken of +the nature of human sacrifices rather than of ordinary infanticide, but +the two generally prevailed together, and we have express testimony that +both of them existed at that time among all the surrounding nations, +Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Syrians, and Babylonians as well as among their +kindred the Carthaginians.’[1379] + +Glotz has an interesting chapter on the subject of infanticide in +Greece. In prehistoric times in Greece the head of the family could, as +among all people of ‘Aryan origin’, dispose of his children as he +wished.[1380] After examining the myths it is clear, according to Glotz, +that infanticide was a daily occurrence during the period at which myths +were being formed.[1381] In historical times it was universal. Most +often infanticide was ordered by the father, who generally on the fifth, +sometimes on the seventh or tenth, day after the birth publicly +proclaimed whether he would keep the child or not.[1382] If he decided +not to keep the child, it was exposed, and there is reason to think that +most of the exposed children died.[1383] Infanticide was enjoined by the +ideal legislation of Plato and Aristotle and by the actual legislation +of Lycurgus and Solon. Summing up his examination of this subject Glotz +says: ‘L’opinion de la Grèce ancienne est donc à peu près unanime. Reçue +dans la vie privée, cette pratique a été admise en droit par les +législatures et fondées en raison par les maîtres de la pensée.’[1384] + +In very early times infanticide was general in Rome. Later the right of +the father to destroy his children was somewhat restricted. ‘The power +of life and death, which in Rome was originally conceded to the father +over his children, would appear to involve an unlimited permission of +infanticide; but a very old law, popularly ascribed to Romulus, in this +respect restricted the parental rights, enjoining the father to bring up +all his male children, and at least his eldest female child, forbidding +him to destroy any well-formed child till it had completed its third +year, when the affections of the parents might be supposed to be +developed, but permitting the exposition of deformed or maimed children +with the consent of their five nearest relations.’[1385] There is +evidence to show that this permission was frequently utilized. The plots +of Plautus and Terence sometimes turn upon the reappearance of children +supposed to have been destroyed. ‘Pliny says that infanticide is really +a lamentable necessity “seeing that the fertility of some women is so +over-abundant in children that it needs some such practice to +counterbalance it” while ... Seneca saw nothing reprehensible in +it.’[1386] Suetonius has several allusions to the matter which prove +that infanticide was accepted by the Romans in a very matter-of-fact +spirit. For instance, in describing the public grief for the death of +Germanicus, he mentions that many women exposed their infants. The +opening of the fourteenth episode of the _Golden Ass_ of Apuleius +describes how a husband before going forth on a journey directed his +young wife that the coming babe if a girl was to be destroyed; the whole +being related as a perfectly natural and common occurrence.[1387] + +Among the Arabs it was very prevalent before the time of Mohammed, by +whom it was forbidden. Instances are given by Smith to show the extent +of the practice.[1388] Discussing the matter in another place Smith says +that Wilken ‘doubts whether among the Arabs the practice was carried to +such an extent as to do more than keep the sexes balanced—men being more +exposed than women to violent deaths; but there is evidence that, at any +rate in some places and at some times, there was a strong pressure of +public opinion against bearing any daughter, even though she were the +only child of her parents. If we take along with this the fact that +wealthy and powerful men had often several wives, there can, I think, be +no question that, at least in some parts of the country, wives must have +been so scarce that the mass of the tribesmen must have been driven to +practise polyandry.’[1389] The evidence from China is somewhat +conflicting; this is probably to be accounted for by the variations in +habits in different parts of the country. Norman has collected evidence +to show its wide extent. ‘The testimony’, he says, ‘of a Chinese teacher +is as follows: “Infanticide is very common among the poor, and even +people in pretty easy circumstances. There is hardly a family in which +at least one child has not been destroyed, and in some families four or +five are disposed of.”... Another man, who is now a member of the +Christian Church, says that in his village there is hardly a family that +has not destroyed two or three children.... A lady contributor to the +_North China Daily News_ furnished the following statistics: “I find +that 160 Chinese women, all over 50 years of age, had borne 631 sons and +538 daughters. Of the sons 366 or nearly 60 per cent. had lived more +than 10 years; while of the daughters only 205 or 38 per cent. had lived +10 years. The 160 women had, according to their own statement, destroyed +158 of their daughters; but none had ever destroyed a boy. As only four +women reared more than three girls, the probability is that the +infanticides confessed to are considerably below the truth. I have +occasionally been told by a woman that she had forgotten just how many +girls she had had more than she wanted. The greatest number of +infanticides confessed to by any one woman is eleven.”’[1390] Gray +states that infanticide prevails to a huge extent and gives an example +of a young husband who had had three sons and four daughters. Of the +latter three had been killed.[1391] According to Douglas the practice +prevails among the poorer classes ‘to an alarming extent’.[1392] Abeel +speaks of infanticide in China as ‘very common’.[1393] ‘In Pekin,’ he +says, ‘after deducting more than one-half for the natural deaths the +number of exposed children is, according to Barrow, about 4,000 a +year.... In some Provinces not one in three is suffered to live.’[1394] +The practice is said to be specially prevalent in South China.[1395] +Milne says that in Canton ‘infanticide was rare. Dr. Williams, however, +states that though the practice is rare in Canton it is common in Amoy. +He thinks that in general the proportion of children killed is not +great, but mentions two provinces wherein the practice prevails to an +atrocious extent, twenty to thirty per cent. of the female children, +therefore, ten to fifteen per cent. of the total number of infants born, +being put to death.’[1396] The important fact, upon which we shall +comment in the next chapter, seems to be that in China infanticide is +practised not so much as a regular habit as in times of distress. Moule +thinks that infanticide is connected with times of want, and Douglas +that it is in general only committed by the poorer classes in times of +distress. Norman emphasizes the fact that it is chiefly committed by the +poorer classes. Giles denies its existence altogether.[1397] It is +therefore of particular interest to find two modern Chinese authors +speaking as follows. ‘One must not assume that such a custom is +prevalent; flagrant and sometimes dramatic accounts, of which we have +heard so much, only hold true in certain districts and at times of +famine.’[1398] According to Faulds infanticide was formerly common in +Japan.[1399] + +It is said that infanticide was formerly characteristic of five-sixths +of British India.[1400] Recently it was common in Central India, +Rajputana, Cutch Bhooj, Agra Province, Khondistan, among the Jats, and +in the Punjab generally.[1401] The Mysore census for 1852 showed that in +a population of 3,410,382 there was a 10 per cent. excess of males in +the adult population in spite of a 16 per cent. excess of female +births.[1402] It is stated to exist among the Nagas[1403] though the +evidence is conflicting.[1404] It was formerly ‘very common all over the +Jeypore country’.[1405] It was especially prevalent among the Khond +people,[1406] where ‘it was expressly sanctioned and promoted by their +religious doctrine’.[1407] It was also common among the Todas.[1408] +‘Lieut.-General Walker estimated that about 33,000 female children were +annually put to death in Cutch and Gujerat, a rate amounting to about +one-fourth of the total births and therefore to about half of the girls +born. Watson and Kaye assert that “no criminality either by law or usage +was ever attached among the Rajputs to infanticide. The child was +smothered in milk or else opium was smeared upon the mother’s breasts in +quantities sufficient to cause immediate death.” The _Encyclopaedia of +India_ asserts that in one of the districts of this Province, while +there were 82,400 boys, there were only 35,137 girls at the 1874 +enumeration, a discrepancy which clearly showed that more than one-half +of the girls had been destroyed.’[1409] + +It is worthy of note that in addition to infanticide ‘the wilful neglect +of female children operates destructively in every town and village +throughout the length and breadth of India’.[1410] This is especially +noticeable where in recent days infanticide has much diminished. Thus in +Rajputana girls are allowed to die when in the case of a boy medical aid +would be summoned.[1411] + +Infanticide was extensively practised among the Teutonic tribes before +their conversion to Christianity.[1412] The well-known statement of +Tacitus that the Germans did not practise infanticide is certainly +erroneous. Lecky suggests that the whole passage is to be taken rather +as an indirect way of scolding his own people than as a sober statement +of fact about another. ‘Guizot regards the picture which Tacitus draws +as being analogous to the portrait Fenimore Cooper gives of the Red +Indians.’[1413] There is ample evidence that the practice was common. +‘Grimm declares that “all the Teutonic Sagas are full of the exposure of +children, and there can be no doubt that in the early days of heathenism +it was lawful”. Müller says that all the Teutonic races in early times +had the right of exposing their children, but in the course of centuries +it came to be exercised only by the parent.... It is related that, when +in A. D. 1000 the Norsemen of Iceland were converted to Christianity, +they stipulated that the right of slaying their infants should not be +removed.’[1414] There is evidence from graves that infanticide was +practised in Neolithic times in England.[1415] It is thus of particular +interest to notice that, where we can catch sight of peoples emerging +out of the prehistoric period, we find infanticide established as a +practice; the conclusions derived from the direct evidence of the +peoples of this group are thus linked on to the conclusion to which in +the last chapter we came from indirect evidence.[1416] + +13. Turning to sub-groups three and four, disease, war, famine, and +child mortality have already been dealt with. The remaining factors are +those in respect of which there is a contrast between these sub-groups +and those just considered. Furthermore, as regards these factors there +are certain important differences as between what we may call mediaeval +and modern races. + +Of pre-puberty intercourse there is no evidence. Among modern races it +is certainly negligible. If it occurred at all in the mediaeval period +it was very uncommon, and we may therefore regard this factor as of no +account. Hitherto we have found that, though far from being universal, +it is a fairly common practice. Its disappearance thus makes one +distinction between these races and those which we have previously +studied. + +The length of the suckling period marks a similar distinction. It is not +possible to lay down any hard and fast distinction; even at the present +day in certain country districts it is prolonged, as, for instance, in +Hungary for several years according to Gönezi.[1417] Generally speaking, +however, the tendency has been for a reduction to the conditions which +now rule in Western Europe. + +14. A far more remarkable difference between these races and those +hitherto considered is provided by the conditions regarding celibacy and +the postponement of marriage. Hitherto we have found that, with the +exception of a very few individuals who chiefly for religious reasons +did not marry, all women, if indeed not married before puberty, got +married soon after. Such postponement of marriage as occurred was +confined to men, and therefore neither celibacy nor postponement had any +effect upon numbers. At this point we come upon wholly new conditions. + +The views of St. Paul with regard to marriage are well known and the +attitude of all early Christians authors is similar though usually more +pronounced. If marriage was tolerable, virginity was in any case +preferable. ‘For why’, says Tertullian, ‘should we long to bear +children, whom, when we have them, we desire to send before us ... +ourselves also longing to be removed from this most wicked world.... +Therefore whether marriage be for the sake of the flesh, or of the world +or of having descendants, not one of these necessities belongeth to the +servants of God.’[1418] Such a passage as this can be paralleled in the +works of almost any of the Fathers. They return to the subject over and +over again. St. Augustine did not avoid the practical difficulty. ‘But I +am aware’, he says, ‘of some that murmur. What, say they, if all men +should abstain from sexual intercourse, whence will the human race +exist? Would that all would thus; ... much more speedily would the City +of God be filled and the end of the world hastened.’[1419] There are +many decrees of the early Council regarding celibacy. It was first +enjoined by the Popes in 385.[1420] Gregory VII was very zealous on +behalf of celibacy, and owing to his efforts it became very general in +Europe in the eleventh century though it was not rigidly enforced until +the thirteenth century among the clergy.[1421] Much earlier, however, in +certain countries celibacy had come, under the influence of Christian +teaching, to be of importance. It was initiated by Paul the Theban and +St. Antony after the Decian persecution[1422] and according to Schönberg +there were at one time in a single diocese in Egypt 20,000 men and +10,000 women celibates.[1423] It was felt to be necessary to take steps +to limit the extent of the practice, and in 381 the Council of Saragossa +forbade virgins to take the veil unless over forty years of age.[1424] +Thus under the influence of Christianity celibacy became for the first +time in human history a factor of importance. That the celibate is to be +preferred to the married state is emphasized by the Council of +Trent.[1425] + +Also in this period for the first time in the history of the world +postponement of marriage became of importance. The evidence as to the +age at marriage is unfortunately far from exact. There is, however, a +very large amount of evidence which shows that, at least in the society +typical of most European countries from the tenth century onwards, +marriage was, except among the privileged classes, always somewhat, and +often very long, postponed both for men and women, though more for the +former than the latter. This postponement was brought about by the +pressure of social conditions, customs, and laws. To these conditions +and customs it will be necessary to refer in the next chapter, and it +will suffice to say here that, generally speaking, in the country there +was a limited number of households and that, until death made vacancies, +there was no house for those wishing to marry, who in consequence had to +wait, and that in the towns guild restrictions bound apprentices for a +large number of years during which they might not marry, and that at +many times in many places the poor were prohibited from marrying. + +There is very little statistical evidence. The matter has been +investigated by Rubin, who worked with the Danish figures for the +sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. ‘It was the universal +rule’, he says, ‘that as soon as the obstacles ... were surmounted, +every one proceeded to get married.’[1426] Apart, therefore, from +religious celibacy, there was no voluntary celibacy such as we find at +the present day. But these obstacles in the case of the dependent class +were serious, and marriage was long postponed by men in this class, +though postponed for a shorter time by women than by men. ‘Even though +the social and economic structure of the community of old restrained one +section of the population—the dependent section—from marriage, the other +part of the population, the independent section, married far earlier +than nowadays. There was perhaps ... some holding back in certain +circles of the best society. But for ordinary independent people +marriage at an early age was a matter of course. Those who could marry +early, then, did so. But those who were unable to marry till late in +life—when they no longer held the position of journeymen, labourer, +&c.—yet married.’[1427] With regard to women there was ‘a state of +affairs resembling that found in the case of men, a compulsory condition +of celibacy for certain sections of the population.... In certain +classes of the population there were a good many more unmarried women at +something over twenty years of age than there are now.’[1428] Summing up +his conclusions the same author says ‘in spite of the fact that in the +independent section of the community marriage took place, as a rule, at +an earlier age in the eighteenth century than it does now, the average +age of marriage was yet higher at that time, because the more numerous +dependent class married later’, and adds that ‘there must have been a +difference between the age of the bride and bridegroom considerably +greater than in the marriages of our time’.[1429] + +The state of things indicated above is that typical of mediaeval Europe +and lasted up to the industrial revolution. It is not to be supposed +that there was any abrupt change from the conditions prevalent before; +on the contrary the conditions described developed slowly as European +mediaeval society assumed its typical aspect. The growth of these +conditions is connected with the disappearance of abortion and +infanticide, and, as we shall see; there is evidence that there was a +lengthy period during which these customs continued to be practised +after the introduction of Christianity. + +The transition from the conditions of what we have called the mediaeval +period to those of the modern period was relatively sudden. The economic +changes connected with the rise of the industrial system in the latter +half of the eighteenth century did away with the obstacles to marriage +which have been mentioned. As a result the average age at marriage was +lowered. In England between 1867 and 1888 it was for men twenty-six and +for women twenty-four. The question of the age at marriage in the modern +period need not detain us because it was not the variations in that +factor which have controlled numbers. There have been variations, but +these variations have been compensated for by other factors. + +Celibacy for religious reasons, which at certain times and places was of +great importance in the mediaeval period, has ceased to be of any +importance in the modern period. On the other hand, for the first time +in history voluntary celibacy on grounds other than religious has come +to be of importance. ‘In the course of this century [nineteenth century] +Wappaus found that in Saxony 14·6 of the unmarried adult population died +single; in Sweden 14·9 per cent., in the Netherlands 14·2 per cent., and +in France 20·6 per cent.’[1430] The returns of the thirteenth United +States[1431] Census showed that of the females 35–44 years of age 10 per +cent. were single. + +In this connexion there is another matter which may be mentioned here. +It will be referred to in detail later on. Whereas in the mediaeval +period the independent class married early and the dependent class +considerably later, in the modern period this has been reversed. It is +now the wage-earning class which marries earlier than the independent +class. + +15. Contraceptive methods were known in the mediaeval period,[1432] but +there is no evidence that either these practices or restraint from +intercourse between married persons were of any importance. According to +Rubin, ‘so far as the eighteenth century ... is concerned, it may be +taken as a fact that in the main the limit of fertility of marriage was +set by nature alone.’[1433] This applies equally to the whole of the +period. In this respect, therefore, this period resembles those which +preceded it. + +Whatever effects may have to be attributed to these factors in the +former periods, it is within the modern period that they first become of +primary importance. Something was said in the First Chapter as to the +history of the so-called Neomalthusian propaganda, and it was pointed +out that it began relatively early in the century. It is obviously very +difficult to obtain any definite facts regarding the extent of these +practices, but a very great body of evidence points to the conclusion +that, not only have these practices come to be of great importance, but +also that it is by means of variation in their use, together with +deliberate restraint from intercourse between married persons, by which +population has come to be regulated. + +With regard to definite evidence the results of an inquiry carried out +by the National Birth-Rate Commission may be quoted. Of 481 schedules +issued, 366 gave definite replies regarding the limitation of births. In +288 cases the marriages were specifically stated to be limited, and in +203 of these 288 cases there were further particulars. In 105 cases +(51·7 per cent.) limitation appears to have been due merely to +restriction of intercourse to periods when conception was believed to be +unlikely or to abstention from intercourse. There were 98 cases in which +contraceptive methods were apparently employed.[1434] + +16. We now come to a consideration of the three practices which we found +to be of such importance in the first two groups. Of prolonged restraint +from intercourse imposed as a social custom there is no trace. It was +certainly not characteristic of the mediaeval period; it is possible +that in the earlier portion of the period, of which in these respects we +have little definite knowledge, the practice may have been continued +from the times previous to conversion to Christianity, just as we shall +find that abortion and infanticide were continued in some cases. It is +important also to notice that abortion and infanticide, at least in the +form of well-recognized social customs, are also absent. For the first +time in history none of these practices are in common use. We may +shortly consider how they came to disappear. + +‘Abortion’, says Lecky, ‘was probably regarded by the average Roman of +the later days of Paganism much as an Englishman in the last century +regarded convivial excess, as certainly wrong, but so venial as scarcely +to deserve censure. The language of the Christians from the very +beginning was widely different. With unswerving consistency and with the +strongest emphasis, they denounced the practice, not simply as inhuman, +but as definitely murder.’[1435] The evidence goes to show that the +Christian objection to abortion was the chief factor in bringing this +practice into discredit. The Christian attitude was due to the belief +that children in the womb possessed souls. St. Clement of Alexandria, +for instance, was of opinion that such children had guardian angels. It +is probable that abortion was not stamped out altogether; it may have +continued to some extent throughout the whole mediaeval period; it is +known to be practised to a considerable extent among the less educated +classes in the more advanced countries at the present day.[1436] Figures +have been given which show that abortion is at the present day a +considerable factor in France. But it is clear that from being a factor +of the first importance it has come to be altogether a secondary factor +and what is more to be regarded definitely as criminal. + +The first protest against infanticide was made by Philo in the first +century A. D.[1437] The Christians opposed infanticide as they did +abortion, but it does not appear that Christian influence played as +large a part in putting down this practice as it did in the case of +abortion. Speaking of the later days of the Empire, Lecky says that ‘the +legislators then absolutely condemned it and it was indirectly +discouraged by laws which accorded special privileges to the fathers of +many children.... Pagan and Christian authorities are united in speaking +of infanticide as a crying vice of the Empire and Tertullian observed +that no laws were more easily or constantly evaded than those which +condemned it. A broad distinction was popularly drawn between +infanticide and exposition. The latter, though probably condemned, was +certainly not punished by law; it was practised on a gigantic scale with +absolute impunity, noticed by writers with most frigid indifference, +and, at least in the case of destitute parents, considered a very venial +offence.’[1438] Finally in 374 Valentinian made all infanticide a +capital offence and particularly enjoined the punishment of exposition. +There is much evidence to show that many centuries elapsed before the +practice was finally suppressed in Europe. It was apparently common in +France up to the time of Charlemagne, who made it a capital offence. A +law of the Spanish Visigoths in the seventh century punished both +abortion and infanticide with death.[1439] + +The disappearance of both these practices is connected with the +evolution of the typical conditions of mediaeval society which are +marked, as we saw, by postponement of marriage and religious celibacy. +As the former went out the latter came in, and we shall find that +numbers came to be regulated by the peculiar methods of the latter +period as they had previously been regulated by those of the former. + +17. Mention may perhaps be made of the influence of venereal disease. +Gonorrhoea has long been prevalent; there is some reason to think that +it was known in Assyria. Syphilis is of more recent introduction into +Europe and may be of more recent evolution. Though syphilis is a +frequent cause of abortions, still-births, and infant mortality, it does +not produce sterility. The presence of gonorrhoea tends to prevent +conception in women and, if not cured within a certain time, it may +cause permanent sterility. A considerable proportion of the sterile +marriages at the present day may, as indicated in the Fourth Chapter, be +due to gonorrhoea. Though no great influence is to be attributed to +venereal diseases when the whole question is broadly viewed, it may be +remembered that within the third period they have been prevalent and +thus further distinguish that period from the first two periods.[1440] + + + + + XI + THE REGULATION OF NUMBERS AMONG HISTORICAL RACES + + +1. At the beginning of the Ninth Chapter it was shown that under any +given conditions there is a certain density of population which is the +most desirable. What was there said applies whenever men enjoy the +benefits of co-operation. In the first and second groups, most men are +engaged in the production of food, and, except in some races in the +second group, the distinction between rich and poor, the division of +labour, and other complications of social life are not far advanced. +Where such complications are much increased, as in the third group, it +may seem that so simple an idea as that of an optimum number is no +longer even in general valid. It must suffice here to state that such +complications do not destroy the general validity of this view. In fact +the quotation from Professor Cannan given in the Sixth Chapter has +direct reference to modern conditions, and the principle there laid down +was intended by him to apply to the economic conditions of the present +day, though it is, as he says, also applicable to any society once +co-operation has arisen. + +Among the complications of social life to which we may refer are those +connected with property, the division of labour, and the division into +classes. The latest development connected with property—the introduction +of the capitalist system and the appearance of a large class of wage +earners—does not change the general position. One remarkable modern +development of the division of labour results in one country devoting +itself largely to manufacture while another may devote itself to the +production of food. Of all such complications there is only one which so +modifies the idea of an optimum number as to require mention in a broad +survey. That complication is the division into classes. Where there is a +more or less well-marked division into classes performing more or less +well-defined kinds of labour, there is nevertheless generally such an +ebb and flow between them that there can hardly be any question, broadly +speaking, of over-population in any one class. This, however, may not +always be so, and in particular at the present day it may be that in the +lowest social class there is over-population though not in the nation as +a whole. It may be that in this class there is a failure to attain to +such a standard of living as is within reach owing to over-population, +and whether this does in fact happen will have to be discussed later. + +In the Ninth Chapter, when discussing the data of the first and second +groups, we showed how approximation to the desirable number might be +brought about and we further came to the conclusion that normally there +was such an approximation. It is proposed here to treat the data for the +third group in the same fashion, though the treatment will be even +slighter than in the case of the other groups. Subsequently we shall +discuss the chief causes of failure of adjustment in this and in the +preceding groups. Lastly we shall touch upon the questions of migration +and war which have often been held to be caused by over-population. + +2. The difficulties in dealing with the first sub-group are so great +that we shall only devote a very few words to the consideration of the +problems that arise. The facts regarding the social conditions in Egypt, +Assyria, and other great empires are very scanty. It is only with regard +to Greece and Rome that we have any considerable amount of information. +Our conclusions as to what was in the main the position with regard to +the ancient empires will be rather in the nature of a deduction when we +have completed our sketch of all the races in the third group. + +How adjustment may be conceived to have come about in these races is in +the absence of knowledge of their social conditions not possible to +illustrate. We know, however, that the social life of these races was +based upon the cultivation of the land. It is true that in addition to +the cultivator we find the artisan and the wage-earner.[1441] The +question as to how the increase of the artisan, merchant, and +wage-earning classes may be kept down to the desirable level will be +discussed when dealing with the third and fourth sub-groups, and, as in +general the conditions are probably much the same everywhere, we may +omit the consideration of what happens among these classes in this +sub-group. With regard to the cultivators we have already seen, when +dealing with the second group, how, when either family or village +communities are limited to a certain area, we can understand that the +undesirability of such an increase as would cause the average earnings +to fall below the possible maximum not only might, but actually does, +result in a limitation of increase. So again here among the cultivators, +we can suppose that the danger of an undue increase was brought to +notice in the same fashion. We shall also discuss in some little detail +what happens among the cultivators in the third sub-group, and thus we +can omit the consideration of what facts there are for this sub-group +and merely ask what methods there are whereby increase could have been +checked. + +Of fertility we have little evidence. It has to be remembered that on +general grounds fecundity was if anything greater than among the races +of the former groups. Lactation was apparently often prolonged and +pre-puberty marriage may not have been uncommon. Disease and war were +very important as factors of elimination, and moreover they were both +erratic in their action. It is no longer possible to think of a certain +average degree of elimination from these causes which varied little from +year to year. On the other hand there is no difficulty in supposing that +abortion and infanticide were employed in varying degrees to meet the +situation. It may be observed that abortion in Rome and infanticide in +Greece were practised systematically, and not merely when pressure had +arisen but in order that it might not arise. Thus Hesiod recommends the +cultivator not to bring up more than one son at home, for thus ‘wealth +will increase in the house’.[1442] What practices were in use among the +Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and other peoples we do not +know in any detail, though there is considerable evidence of the +prevalence of infanticide. There may have been a tendency to practise +these customs to some average degree, but there is no difficulty in +supposing that following upon war and pestilence there would be such a +relaxation as soon to bring numbers up to the former level. The question +as to how far we may assume these methods to have been effective will be +left for discussion until later in the chapter. + +3. There is a great variety of races in the second sub-group; they fall +under the headings of the more or less nomadic peoples, the more +primitive peoples of India, who in many respects are comparable to the +races of the second group but who have been to some extent influenced by +Eur-Asiatic culture and the chief races of India and China. Those races +which fall under the second and third headings are predominantly +agricultural; 75 per cent. of the population of Bengal, for instance, is +supported directly or indirectly by agriculture. Whether, as in many +parts of India, the village community system obtains,[1443] or whether, +as in China, there is family or individual ownership of the land,[1444] +what was said above regarding the possibility of the desirable number +making itself felt also applies here. So also does what was there said +about the position of the artisan and wage-earner. As a typical example +of the manner in which the pressure is felt where the family system +obtains in an agricultural community, we may take the conditions in +China as described by two Chinese authors. ‘In a village the well-to-do +family is a rare exception, and the typical family is the working-class +family. The father is, as a rule, a husbandman, and the sons follow his +footsteps. If they do not possess a piece of land of their own they +cultivate either the land of the ancestral hall, of the village temple, +or that of any private owner. The mother, daughter, and daughter-in-law +do the household work together, and also add considerably to the family +income by such employment as may be carried on in the home. The earnings +of all the members of a family are given to the mother in a hotch-potch +for the maintenance of the corporate whole. The family from our point of +view is a living organism which possesses a spirit quite apart from the +individuals who form it. Each member does not live and work for himself, +but for the family to which he belongs. Every other member has a claim +on his earnings.’[1445] Another author, after describing this system, +tells us that ‘any member of the family who should disgrace himself in +any way, as by becoming an inveterate gambler and permanently neglecting +his work, or by developing the opium vice to great excess, would be +formally cast out, his name being struck off the ancestral register. Men +of this stamp generally sink lower and lower, until they swell the ranks +of the professional beggars, to die perhaps in a ditch.’[1446] + +With regard to the nomadic peoples we always find that they are +restricted to clearly marked territories. Robertson Smith, after +describing the local groups among the Arabs, goes on to say that ‘the +nomadic Arabs, whose way of life supplied the type in which all Arabian +society was mainly moulded, are not to be thought of as roaming quite at +large through the length and breadth of the peninsula. Each group, or +confederation of groups, had its own pastures, and still more its own +waters, beyond which it could not move without immediate risk of a +hostile encounter.’[1447] Somewhat similar conditions are recorded of +all nomadic people.[1448] + +4. When we consider the factors which bear upon fertility and +elimination, we find that, as in the first sub-group, war and disease +are of importance—especially the latter—and that, further, the amount of +elimination to which they give rise is very irregular from one period to +another. For some thousands of years India appears to have been subject +to the passage of scourge after scourge, sweeping away hundreds of +thousands of the population. Famine at times is the cause of many +deaths, and is due in part, as it is in varying degrees among all races, +to climatic factors. It happens, however, that in India these conditions +are such as to produce famine more often than anywhere else. Peninsular +India is ‘subject to excessive variations [of rainfall] distributed +quite irregularly and over very long periods. In such regions years of +adequate rainfall and abundant yield may follow in successive decades at +a time during which a considerable population settles and opens up the +country; then follow a few years of drought with high temperature and +aridity; and unless migration and storage works are practicable and are +executed in time, the land is deserted.’[1449] Famine is also due at +times to some failure in social organization or to some failure to keep +up the previous level of skill, as, for instance, to maintain irrigation +works. + +Fecundity, as we have seen, is probably, on the whole, higher among +these races than among the races of the second group. Pre-puberty +marriage in India probably has a considerable influence in reducing +fertility, at least among the Hindu part of the population. With regard +to practices limiting fertility and causing elimination, we have seen +that infanticide and abortion are widespread and perhaps to some small +extent contraceptive practices or prudential restraint are employed by +all these races. It may also be noticed that there is plenty of evidence +that in former times in any case marriage customs existed which ensured +that before marriage took place the bridegroom was competent to support +a family at the recognized standard of living. ‘The days are still +remembered when no young Munda could marry before he was able to +construct a plough with his own hands, nor would a Munda girl be given +away in marriage before she could, with her own hands, weave mats with +palm leaves and spin cotton.’[1450] + +5. There is no reason for thinking that over-population occurs among the +nomadic people such as the Arabs; presumably the methods we have seen to +be in use are effective. There has been much discussion as to whether +over-population exists in India, and there is a very great difference of +opinion on the matter. Hitherto, in order to throw some light on this +point, we have had to rely on general evidence; here, for the first +time, there is some exact evidence of the kind which should enable a +definite answer to be given. What we want to know in the case of India +is whether the real income per head is increasing or not with the +increase of population. Unfortunately the evidence in India is somewhat +contradictory. It has recently been summed up by Wattal.[1451] He shows +that some of the arguments in favour of the view that there is no +over-population are of very doubtful validity. It has been said, for +instance, that large areas are sparsely populated; in this connexion it +has to be remembered that the soil is poor in these areas. It has also +been said that the complaints about insufficiency of labour point to the +same conclusion. There are, however, many reasons to account for this +fact. On the other hand, Wattal points out that the acreage per unit of +the agricultural population hardly exceeds one and a half acres and +further shows a tendency to fall. He also points out that in Europe 250 +persons to the square mile is thought to be the limit of density where +agriculture is practised, whereas in India from four to five times that +number in many places find their support on an area of this size. He +finds the explanation of this not in any superiority of soil or of skill +but in the lowness of the standard of living. Four persons subsist on an +income that would hardly support one person in Europe. The lowness of +the standard of living, the small area of land per head, and the +tendency for the amount of land per labourer to decrease points strongly +to the conclusion that over-population does occur in many parts of +India. + +It is also probable that many parts of China are over-populated. The +apparent overcrowding and the low standard of living lend support to +this views and in this connexion it is interesting to note that +infanticide is practised not so much as a regular custom but at times +when, numbers being so great, no further increase could be supported. +Moule says that infanticide is ‘local and spasmodic’ rather than +‘chronic and national’ and notices that it is especially connected with +‘want from flood, or famine or civil war’.[1452] There is much other +evidence to the same effect.[1453] It will be remembered that some +evidence was given in the last chapter pointing to the great prevalence +of infanticide; it is necessary to remember that such conditions are +consistent with a state of over-population. The prevalence of such a +custom in no way shows that numbers are as a result being kept down to +the desirable level. These customs may bring about this result, or they +may, in a country in the position in which there is reason to believe +that many parts of China now are, merely eliminate those for whom there +is no place at all. Almost the same amount of infanticide, which would +limit numbers to a desirable level in a country where such a level was +being maintained, would, in a country where numbers were already +excessive, merely cut off those for whom enough food to support +existence could not be found. + +What, then, is the cause of the over-population which almost certainly +exists in parts of India and China? The irregularity of the factors of +elimination is itself no bar to the adjustment of population, but this +irregularity may indirectly have an important bearing upon the outlook +of man and ultimately upon the behaviour of the mass of the population. +Great scourges must tend to produce a hopelessness of outlook. When time +and again war and disease sweep through a country, there must arise a +tendency for the standard of living to be lost sight of. Gradually there +may come about a condition of things when there is no hope or fear. +European influence may have had an ill effect. The lessening of +elimination through disease and war does not of necessity in itself tend +to bring about any over-population. On the contrary, it tends rather to +remove the causes which produce degraded social conditions and the +consequences referred to above which flow from them. But in other ways +European influence is not beneficial. Those customs, for instance, which +insist upon the bridegroom possessing a certain degree of skill break +down, and unless a more or less distinctly formulated ambition takes +their place, there is nothing to ensure that the necessary effort to +secure the highest standard of living that is possible will be made. + +That which is common to these races, where over-population is suspected, +is the absence of hope and fear alike, of ambition and of a standard of +living; they are contented to subsist on what will just support life. +Such conditions are fatal to the attainment of the desirable number. +Abortion and infanticide may still be practised, but as a rule only in +the presence of absolute need, not as regular customs before the need +arises. To the bringing about of these conditions the factors mentioned +above contribute, but they probably never represent the whole cause. In +these cases we seem always to find that political misfortunes have +overtaken these peoples. They have suffered from oppression in one form +or another and gradually the old customs have been lost; hope and +ambition have faded from the outlook. In consequence of oppression the +mass of the people has by degrees sunk to a degraded condition in which +neither the former customs are practised nor is an individual effort, as +a rule, made towards the attainment of the best which the skilled +methods available, surroundings and so on, make possible. + +It is also probable that there is over-population in Egypt; it is +probable, that is to say, that with the recent increase of the fellaheen +population there has been a decrease in the income per head. Any one who +has had an opportunity of watching the behaviour of the fellaheen side +by side with that of members of some race such as the Somalis cannot +fail to have been very much impressed. The fellaheen cultivate one of +the richest countries on earth, and they have within their grasp and to +some extent within their use a considerable degree of modern skilled +methods. At an Egyptian port these men were to be seen at work during +the war. From time to time Somalis disembarked with shiploads of camels. +The Somalis live in a country which relatively to Egypt is infertile and +have little knowledge of skilled methods. Stepping ashore for the first +time in a modern port, bewildered as was inevitable with his +surroundings, the Somali, nevertheless, showed himself a man. He carried +a certain pride with him. The fellaheen grovelled to him; the Somali +obviously despised him. The Somali is a man who has not suffered from a +tradition of oppression as has the Egyptian fellah; it is easy to +understand how among the Somalis conditions would arise and would be +maintained whereby excess of numbers would not reduce them to a bare +level of subsistence, whereas among the fellaheen numbers probably tend +to be regulated by the ability of the land to keep men alive in spite of +the possibility of the return per head being far higher in Egypt than in +Somaliland. + +6. Passing to the third sub-group we come for the first time upon +conditions substantially different to those with which we have hitherto +met. All those factors, which in previous groups we have noticed as +having a bearing upon fertility, have either diminished in importance or +more often have vanished altogether. Lactation was not prolonged, there +was no pre-puberty marriage, and there is no evidence of restraint from +intercourse between married persons being imposed as a social custom. +Though the knowledge of contraceptive practices may have been present +there is no evidence of their extensive use. It has also to be +remembered that fecundity, if anything, was increasing. On the other +hand disease was the cause of a very high death-rate, higher almost +certainly than in any previous age. + +The most striking difference, however, between this and former +sub-groups is the absence of abortion and infanticide. Further, we find +what we have never found before, or rather never in such a degree as to +be of any importance, postponement of marriage and celibacy; in other +words, for the older methods there has been substituted a new method +whereby fertility may be reduced. We have now to inquire how the +realization of the desirability of some limitation brought about the +most important factor—postponement of marriage—and how effective it was. +With regard to religious celibacy, which was of less importance and +ceased to be of any importance in England during the sixteenth century, +we may merely notice its existence. Under conditions, such as we shall +describe, and which rendered marriage difficult, monastic institutions +were obviously a refuge for many for whom there was little prospect of +marriage.[1454] The estimates of the number of religious celibates are +too vague and conflicting to be worth analysing. It can only be regarded +as a secondary factor representing the most extreme result of the +working of the pressure which we are about to describe. + +7. The following sketch is in the main confined to conditions in England +since the thirteenth century, and we may first notice that in that +century ‘almost every one not only possessed land, but cultivated +it’.[1455] Yet the serf, in addition to the pressure to postpone +marriage which was felt by all cultivators, was definitely restricted +with regard to marriage. Besides being unable to move away from his +manor, ‘the serf was disabled from marrying his daughter without licence +and fine. Very numerous instances are found of these kinds of payment, +under the name of mercheta, in the earliest times. Similarly fines are +paid for marrying a daughter outside the manor, for marrying a nief, i. +e. a female serf, who was possessed of property, and men of another +manor for marrying a female serf from her lord’s manor. I have found +traces of this custom,’ says Rogers, ‘though they become very infrequent +far on into the fifteenth century.’[1456] Such facts are to be regarded +as the legal enforcement among serfs of that amount of postponement +which was on the average enforced by circumstances upon cultivators in +general. As villein tenements were usually indivisible, the question +arises as to what happened when there was more than one son. ‘The +indivisibility of villein tenements is chiefly conspicuous in the law of +inheritance; all the land went to one of the sons if there were several; +very often the youngest inherited; and this custom, to which mere chance +has given the name of Borough English, was considered as one of the +proofs of villeinage. It is certainly a custom of great importance, and +probably it depended on the fact that the elder brothers left the land +at the earliest opportunity and during their father’s life. Where did +they go to? It is easy to guess that they sought work out of the manor +as craftsmen or labourers; that they served the lord as servants, +craftsmen and the like; that they were provided with holdings, which for +some reason did not descend to male heirs; that they were endowed with +some demesne land, or fitted out to claim land from the waste. We may +find for all these suppositions some supporting quotations in the +records. But still it would be hard to believe that the entire increase +of population found an exit by these by-paths. If no exit was found, the +brothers had to remain on their father’s plot, and the fact that they +did so can be proved, if it needs proof, from the documents. The unity +of the holding was not disturbed in this case; there was no +division.’[1457] Here we see the pressure at work. The tenement would in +general be of the size which could well support a family, and a tenement +might not be divided, thus ensuring that there was no overcrowding of +families until life could only just be supported. + +8. Far more important than any particular disabilities regarding +marriage which attach to serfs are the conditions making very difficult +any increase in population which are always found among cultivators. +When a village has as many hands as it requires, the number of houses is +not increased. Speaking generally of the Middle Ages Pollard says that +‘the number of holdings was almost stationary and the number of families +fixed’.[1458] The number of hands in a village found to be required +would be about that which experience has shown to produce the largest +average income. Any further increase is made very difficult, if not +impossible. ‘Country life was as elsewhere rigid in its habits; young +people found it difficult to establish themselves till some married pair +had passed from the scene and made a vacancy in their own parish; for +migration to another parish was seldom thought of by an agricultural +labourer under ordinary circumstances. Consequently whenever a plague or +famine thinned the population, there were always many waiting to be +married, who filled the vacant places.’[1459] + +Such always are the conditions among cultivators in a settled country; +it is forced to the notice of every one that not more than a certain +number of hands are required and postponement of marriage is thus +imposed upon the younger people. Neither land nor houses are available +for them at an early age. ‘Before the Reformation, not only were early +marriages determinately discouraged, but the opportunity for them did +not exist. A labourer living in a cottage by himself was a rare +exception to the rule; and the work of the fields was performed +generally ... by servants who lived in the families of the squire or +farmer, and who, while in that position, commonly remained single, and +married only when by prudence they had saved a sufficient sum to enable +them to enter some other position.’[1460] Miss Davies, working on +figures for the parish of Corsley, found reason for thinking that at any +one time there was usually a number of younger people who were debarred +from marrying and were waiting their turn, so to speak, until they could +step into places vacated by members of an older generation.[1461] + +9. In addition to those who cultivated the land there were merchants and +craftsmen who for the most part lived in the towns. ‘The essence of the +mediaeval town was the formation of gilds of merchants and craftsmen’ +and ‘within the limits of the corporation gilds had the monopoly of +manufacture or trade’.[1462] Membership of a guild was a birthright or +an inheritance, and newcomers could only enter after a long period of +apprenticeship. The result of this system of apprenticeship was to bring +about the postponement of marriage, and thus to limit the undue increase +of population. ‘The position of a son who acquired a holding when his +parent died is analogous to that of an apprentice who cannot set up as a +master till given permission by the proper authorities. It is quite +plain that in the eyes of the ordinary man in the sixteenth century one +of the advantages of a system of compulsory apprenticeship was that it +prevented youths marrying at a very early age, e. g. an Act (2 and 3 +Philip and Mary) forbids the admitting of any one to the freedom of the +City of London before the age of twenty-four, and enacts that +apprentices are not to be taken so young that they will come out of +their time before they are twenty-four. The reason alleged for this rule +is that distress in the city of which “one of the chief occasions is by +reason of the over-hasty marriages and the over soon setting up of +householdes by the younge folke of the city ... be they never so younge +and so unskilful”.’ Again a petition of the weavers states (Hist. MSS. +Com. Cd. 784, p. 114): ‘whereas by the former good laws of their trade +none could exercise the same until he had served an apprenticeship for +seven years and attained the age of twenty-four, now in these disordered +times many apprentices having forsaken parents and masters ... refuse to +serve out their time, but before they are 18 or 20 years old betake +themselves to marriage.’[1463] + +Rubin, whose conclusions regarding the age at marriage in the sixteenth, +seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries have already been quoted, sums up +the position in these words: ‘The domestic servant class then, as now, +was unmarried, but that class was much more numerous than at present. +Subordinates in the industrial class and in handicrafts were not, as in +our own time, free and independent, but lived for the most part in the +houses of their masters, and, at any rate, were accustomed to wait until +they became masters before marrying; the chances of attaining the +position of master were greater than now. The same rule applied to other +journeymen in various employments, whether in town or country.’[1464] + +Thus in the town as well as on the land the pressure was at work. The +result was twofold. Marriage was made difficult, and many sought refuge +in lifelong celibacy in religious institutions. Again, a standard of +skill was insisted upon which tended to ensure that young husbands would +be able to support a family as well as ensuring that they would not have +a family at all until there was a place for them. And it must be assumed +that the number of families felt to be desirable was somewhere about +that which given all circumstances produces the maximum benefit from +co-operation. It may also be observed that we can in evidence of the +above kind detect the recognition of a standard of living—the essential +feature in any community in which an approach to the desirable number is +to be attained. For this standard of living is only the income per head +which, given all the circumstances, is the highest within reach. + +10. Regulations prohibiting the marriage of the poor were not uncommon +in this period. ‘In Bavaria ... the regulations of the Government and +the Police Ordinances of 1616 forbade the marriage of servants, day +labourers, and others without property, and the punishments by which +those were threatened by the legislation of 1751 who, without the +permission of the superior authorities, entered into wedlock, and were +afterwards unable to support themselves without begging or the like, +extended to corporal chastisement and the like.’[1465] The Poor Law +Commission of 1834 obtained reports regarding the regulations in various +European countries. Of Denmark we hear that ‘all those persons who are +in receipt of parish relief are not allowed to marry unless by +permission granted on special grounds by the Commissioners’.[1466] In +Würtemberg no subject of the state could marry until he possessed ‘the +rights of a member of a community or a settled non-freeman. But even +such a one must prove to the magistrates before his marriage that he +possesses sufficient means of subsistence. The want of such means of +subsistence is considered as existing, (_a_) in every one who is not +primarily qualified in the exercises of a liberal art or science, or for +exercising on his own account, commerce, a profession, agriculture or +some other business sufficient for the support of a family, or possesses +sufficient property for the independent support of a family; and (_b_) +in every one who, at the time of the intended marriage, is the subject +of political or police investigation, for vagabondage, prodigality, +habitual idleness, notorious propensity to drinking, or repeated fraud, +repeated theft or systematic begging, or who has been punished for the +same, during the two years immediately preceding, or who in the course +of the three preceding years (except in the case of misfortune not +incurred by his own fault) has received assistance from public funds for +his own support, or is in receipt of such at the time of the intended +marriage.’[1467] + +11. Somewhat similar conditions to those which led to postponement of +marriage in England were operative elsewhere. Looking at this period in +general there is little doubt that the restrictions upon increase were +upon the whole effective. There were fluctuations in the nearness of +approach to the desirable number; at times for some reason too great an +increase became noticeable. Adjustment, however, soon followed. ‘There +was reason to believe that towards the middle of the fifteenth century +there was a considerable increase in population, unaccompanied by any +great improvement in the means of production, and consequently a +relative over-population in many European countries. The frequent +complaints of poverty and lack of employment which led eventually to +stringent measures against foreign competitors, confirms the evidence +from other sources to show that the gilds were being overstocked with +journeymen who could hardly hope to attain the position of householders +and employers. In the callings where the old-world organization was +effective there was an increasing tendency, during the fifteenth +century, to restrict the avenues by which the freedom to exercise a +craft could be obtained; larger fines were demanded on admission, while +the social qualifications of those who were eligible as apprentices were +raised.’[1468] At other times certain social changes caused +over-population. Such was the case in the sixteenth century owing to the +enclosures. ‘According to one calculation made in 1548 three hundred +thousand men had been thrown out of work by the decay of agriculture—or +about ten per cent. of the whole population.’[1469] What is important, +however, is that in general the determination of the people to maintain +the standard of living brought about adjustment—which at this period +usually took the form of making marriage more difficult. + +There were also instances of a definite failure over a long period to +achieve adjustment. Such a case is that of Ireland in the eighteenth +century. The potato was introduced about 1585, and when taken into +cultivation throughout the country could have enabled a larger +population to subsist at a higher standard of living. So degraded, +however, did the social conditions become, that the introduction of the +potato merely enabled a larger population to subsist at the lowest +standard which would support life. The conditions of that period have +been described in the following passage by Goldwin Smith: ‘The mass of +the people were socially and economically in a state the most +deplorable, perhaps, which history records as having existed in any +civilized nation.... The Irish gentry were probably the very worst upper +class with which a country was ever afflicted. Their habits grew beyond +measure brutal and reckless. Their drunkenness, their blasphemy, their +ferocious duelling, left the squires of England far behind.... Over the +Roman Catholic poor on their estates these “vermin of the kingdom”, as +Arthur Young calls them, exercised a tyranny compared with which the +arbitrary rule of the old chiefs over their clans was probably a +parental authority used with beneficence and justly repaid by gratitude +and affection.... All moral restraints on the growth of population were +removed by the compulsory ignorance into which Protestant ascendancy and +the penal laws had plunged the Catholic peasantry and by the abject +wretchedness of their lot.... The island became utterly overcharged with +population.’[1470] + +In this period it is not common to find over-population on this scale +for so long a time. In all countries there were periods when population +was excessive, but as a rule the circumstances were seldom such that the +vigour of the people did not before long bring about a return to a +higher standard. + +12. In the fourth sub-group there is available a far larger amount of +information, and more exact estimates as to the position are rendered +possible than could be the case before. We have first to ask whether +there is evidence of over-population. Where, as in this period, there +has been a rapid increase in numbers the question is more easy to answer +than when asked in connexion with periods which, compared with the +present conditions, were relatively static. We can form a judgement +based upon the relative increase in wealth and in population and upon +the average real wages over a number of years. The following figures +show that wealth has grown more quickly than population.[1471] + + _Wealth of Great _Population._ + Britain._ + £ + 1865 6,113,000,000 1861 28,927,485 + 1875 8,548,000,000 1871 31,484,661 + 1885 10,037,000,000 1881 34,884,848 + 1895 10,663,000,000 1891 37,732,922 + 1905 13,036,000,000 1901 41,458,721 + 1909 13,986,000,000 1911 45,216,665 + +The following figures show that real wages have risen during the +period.[1472] With regard to the drop in real wages in the last years +shown in this table it has to be remembered that such minor fluctuations +may be due under complex modern conditions to a variety of causes. The +condition of credit, the share taken of the total income by capital and +many other factors, the action of some of which, there is good reason to +think, was the cause of the decline in real wages noticeable in the +early years of the present century, all affect real wages. + + _Nominal Wages._ _Cost of Living._ _Real Wages._ + 1880 100 100 100 + 1881–5 101 96 105 + 1886–90 104 89 117 + 1891–5 110 88 125 + 1896–1900 115 87 132 + 1901–5 121 91 133 + 1906–10 126 94 134 + 1911 128 96 133 + 1912 132 100 132 + 1913 134 100 134 + +All the evidence points to the same conclusion—namely, that throughout +this period there has, on the whole, been an increase in the average +real income per head, and that therefore there has been no +over-population in England. On the whole the same conclusion applies to +other countries in which the industrial conditions are more or less +similar. It is well known that during this period there have been very +remarkable fluctuations in the birth-rate. In England it was stationary +from about 1840 to 1880. Since that date it has declined by about +one-third.[1473] It seems clear that during this latter period the rapid +increase of the former period ceased to be economically advantageous. In +other words the decline has been in response to changing economic +conditions. What we have now to ask is how the desirability of a limited +increase under the conditions existing in this period can have been so +realized that the adjustment of numbers to economic requirements took +place. + +13. The factors bearing upon fertility and elimination are in this +sub-group in the main the same as those in the former sub-group. The +factors which did or may have limited fertility in the earlier groups +are again absent. Postponement of marriage is, as in the third +sub-group, an important factor and in addition for the first time +contraceptive practices play a large part. The importance of +contraceptive practices, together with the decline in the birth-rate, +due to the start made in this period towards the mastering of disease, +are the chief differences to be noticed when comparing conditions in +this sub-group with those in the former. It may also be noticed that the +factors of elimination are more regular in their operation; epidemics of +disease are rare and war does not now, as so often formerly, indirectly +cause a large death-rate. The methods of limiting increase are confined +to those which reduce fertility with the exception of the practice of +abortion, which is still of some importance in the lower social classes. +It is important to observe that, although the postponement of marriage +has throughout the period had an important bearing upon fertility, it +has not been, as in the former sub-group, by raising or reducing the age +of marriage that the change in fertility has been chiefly due.[1474] +This change has been due to diminished fertility which is to be chiefly +accounted for by the conscious limitation of fertility in the form +either of abstention from intercourse between married persons or of the +use of contraceptive practices. We are not able to measure the +prevalence of the different forms of conscious limitation and thus +definitely to associate them with the declining birth-rate. We do not +find, however, any such increase in other factors, such as venereal +disease, which diminish fertility, as will account for the facts. We +have no reason for supposing that fecundity has diminished, and as we +have strong reasons for thinking that conscious limitation has been +increasingly practised, we must attribute the changes to this +cause.[1475] + +14. In this sub-group we may roughly distinguish between property +owners, professional classes, peasant proprietors, and wage earners. The +distinguishing feature has been the rise of a very large wage-earning +class not possessed of property. The peasant proprietor, who, though a +property owner, is to be distinguished from other property owners, is of +little importance in England. In other countries, however, the class of +peasant proprietors is of importance, and we may first ask how the +desirability of limiting increase is brought home to them. + +As we have seen, wherever men owe their living to the produce of a +definite area of land, whether ownership is vested in families or in +village communities, the situation is in the main always much the same. +That more than a certain number cannot maintain the standard of living +upon a certain area must be obvious. It may be more or less definitely +realized by each individual; it is also enshrined in the social +conventions of such people. The conditions in French rural districts +have been much studied, and there is a large amount of evidence pointing +to the conclusion that families are consciously limited owing to the +realization that large families are not economically advantageous. Legal +regulations and social customs as to the inheritance of landed property +are of considerable importance in France and other countries in this +connexion, but there is no space to enter upon the subject here. The +conditions are, generally speaking, clear; any one who is acquainted +with the conditions of life in the country districts of France, +Switzerland, or Norway, for instance, has probably observed what is +going on. Somewhat as has been described for the Middle Ages in England, +the number of houses, and consequently the number of families, is not +increased. Further, when marriage takes place the number of children is +clearly limited by considerations based on the economic conditions. +There is, of course, always an opportunity for the young people to go to +the towns and work for wages, and we must now ask what the conditions +are among the wage-earning classes. + +Hitherto, with the exception of the artisans of the Middle Ages, we have +always found men in groups of varying size supporting themselves upon a +restricted area. In the case of the wage earners it is more difficult to +understand how the desirability of limitation can become translated into +customs or habits whether consciously or unconsciously followed, +because, first, we are no longer dealing with a small group confined in +the knowledge of all of them to a certain area, and, secondly, because +restrictive customs in the nature of taboos have little chance of +establishing themselves to-day. There are no restrictions of importance +on the entrance to various trades; there is at least nothing comparable +to the restrictions imposed by the guilds. A young man of the +wage-earning class finds no hindrance to marriage and further finds that +the maximum rate of earning he is ever likely to attain to is within his +grasp at an early age. Why therefore should he not marry early? Compared +with the mediaeval period he does marry early. As Rubin says, ‘the +journeymen and servants of former times were as a rule unmarried, while +in our times skilled workmen and factory employees, on account of the +high level of their earnings (and the fact that they are received in +money, not in kind), and because, for the greater part, as stated +earlier, they attain no better position by waiting—are married as +journeymen or labourers.’[1476] We have now to ask why the wage earners +should, if they do not limit fertility by postponing marriage, limit +fertility by conscious restriction of their families. + +This is not an easy question to answer. As there are no barriers to +marriage, so to the production of a large family there are no barriers +in the form of social conditions or customs which must be conformed to. +There is apparently no hindrance to the production of as many children +as can be fed—that is to say, to the increase of population to the level +at which life can just be supported. Such an increase, however, does not +take place. To understand why it is so we must first realize how +powerful the desire to better the social conditions and to raise the +standard of living has been among the wage earners. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond +have lately described the conditions under which the village labourer +existed in the earlier years of the last century.[1477] During the +agricultural depression which followed the Napoleonic Wars the most +determined effort was made by the governing classes to induce the +labourer to lower his standard of living in the very mistaken hope that +such a change would ease the position. Above all things the labourers +were urged to abandon the use of wheaten bread and to accept some +substitute. All kinds of arguments and many forms of pressure were +employed. The labourers, however, were obstinate. They clung to their +standard of living and in England, at least since the Industrial +Revolution, this determination to maintain, and if possible to raise, +the standard has been powerfully manifested by the wage-earning +class.[1478] Returning now to the question we have to answer, we may say +that this determination becomes translated into a system of family +limitation, and that the decline in the birth-rate which is due to +conscious limitation has been in correspondence with changing economic +conditions. The previous rate of increase was no longer desirable in the +interest of the wage-earning classes, and it has been checked. +Nevertheless it has not been checked by a fully conscious realization of +the position. At the most there has only been a semi-conscious +understanding of what is involved. In the main we have to think of this +determination as achieving its end by an unconscious adaptation of +social habits and practices to the needs of the time. There have been +other factors at work tending in the same direction. The influence of +factory legislation in restricting the employment of children has been +to render large families of less economic advantage. Again among more +highly paid sections of the wage-earning classes certain influences, +which are not economic at all but rather social, have also tended +towards reduction in fertility. + +It may be observed that, where the determination to maintain the +standard of living is not strongly manifested, there over-population may +occur. Thus in England, and in all industrial countries, there is at the +bottom of the social scale a thriftless, unskilled, and casually +employed class in which the limitation of families is little, if at all, +practised. Among this class the desire to improve conditions is seldom +shown and in consequence the birth-rate is not limited. If the members +of this class ‘restricted considerably their rate of growth, there is’, +says Hobson, ‘reasonable ground for holding that they would make a +double economic gain, being paid at a higher rate, for more efficient +and more regular work.’[1479] + +The conditions among the professional classes need not detain us. In +addition to feeling, as do the working classes, the benefit in a general +way of restriction, there are many other factors which come in. Of these +perhaps the most important is the question of the age at which the +maximum income is attained. As these classes form only a small +proportion of the population, and as we shall have to discuss in the +following chapter the causes of the lower rate of increase in these +classes than among the wage-earning class—having in view the possible +bearing upon certain problems of qualitative change—we can omit any +further discussion here, merely observing that no question of +over-population arises. Possibly there may be relative under-population +in something the same way as there is over-population in the lowest +grade—whether this is so or not depending largely upon the ease with +which the professional classes are recruited from below. + +15. The discussion of historical races has been brief and was only +entered upon in order to round off the subject. There are other points +in connexion with the adjustment of numbers to which allusion must be +made. It will be convenient, however, first to review shortly our +conclusions regarding the problem of adjustment as a whole and then to +ask in respect of the various periods in turn what we are led to think +that the position must have been. + +Reasons have been given for thinking that, if any general change in +fecundity has taken place in the course of history, it has been in the +direction of increase. In any case fecundity is very large—the +theoretical power of increase, that is to say, is very great. Some +figures were given at the end of the fourth chapter in illustration of +this fact. There is a tendency noticeable in nearly all discussions of +questions of quantity to under-estimate the power of increase. Another +calculation previously given may therefore be recalled. It has been +shown that at the present average rate of increase of the population of +the world—a rate of increase which is obviously everywhere very severely +restricted—a single pair would produce in 1,750 years descendants equal +in number to the present population of the world. + +In connexion with the under-estimation of the power of increase, is the +over-estimation of the relief given by any factor which allows of a +growth of population—increase in skill or migration, for example. It is +constantly assumed that, when such a factor can be detected in +operation, there is, so to speak, a complete outlet for fecundity. This +is the idea which lies at the basis of such statements as those which +speak of ‘surplus population’ as being drawn off by migration. When, +however, a calculation is made, it is seen that the relief given is, +except under very unusual circumstances, almost negligible. It was shown +on p. 105 that under the circumstances mentioned a population of +1,000,000 would remain stable so long as to each married woman there was +born an average of two children. But if the average was 2½ children, +then in a hundred years the population would be 3,050,000. It follows, +therefore, that most unusually favourable circumstances only make room +for a fraction of the possible increase and that migration likewise only +draws off an insignificant fraction of the possible additions to the +population. + +Starting with such considerations and taking into account the fact that, +wherever social co-operation exists, there must be within any area a +certain desirable density of population—the optimum number—it has been +argued that there will come about an approximation to this number owing +to the practice of certain habits and customs restrictive of increase. +It has further been argued that, except under most unusual +circumstances, habits and customs having primarily, and not merely +incidentally, this result, must everywhere exist. This is seldom +realized. Professor Myres, for instance, after remarking upon the +fertility of ancient Egypt and of Assyria, says that ‘anything like +infanticide was out of the question’.[1480] It is clear from the context +that he is thinking not of infanticide in particular but of any +practices restrictive of increase—the implication being that in a +fertile country, where skill is increasing, there is a sufficient outlet +for the increase of population resulting from the power of human +increase. Again, it has been asserted that the Bantu races do not commit +infanticide—at least on a large scale—as do many other primitive races, +because, inasmuch as they have been in movement for an unknown length of +time, the attrition following upon the war that is always in progress at +the fringe of the movement is sufficient to absorb the ‘surplus +population’. But it has been forgotten that the Bantu races practise +prolonged abstention from intercourse—a custom quite as effective as +abortion and infanticide—as may be seen when the evidence as to the +small average number in a family is considered;[1481] for the average +number in a Bantu family is as small as among primitive races in +general, and it cannot be held that attrition through war falls +seriously upon others than adults. It therefore follows that war among +these people affords but an insignificant amount of relief. + +16. Turning now to the methods of adjustment, we may take the first two +groups together and afterwards the third group. War and migration, +however, may be put aside and considered separately at the end of the +chapter. As regards the first two groups it is necessary to say no more +than this: evidence has been produced to show that everywhere among +primitive races either abortion, infanticide, or prolonged abstention +from intercourse are practised in such a degree and in such a manner as +to have as their primary result the restriction of increase. + +The question as to how far these practices are effective in bringing +about an approximation to the desirable number is not easily answered. +As regards those primitive races which have come under European +observation there is no definite evidence because, before exact +observation could be made, the conditions of life had wholly changed. +But, putting aside the fact that the evidence, such as it is, does +suggest an approximation, it may be observed that conditions were such +as to render an approximation easy. Skill increased so slowly that for +long periods of time the desirable number remained about the same; the +factors of elimination, such as war and disease, were not erratic in +their action; social organization was not complex in the economic sense +and therefore the danger of break-downs followed by changes in the +desirable number was absent. Thus we may conclude that, in all +probability, in primitive society an approximation was normally +attained. + +In the third period we meet with wholly different conditions. Social +organization becomes elaborate in the economic sense, war and disease +become erratic in their operation, and, relatively to what was the case +before, skill increases rapidly. As a result the desirable number +frequently changes, becoming on the whole larger, particularly in those +periods with which we are best acquainted. There has in consequence +grown up an idea that throughout human history population has been +increasing, whereas in fact it is far more correct to regard population +as normally having been stable. It may not improbably turn out that the +third period is in this respect peculiar and we may be approaching a +period when population will again normally be stable. However that may +be, the changes mentioned tend to make adjustment more difficult; on the +other hand, there have been at the same time at work changes tending to +facilitate adjustment among which growing freedom from convention and +increasing sensitiveness to the economic situation may be particularly +noticed. As regards the methods of adjustment, evidence has been adduced +to show that, up to the opening of what we have called the mediaeval +period, one or other of the same methods were in use that were in vogue +before, that all these methods ceased to be practised in the mediaeval +period and were replaced by postponement of marriage, and that finally +in the modern period deliberate restriction has replaced postponement of +marriage. + +The question of the effectiveness of adjustment in this period has been +touched upon. In general it may be said that under-population is rare. +Under-population seldom arises and then generally as a result of the +abnormal incidence of war or disease. It sometimes happens that for a +long period an area once densely populated maintains but a sparse +population and this is not infrequently taken to indicate +under-population. But such situations generally arise when for one +reason or another—such as the destruction of capital during prolonged +war, or the breakdown of artificial works upon which the food-supply +depends—there has been a decrease in the density desirable. Thus the +Mesopotamian watercourses were neglected by the Mongol conquerors in the +thirteenth century and in consequence the optimum number for that area +declined. Such a situation should therefore not be taken as indicating, +without further inquiry, under-population. + +Over-population is less rare. It may be due to the neglect of ancient +practices having as their effort the restriction of increase without the +taking into use at the same time of new practices. This sometimes +happens when a higher and a lower civilization come into contact and has +been one of the causes of over-population in India. It may also arise +when on the passing away of old practices some influence may militate +against the taking up of new practices. In this manner the influence of +the Catholic Church, which has been directed against contraceptive +practices, may have tended to produce over-population in Ireland. More +commonly, however, over-population arises in this period as the result +of a spirit of apathy and listlessness. Under such circumstances, which +are usually the result of social oppression or political misfortunes, no +effort is made to keep up the standard of living and in consequence the +machinery designed to restrict increase breaks down. + +Taking the third period in more detail, we have as regards the last +section of that period definite evidence to the effect that +approximation is fairly close. There are minor fluctuations in the +nearness of approach to the desirable number. That, however, which it is +in any broad view of the whole problem of quantity desirable to +emphasize, is the nearness of approach—the fact that in any country at +any given time within this period the numbers present are, roughly +speaking, those economically desirable. We shall, indeed, find later, +when dealing with war and when referring again to this subject in the +next chapter, that minor differences in the nearness of approach as +between countries in close proximity may be of considerable importance. + +Within the mediaeval period, in spite of the very high death-rate from +disease, over-population occurred in England from time to time. The fact +that wages rose after the Black Death, and that, after the decline in +the population which took place in the last years of the seventeenth +century and in the opening years of the eighteenth century, the average +man was more prosperous, points to this conclusion, as does the fact +that frequent attempts were made to render the restrictions upon +marriage more severe. It seems probable that there was a similar +tendency towards over-population in most European countries, and the +reason would appear to be that postponement of marriage did not bring +about a sufficient restriction of increase; postponement of marriage was +not in fact a sufficient substitute for abortion, infanticide, and +abstinence from intercourse, in spite of the prevalence of disease. +Under-population was less frequent; when it occurred it was sometimes +due in part to a spirit of luxury and selfishness following upon a +period of expansion and prosperity, as in the later history of Spain. +There may for similar reasons be under-population among the richer +classes in Europe and America to-day. + +With regard to the preceding period we have considerable knowledge of +the conditions in Greece and Rome. The history of both countries +presents very similar features. In the earlier times practices +restrictive of increase comparable with those found among primitive +races were operative. There followed a vigorous epoch of colonization +and then a period of decadence. These periods of decadence have been +much discussed. In these discussions it is sometimes forgotten that the +destruction of capital in civil war on a large scale, especially in the +last century B. C. in Rome, must have diminished the numbers desirable. +But in spite of this it is clear that we are here again in the presence +of examples of decline, at least among the richer classes, owing to the +presence of selfishness and luxury; this is certainly the conclusion to +which a study of Polybius leads as regards Greece, while the admirable +works of Sir Samuel Dill render the position in Rome equally +clear.[1482] Our knowledge of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia is +insufficient to enable any judgement to be passed on conditions in these +countries. + +18. Our conclusions, therefore, are broadly as follows. Within the first +two periods failure to approach the optimum number is rare. Within the +third period departures away from the desirable number are less rare but +are usually checked so long as the tone of society remains healthy and +vigorous. In an oppressed society over-population not infrequently +arises; in a selfish and luxurious society there may at times be +under-population. + +In the main, changes in numbers come about in response to economic +requirements. We should not therefore attribute directly to changes in +the quantity of population great historical events. Thus we may agree +with Mr. Keynes when he says that ‘some of the catastrophes of past +history, which have thrown back human progress for centuries, have been +due to the reactions following on the sudden termination, whether in the +course of Nature or by the act of man, of temporarily favourable +conditions which have permitted the growth of population beyond what +could be provided for when the favourable conditions were at an +end’.[1483] But we cannot agree when he says that ‘the great events of +history are often due to secular changes in the growth of population and +other fundamental economic causes, which, escaping by their gradual +character the notice of contemporary observers, are attributed to the +follies of statesmen or the fanaticism of atheists. Thus the +extraordinary occurrences of the past two years in Russia, that vast +upheaval of Society, which has overturned what seemed most +stable—religion, the basis of property, the ownership of land, as well +as forms of government and the hierarchy of classes—may owe more to the +deep influences of expanding numbers than to Lenin or Nicholas; and the +disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a +greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power +of ideas or the errors of autocracy.’[1484] In the first passage it is +suggested that consequences of great import may follow when events so +derange social organization that the numbers previously maintained +cannot be supported. To this we may agree; the attribution of the +catastrophe is not directly to changes in numbers. In the second passage +it is suggested that national fertility may be so much in excess of +requirements as to disrupt social organization. To this we cannot agree. +In general increase is in response to economic requirements and, when it +is in excess and is not within a reasonable time curbed, the conditions +which result are not those which, though they may have important +consequences, produce the kind of result here attributed to them. + +19. Both war and migration are frequently said to be the consequences of +over-population. We may take migration first. + +It may be as well to give some typical expressions of this point of +view. Mr. Haddon says, ‘when reduced to its simplest terms a migration +is caused by an expulsion and an attraction, the former nearly always +resulting from a dearth of food or from over-population, which +practically comes to the same thing. Sooner or later a time comes when +the increase of the population of a country exceeds its normal +food-supply.’[1485] In the Report of the National Birth-Rate Commission +we read that ‘a pressure of population in any country brings as a chief +historic consequence overflows and migrations into neighbouring and +other accessible countries’.[1486] Professor Myres, speaking of the +Greek migrations of the eighth to the sixth centuries B. C., attributes +them to the fact that ‘population had overtaken the means of +subsistence’.[1487] + +It is not altogether clear what is meant by such statements. Very +frequently it seems to be implied that there commonly exists a condition +in which there is more than enough food in an area occupied by an +existing population, that sooner or later population catches up, so to +speak, the food-supply and that migration afterwards follows any further +increase of population. We may first look at this point of view. All +that has so far been said goes to show that only for very short periods +and under very unusual circumstances can there be under any conditions +of social organization a state of under-population. Even if we put aside +the idea of an optimum number, we must regard the population, which any +area is capable of supporting, as strictly limited. Given the vast power +of increase that we know always to be present, there cannot commonly be +a condition of under-population—a condition, that is to say, in which +population has ceased to increase before it was checked by the food +limit. For we are not dealing with the spread of population into +unoccupied areas; that occurred perhaps before there was any social +organization. We are dealing with a period in which all portions of the +earth’s surface, relative to the degree of skill attained, had long been +fully occupied. Though increase of skill may at times enable regions +previously quite infertile to be occupied, this is altogether an +exceptional case; increase of skill normally merely allows of an +increase of density in the same area. General considerations point to +the normal condition being of necessity either one in which population +has increased up to the level of subsistence or one in which it has +increased to the optimum level, and the evidence presented shows that as +a rule some approximation to the latter condition is attained. General +considerations on the one hand and the evidence on the other both render +wholly unacceptable the idea that commonly there is a condition of +under-population which is followed by migration when the pressure due to +the catching up of the amount of food available by the increase of +population begins to be felt. Further, no support is given to this view +by the facts known regarding any particular migration. What evidence is +there, with regard to the Greek migrations referred to by Professor +Myres, that for some unknown length of time, for some unknown reason, +the increase of population had not reached the limit made possible by +the food-supply? Unless there is definite evidence of peculiar +circumstances in some peculiar combination, such a theory cannot be held +to account for migration. The idea of population catching up the means +of subsistence and bringing about a crisis followed by migration is the +product of an altogether unhistorical view of the matter.[1488] + +We do know, indeed, that at times a condition of under-population arises +chiefly owing to the irregular action of certain factors of elimination. +Disease has been known to remove one-third of the population of a +country in two or three years. There does not, however, appear to be a +single instance in which migration can be traced to the recovery from +such a catastrophe. What appears usually to happen is that there is a +certain relaxation of the pressure which before either hindered marriage +or caused abortion or infanticide to be practised; population increases +until the pressure again makes itself felt. And it may be observed that +it is not following upon exceptional conditions such as these that +migration is supposed by the authors quoted to take place. It is +supposed to take place because not infrequently there is a condition of +under-population for which there is in fact no evidence whatever. This +view further clearly implies an over-estimate of the relief afforded by +migration. The calculations given on a previous page apply here. + +The view criticized above is sometimes so expressed as not to lay stress +upon under-population as the condition which ultimately gives rise to +migration. It is merely asserted that over-population is in some manner +the cause of migration, and we may now examine this view. Let us recall +what we found to be the condition in those countries in which +over-population had undoubtedly occurred. We found the distinguishing +feature of the social conditions of those countries to be the absence of +hope, of a spirit of enterprise, and of a determination to maintain a +standard of living. It most emphatically is not where such conditions +are prevalent that migration takes place. All that we know of migration +points to precisely the opposite. It is not from countries in the +condition of India and China at the present day or of Ireland in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that waves of migration arise. +Migrating races exhibit the opposite characters. With them we associate +enterprise, hopefulness, courage, and so on. The conclusion cannot on +general grounds be doubtful. Migration does not arise where a condition +of over-population has come about. Further, if we examine the evidence +of particular migration in no case can it be shown that migration has +begun as a direct result of those conditions.[1489] It is true that +compared with the numerous migrations of which we have knowledge, there +are but few cases concerning which we have detailed information of the +social conditions. But where this information does exist, in no instance +do we find evidence that migration began after a condition of +over-population had come about. + +It may be that what is implied by those who put forward the view that +migration is somehow connected with over-population is somewhat +different. It may be implied that migration occurs when what we have +called the optimum number has been attained. If our general conclusions +on this subject are borne in mind, it is clear that something more than +this is required as an explanation. Migration occurs irregularly at long +intervals; adjustment of population to some point approximating to the +desirable level is always going on. Clearly it cannot be in the ordinary +process of adjustment that some impetus to migration occurs; there must +be some particular predisposing factor or factors at work. What are +these factors? It would seem to rest with those who put forward the +theory to show what they are, and this has not been done. + +On the other hand, there is another explanation which appears to account +at least in part for nearly every migration of which we have some +knowledge of the circumstances, and it may be that an explanation on +similar lines accounts at least in part for most of the later migrations +in history. There is nothing novel in this explanation; it is admitted +as an explanation of many migrations by Mr. Haddon.[1490] He admits that +many migrations have been undertaken for political or religious reasons +and instances the voyage of the _Mayflower_ and the Islamic and +Buddhistic movements. That which is common to these explanations is that +migration is undertaken in response to some idea. There is no question +of over-population at all, and in all those cases in which we have any +detailed knowledge of the conditions connected with migration we find +that we can point to some idea as the motive force. Why, therefore, when +details are not known, should another explanation be sought? It is +suggested that essentially the same explanation is the most reasonable +explanation of all migrations, at least in historical times. With regard +to the earlier movements we find that migrations appear to occur where a +high level of skill has been reached in some area. Where races are in +contact with others of a markedly lower degree of skill there arises a +tendency for the former to eject the latter. The immediate motive is +desire to possess their land where the land is fertile relative to the +skill of the first mentioned race. Thus the Bantu people have pushed +back the Bushmen until the latter were left with regions infertile +relatively to the Bantu culture. Throughout human history there must +have been this tendency for migrations to follow the great steps in the +acquirement of power over nature. But there is no reason to think that, +even in early times, migrations only arose as a result of increase of +skill. What we know of even the most primitive races, such as the +Australians, shows that we can imagine movements to have been initiated +quite apart from any differences in skill. The accounts given of the +respect in which the older men are held among the Australians renders it +possible to understand how an impulse to movement might be initiated by +them which, once having taken shape, might have far-reaching +consequences. We have further accounts of the existence of a spirit of +restlessness among primitive races. This restlessness proves on analysis +to be nothing more than the currency of an idea—an idea that some +benefit would arise if a movement took place. + +We have, however, to remember when dealing with this matter that many if +not most of the migrations of pre-history were probably not migrations +at all in the usual sense of the term. They are probably better thought +of as driftings of people; they may have occupied very long periods of +time and have been connected with slow changes in climate. At any one +time the movement may have been quite imperceptible, and, when this was +so, such driftings are seen clearly enough to have had nothing to do +with over-population if the immensity of the power of increase is borne +in mind. + +Some reference may now be made to the much-discussed theory to the +effect that historical migrations are due to climatic changes. Ellsworth +Huntington has put forward in a number of publications the view that not +only have important climatic changes occurred within the historical +period, but that these changes have been what he calls ‘pulsatory’—that +is to say, there has been an alteration between humid and arid +conditions in many parts of the world.[1491] This view has been +contested.[1492] In particular doubt has been cast upon the ‘pulsatory’ +nature of such changes as have taken place. Whether this view as to +climatic change is correct or not is of no particular importance for our +present purpose; for on the one hand it has been shown that certain +migrations, particularly those in Central Asia, where the evidence as to +the pulsatory nature of the change is said to be most clear, are +explicable as due to political changes,[1493] while on the other hand it +does not appear to be possible in general to correlate the migrations of +history, which are essentially rapid movements, with slow changes of +climate. It seems likely that population would adjust itself to slow +climatic changes without difficulty or with as little difficulty as it +adjusts itself to other changes which alter the optimum density. Extreme +climatic changes very slowly brought about, as doubtless took place in +pre-history, might result in driftings,[1494] but the less extreme +changes in climate during the historical period have in all probability +been without any pronounced effect upon movement. + +Enough has been said to show that, whereas there is much that can be +adduced both on theoretical grounds and after a review of the evidence +against the theory attributing migration to over-population, there is +much to recommend the extension of the explanation already admitted in +many cases. But even if migration is not a result of over-population, it +may seriously affect the adjustment of population, once it has been set +on foot. And it is to the observation of the secondary disturbing effect +of migration on population that we may attribute the error of tracing +migration to over-population. + +When, however, all allowances are made, the easy manner in which the +common theory of migration is assumed to be true and is used by writers +of great authority is very surprising. Mr. Hogarth, for instance, in a +well-known and very delightful book alluding to the Chaldean or fourth +great wave of migration from Arabia, is led to explain all these Arabian +migrations as follows: ‘The great Southern Peninsula’, he says, ‘is for +the most part a highland steppe endowed with a singularly pure air and +an uncontaminated soil. It breeds, consequently, a healthy population +whose mortality, compared with its death-rate, is unusually high; but +since the peculiar conditions of its surface preclude the development of +its internal food-supply beyond a point long ago reached, the surplus +population which rapidly accumulates within it is forced from time to +time to seek its sustenance elsewhere.’[1495] Let us consider this +theory for a moment. To begin with, so far as relatively to the +civilizations of the valleys of the Nile and of the Euphrates disease +was rare and the death-rate on that account low, so far the position in +Arabia merely approximated to that normal among primitive races. +Therefore the healthy conditions taken by themselves do not necessarily +form an incentive to migration. The remainder of the argument rests upon +an over-estimate of the relief afforded either by increased skill or by +migration. It is implied by Mr. Hogarth that, could additional skill +have been applied to the increase of food, the ‘surplus population’ +would have been absorbed; but that it was not so absorbed and found +relief in migration. The calculations already given show how illusory is +the idea that relief can be thus afforded. In such arguments the +strength of human fecundity is always under-estimated. Further the +theory assumes a condition of things within Arabia which is very +difficult to understand. The Chaldean migration took place about 800 B. +C., the third or Aramean, about 1500 B. C., the second or Canaanite, +about 2500 B. C., and we may add a fifth or Islamic in the seventh +century A. D. The shortest interval between these movements is 800 +years. We are asked to suppose that for several hundred years there was +an increase of population over and above that which could properly be +supported; for evidently it is not supposed that the increases occurred +only shortly before the migrations. Now we know that abortion and +infanticide were practised regularly in Arabia. The increase therefore +must have been small compared with the possible increase, and yet these +methods were not according to the theory effective in producing that +position which it must be the object of every vigorous society to +attain. A very small increase in the degree to which these practices +were performed would have brought about this result, and is it not far +more reasonable to suppose that an approximation to this desirable +position was normally attained rather than to suppose that there was a +chronic failure the results of which could only have been socially +disastrous? + +There are two other considerations which may be adduced in favour of the +view here advanced. Migration, in the first place, takes place rather +from vigorous communities than from countries where social conditions +have long been depressed by over-population. In the second place, the +migrations in question are susceptible of another explanation. Regarding +the only one of these migrations of which we have detailed knowledge—the +Islamic—we know that it was prompted by the currency of an idea, and why +should we not assume that the previous migrations were so prompted +rather than fall back on the theory of over-population which raises so +many difficulties? + +20. It has often been said that war is a ‘biological necessity’. +‘Wherever we look in nature’, says General von Bernhardi, ‘we find that +war is a fundamental law of development. This great verity, which has +been recognized in past ages, has been convincingly demonstrated in +modern times by Charles Darwin. He proved that nature is ruled by an +unceasing struggle for existence, by the right of the stronger, and that +this struggle in its apparent cruelty brings about a selection +eliminating the weak and the unwholesome.’[1496] This has been a +favourite contention of German publicists.[1497] It is not necessary to +show here that such views rest upon a fundamental misunderstanding as to +what is implied by the term ‘struggle for existence’. The error has been +recently exposed by Mr. Chalmers Mitchell, who in particular has pointed +out that there is nothing in the relationship between species in a state +of nature which can in any sense be called war and further that modern +nations are not units of the same order as species.[1498] + +It has also been held that war originates from the necessity for the +search for food. ‘La guerre’, said Comte, ‘constitue à l’origine le +moyen le plus simple de se procurer les subsistances.’[1499] There is no +foundation whatever for this view based either on what we know of +species in a state of nature or of the conditions obtaining among +primitive races. The same may be said of the theory that ‘eagerness to +acquire property was originally the cause and object of war’.[1500] + +The idea that over-population is the cause of war is sometimes carried +back to some such ‘biological’ origin as that indicated above; in +disproof of such views no more need be said. More often we meet with +statements such as the following: ‘The population question pushes +Germany on. For the most part it is inland peoples that have most +severely felt that pressure of a growing population. Islanders and coast +dwellers can expand over the seas. But when inland peoples outgrow their +bounds, they must burst them.’[1501] Such a statement is a striking +example of the over-estimation of the relief afforded by war and by +migration and of the under-estimation of the power of fecundity. What +has been said above regarding migration is again applicable here. + +If our contention that over-population is not the cause of migration is +well founded, then the argument that war is also due to over-population +falls to the ground. Precisely the same conditions which are supposed to +push nations on to fight are also supposed to push them on to migrate. +As we shall see later, this by no means implies that questions of +population do not at times enter into the situation when war breaks out. + +What then is the cause of war? It is probable that the instinct of +pugnacity led to fighting when men lived in groups of families—at least +between the males for the headship of the family. It is further probable +that, as social organization slowly evolved, sporadic fighting of this +kind was continued and led to fighting between groups. But in very early +times tradition began to overlay and obscure the manifestations of +instinct; the manner in which this occurs will form an important part of +the discussion in the second part of this book. It is enough to say here +that among primitive races tradition can be of such a nature as +altogether to overlay the instinct of pugnacity, as among certain +peoples, who though not devoid of the instinct scarcely ever fight +because of the existence of powerful social conventions and customs +inhibiting its expression. Thus, though war may form an outlet for +pugnacity, it can no longer be said that it is the direct consequence of +pugnacity. War, in fact, gradually becomes a custom. That this is now +essentially the nature of war needs no proof. It is obviously at the +present day a mode of action whereby the highly organized governments of +modern nations try to achieve some political end.[1502] + +It has, however, to be remembered that warfare takes a place among the +factors of elimination and that the greater the amount of elimination +through war, the less need there is for the practices of abortion and +infanticide. But this is quite a different thing from saying that +warfare results from over-population or from the pressure of population. +It merely implies that, given the power of increase, warfare is a factor +which may perform to a small degree the elimination necessary in order +that numbers should not exceed the desirable limit and is therefore +tolerated—other things being equal—as a factor in social life by the +natural selection of customs. + +It has nevertheless to be allowed that, when war breaks out, the +position as regards population may form an element in the situation—just +as the passions which have been aroused may do so though they cannot be +regarded as the cause of modern war. Let us consider the late war. +Broadly speaking in all European countries increase in population was in +response to economic requirements. Yet there were what we have called +minor fluctuations away from the desirable economic density. France and +Germany represented two opposite tendencies—towards under- and +over-population respectively. These relatively slight differences were +greatly exaggerated in popular opinion owing to the attention paid to +the birth-rate. The Germans were thinking and talking of expansion +whereas the French were stay-at-home people. The Germans looked across +the frontier and thought they saw a half-empty country which they could +well develop with their ‘surplus’ population, while the French thought +they saw a teeming population ready to burst its bonds and overwhelm +them. Again, as between England and Germany it appeared to many Germans +that, while Germany had little or no opportunity of expansion, Great +Britain had owing to her overseas dominions ample opportunity. But +increase is governed by the conditions within a country, and the fact +that emigration from Great Britain to Greater Britain was possible did +not enter into the situation as regards the control of increase in Great +Britain; very many people in this country, however, as well as in +Germany, if they did not actually think that it did so, at least held +opinions which were in fact founded upon this supposition. Thus though +in actual fact England broadly speaking restricted her population as did +Germany in accordance with the economic situation within the country, +yet the position of England with reference to Greater Britain had an +influence upon the situation, and many Germans thought that unless there +was an outlet for ‘surplus population’ Germany would eventually be +over-populated, whereas the fact is that, as we have seen, so long as +conditions remain healthy in a country, over-population does not +arise.[1503] + +This subject could be elaborated at great length. Upon analysis it would +always be found that, though certain aspects of the population problem +and certain mistaken views of the position may and do predispose nations +and governments towards war, it is not true strictly speaking to say +that the population question is in any sense a cause of war. War has now +merely become a mode of action whereby an organized state tries to +achieve certain political ends. It is within the power of mankind to +renounce this mode of action. There is nothing in the nature of man or +of social organization which renders war inevitable. ‘Dieu ne leur a +donné ni des canons de vingt-quatre ni des baïonnettes, et ils se sont +fait des baïonnettes et des canons pour se détruire.’[1504] + + + + + XII + SOME MODERN PROBLEMS + + +1. The present period, which may be dated from 1760 in England and from +rather a later date in most European countries, has been marked by an +unparalleled increase of population. The rate of increase has for some +years been slowing down. This outburst of population is sometimes +referred to as though there was something mysterious about it. It was, +in fact, merely the response to increase in skill, and similarly the +declining birth-rate is, at least for the most part, merely the response +to the fact that skill is no longer increasing so fast.[1505] The fact +that the upper social classes began to restrict their increase before +the lower social classes is partly due to the fact that they are more +sensitive to economic requirements. This point is almost always +overlooked in discussions of the question of differential fertility, and +when forming any judgement on this subject the possible loss in quality +has—though it is a very difficult problem—to be balanced against the +gain in arriving at an adjustment of quantity. There may be more to be +said for Mill’s opinion quoted on a previous page than most eugenists +would be willing to admit. + +Before we go on to notice some of the many problems that arise, +something may be said as to the future. So deeply have men been +impressed by this increase that the most pessimistic prophecies have +been published as to the fate in store for the human race. Numerous +calculations have been made to show that within a certain length of time +there will only be standing room. Mr. Knibbs has calculated that, if the +rate of increase of the population of the world obtaining in the five +years preceding 1911 was to be continued, there would in 500 years be +246,114 millions. He is appalled by the prospect. ‘No artifices of +cultivation,’ he says, ‘nor any possible diminutions of human stature, +so as to decrease the necessary quantity of food per person, can +possibly relieve the gravity of the situation. In no case can the +increase of 1 per cent. per annum be maintained for five +centuries.’[1506] This pessimism is baseless; he appears to regard +increase as something inevitable that cannot be stopped—forgetting that +throughout the greater part of human history numbers have been for all +practical purposes stationary, and that increase only exceptionally +outruns economic requirements.[1507] There is no room, it is true, for +mere complacency. Though the desirable density may as a rule result from +economic pressure without conscious effort, it does not follow that it +would not be better if adjustment was consciously brought about. And it +may be that if and when men begin consciously to adjust numbers, they +may have to take some criterion other than the economic into account. To +this point we may now turn. + +2. So far we have proceeded on the assumption that the only criterion +was the economic criterion—that the only test whereby the desirable +number might be ascertained was the test founded on the average income +per head. There does not seem to be any reason for supposing that there +is any limit to the increase of skill in the production of food, and +that therefore there is any limit to the desirable number so long as the +criterion remains economic. This suggests that at some point mankind +will have to introduce another method of estimating what density is +desirable, as it is clear that the economic advantages of increase +somewhere come into conflict with other ideals as to desirable social +conditions. In other words, at some point a larger income would not be +worth having if it necessitated too large a population. + +It would require a lengthy discussion of many points and the weighing up +of many factors before it would be possible to come to any definite +conclusion on this subject. It may be observed that there are those who +with some apparent reason doubt whether, taking the broadest view of +human welfare, a denser population than that now existing in Belgium can +be thought desirable. It also seems reasonable to hold that our great +cities, and in particular London, have passed the limit that allows of +the development of the most healthy social conditions. It is a matter of +doubt whether such agglomerations of population are or will remain +necessary even if the total population of the country was to increase. +There are two considerations which are relevant here. First it may be +objected that in spite of the high average density of population in this +and other countries, it is still easy to find large areas which are +sparsely populated, and that their existence shows that there can be as +yet no question of overcrowding beyond what is the socially desirable +limit. But it must be remembered that the great mass of the population +scarcely ever moves out of the densely populated areas, and that if they +attempted to get out into the country, if only for holidays—as with +increased leisure and higher incomes they will soon attempt to do—there +would soon be little left of the solitude which can now be easily found. + +The other consideration that is very relevant in this connexion is the +average income per head. ‘Before the war’, says Professor Bowley, ‘the +home income would not have yielded more than £230 gross annually per +family of five, or £170 net after all rates and taxes were paid and an +adequate sum invested in home industries.’[1508] No one can regard this +position as satisfactory. On all hands it is agreed that it must be +increased even by those who with justice insist upon the fact that any +general improvement must be accompanied by a decrease in the emphasis +now laid upon material comfort. Income can, of course, be increased +without increasing population, but probably it cannot be increased so +fast. + +3. There are at least two other points of view from which the density +desirable may be considered. England, for instance, is in a peculiar +position with regard to her food-supply, a fraction only of which is +produced in the country while the rest is imported. Only by this method +can England maintain her present population. How far in the case of war, +or in a lesser degree in the case of social or economic disturbances +elsewhere, such a position is compatible with national safety is +certainly a matter for careful consideration. It seems scarcely likely +that the decision would ever be taken to limit population on this +account alone in view of the economic sacrifices which it would entail. + +In addition to treating the question as it affects safety in the sense +just alluded to, it may also be treated from the purely military point +of view. The desire for a dense population so frequently expressed from +the sixteenth century onwards, as noted in the first chapter, is largely +based on the fact that the larger the population the more potential +soldiers there are. Harrison, for instance, wrote as follows: ‘Some also +do grudge at the great increase of people in these days thinking a +necessary brood of cattle far better than a superfluous augmentation of +mankind. But if it should come to pass that any foreign invasion should +be made, which the Lord God forbid for his mercy’s sake, then should +these men find that a wall of men is far better than stacks of corn and +bags of money, and complain of the want when it is too late to seek the +remedy.’[1509] This attitude was especially noticeable in Germany before +the war. A German author comments on the ‘mad craze for numbers’, and +goes on to add that ‘at the back is rather the desire, which I admit is +often vague, for as many soldiers as possible’.[1510] It is by no means +absent in England. In the second Report of the National Birth-Rate +Commission we read as follows: ‘But in the event of a war similar to +that which we have just experienced, what would happen to us with a +greatly reduced birth-rate? Surely all we have would be taken, and we +must become slaves—as we should be to-day if we had entered on the +struggle with Germany without adequate man-power. Moreover what would +happen to our Empire?’[1511] It may be doubted whether there has been +produced by such considerations in recent times even in Germany any +effect upon numbers; probably economic forces have overruled such +considerations altogether. It is possible that they may have had some +influence upon military nations in earlier days. It is to be imagined +and certainly to be hoped that they will not mould views on this subject +in future. + +4. As has been indicated, such departures as there are among European +nations at the present day from the desirable density are of the nature +of minor fluctuations. Europe is not from the point of view of +productiveness over-populated (or was not in 1914; it is very difficult +to sum up the position in this respect since the loss of capital owing +to the war). There is no ground for the pessimism of Sir Thomas Holdich, +who says that ‘Asia affords no asylum for overcrowded Europe’.[1512] + +It may be observed that the phenomenon of unemployment as generally seen +in industrial countries is not evidence of over-population. It has been +shown by Beveridge that unemployment, such as now occurs in England, is +in no way connected with over-population. It is due to certain +maladjustments in the industrial system, such as the decay of +industries, the seasonal and cyclical fluctuations of trade, and the +position as to the normal reserve of labour. The industrial system so +functions that, unless special measures are adopted, there is always a +certain amount of unemployment. Unemployment is thus ‘a problem of +industry’ as Beveridge has called it.[1513] It may also be observed that +the remarkable differences in the return per head as between different +countries are in any case very largely due to the amount of skill +employed and not to the nearness of approximation to the desirable +number.[1514] + +At any given time in any nation it is desirable either that population +should be stable or that there should be a certain ratio of increase. It +is clear that increase may be brought about under many different +conditions. A high birth-rate and a high death-rate may give the same +ratio of increase as a low birth-rate and a low death-rate. These +conditions have been much studied; the consideration of them falls +outside this book. But we may note that, as far as numbers and the +direct effect of the environment are concerned, but not necessarily so +far as quality is concerned, a low birth-rate and a low death-rate +represent more healthy conditions than a high birth-rate and a high +death-rate. There is a certain correlation between the birth-rate and +the death-rate, though it is often exaggerated. In Japan, for instance, +there has recently been a tendency towards a decrease in the birth-rate +and an increase in the death-rate. It is necessary to beware of those +sweeping generalizations which assert that a high birth-rate means a +high death-rate and vice versa. It may also be noted that the decrease +in the birth-rate has been attained in different European countries in +very different ways. Thus, whereas in England the decrease has been +general throughout the country, in Germany it has been almost entirely +confined to the towns.[1515] + +Here, however, the discussion is limited to general principles; problems +of this nature cannot be further inquired into. We have already noted +that minor fluctuations in the nearness of approach to the optimum +number as between neighbouring countries may increase, if it does not +give rise to, friction between them. We may further note here that such +consequences only follow when there are differences of nationality +involved. When within an area inhabited by one nationality some part of +it is becoming under-populated—say the urban districts—population flows +in from other districts and in this case from the country. But when one +country is tending towards under-population and a neighbouring country +towards over-population, there is but little flow of population and but +little adjustment. Various difficulties, some legal, others sentimental, +check the movement towards the less fully populated country. +Nevertheless, there is some movement. Thus there were resident in France +in 1911 1,132,696 foreigners.[1516] But this immigration only went a +little way towards bringing up the population towards the level which +was apparently economically desirable, and there thus arose a position +which aggravated the tension between France and Germany. + +There are certain ‘new’ countries where curious conditions obtain. Their +position cannot be judged in the same manner as can that of a country +which has long been settled. The occupation of such countries can only +proceed at a certain pace, and if it went more quickly we should have a +peculiar condition of relative over-population. There is reason to think +that population in many of these countries has not grown as quickly as +it might have done, and that there is, in fact, a condition of relative +under-population. + +5. This leads us to refer to the methods of limiting increase in use at +the present day. It is clear that some methods are necessary. Even if it +should be thought advisable that population should increase, it cannot +possibly be desirable that it should increase as fast as is possible. It +therefore falls to those who disapprove of certain methods to suggest +others. This problem is seldom faced by those who would dissuade men and +women from certain practices. The attempt to advise in these matters +without regarding the problem as a whole is strongly to be +deprecated.[1517] + +Abortion is condemned on every hand, and we are thus left with +postponement of marriage, restriction of intercourse between married +persons, and the use of contraceptive methods as the means of bringing +about the limitation of families. There is much to be said for the +postponement of marriage for a certain period after the age of puberty. +That education should be completed, and that a certain experience of +life should be gained, before the choice of a partner is made and the +responsibilities of setting up a home are undertaken, are obviously +desirable. In order, however, that postponement of marriage should be +effective, it would require that the average age at marriage should be +so late as to produce many undesirable consequences. It seems certain +that, not only under present conditions, but under almost any conditions +of social life that we can picture, late marriage must be accompanied by +a system of prostitution and irregular sexual habits which nearly every +one agrees in deploring. Apart from this almost overwhelming argument +against late marriages, there are many other objections. It is not a +good thing on the whole for children that their parents, should be +beyond a certain age.[1518] Much can be urged with force against late +marriage on the lines that after a certain age the outlook and habits of +celibates so change as to render them less fitted to bring up a family. +As few will be found to advocate late marriage as the only method, we +may leave the matter at this point. + +With regard to restriction of intercourse, the most important question +is whether it can possibly be effective. Very serious doubts arise on +this account when it is proposed to rely on this method alone. Late +marriage might be in practice effective because sexual desire would find +its satisfaction apart from marriage. Abstention from intercourse +implies that sexual desire will not find its satisfaction; on this +account it is likely that it can only be effective when accompanied by a +system of prostitution that we have already agreed to regard as +undesirable. Apart from this there are strong arguments against this +method founded on the undesirable psychological results of abstention. +It is in fact perhaps scarcely possible to think of a marriage system as +satisfactory in which what we must regard as the physical object of +marriage is not realized. + +We are thus led to speak of the use of contraceptive methods and we may +glance at two sides of the matter—ethical and physiological. It is a +notable fact that all religious bodies, so far as their opinions can be +discovered, are strongly opposed to this method.[1519] This objection is +founded upon many considerations, of which the most striking is perhaps +that the method allows of, or rather that it encourages, +self-indulgence. Those whose attention has been drawn to the problem of +the causes of the progress and decay of civilization will not fail to +feel the force of any argument against the spread of habits which +encourage self-indulgence. But it may be suggested that the normal +exercise of any physical function can scarcely be called +self-indulgence. There is a mean in the satisfaction of physical +appetites, on the one side of which is self-indulgence and on the other +side asceticism. It is a question whether those who disapprove of these +methods because they encourage self-indulgence are not in fact demanding +an ascetic life. As a form of self-discipline there may be much to +recommend ascetic practices, but that is another matter. The fact is +that in the use of these methods there is nothing which necessarily +encourages self-indulgence. They make it possible to exercise a normal +function; they do not necessarily lead to its over-use. This would seem +to be without doubt the most tangible objection to these methods. The +other objections are on the whole rather of a religious than of an +ethical nature, and as such fall outside the scope of this book.[1520] + +In addition to the ethical there is the physiological aspect of the +matter. There are several different methods employed to prevent +conception. It is a matter of great importance to know which of them can +be employed without causing ill health. With regard to this little is +known and opinions vary. More than this need not be said. + +It is no part of the object of this book to advocate any particular +methods;[1521] it is only intended here to show what problems arise at +the present day from the quantitative aspect of the whole matter. It may +be suggested that upon the question of the methods of limiting +population it is desirable that there should be some consensus of +opinion. Man has not only to settle how far he is going to limit +population, but how he is going to do it. + +6. We may now glance at certain questions which if they are to be +referred to at all in this part of the book are most easily introduced +here. These questions are not directly concerned with the quantitative +aspect of the problem; their importance lies chiefly in their bearing +upon the qualitative aspect. + +It is a familiar fact that at the present day the birth-rate is higher +among certain sections of the population than among others. There is +reason to believe that this was also the case in some of the older +civilizations—notably in Rome. We may first look at the facts and +afterwards at the causes. Many investigations have shown that there is a +higher fertility among the lower social grades. Heron found that there +is a high average correlation between the birth-rate and conditions +which indicate a lower social grade, such as the number of pawnbrokers +per 1,000 inhabitants, the amount of child employment, pauperism, +overcrowding, and other indications of poverty and lack of +culture.[1522] Whether a differential birth-rate results or not in a +differential contribution to the next generation depends on whether +there is a differential survival rate, and if so, whether it compensates +for or not the differences in the birth-rate. The following extract from +the Report of the National Birth-Rate Commission throws light upon this +point. Using material provided by the Registrar-General for England and +Wales giving the births for 1911 classified according to the occupation +of the father, the following is the position: + + +‘Classifying into groups arranged in descending order of social grade we +have: + + _Social Class._ _Births per 1,000 married males aged under 55 + years._ + Upper and middle classes 119 + Intermediate 132 + Skilled workmen 153 + Intermediate 158 + Unskilled workmen 213 + +‘The rate of mortality in the first year of life is also provided in +these groups, and follows the same order, viz. 76·4, 106·4, 112·7, +121·5, 152·5. If, however, we multiply the birth-rate by the difference +between unity and the proportion of deaths, i. e. the proportion of +survivals in the first year, the resulting effective birth-rates are +still in the same order, viz. 110, 118, 136, 139, 181, after the hazards +of the first twelve months have passed. We must conclude, therefore, +that the initially higher birth-rate of the lower classes is not so +reduced by heavier infant mortality that their effective birth-rates are +brought into approximate equality with those of the wealthier classes. +We have no material allowing us to extend the comparison to later years +of life; but equally we have no reason to suppose that such an extension +would change the order.’[1523] + + +All available evidence goes to support this conclusion, namely, that the +higher the social status the lower is the fertility, and that this +initial difference is not removed by subsequent differential mortality. +This is apparently true not only for England but also for other +countries in which the economic situation is similar, and is a +relatively recent phenomenon.[1524] + +7. In looking for the causes of this differential increase as between +various sections of the population, we have to remember that, in +accordance with what has been said in the last chapter, we suppose the +position in regard to population in the nation as a whole to be ruled by +economic factors. If there is an increase, then we suppose that increase +to be somewhere about that which the economic situation demands in order +that the greatest income per head should be gained. It follows that +generally speaking the conditions we find among the mass of the +industrial population excluding the lowest class approximate to those +which are demanded; but it is possible that, just as the increase among +the lowest class is excessive, so the increase among the higher social +class may be too small judging from the economic standpoint. We have +here to ask what factors there are which bring about a lower fertility +among the upper classes, recollecting that this low fertility may not be +wholly due to an approximation to economic requirements, but may +represent a failure in adjusting increase to the economic situation. + +Among the factors which bring about a low fertility in these classes, +those connected with differences in education and the age at which the +maximum income is obtained are the most important. Education is +continued in these classes up to an age at which men in the industrial +classes are earning almost the maximum wage to which they will ever +attain. Even when education in the ordinary sense of the word is +finished, there usually follows a period when the salary gained is low, +or when perhaps a premium has to be paid in order to obtain a start in +whatever profession is chosen. Doctors and barristers seldom begin to +earn until some years after their education is complete. Further, when +they do begin to earn, the income is often for many years low, and may +in some cases not reach the maximum until late in life. Among the +industrial population conditions are wholly different, and the maximum +rate of wages is soon reached. Whatever forces, therefore, may be +playing upon the industrial population, there are in addition the above +forces playing upon the professional classes which account for the lower +rate of increase among them. + +There are also many other factors at work in the same direction. In the +life led by the upper social classes there are more numerous ways in +which the desire for relaxation, change, and pleasure may find +satisfaction than among the lower classes. Life is in many ways more +varied. This has an influence upon fertility in two ways. When a +marriage takes place among the upper social classes it involves to a far +more considerable extent than among the lower classes a renunciation of +much that has given pleasure hitherto. When a man marries and ‘settles +down’ he gives up, as a rule, many activities from which he had derived +pleasure before. Further, after marriage the possibility of indulging in +many of the pleasures which this varied life offers is often +incompatible with the bringing up of a family. Children are often in the +way. Again, though children are no longer the economic asset among the +lower classes which they were before the passing of the Factory Acts, +the possession of children is generally looked upon among those classes +as a support in old age when the power of earning has gone. Children, on +the other hand, among the upper classes have rather to be provided for, +and in any case are seldom regarded as a support.[1525] + +Very many other factors might be mentioned, but enough has been said to +show how in the main the different fertilities may be explained. The +insufficient income of many of the less well-paid groups of the higher +classes is often alleged as a cause of low fertility. This view is well +founded when, as often occurs, social conventions force a so-called +higher standard of living upon them—a standard which merely involves the +expenditure of more money than among the industrial classes in +preserving appearances without adding to welfare. When, however, this is +extended to classes in which income has reached, say, between £600 and +£1,000 a year, it cannot be allowed that income is truly insufficient. +It is in such cases only insufficient when more than is reasonable is +expended in the way of material satisfaction. A man cannot be heard to +say that he cannot afford a large family as otherwise he will not be +able to keep a motor-car—so long, that is to say, as the motor-car is +not necessary to his profession. + +7. This differential fertility occurs in countries where the population +is less homogeneous than in England, and thus assumes importance in +another aspect. For whether we assume the differences between the +elements in the population to be due to inherited characters or to +varying social traditions—a question to be discussed later—a change in +the proportion of the different elements will be of great importance. +According to Hill, who has investigated this matter in America, the +percentage of white women of native parentage under 45 years of age +bearing no children is 13·1, while the percentage of foreign women is +5·7. The average number of children for white married women of native +parentage is 2·7, and for similar women of foreign parentage 4·4. Among +the foreign women the average number of children for a married English +woman is 3·4, for a German 4·3, for an Italian 4·9, for a Pole +6·2.[1526] The above is only one example of conditions which obtain in +many countries raising difficult problems. + +The same problem arises in an even more important form when there are in +the same country races as different as the white and the negro. In the +United States and in South Africa the problem assumes greater importance +than elsewhere. In the latter country the negroes are increasing faster +than the white element of the population. In America this has not been +the case in the last hundred years; but the fact that the white element +has maintained its relative position is due to the fact that in addition +to the increase in the native-born white population there has been an +increase due to immigration.[1527] + +8. The question of the relative rate of increase of the population of +different countries is a somewhat different matter. It is due to many +factors, one of the less important of which is that the population of +various countries does not approach equally closely to the number +desirable in each country. The chief factor is the variation in the arts +of production in use in each country. It is only an extension of this +fact that the natural resources of different countries have been more +exploited in some cases than in others. In Russia the arts of production +in use are less advanced than in more western countries. The +introduction of western methods into such a country enables a rapid +increase of population to take place. During the same period the +increase can only be slow in countries which already use these methods, +and thus, so long as the knowledge of the arts of production is not +equal in all countries, different rates of increase are liable to arise +when knowledge spreads into a more backward country.[1528] + +Such changes are altering the composition of the population of the +world. The following figures have been given for Europe. Out of 1,000 +inhabitants there were in the years named the following proportion of +Teutonic, Romance, and Slav elements: + + 1801 1850 1905 + Teutonic 375 369 273 + Romance 355 321 251 + Slav 268 310 375 + + + + + XIII + THE QUALITATIVE PROBLEM + + +We now approach the second part of the problem, and turn from a +consideration of the quantity to a consideration of the quality of the +population. In the second and third chapters we found that reproduction +was a necessity, and that to the fact of reproduction can be traced the +origin of problems both of quantity and of quality. In the third chapter +we further found that the position of animals and plants in a state of +nature as regards problems of quality was in its broadest aspect simple. +The changes in the forms of organisms, which, when viewed as a whole, we +call evolution, are due to changes in the physical basis from which new +generations arise. The long procession of organisms, usually of +increasing complexity, from the simplest type to the immediate ancestor +of rational man, thus owes its being to a long procession of changes in +the germ-cells. + +When treating of the quantitative problem among men, we considered a +large amount of evidence which bears also upon quality, and this +evidence, supplemented as and where necessary, will enable us to make +some estimate of the importance of qualitative changes among men. This +is the object of the remaining chapters. We have to try and estimate how +far human history is comparable with changes among species in a state of +nature—is due, in other words, to germinal changes. There are two other +possible causes of change among men—the direct influence of the +environment and the influence of tradition—and in order to estimate the +importance of germinal change, it will be necessary also to consider +what importance is attributable to these two factors. To one of +them—namely to tradition—we shall find reason to attribute great +importance. Tradition, in fact, comes ultimately to be of more +importance than germinal change among the underlying causes of history. +But tradition is profoundly influenced by the quantity of population +among other factors, and, therefore, to the extent to which this is so, +the determining factor in human history is still bound up with the +population problem. As history ceases to be strictly correlated with +changes in quality, it comes to be influenced by a factor the nature and +strength of which is largely determined by the quantity of population. +Thus the two aspects of the whole problem are linked together in the +case of man in a manner that does not obtain among species in a state of +nature. + +The attempt to deal with this problem will be undertaken in the +following manner. In Chapter III reference was made to the influence of +the environment upon growth and upon the adult form. In Chapter XIV this +subject will be developed so far as species in a state of nature are +concerned, and the results of the inquiry will be applied to man in +Chapter XV. The subject-matter of Chapter XV will be confined to the +influence of the environment upon human bodily and mental characters. +The influence of the environment as a stimulus affecting the direction +in which mental characters are used will be left to a future chapter. + +We next turn to inquire what influence changes in the germ-cells have +had. Before we can make any progress it is necessary to ask what +characters—physical and mental—have their basis in the germ-cells, and +an inquiry into this subject will occupy Chapter XVI. In Chapters XVII +and XVIII we ask what evidence there is of selection and other factors +throughout human history which we have reason to suppose have a bearing +on change in the average germinal constitution of the human species. +This will among other things necessitate an examination of the facts in +Chapters VII, VIII, and X in order to ascertain what bearing they have +upon selection. Having thus some knowledge of what is inherited, and +having discussed the occurrence of such factors as in human history may +have brought about changes from one generation to another in the +character inherited, we shall be in a position in Chapter XVII to +attempt an estimate of the results which the factors—selection and +others—have had upon physical characters. We shall find that as regards +these characters the position is more or less clear; we shall find, that +is to say, that the influence of selection and other factors, considered +in conjunction with the influence of the environment discussed in +Chapter XV, does enable us in the main to understand how the physical +evolution of man has come about. With regard to mental characters to be +discussed in Chapter XVIII, we shall find that the task cannot be +similarly completed. With a far less degree of certainty than in the +case of physical characters we shall arrive at some idea as to how +mental characters have evolved. This, however, still leaves unanswered +the problem as to how far the evolution of mental characters accounts +for what we call history. To attack this problem it is necessary to +consider how the environment acts as a stimulus upon the mind, +conditions the degree to which and the direction in which the mind is +used, and thus leads to the building up of tradition. In Chapter XIX we +consider the nature of human mental endowment and the manner in which +tradition is built up and handed on. In Chapter XX we consider the +nature of the environment under which human mental activities have been +exerted. This will enable us in Chapter XXI to survey the broad facts of +history and to come to some conclusion as to the parts played +respectively by the changes in human mental endowment, by the direct +influence of the environment upon the mental faculties, and by its +influence as a stimulus upon the exercise of these faculties. In a +concluding chapter the results of the whole inquiry will be summed up. + + + + + XIV + THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AMONG ANIMALS AND PLANTS + + +1. A brief inquiry into the part played by the environment among animals +and plants forms a necessary introduction to a similar inquiry as +regards man such as we shall undertake in the next chapter. + +In the second chapter something was said as to fertilization and as to +the development of the zygote or fertilized egg to the adult form. It +has been shown by Herbst that, if this process of development is to +result in a normal adult, all the factors comprising the normal +environment must be present. Herbst ascertained the exact composition of +sea-water at Naples.[1529] Using as his material the larvae of +sea-urchins, he changed slightly in many different ways the composition +of the water. The experiments were very exhaustive. At every stage in +the development he observed the results of abstracting one or more of +the constituents of sea-water—the normal environment of the larvae. +Commenting upon the results of these experiments, Jenkinson says: +‘Whatever may be the ultimate explanation of the facts, there can be no +doubt whatever that the most complete demonstration has been given of +the absolute necessity of many of the elements occurring in ordinary +sea-water, its normal environment, for the proper growth and +differentiation of the larva of the sea-urchin. Nor is this all. Some of +the substances are necessary for one part or phase of development, some +for another, some at the very beginning, others only later on. Thus +potassium, magnesium and some degree of alkalinity are essential for +fertilization, chlorine and sodium for segmentation, calcium for the +adequate cohesion of the blastomeres, potassium, calcium and the +hydroxyl-ion for securing the internal osmotic pressure necessary for +growth, while without the sulph-ion and magnesium the due +differentiation of the alimentary tract and the proper formation of the +skeleton cannot occur; the secretion of the skeleton depends on the +presence of some sulphate and alkalinity, the skeleton requires calcium +carbonate, cilia will only beat in an alkaline medium containing +potassium and magnesium, and muscle will only contract when potassium +and calcium are there.’[1530] + +Summing up the results of these and other experiments, Jenkinson says: +‘Every factor, or nearly every factor [of the environment], is necessary +for this or that phase or part of the process, some for the whole. Light +of a certain wave length will accelerate development; light of another +kind, or, in some instances, darkness, will retard it, or will stop it +altogether; a certain degree of heat is indispensable; oxygen is +required for respiration, water for growth; some eggs demand constant +agitation, others complete rest; fertilization or segmentation or +gastrulation, or some one or other of the later phases of development +may depend absolutely on the presence of some particular chemical +element; remove the factor in question, whatever it may be, and that +particular process will not occur, and the specific typical end which is +reached in normal development will not be attained.’[1531] + +Putting aside until later the question as to what is implied by the term +normal environment, we may now ask what the relation is between heredity +and environment. To regard a developing organism as subject to the +action of two forces, one tending to thrust it in one direction and the +other in another, is to view the matter in a wholly false light. +Heredity and environment are, as is clear from the evidence given above, +complementary one to the other; without a germinal constitution there +can be no organism; without appropriate stimuli an organism cannot +develop. Similarly it is misleading to speak of the relative importance +of the two factors unless the terms are very clearly defined. To see +that careful definition is necessary, we have only to remember that, +because, with the exception of the anaerobic bacteria, all organisms +require free oxygen, environment might be held to be all important. +Here, however, we are not concerned with the problem as to the +conditions under which we might speak of the relative importance of the +two factors; we have merely to note that they are essentially +complementary. + +2. We may now observe that, just as a normal adult only develops under +normal stimuli, abnormal stimuli experimentally induced may be followed +by every kind of result from the most extreme to the most insignificant +changes both of form and of life-cycle. We may note the results of a few +of the vast number of experiments which have been made. With regard to +plants it has been shown that ‘each developmental stage depends upon +special external conditions, and in cases where our knowledge is +sufficient, a particular stage may be obtained at will. In the Green +Algae, as in the case of the Fungi, we may classify the stages of +development into purely vegetative growth (growth, cell-division, +branching), asexual reproduction (formation of zöospores, conidia), and +sexual process (formation of male and female sexual organs). By +modifying the external conditions, it is possible to induce algae or +fungi ... to grow continuously for several years, or, in the course of a +few days, to die after an enormous production of asexual or sexual +cells. In some instances even an almost complete stoppage of growth may +be caused, reproductive cells scarcely being formed before the organism +is again compelled to resort to reproduction. Then again the sequence of +different stages of development may be modified as we desire.’[1532] + +Another kind of experiment shows that foliage shoots can be converted +into runners and vice versa; it is, for instance, possible to induce a +germinating tuber of the potato to form foliage shoots under the +influence of a higher temperature. The transfer of plants from one +environment to another is often followed by remarkable changes. MacLeod, +for instance, states that a species of Philodendron which has large +leaves pierced with round holes was cultivated for many years in the +Botanical Gardens at Ghent in a greenhouse which was rather cool and +dry. The holes were found to be rare; at times it was not possible to +observe a single perforation in any of the leaves of a specimen. In +every other respect the plants were healthy. The plants were later +transferred to a greenhouse that was warm and moist and after a few +months the new leaves were found to be abundantly perforated.[1533] +Bonnier made some very interesting observations on the dandelion. He +found that the plant, when sown at a high altitude in the Pyrenees, +produced very short stems with hairy, dark green leaves and a compact +flower. On the other hand, seeds gathered from such plants growing at a +high altitude and sown in the neighbourhood of Paris produced after +three years elongated stems with less hairy and brighter leaves, or, in +other words, plants very similar to those grown from seeds obtained in +the neighbourhood of Paris. The modifications acquired during a given +time by a lowland plant grown at a high altitude, or by a highland plant +grown at a low altitude, took about the same time to disappear on +returning the plants to their original climates.[1534] Similarly +‘Schubeler sowed seeds of various plants in different latitudes in +Norway and proved that the brilliancy of the flowers increased with the +latitude. So great was the difference that it was difficult to conceive +that they were produced from the same batch of seeds.’[1535] +Observations on European peach-trees transported to Réunion were made by +Bordage. Such trees lost their deciduous habit and became evergreen, +though in some cases it took twenty years before the change was +complete.[1536] Lastly the red primrose ‘reared at a temperature of +30°–35° C. (with moisture and shade) has pure white flowers, but the +same plants reared at 15°–20° C. have red flowers. If the white-bearing +plants are brought into a cooler place, the flowers that are already in +bloom remain white, but those that develop later in the cooler +temperature are red.’[1537] + +We may also notice the results of some of the experiments upon +developing animals. Stockard experimented with the fish _Fundulus +heteroclitus_. He subjected the eggs both before cleavage began, and +after the two- and four-celled stages had been reached, to solutions of +magnesium salts in sea-water. The eyes of a large percentage of the +embryos were abnormal. In some cases there was a single median eye; in +other cases there was a median eye showing signs of a double +structure.[1538] ‘In a long series of experiments Féré has shown that +monstrosities can be produced by exposing the hen’s egg to the +unfavourable influence of a large variety of substances. Vapour of +ether, alcohol, essential oils, nicotine, mercury and phosphorus, +injection of alkaloids such as morphine, nicotine, strychnine and +others, of bacterial toxins (those of tubercle and diphtheria), of +peptone, dextrose, and glycerine, several alcohols, certain salts ... +are all harmful, retarding and distorting the embryo to a greater or +less extent.’[1539] Many experiments show the effect of differences in +food, temperature, and humidity upon developing organisms. Agar carried +out some experiments on a small water-flea, Simocephalus. This animal is +enclosed in a kind of shell composed of two valves, somewhat like a +mussel. Normally the edges of the valves nearly meet, so that if a +section is cut across the animal transversely the shape of the body +enclosed in the valves is oval. When the food was varied in a certain +way, Agar found that the edges of the valves were turned outwards so +that the shape of a transverse section was no longer oval but bell-like. +He also found that the length was reduced by exposure to a high +temperature.[1540] Experimenting with a beetle, Tower found that both +the colour and the colour pattern could be modified by changes in +temperature and humidity.[1541] Similarly Morgan showed that a species +of the fruit fly exhibited a peculiar formation of the abdomen in the +presence of moisture; when raised in dry conditions the abnormality +disappeared.[1542] Poulton obtained some remarkable results when working +with the larvae of moths. ‘Larvae surrounded by the leaves on which they +fed, became, in the majority of species, light brown or light grey in +colour. If, however, an abundance of twigs had been mixed with the +leaves of the food plant, they became dark in colour. The larvae of the +Peppered Moth afforded the most striking result of all, for when reared +among green leaves and shoots they became bright green without +exception, whilst in the presence of dark brown twigs they nearly all +assumed a corresponding colour.’[1543] + +A Japanese experimenter exercised rats for 90 to 180 days; he found that +this long-continued exercise markedly increased the weight of the heart, +kidneys, and other organs on an average to about 20 per cent.[1544] A +thickening has been observed in the stomach of a gull fed on grain for a +year and this change is said to take place under natural conditions in +the herring gull, which feeds in winter on fish and in summer on grain. +Conversely if graminivorous birds are fed on a carnivorous diet, the +gizzard assumes the form of a carnivorous bird’s stomach. Cuvier found +the length of the intestine of the wild boar is as 9 to 1 and of the +domestic boar as 13·5 to 1, a difference which is in part probably due +to diet.[1545] The colour of birds’ plumage is affected by their diet. +Hempseed causes bullfinches and other birds to become black. Cayenne +pepper causes yellow to change to orange red. In the New York Zoological +Gardens it has been shown that some birds, such as the bobolink, may be +so dieted that they keep their breeding plumage throughout the year and +will sing their spring song in mid-winter.[1546] Warren produced marked +changes in the common water-flea, Daphnia, by keeping them in a confined +space for many generations. ‘Semper and de Varigny found that when +fresh-water snails were reared in vessels of a shape that allowed them +abundant water but very little surface in which to take exercise they +developed into dwarf forms. Every precaution was taken to procure +abundant food, perfect aeration and thorough removal of waste products. +De Varigny’s experiments were particularly careful and point +convincingly to the conclusion that the condition of dwarfing was the +restricted area for exercise.’[1547] Lastly it may be remembered that, +as is well known, parasites may induce remarkable changes in their +hosts. + +3. From what was said in the third chapter it follows that the results +of artificial subjection to abnormal stimuli just described are to be +interpreted as examples of the fact that different responses are given +to different stimuli by the same or approximately the same germinal +constitution. But large and conspicuous changes of this nature are not +visible only as the result of artificial circumstances. Many species are +normally subject to more or less definite and sudden changes in the +surroundings, and some of them exhibit more or less definite responses +to such changes. This is especially obvious in the case of sessile +organisms the outward form of which is clearly modified by the +surroundings. Thus ‘the water ranunculus, when growing submerged beneath +the surface of a pond, produces leaves the blades of which are cut up +into a number of fine thread-like segments. As soon as the top of the +plant reaches the surface of the water, those leaf-rudiments which are +just commencing their existence, proceed to develop in a totally +different fashion. The leaves to which they give rise possess a wide and +unpointed blade, which floats upon the surface of the water. The two +sets of leaves are as utterly different in their appearance as it is +possible for leaves to be. Yet the effect of the external conditions +upon the young leaf-rudiment determines which of the kinds is to +appear.’[1548] + +Examples may also be found in the life-history of free-living organisms. +One is afforded by the common honey-bee. As is well known, a queen bee +differs markedly from a worker bee in shape. Both queens and workers +arise from fertilized eggs; whether a queen or a worker develops from +any one egg appears to depend wholly on the environment—a larva that +gives rise to a queen receiving in the first place different and +presumably more nutritious food than that received by a larva giving +rise to a worker, and, in the second place, inhabiting a cell which +differs in size and shape from that inhabited by a worker larva. Another +is afforded by the life-history of the plant lice (Aphids). At certain +seasons of the year winged forms appear. It has long been suspected that +the appearance of winged forms depends on some environmental stimulus. +That this is so has been rendered practically certain by the work of +Shinji, who has shown that aphids reared on plants watered with certain +solutions are winged almost without exception.[1549] + +Among mammals the assumption of a winter coat by the lemming, ptarmigan, +and variable hare is a similar phenomenon. Sir John Ross has told how a +Hudson Bay lemming was protected from the cold on board his ship by +keeping it in the cabin. It retained its normal summer coat during the +winter. On exposing it in a cage on deck to a temperature of 30° below +zero, the fur on the cheeks and a patch on each shoulder became +perfectly white during the first night. After another day’s exposure +‘the patches on each shoulder had extended considerably, and the +posterior part of the body and the flanks had turned a dirty white.... +At the end of a week it was entirely white except in a dark band across +the shoulders prolonged posteriorly down the middle of the back.’[1550] + +A curious example of the importance of the environment before birth is +afforded by the difference between the mule and the jennet. The former +is the product of a cross between a stallion and a she-ass, the latter +between a jackass and a mare. There is every reason to believe that it +is not the fact that horse-ancestry is in one case traced through the +father and in the other case through the mother that gives rise to the +difference; the difference can only be attributed to the fact that in +one case the period before birth is passed within a mother of one +species and in the other case is passed within a mother of another +species. + +4. We are now in a position to discuss what is meant by the term ‘normal +environment’. There is a more or less definite range of variations of +the environmental stimuli to which species in a state of nature are +subject. The range may differ greatly from species to species, but +remains more or less constant for any species. So long as the variations +fall within this range, the environment may be described as normal. Such +variations will be followed by different responses on the part of +similar germinal constitutions, and the variations among the members of +any species under a normal environment are due to the combined influence +of differences in the environment and of differences in the germinal +constitutions. From time to time in a state of nature organisms are +subject to variations of the environmental stimuli which fall outside +the normal range, and there are thus produced extreme modifications +similar to those which can be experimentally induced. Thus Gemmill on +examining a large number of fish embryos found monsters with a single +eye very similar to those experimentally produced by Stockard.[1551] + +It may next be observed that there is a marked difference in the degree +to which sessile organisms on the one hand and free-living organisms on +the other hand respond to differences in the normal environment. The +former are much more susceptible to differences—or at least to certain +differences. Sessile organisms, for instance, differ from one another +very greatly in form and such variations are known to be chiefly due to +differences in the environmental stimuli. Free-living organisms do not +vary in this manner. The reason is fairly clear. All species are adapted +to a particular niche in nature, and among the former the mode of +adaptation of necessity takes the form of susceptibility to surrounding +conditions; a tree or a sponge must be able to adapt itself to its +actual surroundings. A free-living organism is, on the other hand, +adapted by its specific form to its niche in nature and, in order that +it may reach and maintain this form, it must exhibit a relative lack of +susceptibility to surrounding conditions. + +5. The broad features of the situation among species in a state of +nature are now fairly clear. By outward inspection it cannot be +ascertained whether any particular characteristic is of the nature of a +modification or of a mutation. But we know that among sessile organisms +outward form is largely of the nature of modification, whereas among +free-living organisms, which interest us more closely because conditions +are more nearly comparable to those obtaining among men, modifications +play a much smaller part. A large number of measurements has been made +of certain features of particular species in a state of nature as, for +instance, by Allen for the squirrel and Weldon for the common shrimp. +Though on general grounds we may have reason to suspect how far the +variations recorded are of the nature of modifications, we can arrive at +no certain answer. Observations made on members of a species in a state +of nature, some of which are subject to conditions that differ from +those to which the rest of the members are subject, are of more +assistance for our present purpose. Thus the tiger ranges from tropical +to temperate regions. Tigers from the former regions exhibit certain +differences from those from the latter regions in respect of the +condition of the coat. It is possible that these differences are purely +environmental. Again certain marine molluscs from cold waters exhibit +differences when compared with members of the same species from warmer +waters; these differences may again be purely environmental. In those +cases in which a species has within recent years spread to a new +environment, it is often found the degree of variation has increased. +Thus Bumpus found that the egg of the common sparrow is more variable in +the United States than in England;[1552] it has also been noticed that +the variation of the common periwinkle is greater in America than in +England—both these species having been recently introduced into +America.[1553] It is also of interest to observe that Montgomery found +greater variations among migratory than among non-migratory species of +birds and the greatest variation among those that had the widest +range.[1554] Though, until the matter has been put to the test of +experiment, nothing can be affirmed as to the nature of these +differences, it is probable that in part at least these differences are +environmental. Such observations help to exhibit the degree of +importance that we are led to attribute to modifications among +free-living animals in a state of nature. It must also be borne in mind +that departures from the normal range of variations of the environmental +stimuli are not so very infrequent and that more or less extreme +modifications, as result, for instance, from the attacks of parasites, +do occur. + +Lastly we may go a step farther and ask what happens when the +environment changes. This inquiry, if pursued, would lead us beyond the +scope of this chapter. A reference, however, to this problem may assist +to render the relation of a species under natural conditions to its +environment rather more clear. Change of environment may be due either +to the migration of some or all the members of a species to a locality +where the environment is different, or to an actual change in the +environment in the same locality. If the change is at all marked, then +there will be a different response on the part of the germinal +constitution to the new conditions. Let us suppose that the diet is +changed and that some members of a species of bird take to a diet of +grain having previously existed on a diet of fish. There will be a +different response in that the stomach will assume a different form. But +it is most unlikely that the old germinal constitution will be that +which gives the best response to the new conditions. Almost certainly a +somewhat different type of germinal constitution will be that which will +give the best response to the new conditions, will be that, in other +words, from which there will arise the form of stomach most suited to +dealing with grain. If and when, therefore, a mutation arises exhibiting +this changed type of germinal constitution, it will be favoured, and in +this manner a new variety and ultimately a new species may be formed. It +has thus to be remembered that, although the germinal constitution to +some extent responds differently to different stimuli, it is very +unlikely that any average type of germinal constitution will give the +best response to any other environment than that to which the species is +now subject. It does not therefore follow that, because the responses of +the germinal constitution are various, there are not factors making for +a change in the germinal constitution when the environment changes. + +Summing up what we have said, we have to think of every species as +living under a more or less clearly defined environment into which very +many elements enter; whether the variations in these elements are great +or small, there is an average condition, and to that average condition a +certain type of germinal constitution gives the best response. In the +case of a free-living animal in the adult form the germinal constitution +does not respond readily to ordinary variations from the normal, though +it has to be remembered that extreme influences such as those caused by +parasites may cause marked reactions. Further, it has always to be borne +in mind that during development all animals and plants are particularly +susceptible to environmental changes. It is not possible to make any +precise statement as to how far the differences we see under natural +conditions are modifications and how far mutations. All that we can say +is that the part played by the environment in producing modifications is +on the whole smaller in the case of free-living animals than in the case +of sessile animals and of plants. + + + + + XV + THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT UPON MAN + + +1. The way has now been cleared for a consideration of the influence of +the environment upon man. The relation of the ancestors of man to the +environment must have been the same as that between any wild species and +its environment. In the course of his history man has moved away from +this position until his relation to the environment has become so +different from that described for other animals and plants that we can +no longer speak of a normal environment. This has not come about because +man is not subject to the same laws as are other organisms. It has come +about because his relation to the environment has been modified in many +ways. + +The conception of the normal environment involved the idea that, much as +the different elements composing the environment might vary, there was +some more or less clearly defined limit to their variations. In one +sense this remains true for man; but the variations are so much greater +in degree and in kind that there is a clear distinction between the +conditions obtaining among civilized races and those obtaining among any +wild species. Let us glance for a moment at what has happened. It is +obvious that man has varied his surroundings in every respect, not only +with regard to what we may call external circumstances, but also with +regard to nutrition and to customs and habits that we sum up under the +name of use. The most obvious changes in external circumstances are +those connected with the spread of man to every corner of every +continent. Man has become subject to every extreme of heat and cold, +humidity and aridity, of barometric pressure and all that goes to make +up climate. There is in addition a vast mass of artificial influences, +due in the first place to various methods of protection adopted against +climate. Every description of house is known, involving all degrees of +access to fresh air. Dress again varies almost infinitely—the variations +all being of possible influence upon the development of mental and +physical characters. The aggregation of men into towns involves exposure +to smoke, noise, and vibration among other factors. Modern industrial +conditions in particular expose workers to varied surroundings. Human +diet has become equally varied. The cooking of food was an innovation +involving great changes in the factors which play upon the digestive +organs. Innumerable animals and plants have been drawn upon by man as +food. Perhaps more important than the variations in what man eats are +the variations in what he drinks. Under the heading of use come all +those habits such as reading, washing, smoking, and shaving. Various +occupations bring with them various degrees of muscular activity or +involve its reduction to next to nothing. There are various modes of +riding and various ways of sitting. Lastly the prevalence of disease has +introduced another factor which has a profound influence upon mental and +physical characters. + +This varying of the environment has come about gradually, slowly at +first and with increasing speed latterly, until at the present day, of +four men having their homes in the same town one may do clerical work +involving no exercise, another may labour in a cotton mill where it is +warm and moist, a third may perform hard physical labour in a mine in +semi-darkness where the air is full of a particular kind of dust, and a +fourth may work on board ship exposed to all the rigours of the +Atlantic. To such differences may be added all the differences between +meat-eaters and vegetarians, smokers and non-smokers, alcoholic drinkers +and abstainers, and so on. Contrast the variations in the environment of +modern man with the variations in the environment of any species in a +state of nature and it will be apparent why it was said above that the +relation of man to his environment was clearly distinguishable from that +of any species in a state of nature to its environment. + +We are about to consider in this chapter the influence of the +environment upon the physical basis of life; we shall be concerned, in +other words, with its function as the complement of the germinal +constitution. The discussion will be limited to the notice of such +factors as are in operation; of the possible effects of the environment +there is no need to speak. From two other points of view also the +environment is of importance; as a factor in selection it will be +considered in Chapters XVII and XVIII; as the subject-matter, so to +speak, upon which mental processes work, it will be considered in +Chapters XIX and XX. It is important to distinguish the influence of the +environment in this latter respect from the sense in which it is +considered in this chapter. The failure to do so has vitiated many +contributions to the subject. It is felt that the environment is somehow +of great influence in social life and it is not realized that, if in the +respect in which it is considered in this chapter we find reason to +conclude that its influence is not great, there is another field in +which its influence may be established. + +When considering the influence of the environment on man, it is +convenient to distinguish between physical and mental characters. Mental +characters may be considered under the head of the intellect, the +disposition, and the temperament. It must, however, be clearly +understood that this is merely a distinction convenient for our present +purpose which is not based upon, and does not imply, any fundamental +distinction. Mental characters, such as the instinct of gregariousness, +and physical characters, such as head form, are for our purpose merely +characters resulting from the play of certain stimuli upon a certain +germinal constitution. + +2. It is remarkable how little on the whole is known with regard to the +influence of the environment on man. For the most part we have to depend +upon observations as distinguished from experiments. Though a few +experiments have been made, some deliberately but others accidentally, +we are for the most part in the position with regard to man that we +should be with regard to other animals, had we only such observations to +go on as those quoted respecting the size of marine molluscs, the +variation in the coat of the tiger, and the changes in the sparrow and +the periwinkle when introduced into America. Though such observations +may strongly suggest certain conclusions as to the part played by the +environment, no definite or precise results can be reached. + +We may first consider some evidence bearing upon the influence of +particular factors such as exercise and climate. We may disregard those +rare cases of extreme modifications deliberately induced, such as the +distortion of the shape of the head or of the feet by pressure. These +extreme modifications approximate to mutilations such as amputation of +the finger-joints or the knocking out of the incisor teeth. + +It is well known that exercise has considerable effect upon the +development of the muscles. It is also well known that there is a +clearly defined point for each individual beyond which exercise will +produce no further effect. Though exercise has a considerable effect +upon other organs, especially certain internal organs, it is probable, +not only that it has more effect upon the muscles than upon any other +system of organs, but that the effect upon the muscles is relatively at +least as great as, if not greater than, the effect upon any organ of any +other factor that we shall consider except disease. Owing to differences +in the amount of exercise the bodily development of man in a modern +community varies very considerably; owing to such modifications clerical +workers differ from blacksmiths, whether or not there are also germinal +differences. So too owing to differences in habits men of one race +differ from men of another race. Darwin, for instance, refers to the +thin legs and thick arms of the Payagua Indians who spend a large part +of their lives in canoes.[1555] It is certain that all such physical +differences are not due to germinal differences and that environment in +the shape of use is in part the cause. The position is similar with +regard to certain peculiarities observable among races that have adopted +unusual modes of squatting. + +Little is known as to the effects of use upon mental characters. To some +degree no doubt the intellect is developed by use, though, perhaps, the +degree to which this is so is apt to be exaggerated in popular +estimation owing to the fact that modes of thinking acquired through +education add to the efficiency of the faculty, which result is mistaken +for the effects of use. That the effects of exercise are not great is +shown by the experience of the Workers’ Education Association. This +institution gives advanced courses to men often of middle age who have +received but little intellectual training in early life. It does not +appear that the strength of their intellects is much less than it would +have been had they received a university training. It seems at any rate +certain that the differences in the amount of use now obtaining between +the various professions and classes in England have less effect +generally upon mental than upon physical characters. Given, for example, +two men of equal intellect, one of whom received the best educational +training of the day, and the other of whom received the training given +to the working classes, it does not seem that at the end of the training +there would be anything like the same difference as regards strength of +intellect between them as there would be between two men, one of whom +received an athletic training and the other of whom did not. + +3. Physical changes are not infrequently observed to follow upon changes +in the environment, though, when these changes are complex, it is often +impossible to say with which features of the environment the changes are +connected. Thus ‘the Anthropological Committee of the British +Association long ago showed the beneficent effects of the Factory Acts, +which rescued young children from the hardships of daily toil. Boys of +nine years in 1873 had a height and weight equivalent to the height and +weight of boys of ten years old in 1833.’[1556] + +It is known that stature has increased in certain European countries +during the last century. Soren Hansen gives the following figures for +Denmark:[1557] + + 1852 to 1856 165·42 cm. average height. + 1879 „ 1888 167·78 „ „ „ + 1891 „ 1900 168·43 „ „ „ + 1904 „ 1905 169·11 „ „ „ + +Similarly the stature of the Dutch has increased from 165·5 cm. in 1866 +to 167 cm. in 1883 and to 168 cm. in 1899. A number of reasons has been +suggested to account for this marked increase, the higher standard of +living, the decrease in the incidence of disease which is known to +inhibit growth, and the smaller number of children in a family. This +last factor is certainly of importance at the present day. From some +observations made in an English manufacturing town Ewart concludes that +when children are born at a longer interval than two years they are on +an average three inches taller and three pounds heavier than children +born at a shorter interval.[1558] It is a fair assumption that in +families, where the income is small, the fewer the children the more +favourable would be the environmental conditions. + +The physical inferiority of people living in poorly endowed surroundings +is often thought to be at least in part due to modifications induced by +hard conditions. Thus physical inferiority is noticeable in districts in +Europe that are markedly poorly endowed, as for instance in the area +between Limoges and Périgueux in France. So far as this is so, the +causes may have to be sought in climatic differences as well as in other +differences more directly comparable with those which exist between +well- and ill-treated children in the same country. + +4. The influence of climate upon man has long attracted attention. +Statistical evidence has been produced showing that the shape of the +head—a characteristic usually considered not to be in any way +susceptible to such differences in the environment as occur between one +climate and another—is modified by climate. Boas produced figures +showing that the cephalic index (a measure obtained by calculating the +relation of breadth of the head to the length which is put at 100) of +Sicilians born in America to be 80, while that of Sicilians born in +Sicily is 78, and of Hebrews born in America to be 81, while that of +Hebrews born in Eastern Europe, whence the immigrants came, is 83. It +would appear that the Hebrews who are broad-headed in Europe become +narrower-headed in America, and that the Sicilians who are narrow-headed +in Europe become broader-headed in America. There would thus seem to be +an approximation in America to a cephalic index the mean of which lies +between 80 and 81.[1559] These results have been severely criticized +from many points of view. Sergi claims to have shown that the results +are the ‘pure effect of illusion due to the statistical methods employed +by the author’.[1560] It has also been suggested that the results are +due to selection. In this connexion it is interesting to note that both +Ammon and Levi obtained somewhat similar results and that they both +attributed them to selection. The former, working with figures from +Baden, found that the inhabitants of cities tended to become +longer-headed and concluded that the short-headed type tended to die out +under the conditions of city life.[1561] Levi, working on Italian +figures, came to the same conclusion and attributed it to the same +cause.[1562] Others have suggested that the methods of nursing children +may affect the shape of the head and that the changed habits of the +immigrants in America may account for the changes in the shape of the +head. Though it has certainly not been proved that the environment can +in the manner suggested change the shape of the head, the question +cannot be regarded as settled. + +Observations have been made on the cephalic index of Jews which may +perhaps be held to lend support to the views of Boas. Huntington gives +the following table:[1563] + + _Country._ _Cephalic Index of _Cephalic Index of _Difference_ + Jews._ other Races._ + Caucasus 87·5 87·4 0·1 + Galicia 83·6 84·4 0·8 + Baden 83·5 84·1 0·6 + Little Russia 82·9 83·2 0·3 + Turin 82·4 84·9 2·5 + Lithuania 81·7 80·6 1·1 + Russian Poland 81·9 80·9 1·0 + White Russia 80·9 82·5 1·6 + +It would appear that there is a tendency for the cephalic index of Jews +to vary as does that of the surrounding types. Fishberg has attributed +this fact to intermarriage[1564] and this may be in part at least the +explanation, though in the present state of our knowledge the possible +influence of the environment cannot be altogether excluded. + +The uncertainty surrounding the matter is in fact a good example of the +state of our knowledge regarding many similar problems affecting +man.[1565] Boas himself, it may be noticed, only believes in a ‘strictly +limited plasticity’[1566] of head form; it is indeed evident that this +and other physical characters which distinguish the races of man are for +the most part of the nature of mutations and not of modifications. +Europeans who migrate to tropical climates and the inhabitants of +tropical climates who come to live in Europe retain the greater part of +their distinguishing physical characters. + +The manner and degree in which tropical climates influence Europeans is +a matter of considerable interest. There is as yet but little known on +the subject. Sir Patrick Manson, writing in 1907, said that ‘although +many attempts have been made to trace and explain the effect of +temperature on the physiological processes of the human body, more +especially in reference to the pathological proclivities to which +atmospheric heat and cold may conduce, it cannot be said that any +important conclusions have been attained.... But though we may not be +able to indicate precisely the way in which our bodies are +physiologically affected by extremes of atmospheric temperature, +especially prolonged high temperature, our sensations, the loss of +physical and mental energy, the modification of physical characteristics +undergone by white races when placed for several generations in tropical +conditions, and the dark skins of all tropical races indicate that the +white races on first arrival are not in all respects adapted for +tropical conditions, that they are somehow prejudicially affected +thereby, and that while living in tropical countries they are more open +to certain pathological risks than are the natives of those +countries.’[1567] Since the year in which Sir Patrick Manson wrote +further information has been obtained on this subject. Our knowledge is, +however, still scanty. With regard to actual facts it is known that the +pulse, rate of breathing, and temperature of the body do not vary when +measured in Europe and when measured among white men under tropical +conditions. The number of red blood-corpuscles and the amount of +haemoglobin in the blood is the same and metabolism is not less intense. +On the other hand the rate by which a nervous impulse travels along a +nerve decreases in Europeans the longer they live in the tropics. The +muscles and the connective tissue become more elastic. The well-known +pallor of Europeans living in the tropics is due to a thickening and +softening of the epidermis, which becomes opaque.[1568] + +It is very difficult to arrive at any conclusions as to what the effects +of a tropical climate upon Europeans really are. It is necessary to +discount the effect of tropical diseases and of the habits and customs +of Europeans living in the tropics. On the whole it is probable that the +popular notion of the considerable and generally injurious nature of the +modifications undergone by Europeans living in the tropics is +exaggerated. It is said that, for example, in Java, when sanitary +conditions are good and reasonable habits adopted, the death-rate among +European children is less than in Europe. Nevertheless a tropical +climate does have an injurious effect upon Europeans. There is no doubt +that Europeans in the tropics are more irritable and in general more +highly strung than in their native land. Clearly in some fashion the +nervous tone is injuriously affected by residence in tropical climates. +In a similar manner nervous tone is affected by many elements in the +environment in civilized countries, such as vibration, noise, and so on, +leaving aside the effect of food, drink, and disease. To the importance +of disease in this respect we shall return later. As regards noise, +vibration, and so on, but little is known—their influence being possibly +considerably greater than is usually suspected. + +5. Ellsworth Huntingdon has in recent years in a number of publications +elaborated a theory according to which climate has been one of the main +factors in determining where civilization shall develop and flourish. As +this theory depends upon the supposed direct influence of the +environment on man, it may be noticed here. He has made observations +which are interpreted as showing that there are optimum climatic +conditions under which the maximum energy is exhibited. These conditions +arise when the average temperature of day and night together lies +between 58° F. and 71° F. and when there is a certain degree of +moisture. His observations, made in America, were based on the output in +piece-work factories and on similar data and tend to show that not only +do all European races, including the Finns, display most energy under +these optimum conditions, but also the Japanese and the negroes. He then +proceeds to show that where these optimum conditions prevail in the +world, there to-day are to be found the highest forms of civilization. +Upon these data he raises a very far-reaching theory to the effect that +throughout history civilization has arisen and flourished only where +there has been an approximation to these climatic conditions. To the +obvious difficulty that former civilizations have often flourished in +countries the climate of which at the present day is far from these +optimum conditions, he replies that climate has changed, a theory which +he has for some years strongly advocated.[1569] + +It may be said that there is nothing novel in the idea of optimum +climatic conditions.[1570] In the previous section it was pointed out +that Europeans in tropical climates suffer from injurious mental +disturbances. What is remarkable is that the optimum conditions for +negroes should be the same as for Europeans. It will require more proof +than has yet been advanced before this can be accepted. Further, the +changes in climate which the theory demands have not been proved. +Professor Gregory has reviewed the question and his conclusions do not +support those of Huntingdon—at any rate not in such a manner as to +render the theory tenable.[1571] Nevertheless, whatever the fate of the +theory in its present form may be, its enunciation has raised many +interesting questions and has incidentally helped to show how little we +know at present regarding the effect of the surroundings on man. + +6. When men move from one climate to another they come under the +influence not only of changes in temperature and moisture but also of +food and sometimes of altitude and other factors about the effects of +which there is a considerable amount of information. A vegetarian diet +is said to produce changes in the gut; but changes in beverages are +probably of far greater importance than changes in food. The effects of +alcohol have been closely studied, chiefly with regard to its influence +upon nervous tone. Nervous tone is affected in an important manner by +many drugs, as for instance by opium, and in a lesser degree by tea and +coffee. Changes in nervous tone are of such importance that its +susceptibility to various influences has to be borne in mind. It is +quite possible that the introduction of a new form of beverage into a +country might have a perceptible effect upon the average condition of +nervous tone and thus have a bearing upon the course of history. + +Altitude is known to have various effects upon physical characters. The +fact that the larger lung capacity of those who live at high altitudes +diminishes on descent to the plains, as recorded by Darwin of the Quicha +Indians, is evidence that this character is in part at least +environmental.[1572] The effect of high altitudes has lately been +studied in much detail. It is known that there is among other changes an +increase in the number of red blood-corpuscles in the blood.[1573] + +7. Attempts have been made to obtain more precise information by the use +of statistical methods. Thus the correlations have been measured between +the state of children’s eyesight and fifteen environmental conditions. +The mean of the correlations was found to be 0·04—only one reaching +0·1.[1574] Again the association between various intellectual and +physical characters and conditions, which were taken as representing a +good or bad environment, has been measured. A slight association was +found between intelligence in boys and few people per room and no +association between eyesight, condition of glands and hearing, and bad +economic and moral surroundings.[1575] Somewhat different results have +been reached by American workers, who find that by employing +psychological tests a fairly well-marked difference can be detected +between children in the same school whose parents belong to different +social classes and who would therefore be subject to different home +conditions.[1576] + +The interpretation of these results is difficult. Before any definite +conclusion could be reached with regard to any one character, it would +be necessary to measure the effect of every factor in the environment +upon that character. As the matter stands there is strong but not +conclusive evidence of the small influence of the surroundings, so long +as we suppose that innate differences do not exist between the subjects +measured. But if innate differences exist, then the interpretation of +the absence of any marked degree of correlation must be that the common +elements of the environment supplied by the community are of greater +importance than the innate differences. We shall find reason to conclude +in later chapters that small innate differences do exist, and, if this +is so, then the interpretation of these results is not at variance with +the general, though necessarily vague, conclusions derived from the +evidence previously given, i.e. that the influence of the environment as +represented by the variations actually occurring in the elements of the +surroundings hitherto mentioned is small. + +8. There is another class of factors which may be summed up under the +heading of disease. It was remarked that disease may produce notable +results among species in a state of nature. Compared, however, with the +state of things among men, and especially in the later stages of +history, disease is rare among such species. Among men it comes to +assume a peculiar importance. + +Disease results both from the attacks of parasites and from other +causes. The various classes of disease will be referred to in the next +chapter. We are here concerned only with the results, and we may think +of the disease as affecting particular organs in the body and as +affecting the general functioning of the organs. Every organ in the body +is liable to be attacked by disease and the modifications produced are +in many cases familiar. Thus all physical and mental characters may be +directly and to almost any degree modified by disease. Again it is known +that the result of disease in children is to inhibit growth, and that +the growth thus lost is not subsequently made up. Disease may thus be +said to draw upon the capital and not upon the income of children.[1577] +We may here confine ourselves to some notice of the effect of disease on +the general functioning of the bodily organs which though not so +familiar is more important from our point of view. + +The functioning of the bodily organs has been found in late years +largely to depend upon certain glands—known as the endocrinous or +ductless glands—in a manner and to a degree altogether unsuspected. The +thyroid gland, for example, manufactures a secretion which is essential +to the proper growth and normal metabolic functions of the whole body. +If it is removed from a child, the whole body is stunted and mental +deficiency results. Certain maladies, such as goitre, cretinism, and +others are known to be connected with a diseased condition of the +thyroid. Profound modifications of both physical and mental characters +may thus follow when these glands cease to function normally, which is +known to be the case in certain specific diseases and may arise in other +ways which are not fully understood. + +Temperament depends upon the general functioning of the bodily organs +and upon the actual condition of the nervous system. Disease, whether it +takes the form of a failure of the ductless glands to function as they +should, or some other form, always affects the general functioning of +the body and thus has a direct bearing upon temperament. Thus ‘we know +now’, says Mr. McDougall, ‘that defect of the functions of this organ +(thyroid) may reduce any one of us to a state of mental apathy bordering +upon idiocy, and that its excessive activity produces the opposite +effect and may throw the mind into an over-excitable condition verging +upon maniacal excitement. Again we know that certain diseases tend to +produce specific changes of temperament, that phthisis often gives it a +bright and hopeful turn, diabetes a dissatisfied and cantankerous turn. +It is clear that in some such cases of profound alteration of +temperament by bodily disorder the effects are produced by means of the +chemical products of metabolism, which, being thrown out of the diseased +tissues into the blood and reaching the nervous system by way of the +blood-stream, chemically modify its processes. It is probable that every +organ in the body exerts in this way some influence upon our mental +life, and that temperament is in large measure the balance or resultant +of all these many contributory influences.’[1578] + +Thus in addition to the more obvious direct effects of disease upon +mental and physical characters, there are the more subtle and profound +effects upon temperament, and in our general summing-up we shall find +reason to attribute no small importance to temperament in its influence +upon progress. It thus becomes of importance to observe that in +particular regions of the world certain chronic and non-lethal diseases +are very common. Clearly the result of disease upon temperament is +greatest when it takes the form, not of kill or cure—which is on the +whole the case in temperate climates—but of chronic non-lethal maladies +which are common in tropical climates, especially in Africa. The +hook-worm disease is an African disease which has been introduced into +America. The hook-worm (Ancylostomum duodenale) is an internal parasite +which attaches itself to the lining of the intestine and causes bleeding +and anaemia. Death may ensue, but the patient usually lives a long time. +It is a most debilitating disease; it is said to affect some 50 per +cent. of the inhabitants of some tropical and sub-tropical countries. +Even as a mild infection it is the cause of much invalidity and heavy +economic loss. The laziness and degeneracy of the ‘poor white trash’, +who are said to belong to the purest-blooded English stock in the United +States, are due not so much to the environment[1579] and heredity as to +the ravages of these parasites. In a public lecture, delivered before +the University of Pennsylvania, in 1915, Allan Smith, citing the factors +which have caused the Southern States to lag in American progress, +mentioned that the hook-worm disease ‘stands with malaria as worse than +wars and the devastations of battles and worse than all other pathogenic +agencies in combination’. Through the influence of these diseases ‘the +men and women of the South, bred from the best colonial stock, offspring +of pioneers, with the blood of English gentry and of continental +cavaliers in their veins, sank lower and lower in physical degeneration +and squalor, were derided and denounced as lazy and shiftless and +condemned in popular opinion as worthless and a disgrace’.[1580] + +There are many other tropical and sub-tropical diseases of a somewhat +similar nature. Among them may be mentioned the ‘yaws’—marked by various +eruptions probably due to a spirochaete—the guinea-worm, which lives +buried in connective tissue; bilharzia, a trematode worm which lives in +the bladder and infects nearly 50 per cent. of the inhabitants of Egypt; +and elephantiasis, due to a worm related to the guinea-worm. The manner +and degree in which these various diseases affect the nervous tone +varies very much. In general the result is debility and a lowering of +the nervous tone. So too malaria is a cause of debility, and the main +reason for the decadence of Ancient Greece has been sought in this +disease.[1581] + +9. The results of the inquiry so far, though illuminating, are +indefinite. This is largely because we are ignorant regarding innate +differences. The consideration of the evidence as to identical twins +offers a way out of this difficulty. It is known that there are two +kinds of twins. There are the so-called identical twins, between whom +there is a very close resemblance, and other twins between whom there is +no greater resemblance than between any two children of the same +parents. It was formerly thought that there was a sharp distinction +between the two kinds of twins—identical twins arising from a single +ovum, which completely separated into two halves during early +development, each half giving rise to one child, ordinary twins arising +from the simultaneous fertilization of two ova. If this was so, then +identical twins would always have approximately the same germinal +constitution, whereas other twins would have germinal constitutions as +different as on the average are those of the offspring of the same +parents. That identical twins do thus at times arise is practically +certain, but it has recently been shown that the supposed sharp +distinction between identical and other twins does not exist.[1582] This +may be explained by various assumptions. It may be supposed that some +ova are binucleate or that some ova are penetrated by two spermatozoa; +again the earlier or later separation of the blastomeres may have a +bearing upon the position. Under any of these circumstances twins +intermediate between identical twins and ordinary twins would +arise—twins, that is to say, not having approximately similar germinal +constitutions, but germinal constitutions more nearly alike than those +of ordinary twins. However this may be, it is sufficient for our purpose +to note that so-called identical twins are always more alike in their +germinal constitutions than are ordinary twins and may quite frequently +have practically similar germinal constitutions. It, therefore, follows +that differences between identical twins must be very largely of the +nature of modifications. It is thus of great interest to ask in what +these differences consist. + +Galton collected data regarding thirty-five cases of identical twins. He +summarizes the information about them up to the time at which they left +the family circle as follows. ‘In a few of these not a single point of +difference could be specified. In the remainder, the colour of the hair +and eyes were almost always identical; the height, weight, and strength +were nearly always so. Nevertheless I have a few cases of a notable +difference in height, weight, and strength, although the resemblance was +otherwise very near. The manner and personal address of the thirty-five +pairs of twins are usually described as very similar, but are +accompanied by slight differences of expression, familiar to near +relatives though unperceived by strangers. The intonation of the voice +when speaking is commonly the same, but it frequently happens that the +twins sing in different keys.’[1583] He goes on to say that ‘both twins +are apt to sicken at the same time in no less than nine out of the +thirty-five cases. Either the illnesses, to which I refer, were +non-contagious, or, if contagious, the twins caught them simultaneously; +they did not catch them the one from the other. This implies so intimate +a constitutional resemblance, that it is proper to give some quotations +in evidence,’[1584] and he proceeds to give detailed evidence. Later he +remarks on the ‘similarity in the association of ideas. No less than 11 +out of the 35 cases testify to this. They make the same remarks on the +same occasions, begin singing the same song at the same moment and so +on.’[1585] With regard to tastes and dispositions Galton says that ‘in +16 cases—that is in nearly one-half of them—these were described as +closely similar; in the remaining 19 they were much alike, but subject +to certain named differences. These differences belonged almost wholly +to such groups of qualities as these: the one was more vigorous, +fearless, energetic, the other was gentle, clinging, and timid; or the +one was more ardent, the other more calm and placid; or again the one +was the more independent, original, and self-contained; the other the +more generous, hearty, and vivacious. In short the difference was that +of intensity or energy in one or other of its protean forms; it did not +extend more deeply into the structures of the characters. The more +vivacious might be subdued by ill health, until he assumed the character +of the other; or the latter might be raised by excellent health to that +of the former. The difference was in the key-note, not in the +melody.’[1586] Galton sums up the evidence as follows: ‘It follows from +what has been said concerning the similar dispositions of the twins, the +similarity in the association of their ideas, of their special ailments, +and of their illnesses generally, that the resemblances are not +superficial, but extremely intimate. I have only two cases of a strong +bodily resemblance being accompanied by mental diversity, and one case +only of the converse kind.’[1587] + +It has to be remembered that up to this period the twins had been reared +under very similar conditions indeed; Galton in fact says that they had +been reared ‘exactly alike’.[1588] He goes on to ask what changes were +produced when they left the family and went out into the world. He sums +up the result of his inquiries into this point as follows: ‘Here are 35 +cases of twins who were “closely alike” in body and mind when they were +young, and who have been reared exactly alike up to their early manhood +and womanhood. Since then the condition of their lives has changed; what +change of nurture has produced the most variation?... They (the 35 +cases) showed me that in some cases the resemblance of body and mind had +continued unaltered up to old age, notwithstanding very different +conditions of life; they showed me that in other cases the parents +ascribed such dissimilarity as there was, wholly or almost wholly to +some form of illness.’[1589] ‘We may, therefore, broadly conclude that +the only circumstance, within the range of those by which persons of +similar conditions of life are affected, that is capable of producing a +marked effect on the character of adults, is illness or some accident +which causes physical infirmity.’[1590] Galton then turns to consider +the details regarding twenty cases of unlike twins and he finds that in +spite of similar surroundings no growing resemblance can be +traced.[1591] + +10. In attempting to sum up our conclusions on this subject, we may +first ask what influence is to be attributed to the environment and then +ask what bearing such influence has upon the main problem under review +in these later chapters. It has always to be recollected that changes in +the environment may have the most extreme results. Some examples were +given of experiments upon developing animals, and it was shown that in +the case of fish, for example, monsters of various kinds can be +produced. So too doubtless extreme modifications could be produced in +the case of man and are occasionally produced by untoward surroundings +and by such customs as those of the distortion of the head and of the +feet. What we want to know, however, is not what modifications can be +produced, nor what exceptional modifications sometimes arise, but what +changes are induced by the variations in the environment which usually +occur. + +The answer is that, putting aside disease among the factors and leaving +out for the moment temperament among the characters, such variations as +occur are of little importance. This applies to both physical and mental +predispositions and includes the effect of not only such factors as +climate and so on but also of such factors as are summed up in a good or +bad home environment. It is probable that physical predispositions are +on the whole more susceptible to such changes as occur than are mental +predispositions. There is no reason, for instance, to think that the +normal variation of any factor which influences mental predispositions +produces as much effect as does use upon muscular development. But it is +also further clear that, though we must, keeping aside for the moment +questions connected with disease and with temperament, think of such +modifications as occur as not of much importance, nevertheless these +modifications are of greater importance than among species in a state of +nature closely related to man. Consider for a moment muscular +development. Side by side in the same street may live a man whose daily +work is wholly sedentary and whose muscles are in consequence +undeveloped, and a man who works in a mine or engineering shop and +develops his muscles accordingly. Nowhere among vertebrate animals in a +state of nature are such differences found. + +Though but little is definitely known on the subject, it seems that +temperament is more susceptible to changes in the environment than are +other mental or physical characters. Changes of climate, for example, +appear to produce more marked changes in temperament than in any other +character. Temperament is certainly very susceptible to the influence of +disease, which may also profoundly affect all characters both mental and +physical. It is probably in its effects upon temperament that disease +has its chief importance. We may even have to recognize in the effects +produced by certain tropical diseases a serious hindrance to progress in +tropical countries. It is difficult, however, to disentangle from the +effects of disease in this sense the effects which it produces in the +sense awaiting consideration in later chapters. Clearly the wide +prevalence of disease, where such is the case, must form an important +factor in the surroundings which the mind has for the subject-matter of +its activities—but on this and on allied subjects there will be more to +say later. + +We have already in what has just been said referred to one kind of +modification in its effect upon progress. Upon this subject in general +it may in the first place again be emphasized that, so far as is at +present known, there are no grounds for believing that modifications of +the kind considered in this chapter give rise to mutations. From this it +follows that the results of modifications are not cumulative. Unless in +every successive generation the modification is induced, it will not +reappear. Secondly these modifications on the whole tend, as in the case +of the effect of disease upon temperament, to be connected with a +condition of things that acts as a drag upon progress rather than as a +spur to progress. The reason for this is clear in the light of what has +been said in the last chapter. It was there shown that the germinal +constitution among species in a state of nature has come to be through +the action of selection of such a kind that under certain stimuli it +gives rise to a certain form. This form is that which is best adapted to +meet the normal features which characterize the niche in the organic +world which the species occupies. Large modifications only become +apparent when the species or certain members of it are no longer subject +to their normal environment. To meet the new surroundings a somewhat +different germinal constitution would give a better response. In other +words the most satisfactory conditions are those under which +considerable modifications do not arise. + +Lastly we may again refer to a point that has already been alluded to. +Great stress has been laid by certain authors, for instance by Professor +Ridgeway, upon the influence of the environment upon man. Ridgeway in +one passage speaks as follows: ‘My argument was, and is, that as the ice +sheet receded, man passed upwards from the south or south-east into +Europe, and settled in the three southern peninsulas, gradually +spreading northwards over the Alps and extending eventually up to the +Baltic. As they gradually spread upwards, under the influence of the +environment (and in the environment I, of course, include food), they +grew less dark, those of them who settled permanently along the axis of +the Alps tending to have shorter skulls, while those who had passed +upwards earliest became the most blonde and tallest people in the +world.’[1592] It is clear from other passages that Ridgeway is including +two very different things under the phrase—the influence of the +environment. He is thinking of the production of modifications such as +have been studied here, and also of the elimination of certain types +under the influence of the environment. He does not make it as clear, as +is perhaps desirable, to which of these two factors he attributes most +importance. But what is more relevant to our argument is that to include +the results of selection under the heading of the influence of the +environment is somewhat misleading. Selection is a wholly different +matter and, unless it is carefully distinguished from other factors, +confusion of thought results. The effects which follow from elimination +owing to climate and food should not be summed up under the heading of +the influence of the environment; in this book they are considered in +Chapters XVII and XVIII. + + + + + XVI + HEREDITY IN MAN + + +1. Having touched upon the influence of the environment in producing +modifications, we have now to approach the subject of the selection of +characters, both mental and physical. It is proposed to consider in this +chapter what it is that is inherited, and in the two following chapters +to consider the results of selection. + +What is meant by saying that any character is inherited is clear from +former chapters. There are certain predispositions in the germinal +constitution of every individual—predispositions to give rise to certain +characters under certain conditions and to other characters under other +conditions. There is a predisposition, for instance, in the species of +primrose referred to in Chapter XIV to give rise to red flowers at a +certain temperature and to white flowers at a different temperature, the +colour of the flower being equally inherited in both cases. We may +therefore take as our starting-point the fact that there are in the +constitution of every individual many such predispositions. + +From the results of breeding experiments upon Mendelian lines certain +conclusions have been reached which carry us farther. These experiments +have shown that certain unit-characters can be isolated which behave in +a certain manner when crossed, and from the manner in which they behave +it is deduced that they depend upon unit-factors in the germinal +constitution which are invariable. The number of unit-characters which +have been detected in any one species is not large; it is true that in +one species of insect about two hundred unit-factors have been found, +but even this number can only form a small proportion of the total +number if it is the case that the germinal constitution consists +entirely of unit-factors which on crossing give the Mendelian ratio. +This is the working hypothesis which is put forward as the explanation +of inheritance, and which it is the object of investigators now to test. +We may consider for a moment what it is that this hypothesis implies. + +We have to think of the germinal constitution as containing a very large +number of factors—predispositions in other words. The characters to +which these factors give rise may be the characters which we see when we +examine any individual, but more often they are not. There are, for +instance, cases in which the colour of a flower or of the coat of a +mammal are unit-characters but more often such visible characters are +the product of two or more unit-factors. There are many cases now known +in which the visible character is in this fashion due to the presence of +several unit-factors. With regard to this hypothesis in general all that +can be said is that at present no facts are known which are definitely +in contradiction to it. It is the only hypothesis which holds the +field.[1593] + +Up to the present very few unit-factors have been distinguished in man. +It has been found that brachydactyly—a peculiar malformation of the +hand—presenile cataract, tylosis—a thickening of the hands and of the +soles of the feet—epidermolysis bullosa—a blistering of the skin—and +night blindness behave as simple Mendelian characters. So too does eye +colour, pigment in front of the iris being dominant to its absence—in +other words, brown, green, and hazel being dominant to pure grey and +blue. There is also some reason for thinking that musical ability is a +recessive character. On the hypothesis outlined above it must be +supposed that most of the visible characters of man are the product of +several unit-factors which have not yet been identified. What appears to +happen when matings take place between people of different colour, +stature, and so on is that there is a blending of characters in the +offspring. Such appearances are not incompatible with the hypothesis—the +assumption being that many unit-characters are concerned. + +This question as to the ultimate nature of inheritance has been +introduced here because of its inherent interest. It is not as a matter +of fact strictly relevant. What we require to know is rather what +predispositions are present in the germinal constitution. It is this +which is essential; the precise manner in which the predispositions are +represented in the gametes, whether by unit-factors or not, is not +essential to the present inquiry. We require to be able to give some +answer to such questions as whether disease, intellect, and temperament +are represented in the germinal constitution or not, and we can find an +answer to these questions without concerning ourselves with the ultimate +nature of inheritance. + +2. Since studies of inheritance on Mendelian lines do not at present +enable us to say what human characters are inherited, we are dependent +for our knowledge of this subject chiefly upon biometry. The method +pursued by biometricians is as follows. The particulars with respect to +any character—say stature—are noted both for the parents and for the +children. The average degree of resemblance between parents and children +can thus be measured and expressed numerically. If the resemblance was +complete, if, that is to say, in respect of any character children +exactly resembled their parents, the fact would be expressed by saying +that the correlation was equal to unity. When the resemblance is less, +the fact is expressed by representing the degree of resemblance as a +fraction. It must be emphasized that this method merely measures the +average degree of resemblance; it does not without further inquiry tell +us how far that resemblance is due to inheritance. So far as such +degrees of resemblance are found, it is quite possible, supposing that +we had no further knowledge of the subject at all, that they might arise +as follows. It might be that all men had the same germinal constitution, +and that the degree of resemblance was due to the fact that fathers and +their children were brought up under more or less similar surroundings. +Though this fact should be borne in mind, such an explanation of the +resemblances found in the cases that will be quoted in what follows is +as a matter of fact shut out, and we may accept the correlations as a +measure of the degree of likeness due to inheritance. + +The correlations between parents and children and between children of +the same parents have been determined in respect of many characters—both +mental and physical—and found to be about 0·5. Thus, in respect of +height the correlation between father and son was found to be 0·514, +between father and daughter 0·510, between mother and son 0·494, between +mother and daughter 0·507, between brother and brother 0·511, between +sister and sister 0·537, between brother and sister 0·553. So too the +average parental correlation in respect to eye colour is 0·495, and the +average fraternal correlation is 0·475. With regard to ability the +fraternal correlation is 0·46, the correlation between sisters 0·47, and +that between brother and sister 0·44. + +All that has been said with regard to the nature of fertilization and +development lead to a similar conclusion. In the processes of maturation +and fertilization we can detect a mechanism whereby the bearers of +inherited qualities are transmitted from parent to child. In development +we see how, when the appropriate stimulus plays upon the fertilized egg, +an adult member of the species grows up. It is only when we suppose that +within the fertilized egg there are certain predispositions in respect +of every character which are derived from the parents that we can in any +way understand how adult individuals come into being.[1594] And it must +be emphasized that, however much opinions may differ regarding the +precise nature of the mechanism of inheritance, there is no difference +regarding the fact of inheritance. All biologists are agreed on this +subject up to a point; the matters in debate are not strictly relevant +here. + +3. There are certain points, however, which, in view of the form which +the discussion in the following chapters will take, require further +treatment. As regards physical characters, it is sufficient to think of +all such characters whether great or small as inherited. But with regard +to disease it may be as well to consider further to what degree it can +be said to be inherited. + +What we call disease falls under two headings: disease due to the +attacks of parasites and disease due to structural defects or +weaknesses. Parasitic infections are of post-conceptional acquirement; +they may be acquired, it is true, before birth, but such an acquirement +is strictly analogous to the ‘catching’ of a disease after birth. In the +sense, therefore, that parasites are not transmitted from the parent to +the ovum, as the germinal constitution is transmitted, disease is never +inherited. + +It has been shown, however, that in the case of certain diseases, such +as tuberculosis, a definite susceptibility to contract the disease is +inherited. In other words, given an equal exposure to infection, some +men do not ‘catch’ the disease, some only experience a mild form, and +others die rapidly of it. It is probable that there are innately given +degrees of susceptibility to all diseases which are caused by the +invasion of the body by small, chiefly unicellular, parasites, which +produce their harmful effects by the secretion of toxins. The same does +not apply to the diseases caused by the attacks of the larger +multicellular parasites, such as tapeworms, which, at any rate to a +large extent, produce their harmful effects directly by causing lesions +of the tissues. As to how far we have to think of different kinds of +susceptibility to different diseases, or how far diseases go in classes, +so that susceptibility to one disease goes with susceptibility to +another disease and vice versa, little is known, but it is probable that +in some cases at least there is a linkage of susceptibilities, that, for +instance, susceptibility to scarlet fever is to some extent linked with +susceptibility to measles. We must suppose that there are structural +peculiarities which underlie these different susceptibilities. Though +various hypotheses have been put forward, we are still ignorant as to +their nature. But whatever the exact nature of these structural +differences, it is clear that they are inherited like any other physical +character. + +We have therefore to note that (_a_) susceptibility to specific +infections is inherited. If gross anomalies, such as polydactyly and +syndactyly (malformations of the hand) are to be accounted as diseases, +then we may note that (_b_) gross anomalies are inherited. (_c_) Minor +anomalies are also inherited. Under this head come haemophilia, due to +some peculiarity in the blood-vessels, which results in their not +contracting as they should and to the absence of coagulating power in +the blood, albuminuria, due to some defect in the filtering apparatus in +the kidney, albinism, myopia, icthyosis, and others, all of which are +clearly due to structural peculiarities. Further, we may note that (_d_) +‘other conditions due, it would seem, to disturbances of metabolism, +underlying which may very possibly be finer anatomical variations, have +for long been noted as tending to be inherited; such as obesity, +diabetes, gout, and chronic rheumatism’.[1595] Lastly (_e_) certain +nervous diseases are inherited. We may distinguish two classes of +nervous disease—the homeomorphic and the heteromorphic. ‘In the former +the offspring show the same lesions and symptoms as the parents. These +are cases more particularly of lack of development or of premature +atrophy of certain groups of nerve cells.’[1596] In the latter the +parent may suffer from one kind of disease, while the offspring may +exhibit one or more of a group of other diseases. This is attributed to +a lack of development of the highest nerve-centres as a whole. There is +a lack of ‘perfect stability and co-ordination of various parts so that +according to the strains to which the individual members of family are +subjected, now one, now the other series of centres may show itself +unable to respond adequately, and one or the other form of mental +disturbance and nervous disease may result. Here are to be included the +condition of insanity, familial epilepsy and the neuroses.’[1597] In +other words, we sometimes find stocks in which there is a nervous +weakness, which may manifest itself in very various ways, including +hysteria, epilepsy, inability to control impulse, delusion, and so on. +Alcoholism is sometimes spoken of as though it was to be regarded as an +irresistible impulse to drink. Probably we should rather imagine that a +condition of general nervous weakness may at times manifest itself in +the form of a loss of control with regard to the use of alcohol. +According to Mott ‘there can be no doubt that neurasthenics, epileptics, +imbeciles, degenerates, eccentrics, and potential lunatics—all those +indeed with an inherent narrow margin of highest control—possess a +marked intolerance to the effects of alcohol’.[1598] Certain facts are, +however, very puzzling. Suicide, for example, would seem to be a manner +in which general nervous weakness may manifest itself. Nevertheless, the +tendency to suicide appears sometimes as a very definite and peculiar +disease which manifests itself generation after generation at a certain +age. Perhaps in these cases we should rather see an example of how the +same outward circumstances—here the knowledge of the family +history—tends to cause a general nervous weakness to manifest itself in +the same way, rather than an example of a specific nervous +weakness.[1599] + +4. What we know as temperament stands half-way between physical and +mental characters. As we have seen, temperament depends upon influences +exerted by the functioning of the bodily organs on the nervous system +and upon the peculiarities of the nervous system itself. Though on this +account temperament or nervous tone is peculiarly susceptible to +environmental influences, a certain condition of nervous tone is +innately given. We must suppose the actual structure of the nervous +system to be largely inherited, and we must suppose that the manner in +which the bodily organs function is largely due to their innate +organization. We have thus to think of a certain temperament as always +given in the germinal constitution. An extreme example is an innate +defect of the thyroid gland which can produce any degree of mental +apathy. Again, such characters as excitability, rapidity of response, +and differences in respect of fatiguability and recuperation are largely +inherited. + +Habit is best considered under this heading. The essential fact about +habit is that, if the nervous system is stimulated in a certain fashion, +so that a stimulus passes along certain paths, the next stimulus of the +same kind will produce an impulse which passes more easily along those +paths. Thus in time the same result, whatever it may be, is achieved by +the application of a weaker stimulus. This fact, which is of great +importance, suggests an actual modification of structure—an actual +fashioning of a path. Whether this is so or not, we do not know. What is +noticeable here is that the ease with which habits are formed +undoubtedly differs from man to man, and we have again to postulate +predispositions in the germinal constitution which tend towards a +definite degree of development of the power of the formation of habits. + +5. The greatest difficulties arise when dealing with the purely mental +characters. There is a general agreement among biologists that mental +characters are inherited just as physical characters are inherited. As +we have pointed out, there is evidence to this effect derived from +studies on biometric lines. The difficulties arise when we attempt to +give more precision to the statement that mental characters are +inherited. One method of approaching this problem is to analyse mental +behaviour, and to ascertain if possible what faculties there are which +cannot be explained in terms of other faculties. Such faculties are the +least that we must suppose to be given in the germinal constitution. It +does not, of course, follow that irreducible characters are Mendelian +characters. In all probability they are due to the presence of many +Mendelian factors. This analysis is a matter of great difficulty, and +there is at present no agreement among psychologists as to what ultimate +faculties of the mind are given out of which the characters we observe +are compounded. Modern analysis leads to the idea of mental process as +the activity of a subject. But though we may not think of the mind +merely as a bundle of faculties, we have to attribute certain faculties +to the subject, and the question arises as to what these faculties are. + +There is less difficulty with regard to the affective and conative +faculties, that is to say, those that are connected with feeling and +striving, than with regard to the cognitive faculties. Psychologists are +to some extent agreed as to what instincts can be recognized. McDougall, +for instance, gives the following list, associating in each case with +the impulse an emotion representing the conative or affective +aspect.[1600] (1) Instinct of flight and emotion of fear. (2) Instinct +of repulsion and emotion of disgust. (3) Instinct of curiosity and +emotion of wonder. (4) Instinct of pugnacity and the combative emotion. +(5) Instinct of self-assertion and the emotion of elation. (6) Instinct +of self-abasement and the emotion of subjection. (7) Parental instinct +and the tender emotion. To the remaining instincts which he names a +special emotion is less definitely attached. These instincts are those +of reproduction, sexual jealousy, female coyness, gregariousness, +acquisition, and construction. This list is not exhaustive; there are +other instincts of less importance, such as the instinct which tends to +make a boy at a certain age leave his home. The list, however, includes +all the more important instincts. + +There are a number of other emotions often described as primary which +McDougall describes as complex. Thus, according to his view admiration +is a combination of wonder and self-abasement. When fear is added, we +have the emotion of awe, and when gratitude is added we have the emotion +of reverence. Gratitude is itself a combination of tender emotion and +self-abasement. In a similar fashion loathing, fascination, and envy can +be explained. According to this view, therefore, we should not think of +separate predispositions towards these complex emotions as existing in +the germinal constitution; we should think of them as determined by the +predispositions towards the simpler emotions. + +McDougall further describes three general or non-specific tendencies +which have sometimes been classed as instincts.[1601] Sympathy, or the +sympathetic induction of the emotions, describes the fact that +instinctive behaviour incites similar behaviour in the observer. +Suggestion is defined as a process of communication resulting in the +acceptation with conviction of the communicated proposition in the +absence of logically adequate grounds for its acceptance. Imitation, +which has often been used to include sympathy and suggestion, is in the +limited sense adopted by McDougall, the tendency to copy the bodily +actions of some one else. Finally there is the tendency to play. + +Apart, therefore, from temperament and the faculties connected with +cognition, we have to recognize predispositions towards certain +instincts and certain general tendencies. Without question they differ +in strength from man to man; without question such differences are in +large part attributable to varying predispositions in the germinal +constitution, and we must presume that such differences are in some way +connected with differences in nervous structure or organization. The +subject is one of great difficulty, and nothing can be affirmed +regarding it with any certainty. The ultimate modes of feeling seem to +be those of pleasure and displeasure, and of excitement and depression. +It is scarcely possible to stop at this point, and it seems that we have +to go on and attribute the more specific forms of feeling or emotions to +primary faculties incapable of further analysis. So, too, conation or +striving seems to be distinguishable into striving towards and into +striving away from an object. Again as with feeling it appears that we +have to go farther and presume certain more clearly-defined faculties as +indicated above. + +6. The difficulties are still greater with regard to cognition. Analysis +seems to bring us to three ultimate faculties—those of judgement, of +comparison, and of association.[1602] Judgement consists in affirming or +denying, and upon this faculty all higher reasoning is built. Memory +should perhaps be considered as a special aspect of this faculty—as the +power to think of an object over again, and to affirm or deny it to be +the same object. This faculty, together with the faculty of comparing, +enables that process of distinction and systematization to be performed +upon which all the higher developments are based. To these faculties of +analysis and synthesis are to be added the faculty of association, +whereby objects come to be thought of in groups according to the +sequence in which they came to be presented to the mind quite apart from +their intrinsic affinities or distinctions. Thus, in addition to the +faculties whereby the mind attains some grasp of the constitution of the +world of objects, there is a faculty which in some degree mirrors the +history of the world. + +It is probable that in addition to these ultimate faculties, there may +be many other faculties which cannot be reduced to aspects of the +former, and have therefore to be considered also as primary. However +that may be, what is important for our present purpose is that the +faculty commonly known as ability is undoubtedly innate. It may be very +variously composed of specialized forms of these three primary +faculties, and perhaps of other faculties combined in very many ways. +Every degree of ability is known and there are many forms in which it is +specialized, such as in musical, artistic, and other directions. It has +been shown that a high development of general ability is correlated with +a high development of any special ability. In other words, we have to +think of a genius with some marked talent as possessing on an average a +high general level of ability. There is ample evidence of the +inheritance of ability, both derived from the examination of large +numbers of cases and from the analysis of family histories. This +evidence also shows that musical and other forms of special ability are +inherited. We have therefore to think of predispositions in the germinal +constitution, which give rise to abilities of all kinds, although a more +correct analysis may refer them to some combination of the ultimate +faculties enumerated above, much as certain complex emotions are to be +referred to the combination of certain primary emotions, and not thought +of as given as such in the germinal constitution. + +There are other characters which do not appear to be covered by any +extension of the term ability. Such, for instance, are will and +self-control. In its essence will seems to be the rising up of some +dominating impulse which controls or harmonizes the feelings. The weaker +impulse somehow overcomes the stronger. The will is variously explained, +and in modern psychological writings often in such a manner as to +exclude the idea of a special faculty. It is not necessary here to go +into these explanations of the origin of will. It is clear that, if it +has to be referred to the working of complex faculties which are +themselves explicable in the terms of more ultimate faculties, it is in +a sense innately given. Undoubtedly will is in a sense inherited. +However much will may be a product of the environment in the second +sense, there is clearly an innate tendency towards the development of a +will of a certain form and strength. Whether therefore it is an ultimate +faculty or not, it is due in some measure either to a definite innate +predisposition or to such a combination of other innate predispositions +as give rise to the manifestation of a will of a certain nature. + +Finally, we may look at the whole problem of the inheritance of mental +characters from another point of view. It is known that certain areas in +the brain associated with particular functions are differently developed +in different individuals, and that there are differences in the speed at +which the nervous impulse travels which are doubtless due to anatomical +peculiarities and so on—that there are, in fact, differences in the +physical basis which underlies the manifestation of mental characters. +It is thus easy to understand in a general way how mental characters +which are based upon the nervous organization are inherited. A man may +inherit a brain in which certain regions are of relatively large size, +or a nervous organization by which impulses are swiftly conducted, and +thus we can understand how quickness of response, power of +concentration, readiness of association, type of mind (whether emotional +or intellectual) are inherited. + +7. This brief inquiry into what is given in the germinal constitution +leads to the conception of large numbers of predispositions which under +the stimulus of the environment develop into the characters that we +observe. This is true at least of physical characters. In physical +characters we observe the result of the play of the environment upon +certain predispositions. With regard to mental characters the position +is somewhat different. Into mental characters, as presented to us—into +ability, for instance—there enters the influence of the environment in +the second sense. When we are judging the ability of a man from a +practical point of view, we are judging a character into the make-up of +which has entered not only certain predispositions and a certain +environment—using environment in the sense of the complement to +inheritance—but also the results of the influence of the environment in +the second sense, such as habit and what may be regarded as tools, +namely, modes of thought and so on. In order to get at the characters we +must disentangle or allow for these tools. This difficulty does not +arise in the case of physical characters. When measuring the physical +strength of two men we are not likely to allow one man to throw an +object with a throwing-stick and another to use his own unaided +strength. But we are apt when comparing ability to forget that one man +may have learnt to distinguish between the categories when another may +not have done so. To this difficulty we shall refer again later. + +These predispositions have their basis in the germinal constitution and +are therefore inherited. It is probable that we should regard the +germinal constitution as consisting of unit-factors. However that may +be, it is clear that either a differential birth-rate (reproductive +selection) or a differential death-rate (lethal selection), will change +the average germinal constitution of the race among which they are +operative. Bearing this in mind, we may inquire when and where in human +history we can detect reproductive and lethal selection at work. And we +must remember that in the first place not merely obvious factors such as +war have been and are at work, but also that subtle changes in social +life and social organization may have profound effects, and that in the +second place not merely obvious characters may be favoured or +eliminated, but the least striking and most minute (though not +necessarily the least important) characters both mental and physical may +be similarly affected. + + + + + XVII + THE EVOLUTION OF PHYSICAL CHARACTERS + + +1. Having discussed what is given in the germinal constitution, we are +now in a position to inquire into the question of changes in the +germinal constitution. Such changes may affect physical or mental +characters. In this chapter we are concerned with physical characters +alone. Compared with the evolution of mental characters the evolution of +physical characters is a subsidiary matter; as this evolution, however, +has gone hand in hand with the evolution of mental characters and +furthermore possesses an importance of its own, all reference to it +cannot be omitted though the subject will be treated very briefly. As a +preliminary to this inquiry we may note certain facts about the +selection of physical characters in general. + +We know practically nothing as to the cause of mutations. We have, +therefore, to take mutations for granted, and to inquire how certain +stocks with particular predispositions are favoured and others +eliminated. In this process both lethal selection and reproductive +selection play a part. Among species in a state of nature lethal +selection is more important than reproductive selection; among men the +importance of reproductive selection tends to increase until in the +latest period it assumes an importance approaching that of lethal +selection. + +Hitherto we have only referred in passing to the existence of tradition +among men. Tradition will be found to form a serious complication when +we come to deal with the selection of mental characters. With regard to +physical characters it also complicates the position, but only to a +relatively unimportant degree. In the first place it makes the +environment very varied, especially in industrial societies where men +living next door to one another may be subject to very different +conditions in their daily occupations. Secondly, the fact that men +protect themselves against external conditions—for instance, against +cold—may lead to a group of men who are protected surviving, where a +less well-protected group perishes, though the former may conceivably be +naturally less resistent to cold than the latter. In the broad and rapid +survey that we shall make these complications can be disregarded; the +existence of tradition does not introduce, so far as physical characters +are concerned, that peculiar complication which is the cause of much +difficulty when we come to deal with mental characters—namely, the +combination of what is acquired through tradition with the underlying +character itself in such a way that the manifestation of the character +is connected in a varying degree with its innate strength. We shall +thus, when dealing with mental characters, have to attempt to strip off +the acquirements. When dealing with physical characters we can always +get down to the character at once. There is no difficulty in separating +the arm from the tool which it employs, and we thus get directly at the +character which has developed as the result of the influence of certain +stimuli upon a given predisposition. It is, on the other hand, difficult +to separate the intellectual characters from all those traditional +elements which combine with them in their outward manifestations—to +measure, for example, the strength of the instinct of curiosity, which +involves discounting all those elements in the tradition which may +inhibit or emphasize its expression. + +With regard to the strength of selection there is no exact knowledge, +with the exception of some work which has been done upon statistics for +modern communities. The occurrence of selection in the past is in fact +merely a deduction from what we know regarding innate predispositions +and regarding elimination and differential fertility. It has been shown, +however, that lethal selection does occur at the present day. Professor +Karl Pearson has calculated that selection accounts for a very large +percentage—perhaps 60 per cent.—of the deaths at the present day,[1603] +and Mr. Snow, summing up the results of an inquiry into this subject, +states that ‘natural selection in the form of a selective death-rate, is +strongly operative in man in the early years of life’.[1604] As it is +universally agreed that, if anything, the intensity of natural selection +has decreased with civilization, we may take it as certain that it was +operative to as great, or to a greater, extent during the emergence of +man and during what we have called the first and second periods of his +history. + +2. During the intermediate period, which was of relatively immense +length, the greater part of human bodily evolution was accomplished. +Only two or three worn and fragmentary remains have as yet been +discovered from this period. It is at least apparent from them that the +amount of physical evolution which has been accomplished since the end +of that period is slight compared with what was accomplished within that +period. We may assume that lethal selection was strongly at work. +Changes in mode of life—the assumption, for instance, of a terrestrial +for an arboreal existence and the adoption of an upright posture—must +have involved lethal selection. These changes of habit must also have +brought ancestral man into contact with new enemies. The spreading of +man into new climatic zones was doubtless followed by selection, and +must again have involved contact with new enemies. So, too, selection +followed upon the first great steps in the acquirement of skill—the +making of clothes, the use of fire, and so on. In addition to lethal +selection, differential fertility acting through polygamy must have been +at work. In part no doubt differential fertility merely reinforced +lethal selection; but in part also it may have taken the form of sexual +selection and have favoured other types. + +But when we come to details we find that we are ignorant regarding the +causes of even the largest changes. Some guesses have been hazarded. The +increase in the capacity of the skull is connected with the evolution of +the intellect and may be left for consideration in the next chapter. The +decrease in the size of the jaw and the corresponding decrease in the +size of the teeth were perhaps connected with a change in diet. The loss +of the hairy covering may have been connected with sexual selection or +it may have been favoured because it removed a lodging-place for +parasites. + +3. As we pass from the intermediate to the first period of human history +we reach a region of less uncertainty. We are ignorant as to the +physical characters of man at the close of the intermediate period, but +we know that in the earlier part of the Upper Palaeolithic there was +existing one variety—the Grimaldi race—which bears certain resemblances +to the negroid type, and that in the latter part of the same period +there were existing several varieties closely resembling types of modern +European man. It seems, therefore, that, so far as this period is +concerned, we have to account not merely for the evolution of the main +types but also for the evolution of the less easily distinguishable +varieties of man. The splitting up may have begun in the former period +but it probably did not go far. As to how this evolution took place +certain conclusions may first be drawn from what we know must have been +the general conditions of life. Secondly, from what we know as to the +position among races of the first group, rather more definite +conclusions may be added concerning the nature and direction of +selection. + +It has already been remarked that in all probability man spread into +various climatic zones before the beginning of the first period of +history. The consequences of this spreading of man must have been +twofold. Mankind became segregated into groups, the surroundings of +which differed, first in that they were subject to different climatic +environments, and secondly in that they were forced to pursue different +modes of life. It is clear that, whereas in some tropical regions man +would be supporting himself by hunting and collecting in such a way as +to require a certain type of bodily exertion, in a temperate region he +would be supporting himself by a very different form of exertion. This +difference between the needs of daily life would result in the favouring +of different types in the two regions. The type best adapted to gain a +living in one region would be different to that best adapted to gain a +living in another region.[1605] + +Of far more importance in the production of varieties of men than the +factors already noted are differences in climate to which man has become +exposed. How great these differences are is familiar and need not be +laboured. We know little with regard to the manner in which different +types of man are suited to different types of climatic zones. But it is +clear that in general the races of men are innately adapted to different +climates. There is no historical reason why in all parts of North and +South America the European races should not have ousted the American +Indian as they have done in the United States. In Mexico and other +regions, however, where the climate differs most markedly from that in +Europe, Europeans have not succeeded in establishing themselves as they +have elsewhere in the Continent. In Mexico Indian blood largely +predominates over European, and the explanation must be that Europeans +are not so well physically adapted to the climate as are the original +inhabitants. In this there is nothing surprising. We can understand how +certain types of respiratory, excretory, and circulatory organs might be +better adapted than others to certain conditions of temperature, +moisture, actinic rays, and so on, though we may be ignorant as to what +types of circulatory and other organs are best fitted to any particular +climatic zone. It would be very remarkable if it were not so, if, that +is to say, any type of constitution was equally well fitted to any kind +of climate. In this manner to differences in habits and in climate we +may attribute the origin of the varieties of mankind. + +Nevertheless, differences between races are far from being wholly due to +selection on these grounds. Sexual selection is of importance. There +grows up within each race a more or less clearly defined type of +physical beauty, and differential fertility working through polygamy +would evidently favour such types. That differences in colour to some +extent represent adaptations to climate is clear; in part such +differences are probably to be explained as due to varying ideals of +beauty, but there are probably yet other factors entering into the +evolution of racial types. + +Recently Professor Keith has made an interesting contribution to the +problem of racial differences. Reference has already been made to the +ductless glands. It is now known that variations in the functioning of +these glands have a profound influence upon the bodily organs. Keith has +remarked that, if the peculiarities characteristic of the chief racial +types of man are considered together, it appears that they are +attributable to different degrees of development of these glands in +different races. It should be observed that this suggestion does not +involve the conclusion that racial differences are of the nature of +modifications. It is merely supposed that the innate development of +these glands is different in different races—that there is a +predisposition in one race to the peculiar development of one gland and +in another race to the peculiar development of another gland. The value +of the suggestion lies in the fact that it shows how many racial +peculiarities, for which there are at least no obvious explanations, may +be merely the accompaniments of a difference in the development of one +or more of these glands. It must be supposed that one or more of the +results of the developments of a gland are of direct value in facing the +peculiar conditions, whether climatic or otherwise, to which the race is +subject, and that the other consequences of the development of the gland +are in any case not prejudicial. These other consequences may possibly +take the form of noticeable peculiarities of colour or of bodily +structure which thus turn out in themselves not to be of survival value +but merely to be, so to speak, accidental peculiarities. + +Some quotations from Professor Keith’s exposition of this suggestion may +make the matter more clear. ‘When we compare’, he says, ‘the three chief +racial types of humanity—the Negro, the Mongol, and the Caucasian or +European—we can recognize in the last named a greater predominance of +the pituitary than in the other two. The sharp pronounced nasalization +of the face, the tendency to strong eyebrow ridges, the prominent chin, +the tendency to bulk of body and height of stature in the majority of +Europeans, is best explained, so far as the present state of our +knowledge goes, in terms of pituitary functions.’[1606] After remarking +that the interstitial glands are largely the cause of secondary sexual +differences he goes on to say: ‘I am of opinion that the sexual +differentiation—the robust manifestation of the male characters—is more +emphatic in the Caucasian than in either the Mongol or Negroid racial +types. In both Mongol and Negro, in their most representative form, we +find a beardless face and an almost hairless body, and in certain negro +types, especially in Nilotic tribes, with their long, stork-like legs, +we seem to have a manifestation of the abeyance in the action of the +interstitial glands. At the close of sexual life we often see the +features of a woman assume a coarser and more masculine +appearance.’[1607] Later he remarks that the evidence points to the +original human colouring as black. Now, the supra-renal bodies cause a +clearing away of pigment and ‘there can be no doubt that the supra-renal +bodies constitute an important part of the mechanism which regulates the +development and growth of the human body and helps in determining the +racial characters of mankind. We know that certain races come more +quickly to sexual maturity than others, and that races vary in +development of hair and of pigment, and it is therefore reasonable to +expect a satisfactory explanation of these characters when we have come +by a more or less complete knowledge of the supra-renal +mechanism.’[1608] The thyroid acts directly upon the skin and the hair +and also upon the skeleton. ‘This is particularly the case as regards +the base of the skull and the nose, the arrest of growth falls mainly +upon the basal parts of the skull with the result that the root of the +nose appears to be flattened and drawn backwards between the eyes, the +upper forehead appears projecting or bulging, the face appears +flattened, and the bony scaffolding of the nose particularly when +compared with the prominence of the jaw is greatly reduced. Now these +facial features which I have enumerated give the Mongolian face its +characteristic aspect, and, to a lesser degree, they are also to be +traced in the features of the negro. Indeed, in one aberrant branch of +the negro race—the Bushman of South Africa—the thyroid facies is even +more emphatically brought out than in the most typical Mongol. You will +observe that, in my opinion, the thyroid—or a reduction or alteration in +the activity of the thyroid—has been a factor in determining some of the +racial characteristics of the Mongol and Negro races. I know of a +telling piece of evidence which supports this thesis. Some years ago +there died in the East End of London a Chinese giant—the subject one +must suppose of an excessive action of the pituitary glands—the gland +which I regard as playing a predominant part in shaping the face and +bodily form of the European. The skeleton of this giant was prepared and +placed in the museum of the London Hospital Medical College by Col. T. +H. Openshaw, and any one inspecting that skeleton can see that, although +certain Chinese features are still recognizable, the nasal region and +the supraorbital ridges of the face have assumed the more prominent +European type.’[1609] + +4. If we turn now and look at the conditions of life among primitive +races, we find that natural selection and differential fertility tend to +work towards the preservation of existing types rather than towards +further evolution. The Australians may have existed in their present +home for many thousands of years without undergoing any considerable +change of type, and we have every reason to suppose that, if they had +been left untouched by white or other races, the racial type would have +remained substantially the same for thousands of years to come. The same +holds good if we consider any primitive race in its normal surroundings. + +That this is so is clear if we glance at the chief causes of +elimination. The heavy child mortality recorded of all these races is +put down to neglect and exposure; it must on the whole result in the +elimination of the physically weak. Such customs as the bathing of +new-born babies in cold water seem designed to ensure this result. Among +the adults who on the whole are but little protected against climate +there must always be a certain tendency towards the elimination of those +less able to withstand the relatively harder seasons. There are also +many factors making for the cutting-off of the malformed and the +congenitally deficient. Among those races which normally practise +infanticide, deformed children are always killed, and among those races, +such as the Bantu races of Africa, who never regularly practise +infanticide as a custom, abnormal children are nearly always done away +with. Similarly the destruction of witches tends towards the same end +though they are more often marked by mental than by physical +peculiarities. Again the fact that abortion and infanticide are +practised to a greater degree among the less fortunate and the lower +social classes of the races in the second group has the same result, as +in general the stronger and more successful members of the race are +those who do not need to practise these customs to the same extent. +Finally, the general conditions of life among these races—more +particularly among the races of the first group—is such as to bring +about a continual elimination of the less physically fit. Speaking of +the Seri Indians McGee remarks upon the ‘elimination of the weak and +helpless’, and says further that ‘a parallel eliminative process is +common among American aborigines; the wandering bands frequently undergo +hard marches under the leadership of athletic warriors with whom all are +expected to keep pace, which leads both to the desertion of the aged and +the feeble’. He calls it ‘a merciless mechanism for improving the fit +and eliminating the unfit’.[1610] + +As remarked above, the effect of polygamy must be to intensify the +action of selection. In this particular case the general result of +polygamy must be to preserve the average features of the race; for it +will be, so to speak, the all-round man, the man best adapted to the +climate, to the peculiar conditions of life and so on who will leave +most descendants. It is thus of interest to investigate the frequency of +polygamy among the races of the first two groups. This point has been +inquired into by Professor Hobhouse and his fellow authors. Polygamy was +distinguished by them into general and occasional polygamy, and though +it is very difficult to arrive at any exact figures their general +conclusions may be summed up as showing that, in all the subdivisions +considered by them, general and occasional polygamy was found in from +80–95 per cent. of the cases. General polygamy increases among the races +here placed in the second group, though there is no strong correlation +between the degree of polygamy and the economic stage. We observe in +fact a wide prevalence of polygamy among all races of any economic +stage, and upon the basis of these figures we must regard the +differential fertility arising from polygamy as a factor of great +importance. + +It seems, therefore, that within the first and second periods there were +two tendencies at work—towards the evolution of varieties and towards +the maintenance of the various types. The evolution of varieties was due +in the first place to the spreading of man. As soon as spreading was +complete, a tendency towards a cessation of progress must have set in. +That further evolution took place was due chiefly to migration, with the +results of which we have yet to deal. Once varieties had been evolved, +apart from migration, and apart from changes in climate and progress in +skill, which only slightly and at long intervals modified the +surroundings, there was little basis for further evolution. Man had +mastered his surroundings up to a point and had made his position secure +in the circumstances under which he lived and the tendency was towards +the preservation of the types which had achieved these results in +different places. + +5. In the third of our three periods there has been a remarkable change. +We find that there has been a gradual moving away from the conditions +under which in normal times there is in the races of the first and +second groups a rigorous elimination of those types which depart from +the mean. Lethal selection has come largely to take the form of +selection through disease.[1611] Though polygamy gradually ceases to be +a factor of importance, other forms of differential fertility become +prominent. + +We may glance at the chief features of these changes. In the last +section we mentioned various factors—infanticide of the deformed, +customs with regard to the treatment of children, the neglect and +exposure of children, the general conditions of life, and so on—all of +which have as their result the cutting-off not merely of the deformed +and the monstrosities but also of all departures from the type best +fitted to contend with the climatic environment and the conditions of +daily life. Some of these factors—such as infanticide—disappear; the +action of others becomes, if anything, reversed; not only do the less +well-fitted types have a better chance of survival than before, because +the conditions are less rigorous, but they suffer little or no +disadvantage owing to the fact that the conditions have been +artificially rendered almost as favourable for the less fitted as for +the better-fitted. To take two examples, not only are men with defective +eyesight not eliminated, but they are by the invention of spectacles +placed in as good a position as those with perfect eyesight. Similarly a +woman with a narrow pelvis is, owing to the advance in surgical skill, +enabled to bear children and to transmit her peculiarity to her +daughters. + +It should not be forgotten that, in spite of the gradual lessening of +the rigour of selection, selection owing to climate and the general +conditions of life still continues. But another factor has within this +period come to assume a preponderating importance, and that is selection +through disease. It was pointed out that diseases may be roughly +distinguished into those due to the attacks of parasites and those due +to structural defects. It is to diseases of the first kind that the +greater part of selection, which occurs in the third period, is due. +Some figures were given in an earlier chapter showing how large a +proportion of deaths at the present day is due to one or other of these +diseases. In the last chapter it was shown that men differ in their +susceptibility to these diseases, and selection has thus very largely +come to take the form of the elimination of the more susceptible, and of +the favouring of the naturally immune and of those who have a power of +resisting disease and of acquiring immunity. There has therefore come to +be an increasingly heavy premium upon the type of constitution which can +resist disease, and a strong constitution in this sense is not +necessarily the same as a strong constitution among primitive races +where the premium is rather upon muscular strength, perfect development +of the senses of seeing and hearing, and upon resistance to climatic +conditions. We have thus to think of the whole course of bodily +evolution as changing in the third period so as to meet a new danger +rather than as continuing on the former lines so as better to contend +with the old difficulties. + +It is noteworthy that selection in this period has not been on account +of diseases of the second type due directly to structural defects. These +diseases are seldom lethal until after maturity has been reached, and +the tendency has rather been, as in the case of eyesight, towards the +increased chance of survival of those suffering from these defects. +Thus, though selection has turned in this period towards the weeding-out +of those susceptible to the attacks of parasites, it has come to +tolerate those who exhibit defects in structure as distinguished from +the peculiarities of structure which must be presumed to constitute the +physical basis of susceptibility. + +All this is familiar enough. It is not so often realized that the +disappearance of polygamy in what we have called the mediaeval and the +modern sections of the third period works in precisely the same manner. +But the disappearance of polygamy does not mean that reproductive +selection ceases to be of importance. In mediaeval and modern times +celibacy, postponement of marriage, and restriction of families have +come to be practised in varying degrees by different stocks. There is +some trace of differential fertility in the earlier periods owing to +causes other than polygamy, but it is only in the mediaeval and modern +periods that they become important. It is doubtful how far, if at all, +the religious celibate class of the mediaeval period differed in +physical characters from the average. It would appear that during this +period postponement of marriage led to the producing of less children by +the lower social classes than by the upper. Therefore, so far as this +epoch is concerned, it is not apparent that differential fertility had +any considerable effect upon bodily characters one way or the other. +Possibly the net result of postponement may have been to favour the +better stocks. + +Within the latter part of the modern period restriction of families has +assumed very great importance. It has been calculated that, as a +consequence of the fact that restriction is more practised by certain +sections of the population than by others, 50 per cent. of the married +population provide 75 per cent. of the next generation. It thus becomes +most important to determine whether the various sections of the +population are innately different as regards their physical characters. +Largely owing to our ignorance respecting the direct influence of the +environment, it is not possible to arrive at present at any precise +answer. But there can be little doubt that on the whole the most fertile +sections of the population are the less physically fit sections. + +It is necessary, however, to view these facts in their proper +perspective. Though differential fertility of this kind may have been at +work among some of the ancient empires in their later years, it is +chiefly a very modern phenomenon characteristic of modern European +countries and their derivatives only within the last fifty years. +Therefore, however important a problem it may be for modern communities, +it is a factor which has had but little effect on human history as a +whole. It may be noticed that restriction of increase is not the only +form of reproductive selection in modern communities. Sexual selection +is also at work.[1612] + +6. Such has been the direction in which, through selection and +differential fertility within races, changes have taken place. But +changes also take place through the conflict of races, and the nature of +these changes demands some notice. Warfare plays a part in the normal +existence of nearly all primitive races. It is sometimes, as among the +American Indians, a bloodthirsty affair, but more often than not it is a +relatively unimportant cause of elimination. It is not easy to arrive at +any conclusion regarding the results of warfare as an agent of +selection. Upon the whole, among primitive races, so far as physical +characters are concerned, there is probably a tendency towards the +preservation of the physically strong and fit. But it has to be +remembered that missile weapons were early introduced, and that, as +Thucydides remarked, missile weapons kill the strong man in the prime of +life as well as the weak. Again, success in warfare very largely depends +upon characters other than physical—such as the possession of skill. All +that can be said with certainty is that in the first and second periods +warfare was not a cause of elimination of the fit which it has come to +be in the third period. This latter fact has been lately brought home to +the civilized nations of the world in so obvious a manner that it need +not be further discussed.[1613] + +Warfare following upon migration may exterminate whole races. The +Bushmen were apparently on the verge of extinction at the hands of the +invading Bantu peoples. In this manner a peculiar physical type may be +lost and another may become of relatively greater prevalence. Migration +may also be followed by any degree of racial mixture. Many rash +statements have been made by historians as to the biological results of +crossing. The consequences actually observed to follow upon a mixture of +races are to so large a degree the result of a conflict of traditions—a +subject with which we shall deal in a later chapter—that the purely +biological effects of crossing may be very largely obscured. Bearing +this in mind we may briefly refer to the conclusions to be derived from +recent biological work which bear on the problem. Roughly speaking there +are two possible kinds of crosses between races. First there are crosses +between the most clearly distinguished varieties such as white and +black. Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, will be exhibited in a marked +fashion in the first generation. Heterosis, the underlying cause of +which has only recently become apparent, is always at its height in the +first cross. The increase of vigour, however, is not long maintained in +subsequent generations. Further, each type, such as those which we are +considering, has a series of character complexes, built up through ages +of selection and compatible with one another, and by crossing such +complexes are broken apart. The chance of gain, on the other hand, +through the favourable re-combination of characters is small. On the +average, therefore, the result of such a cross is unfavourable. There +may also be crosses between races exhibiting less differences. Again, +heterosis will be visible on crossing. But in distinction to the results +of the former kind of cross, the other results may not be unfavourable. +Great variability may follow such a cross and this is on the whole +advantageous. Valuable character re-combinations may also come to light. +Thus we may say that, so long as there is not too great a difference +between the races which cross, the results are usually genetically +favourable; there will be the advantage of hybrid vigour, though this is +always temporary, and there may very possibly be the advantage of +valuable character re-combinations.[1614] + +Migration is important not only because it is connected with war and +racial crossing but also because of the selection which follows upon +transfer to new climatic conditions. To the nature of these changes +allusion has already been made; it has been pointed out that races +adapted to maintain themselves in one environment cannot as a general +rule maintain themselves in a very different environment. To new +surroundings, which only differ slightly from the old, they may become +adapted by selection, and much selection on these lines must have taken +place as a result of racial movements in Europe. It is probably now +taking place among Europeans who have migrated to America. Dublin and +Baker, for instance, have shown that the death-rate varies considerably +among the different racial elements who have immigrated, some elements +being probably better adapted to the new environment than others.[1615] +Similarly selection may be going on within modern races owing to the +rapid urbanization of industrial countries. Urban conditions may be more +favourable to some types than to others. But it has not yet been shown +in what direction these changes, if they are in progress, are taking. + +Summing up our conclusions we may say that the great changes in human +bodily form were accomplished in the intermediate period when the +splitting up into varieties may also have begun. This splitting was +continued in the first period and the modern types were formed before +the end of that period. The chief characteristic, however, of the first +and second periods was the maintenance of the types evolved, though this +was interfered with by migration which brought about elimination of +certain types, racial mixture, and further climatic adaptation. Finally, +in modern times there has been a lessening of the stringency of +selection, which previously tended to maintain the existing varieties, +and a turning of lethal selection to the building up of immunity against +disease. + +7. There are one or two other points connected with germinal change +about which a word may be said. Of the origin of mutations we know +nothing, but since in all probability the ultimate cause of mutations +may have to be sought in some kind of environmental change, it should be +borne in mind that, as man is subject to an immense variety of +environmental stimuli, mutations may be more frequent in man than in any +species in a state of nature. It has been suggested that the germinal +constitution may be adversely affected by certain factors, especially by +the use of alcohol. Of this there is no certain evidence.[1616] It has +been supposed that there may be some connexion between the difference in +age of the parents on the one hand and the germinal constitution of the +offspring on the other. It has been supposed, for instance, that the +offspring are innately more vigorous when the parents are at a certain +age. So far as investigation has gone at present, it has not been +established that there is any such connexion—of sufficient importance at +least to deserve consideration here. In other words, the fact that among +certain races young men have wives of considerably greater age than +themselves and older men young wives, does not to any noteworthy extent +affect the germinal constitution of the race. Again it has been stated +that the first-born are innately inferior to the later-born +children.[1617] This conclusion has been criticized.[1618] As, however, +the preponderance of first-born children among the offspring as a whole +would not appear to be markedly greater at any one period of history +than at another, the inferiority of the first-born, if it exists, would +make no difference between men of different races at the same or at +different times. + +The correlation of characters one with another should not be forgotten. +The favouring of one character may involve the favouring of quite other +characters. Of this what was said regarding the ductless glands is an +example. It has been supposed that liability to disease is correlated +with pigmentation and that, owing to selection through disease, a change +in the average pigmentation is taking place. Attempts to establish this +correlation have, however, failed. It is of particular interest to +notice that no correlations have been found between physical and mental +characters; this is so even as regards intellect and size of head. + +8. A survey of the facts regarding the bodily evolution of man, and of +the conditions under which it has taken place, shows that there is at +least no more difficulty in understanding how it has come about than in +understanding how the varieties of any other species have come into +existence. Given mutations, the action of selection and of differential +fertility provides an explanation which is in general satisfactory, +though we may be a very long way from understanding how any one +particular change came about. There are in fact greater difficulties met +with from time to time in trying to reach a satisfactory explanation of +evolution among other animals than when dealing with man. The evolution +along particular lines of organization, the evolution of teeth and horns +among mammals, for instance, raises a difficulty which seems in the +present state of our knowledge perhaps to require the assumption that at +times there is a tendency for the continual occurrence of mutations in +the same direction. Such a difficulty does not occur in the case of +human bodily evolution. + +It has been suggested that the facts regarding the course which the +evolution of living organisms has taken requires the assumption that +large mutations have occurred from time to time and have established +themselves as varieties. There is no doubt that large mutations do occur +and have established themselves in the course of the evolution of the +varieties of animal types known to us, and they may have done so in the +case of man. There is, however, no reason to imagine that the origin of +any particular change in man was due to a large mutation. It has been +stated that the number of chromosomes is different in the white man and +in the negro, and upon the basis of this statement it has been suggested +that one variety had arisen as a mutation from the other. This +statement, however, was apparently based upon erroneous observation. +Again, it has been suggested that the Pygmy type arose as a mutation. +But it has been observed that some Ba Twa pygmies of the Congo who three +generations ago left their forests, settled near the Bushongo, and took +to agriculture have become markedly taller. Intermarriage is said to be +out of the question and therefore we are led to suppose in the new +environment a taller type has been favoured.[1619] If this is so, if a +taller type can be selected by degrees in one environment, the shorter +type may equally well have been selected in another environment. + +So far, therefore, as the history of man outlined in the fifth chapter +is the history of the development of his bodily structure, so far the +explanation of history is to be sought in changes in the germinal +constitution, and the changes undergone are strictly comparable with the +changes among species in a state of nature, though owing to the more +varied environment outward differences in the case of man may be rather +more often due to environmental influences than in the case of species +closely related to man. + + + + + XVIII + THE EVOLUTION OF MENTAL CHARACTERS + + +1. When we originally asked how far changes in the quality of the +population accounted for the facts given in the sixth chapter, it was at +once obvious that the interest centred in mental changes. Now that we +have gained some idea as to what is given in the germinal constitution +and as to the influence of the environment in general, we are in a +position to come more closely to the main problem. Three questions +present themselves. We have to inquire into the facts regarding the +stage of mental evolution reached at any one time. This involves making +both an estimate as to the extent of the gap between the pre-human +ancestor and Palaeolithic man and an examination of the differences in +the mental characteristics of the chief living types of man which may be +taken roughly to represent stages reached in the three chief periods. We +have next to ask if we can account for these facts, and this involves an +inquiry into selection, differential fertility, and such other factors +as may assist to explain changes in the germinal constitution. Lastly we +have to ask how far such changes as have taken place are correlated with +the main features of human history. + +To make an estimate of the stage of mental evolution reached by one race +as compared with that reached by other races is not an easy matter. To +begin with there is the difficulty of discounting the direct influence +of the environment. Temperament we found to be peculiarly susceptible to +environmental influence. Temperament affects the functioning of other +mental characters in a very important manner. ‘Effective mental +ability’, says Professor Punnett, ‘is largely a matter of temperament, +and this in turn is quite possibly dependent upon the various secretions +produced by the different tissues of the body. Similar nervous systems +associated with different livers might conceivably result in different +individuals upon whose mental ability the world would pass a very +different judgment.’[1620] Apart, however, from this difficulty and +apart from the influence of disease, it is not probable that other +factors in the environment have any marked direct effect upon either +disposition or intellect. + +There is a far more serious difficulty to which allusion has already +been made. It arises from the fact that mental faculties as exhibited in +daily life are overlaid by tradition and shaped by habit. There is no +difficulty in getting down to any physical character. It is always +possible to separate the limb from the tool which it uses. It is +frequently very difficult to effect the corresponding separation between +the faculty and the tool in the case of mental characters. Human mental +characteristics, as manifested in daily life, represent the combination +of acquirements with a certain basis. By the basis is meant that which +develops as the result of environmental stimuli acting upon the +predispositions. The basis of all mental faculties is, therefore, that +which strictly speaking is comparable with physical characters. Mental +characters as manifested in daily life represent this basis combined +with tradition. This applies not only to the intellectual but also to +the instinctive faculties. The manifestation of instinct is dependent +upon the channels into which it has been led by tradition and upon the +outlets which tradition provides for it. + +In attempting to estimate the stage of evolution of mental characters +reached at any one time, we must, as far as we can, allow for all that +obscures their manifestation. There are several different ways in which +this may be attempted and it will be found possible to reach a fairly +definite conclusion with regard to the degree of development of mental +characters as exhibited by two races as different as the white and +black. But the inquiry into the differences between the more nearly +related varieties, such as the different branches of the white race, +present far more difficult problems, and by these methods we shall not +be able to approach them with much hope of success. Further, these +difficulties will be more strongly felt when we go on to inquire into +the causes of the changes which have led to the evolution of the +different types. Therefore, though in this chapter we shall reach +certain conclusions as to the nature, causes, and results of mental +changes in the earlier periods, we shall find that, owing to the +difficulties mentioned, we are unable to reach any conclusion as to the +later periods until we have inquired into the importance of tradition. +It will thus be necessary to cut short this inquiry and turn to consider +tradition in the following two chapters. Only when this subsidiary +inquiry has been made shall we be able to complete our estimate as to +the part played by changes in the germinal constitution so far as they +affect mental characters. + +2. The indications as regards mental development obtainable from a study +of fossil remains are, of course, very vague. Such as they are, however, +considerable interest attaches to them. In the later part of the first +period, in the Upper Palaeolithic, that is to say, we meet with types of +men whose cranial capacity and the formation of whose brain, so far as +it can be judged from skulls, do not indicate any difference in mental +capacity as compared with modern man. It must be emphasized that this is +a very rough method of comparing intellectual capacity. Something, +however, may be deduced from such observations, and it is probable that, +though there may have been noteworthy differences between Cro-Magnon and +modern European intellectual capacity, as we judge differences to-day, +nevertheless looking at human evolution as a whole, we cannot escape the +conclusion that by the end of the first period, before man had learnt to +support himself otherwise than by hunting and fishing, by far the +greater part of the journey from the condition of our pre-human ancestor +to that of European man had been accomplished. This is a very important +deduction, because, inasmuch as the greater part of the progress in +skill had still to come, it means that progress in intellectual capacity +and progress in skill did not go hand in hand. + +What we should like to be able to do, but cannot at present do, is to +follow the evolution of the cranial capacity and the shape of the brain +of the ancestors of Upper Palaeolithic man. But all we have in the +Middle Palaeolithic are representatives of the peculiar Neanderthal +type, which apparently died out. Judging from the cranial capacity, the +intellectual development of Neanderthal man must have been considerable +and probably not inferior to that of the Australians. If Eoanthropus is +to be assigned to the Lower Palaeolithic, it is the only skull of that +period that we have. Judging not so much from the cranial capacity as +from the formation of the brain, the intellectual capacity of +Eoanthropus was clearly much less than that of Neanderthal man and of +any other type of man now living. Pithecanthropus was certainly anterior +to the Palaeolithic. He may, it is true, have used and even fashioned +implements of a very primitive type. It is noteworthy that, so far as +can be judged, in cranial capacity he stands about half-way between +modern man and the hypothetical ancestor, and if we are going to make +any deductions at all regarding so difficult a point, it is reasonable +to assume that in general his intellectual capacity was about half-way +between that of modern man and the pre-human ancestor. + +On the basis of this evidence the broad outlines of the picture are as +follows. At the very least the intellectual development of Early +Palaeolithic man had reached a point half-way between that of the +pre-human ancestor and that of modern European races. Almost certainly +it had gone farther, perhaps considerably further. As regards man in the +Middle Palaeolithic, we have details only regarding an aberrant type +whose intellectual capacity, though considerable, probably did not reach +that of the contemporary ancestors of the Upper Palaeolithic types of +whom as yet we know nothing. The cranial capacity and other features of +the Upper Palaeolithic types show no essential differences from modern +man. though it has to be remembered that, as cranial capacity is but a +rough guide, differences in mental capacity may have existed. + +3. In order to gain a more exact idea of the stage of mental evolution +reached in the first and second periods, we are obliged to turn to the +evidence supplied by primitive races, just as we turned to them to fill +in the gaps in our knowledge of the social habits of Palaeolithic man. + +There are at least three methods whereby an attempt may be made to +arrive at some idea of the intellectual development of primitive races +as compared with modern European man. There is to begin with a very +large number of observations and impressions recorded by men who in many +cases have lived a long time among primitive races and have had unusual +opportunities for judging them. Then attempts have been made to measure +the intelligence of these races by the use of the Binet-Simon methods, +and we may notice the results of some of these attempts. Lastly, in +certain parts of the world for some generations white and coloured races +have been living side by side under almost identical conditions and now +compete together almost on an equality, and we may note the current +opinion in those regions with regard to their respective intellectual +capacities. + +All the evidence regarding the Australians agrees in attributing to +them a relatively high level of intellect. ‘Most observers’, says +Thomas, ‘agree that up to the age of puberty, possibly longer, they +have an extraordinary facility in the acquisition of knowledge.’[1621] +Speaking of the aborigines of Victoria, Smyth records that ‘black +children brought up in the schools learn very quickly, and in +perception, memory, and power to discriminate, they are, to say the +least, equal to European children. A missionary, the Rev. F. A. +Hagenauer, a gentleman of great ability, who has control of the +aboriginal station at Lake Wellington, reports that the examination +made by the Government School Inspectors shows that the aboriginal +pupils taught by him are quite equal to the Whites. In his last report +he states that the whole of the fifth class in his school has passed +the standard examination (that appointed for children in State +schools) and that they had received certificates.’[1622] Spiller has +collected a large number of such opinions,[1623] and Semon says that +‘on examining the accounts of missionaries who have had occasion to +instruct children of Australian natives, it will be found that nearly +all of them come to the conclusion that at the onset of instruction +hardly any difference between faculties of black and white children in +grasping the elements is to be remarked. There is such a capability of +memory and sharpness of the senses that in reading, writing, drawing, +topography, and geography they at first even excel the whites.’[1624] +Nearly all observers agree that there comes a point when the faculties +of aboriginal children cease to develop. Thus Smyth says that ‘With +keen senses, quick perceptions, and a precocity that is surprising, he +stops just short of the point where an advance would lead to a +complete change in the characters of his mind’,[1625] and Mathew who +remarks that ‘in schools it has been observed that aboriginal children +learn quite as easily and rapidly as children of European parents’, +goes on to say that ‘while among Europeans the range of mental +development seems almost unbounded, with the blacks its limit is soon +attained’.[1626] + +Among the Andaman Islanders there is, according to Man, up to the age of +12 or 14 ‘as much intelligence as [among] ordinary middle class children +of civilized races’; he goes on to quote another observer who found +these people ‘not deficient in brain power; it rather lies dormant and +unused in their savage state’, and gives the example ‘of an aboriginal +patient of 12 years of age, who had been entered in the Ross Orphanage +School, and who, in his tender years, could yet read English and Ordu +fluently, as well as speak and write in both these languages, retaining +also a knowledge of his native tongue. He had besides a fair knowledge +of arithmetic. I may add that this is not an exceptional case, for I +would instance others, and one lad in particular who was his +superior.’[1627] These opinions could be paralleled many times over. The +Jesuit missionary Baegert, for example, had a high opinion of the +intellectual abilities of the Californian Indians. ‘Like other people, +they are possessed of reason and understanding, and their stupidity is +not inborn with them, but the result of habit; and I am of opinion that, +if their sons were sent to European seminaries and colleges, and their +girls to convents where young females are instructed, they would prove +equal in all respects to Europeans in the acquirement of morals and of +useful sciences and arts.’[1628] + +The opinions of observers of races which fall within the second group +are all very similar. Some typical opinions may be given. Speaking of +Bantu races south of the Zambezi Theal says that ‘in Mission Schools +children of early age are found to keep pace with those of white +parents. In some respects, indeed, they are the higher of the two ... +but while the European youth is still developing his powers the Bantu +youth in many instances is found unable to make further progress. His +intellect has become sluggish and frequently he exhibits a decided +repugnance, if not an incapacity, to learn anything more. The growth +of his mind, which at first promised so much, has ceased just at that +stage where the mind of the European begins to display the greatest +vigour.’[1629] Later he says that ‘the strong desire of the greater +number is to live as closely like their ancestors as the altered +circumstances of their country will permit, to make use of a few of +the white man’s simplest conveniences and of his protection against +their enemies, but to avoid his habits and to shut out his ideas. +Compared with Europeans their adults are frequently children in +imagination and in simplicity of belief, though not infrequently one +may have the mental faculties of a full-grown man.’[1630] Of the +Bangala of the Upper Congo Weeks says that ‘up to the age of 14 and +15, the boys and girls, especially the boys, are very receptive and +easily taught; but after that age comparatively few make real advance +in learning’.[1631] This is attributed partly to the fact that at this +age other matters occupy their attention—working on their own account, +looking round for a wife, and so on, but more especially to the fact +that by this age they have learnt all that their fathers have to teach +them and thenceforth settle down into a routine. Of the men of the +races of Central Africa Johnston speaks as follows: ‘his mental powers +are not much developed by native training, but I am certain that he +has in him possibilities in the present generation as great of those +of the average Indian; and there is really no saying what he may come +to after several generations of education. I think it is truly +remarkable the way in which a little savage boy can be put to school +and taught to read in a few months and subsequently become a skilful +printer or telegraph clerk or even book keeper. The little boys are +much sharper and shrewder than the grown-up male. When the youth +arrives at puberty there is undoubtedly a tendency towards an arrested +development of the mind.’[1632] This latter tendency is attributed to +the attention paid to sexual matters. This arrest of development is a +feature in all descriptions of the mental characters of these races. +Junod is inclined, however, to think that these descriptions are on +the whole exaggerated.[1633] In order to enable us to form such +judgement on this point a few further quotations may be given. Ellis, +describing the Ewe-speaking peoples of Togoland, mentions the +precocity of the children when compared with Europeans, and says that, +‘at puberty the physical nature masters the intellect and frequently +completely deadens it’.[1634] The Bambala children ‘are very +precocious, and up to the age of puberty are often astonishingly +intelligent; after puberty, however, they become exceedingly +apathetic; sexual excess and continual intoxication with palm wine +contribute largely to this result’.[1635] Speaking of the natives of +Portuguese East Africa, Maugham refers to the great brightness and +promise early displayed; as regards the later stages says that he has +‘over and over again been the witness of the sudden and astounding +change which takes place among the young male house servants as youth +approaches manhood. Brightness and initiative disappear; they go about +their duties in a most casual manner; they are unable to remember the +clearest and simplest instructions, and are constantly away without +permission.’[1636] Referring to this subject so far as the natives of +the Congo are concerned, Weeks states that ‘for generations boys on +arriving at the age of 14 or 15 had learnt all their father had to +teach respecting fishing, hunting, woodcraft, building, paddling, +&c.... Thus their intelligence had attained for generations the +fullest development by the above age; now we have to help them over +that crucial stage; in some cases it is very difficult; but in other +cases we can do so; and in such there is no limit to the intellectual +progress they can make. In many cases they have mastered a good +working knowledge of French, Portuguese or English, both spoken and +written, and as larger opportunities are given, a larger number of +youths will make such mental progress as will encourage their friends +and teachers.’[1637] Bryant, who has had a wide experience of South +African natives, sums up his impressions by confirming the common +opinion that the native boy is, at an early age, if anything, superior +to the European boy of the same age, and that at puberty his mental +development is arrested. He thinks that Boer boys living in the +backwoods and receiving practically no training are, if anything, +inferior to the African boys. He adds—what is of particular +interest—the fact that the African boys, whose education begins early, +do not show the same arrest of development as those whose education +begins later. Nevertheless the African boy educated from an early age +is surpassed by the European boy later on. We find also, he says, that +‘in practically every case where a South African native has had the +opportunity of receiving an education in one of the universities of +Europe or America, that that native has invariably been able to hold +his own against all white rivals and to pass as successfully as they +the same examinations in Law, Medicine, or Arts.’ Such men, however, +he adds, may have been selected as particularly fitted to profit by +further education.[1638] Summing up his opinion upon this subject, +Olivier says that it is not possible to ‘justify a generalization that +there is any particular human function for which coloured persons are +by their African blood disqualified. In various categories of human +activity we may maintain that, as a rule, black and coloured folk are +not up to the normal standard of the white, and are difficult and +disheartening to deal with. But in other categories they are more +liberally endowed than the average white man, not only with +sympathetic and valuable human qualities, but with talent and +executive ability for their expression.’[1639] + +The evidence has been taken from the accounts of African races; very +similar evidence could be presented for all races in the second group. +No purpose would be served by so doing, however, because such evidence +amounts merely to a repetition of opinion similar to those given above. +Before attempting to analyse this evidence, we may glance at the +evidence obtained on other lines. + +4. Many investigations have been recently carried out to test the +relative intelligence of children of modern Europeans and of primitive +races. The method used is known as the Binet-Simon method and consists +essentially in subjecting children to a large number of carefully +prepared tests upon the total result of which an estimate is made of the +intelligence of each child. Some of the most instructive of these +observations have been made in America, where white and coloured +children receive a very similar education; the result of an +investigation carried out by Miss Strong in that country may be +described. She tested 225 white children belonging to two schools and +125 coloured children belonging to one school. There is a standard +degree of intelligence for each year of age, and thus every child can be +graded according as to whether it reaches the standard degree of +intelligence, or is above or below it. The results of this particular +investigation are summed up in the following table:[1640] + + _Coloured Children._ _White Children._ + More than one year backward 29·4 10·2 + Satisfactory 69·8 84·4 + More than one year advanced 0·8 5·3 + +That the inferiority of the coloured children is exhibited at all ages +is shown by the following table:[1641] + + _Below Age._ _At Age._ _Above Age._ + _White._ _Coloured._ _White._ _Coloured._ _White._ _Coloured._ + 6 years 19·4 40·0 30·6 33·3 50·0 26·7 + 7 „ 13·9 39·4 61·1 58·8 25·0 11·8 + 8 „ 18·5 23·0 55·5 38·5 26·0 38·5 + 9 „ 32·2 71·4 41·9 21·4 25·9 7·2 + 10 „ 55·1 75·0 27·6 12·5 17·3 12·5 + 11 „ 34·6 43·7 42·2 50·0 23·1 6·3 + 12 „ 67·5 77·0 32·5 23·0 + + 34·5 51·4 41·2 33·9 24·3 14·7 + +With regard to these results Miss Strong writes as follows: ‘This seems +to lead to the conclusion that the coloured children are mentally +younger than the white. There is a difference of nearly 15 per cent. in +the satisfactory group, nearly three times as many are more than a year +backward, and less than 1 per cent. are more than a year advanced. A +course of study in the coloured school is practically the same as that +in the white schools. To what extent the difference is due to racial +inferiority, to what extent differences in the home environment, cannot +be said. It is certainly not due to difference in school +training.’[1642] + +There are certain criticisms of weight to be made regarding the +importance to be attached to estimates of intelligence due to this +method. These need not detain us beyond noting that, although in +general, inasmuch as the children use the same language, the mental +equipment is similar, nevertheless there may be considerable differences +in acquired habit as between white and coloured children which affect +their responses to the test. There is a further criticism of some +importance to be made regarding this particular investigation. It was +entirely carried out by white examiners, and it may very well be that +the coloured children did not respond as readily and acquit themselves +as favourably as if they had been examined by members of their own race. +There is reason to suspect therefore that the coloured children may not +show up in as favourable a light as the white children quite apart from +any colour bias that may possibly affect the results in the same way. In +any case it seems certain that the results are not unduly favourable to +the coloured children. + +The results of several similar inquiries have been summarized by Popenoe +and Johnson. ‘The most careful study yet made’, they write, ‘of the +relative intelligence of negroes and whites,’ is that of G. O. Ferguson, +junior, on 486 white and 421 coloured pupils in the schools of Richmond, +Fredericksburg, and Newport News, Va. Tests were employed which required +the use of the higher ‘functions’ and as far as possible (mainly on the +basis of skin colour) the amount of white blood in the coloured pupils +was determined. Four classes were made: full-blood negro, ¾ negro, ½ +negro (mulatto), and ¼ negro (quadroon). It was found that ‘the pure +negroes scored 69·2 per cent. as high as the whites; that the ¾ negroes +scored 73 per cent. as high as the whites; that the mulattoes scored +81·2 per cent. as high as the whites; and that the quadroons obtained +91·8 per cent. of the white score.’ This confirms the belief of many +observers that the ability of a coloured man is proportionate to the +amount of white blood he has.[1643] + +Summing up a review of this subject Huntingdon writes as follows: ‘So +far as I am aware, every exact test which has been made on a large scale +indicates mental superiority on the part of the white race, even when +the two races have equal opportunities. For example, in Washington the +coloured children remain in school quite as long as the white; they do +not accomplish so much in the way of study and do not reach so high a +grade. In the cities of the south, Mayo and Leram find that where the +races are given essentially the same instruction, the proportion of +whites who are promoted is greater than than of negroes. Moreover, the +differences seem to increase with years, which suggests that the average +coloured child not only stands below the average white child in mental +development at all ages, but ceases to develop at an earlier age. In the +High Schools of New York, superiority of the white race is shown by +Mayo’s examination of the average marks. By the time the children reach +the High School, the processes of promotion have weeded out a much +larger proportion of coloured children than of white. Hence, the negroes +form a specially selected group whose superiority to the average of +their race is more marked than the superiority of the white High School +children when compared with the rest of the race. Nevertheless, the +average marks of the white children are distinctly higher than those of +the coloured.’[1644] Here again, as in the case of Miss Strong’s +investigation, it is not improbable that the conditions are to some +extent weighted against the coloured race. + +5. A third method of arriving at some indication of the relative degree +of mental capacity is to notice what has happened where for some +generations the two races have lived under more or less similar +conditions. ‘One of the best places for comparing the two races is in +the Bahama Islands’, writes Huntington. For reasons which I shall +present later, the process of making ‘poor whites’ has probably gone +farther in the Bahamas than in almost any other Anglo-Saxon community. +Part of the white population are like their race in other regions, but a +large portion have unmistakably degenerated. Witness their intense and +bigoted speech, their sunken cheeks and eyes, their sallow complexion, +and their inert way of working. In spite of racial prejudice, there is +no real colour line in the Bahamas. Persons with more or less negro +blood are worthy occupants of the highest positions, and are universally +accepted in the most exclusive social circles. The British Government +gives the negro every possible opportunity. The state of affairs may be +judged from the remarks of a ‘poor white’ sailor, who said to me: ‘You +want to know why I like the Southern States better than the North. It is +because they hate a nigger and I hates him too. What kind of a place is +this where they do everything for the nigger and nothing for the white +man? It is bad enough to have to go to jail, but it’s pretty hard for a +white man to be taken there by a nigger constable.’ In one Bahaman +village I saw negro girls teaching white children in the public school. +In that same village a number of the leading white men cannot read or +write. + +‘When they were children, their parents would not send them to school +with negroes. The despised negroes learnt to read and write but have now +largely forgotten these accomplishments. The proud whites grow up in +abject ignorance. To-day the same thing is going on. I visited two +villages where the white children are staying away from school because +they will not go to negro teachers. The homes of such whites are +scarcely better than those of their coloured neighbours, and their +fathers are called “Jim” and “Jack” by the black men with whom they +work. Racial prejudice apparently works more harm to the whites than to +the blacks. So far as occupations go there is no difference, for all +alike till the soil, sail boats, and gather sponges. + +‘When the lumber industry was introduced into the islands, whites and +blacks were equally ignorant of the various kinds of work involved in +cutting trees and converting them into lumber. The managers did not care +who did the work so long as it was done. They wanted three things: +strength, docility or faithfulness, and brains. They soon found that in +the first two the negroes were superior. Time and again persons in +authority, chiefly American but also some of the more capable native +whites, told me that if they wanted a crew of men to load a boat or some +such thing, they would prefer negroes every time. The poor white shirks +more than the coloured man. He is not so strong, he is proud and touchy. +Other things being equal, the negro receives the preference, but other +things are not equal. The very man who praised the negroes generally +added: “But you can’t use a negro for everything. They can’t seem to +learn some things, and they don’t know how to boss a job.” The pay roll +reflects this. Even though the negroes receive the preference the 400 +who are employed earn on an average only about 60 per cent. as much as +the 57 white men. If we take only the 57 most competent negroes their +average daily wages are still only 88 per cent. as great as those of the +native whites. The difference is purely a matter of brains. Although the +white man may be ignorant and inefficient, with no more training than +the negro, and although his father and grandfather were scarcely better, +he possesses an inheritance of mental quickness and initiative which +comes into evidence at the first opportunity.’[1645] + +6. What conclusions are we to draw from this varied evidence? Let us +first ask how we should view the differences between the negro and the +modern European. There seems to be no marked difference in innate +intellectual power; the differences are rather differences in +disposition and temperament. The white man has initiative, +inventiveness, versatility, and power of leadership; the black man has +humility, patience, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. It is remarkable with +what unanimity observers of the negro race in its own country speak of +the high degree of intellectual development. Certain points are +noteworthy. The apparent arrest of development is associated with an +absorption at a certain age in practical matters, in tribal habits and +customs, in sex and in settling down to a normal married existence as +much on the lines of their ancestors as is possible under the altered +conditions. Several passages quoted above strongly suggest that what we +are here witnessing is a turning away from the training felt to be +strange and foreign, owing to the strength of the native tradition which +claims all the affection and interest of the young man. In other words +this arrest may not be so much an inevitable result of the kind of +mental faculties which are inherited as a result of the coming into play +of a peculiar tradition. This conclusion is supported by the fact that, +when in Africa education begins earlier, when, that is to say, there is +more of a break with native tradition, the arrest is less well marked. +Further, in America, it is still less marked though it can be detected. +The conclusion would thus seem to be that, though there may be some +tendency for intellectual development to stop at a rather lower stage +than among European races, it is nothing like so well marked as the +observations of residents in South Africa would seem at first sight to +show. + +The evidence quoted has chiefly been drawn from observations upon the +negro races. It must suffice here to say that what is known regarding +the intellectual development of other races included in the first and +second groups leads to the conclusion that, although there are signs of +differences as between these races, yet these differences are not +remarkable, and further that the degree to which so apparently low a +race as the Australians differs from Europeans is not in any case much +greater than the degree in which negroes differ from Europeans. + +It remains to ask how far this evidence supplements that derived from a +study of fossil remains. Judging from the fact that the general level of +the development of the mental faculties of any primitive race is not +separated markedly farther from that of modern European man than are the +negro races in this respect from modern European man, it seems that we +must allow to Upper Palaeolithic man on the average a degree of mental +development at least equivalent to that of the negro. It is further only +reasonable to suppose that the ancestors of Upper Palaeolithic man in +the Middle Palaeolithic were little inferior in mental capacity, +inasmuch as to Neanderthal man, to whom they were superior and whom they +apparently exterminated, we must attribute a degree of intelligence +little, if at all, inferior to that of the Australians. Of Lower +Palaeolithic man we know much less. We do not know, for example, whether +he buried his dead. But if we consider the variety of instruments +fashioned and used by him, it is not unreasonable to attribute to him, +in view of the nature of the general conclusions to which we are being +led, a degree of intelligence again but little inferior to that of +Middle Palaeolithic man. + +Our conclusions can only be tentative; nevertheless such indications as +we have all point the same way. It would seem that the major part of the +progress in the evolution of the intellectual faculties had been +accomplished far back in Palaeolithic times. Those living races which, +with all due reservations and qualifications, may be held to represent +in mental and bodily characters Palaeolithic races, differ from modern +European man rather in disposition than in intellect. And it is +important to note that it is in the growth of the intellect rather than +in the growth of the other mental faculties that modern man is +distinguished from his pre-human ancestor. + +7. We may again follow the same procedure as in the last chapter. We may +recall the general conditions to which man was subject in the +intermediate and early periods and ask how the evolution of mental +characters was influenced by them. We may further ask to what degree and +in what direction the conditions of life among primitive races influence +the selection of mental characters since in general we may assume the +same influences to have been at work among prehistoric races. With +regard to the intermediate period we have to remember that it was far +longer than, perhaps many times as long as, the period which has elapsed +since the rise of Palaeolithic industry. Within this period man +descended to the ground, spread, if not into every continent, at least +far over the surface of the world and came to dominate all other living +organisms as no species had ever done before. Clearly he was enabled to +achieve this result by his intellectual powers and by them alone. He did +not develop any other means of attack or means of defence: he conquered +by his intellect. + +In a general way it is possible to understand how this came about. To +begin with, the pre-human ancestor was favourably situated for such a +development because he was a generalized and not a specialized type. +Once specialization of form has set in, as it has among the anthropoid +apes, there are two bars to such a development as occurred in man. The +specialization of bodily form in order to cope with a peculiar +environment renders the body less adaptable to any changes in the +environment which may take place. Further, unless the body is of the +nature of an instrument capable of being readily employed to perform +various functions, the intellect is unable to manifest itself. We have +only to think of the specialized fore and hind limbs of most mammalian +types to see how poor an instrument the body would in those cases make +in the service of the intellect. + +Under these favourable circumstances, evolution took this momentous +turn. We can understand how, since the pre-human ancestor depended for +his survival almost solely upon his intellect, there would be a high +premium upon intellectual development. It is reasonable to suppose that +he lived in groups of polygamous families and that differential +fertility thus intensified selection. There is, of course, never at any +time only a single factor governing selection, and though undoubtedly +intellect was the chief factor in selection, climatic and other factors +were, as we have noticed, also in operation, bringing about those +changes in bodily form that we have observed. + +The instincts of the pre-human ancestor were doubtless, in common with +those of other mammals, of a generalized type compared with what we find +among some lower groups of animals. The tendency has been for them to +become even more generalized, though not on the whole any less powerful. +It seems likely, for instance, that the instinct of flight was +definitely associated with the snakes among other objects from the +attacks of which presumably the ancestor was at one time in danger. We +assume this because we occasionally meet with cases in which this +specialization of the instinct of flight still obtains. The instinct of +flight has now become wholly generalized, being aroused by general +conditions and not by specialized occurrences. If it is correct to think +of the ancestor as living in groups of families, for the leadership of +which there must have been continual struggles, we may conclude that the +instincts of pugnacity and of self-assertion were favoured, and we may +make other similar deductions in estimating the value of which, however, +it must be remembered that we are very largely in the region of +hypothesis and speculation. The one thing to which we may with certainty +hold fast is the premium upon intellect. + +8. At length the intermediate period gave place to the period marked by +the origin of society of the primitive type, defined by the fact that +men are bound together by rigid custom. Obedience to custom involves a +considerable measure of control of the impulses. Before society of this +kind could have arisen, mental evolution must have reached a still +higher level. + +Let us consider what is implied. To begin with, the dependence of man +upon his intellect for his position in the world accounts, as we have +seen, for the evolution of his mental faculties up to a relatively high +level in the intermediate period. When this level had been reached, the +next step was rendered possible. What was now required was that man +should be able to enjoy the advantages of social co-operation. To this +end law was necessary. McDougall quotes Bagehot as saying that ‘law, +rigid, definite, concise law, was a primary want of early mankind; that +which they needed above everything else, that which was requisite before +they could gain anything else’, and that: ‘in early times the quantity +of government is much more important than its quality. What is wanted is +a comprehensive rule binding men together, making them do the same +things, telling them what to expect of each other, fashioning them +alike, and keeping them so. What this rule is, does not matter so much. +A good rule is better than a bad one, but a bad one is better than +none.’[1646] That man should acquiesce in the restrictions imposed by +society involves prudence, which inhibits those impulses which would +lead to a contravention of custom. Now; fear is a simple emotion, but +prudence implies something more. It involves ‘a capacity for +deliberation and the weighing of motives in the light of +self-consciousness.’[1647] In order that society might become +established, there was thus required a further evolution of the +intellect, and, since the advantages to be gained by the establishment +of society were so great, there must have been a heavy premium upon +evolution in this direction. + +The beginning of the first period in history thus marks the successful +completion of a step in mental evolution raising man above the stage +reached in the intermediate period. It is important to observe that all +primitive races known to us are representatives of man after he had +completed this step. So far, therefore, as their mental faculties throw +light upon the mental evolution of man, it is the level of evolution +reached after and not before the evolution of social organization that +is illustrated. + +We may now glance at the conditions characteristic of primitive races +and ask how they bear upon the selection of mental characters. Primitive +society we found to be characterized by hard and fast rules which must +be implicitly obeyed if social organization is to be maintained. +Obedience to these conventions is of the utmost importance; we may +remember incidentally that, unless the conventions are observed, an +approximation to the optimum population will not be made. There is in +consequence a tendency towards the elimination of those exhibiting +characteristics incompatible with due subservience to the prevailing +tradition. Such characteristics are any marked developments of intellect +or of disposition away from the average. The man who will not conform is +not tolerated. However advantageous to the individual certain +developments might be, such developments are not favoured because the +importance of maintaining intact the group to which he belongs is of +greater moment. Thus, as in the case of physical characters, the general +tendency is on the whole against further evolution and towards the +preservation of those types which have reached the position +characteristic of any primitive race. And it is to be noted that, +whereas bodily form is on the whole adapted to the physical environment, +mental characters are adapted on the whole to the traditional +environment. Men come to be selected in accordance with the needs of +social organization, and as tradition grows in amount also in accordance +with their capability of absorbing tradition. + +It is difficult to point to any factors which markedly favour further +evolution of mental characters. On reading the admirable accounts of the +daily life and customs of the Australians as given by Messrs. Spencer +and Gillen, or of a much more advanced people—the tribes of Borneo, as +described by Messrs. Hose and McDougall—we observe, it is true, the +respect paid to men of experience and of rather more than average +intelligence. We can understand how men not up to the average level of +intelligence would not in all respects fare as well as others, but we do +not find that there are factors distinctly favouring unusual +intelligence. Some progress there probably was. On the whole those men +who attained the leadership were probably rather more intelligent than +the average, though among the qualities which assisted such men to gain +the leadership many other mental qualities played a more prominent part +than intellect; thus, by practising polygamy, or practising it to a +greater extent than the rest, they left more than the average number of +descendants—and, while perhaps raising the intellectual level of the +race, more certainly altering the average mental endowment in respect of +these other qualities. + +Such an examination also shows that a somewhat different disposition is +favoured in different cases. Thus a warlike type is favoured among the +American Indians, for, though possibly the most warlike may be killed +off the most quickly, this is more than counterbalanced by the ease +which with such men get numerous wives. But such differences in no way +conflict with the fact that the tendency is towards the preservation of +a mean, which though it may vary somewhat, is in general outline the +same among all these races. + +There still remains to be noticed the result of conflict between groups, +other than normal warfare, which at times led to the substitution, whole +or partial, of a less intelligent by a more intelligent race, or at +least of a less skilled by a more skilled race; for by this time the +outward manifestation of intellect was to a considerable extent overlaid +by tradition. But such substitution, though it changes the average +germinal constitution of the species as a whole, scarcely accounts in +any noteworthy degree for the evolution of a higher level of +intellectual capacity. The conditions which did favour further evolution +within these two periods are the same as those which, when present to a +more marked degree and acting over a longer period of time, finally gave +rise to the races of the third period, and to these conditions we may +now turn. + +9. There are certain regions of the world’s surface which contain within +them areas abutting one upon the other and differing sharply one from +the other. Such a region is found in that part of Western Asia which +embraces Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Western +Iran. In such areas races live in close contact with other races of very +different habits, customs, and modes of life; hunting and fishing races, +pastoral races, agricultural races, races predominately sea-faring, all +come into contact and conflict. Under conditions of these kinds there is +more tendency for advantage to accrue to intellect not only as between +members of different races but as between members of the same race than +in conflicts between races of similar culture. Where these conditions +have ruled, therefore, there has been a tendency, though perhaps not a +very marked tendency, for a premium to have been set upon intellect. It +so happens, however, that this region of Western Asia is endowed above +all other regions with plants and animals that can be domesticated and +with other features offering rewards to skill. In this region there was +thus an additional premium upon intellect, and it was apparently in this +region that the races who initiated the third period made their +appearance. To the favouring of intellect under these conditions we may +thus attribute what superiority of intellect the races of this group +exhibit over the races of other groups. But it is rather in disposition +and temperament that the predominant races of this group differ from +those of the preceding groups. In them we meet with a power of +leadership, a resourcefulness, a versatility, that marks them off from +the primitive races, and it is precisely these qualities which would be +chiefly favoured in conflict and competition of the kind described. The +outward manifestation of these qualities may indeed be largely a matter +of tradition, but that they are also in part innate in the modern +European we have seen to be the case, and the explanation of this +further evolution is clearly to be found in the conditions to which they +have long been subject. + +Turning to the conditions within the races of the third period and +neglecting the Asiatic races, those races which in fact have been left +in a backwater out of the main stream of progress, we find ourselves +faced with the difficulty that tradition has so far come to overlay the +innate qualities of intellect and disposition, that we are only with +great difficulty at present able to estimate the result of any factors +which we may see at work favouring or otherwise particular types. We may +note, however, that success both between and within races has fallen +rather to character than to skill. There is, in other words, little +reason for thinking that intellect, so far as it is measured by skill, +has been markedly favoured. On the other hand, character as outwardly +manifested has been clearly favoured. But how far we should see in this +process a favouring of certain innate types of disposition and of +temperament must be left for consideration until later. These +reservations regarding the passing at present of any judgement apply +with the greatest force to the results of the differential fertility +between the social classes in many countries at the present day. But we +may say that, as in the case of physical characters, there has now +ceased to be any strong tendency towards the preservation of a mean +type. Conditions allow of the existence of variations away from the +mean—but, as regards intellect, unfavourable equally with favourable +variations. + +10. We have seen that the evidence derived both from a study of fossil +remains and from a study of primitive races leads to the conclusion that +the evolution of human intellectual capacity early reached a relatively +advanced stage. An inquiry into the forces which we must assume to have +been at work shows that intellectual capacity was more favoured in the +intermediate stage than after primitive society had come into being. It +was favoured at first as the character which enabled man to obtain his +dominating position in the world and afterwards again as the necessary +trait which enabled him to enjoy the benefits of co-operation. When +dwelling on the fact that the advance since the setting up of primitive +society has been relatively small, it must not be forgotten that the +latter period has been far shorter than the former. The period of time +which has elapsed since the ancestors of man set out, so to speak, to +conquer the world, must at a minimum estimate be five to ten times as +long as the period since the establishment of primitive society to the +present day. + +The general conclusion to which we are led is that of the whole degree +of mental evolution which has taken place by far the greater part was +achieved at a time when only a beginning had been made with progress in +skill. To the question whether the historical process outlined in the +fifth chapter is comparable with progress among wild species—is based, +in other words, upon changes in the germinal constitution—these +conclusions suggest the answer that the happenings in the intermediate +period are very largely in any case to be accounted for in this manner. +There can be little doubt that the increasing domination of man was +largely proportional to the growth of his innate intellectual capacity. +But to the question as to how far the happenings within the period since +the origin of primitive society are connected with the further evolution +of innate capacity we can at present return no answer. We may note the +striking fact that within this period progress in skill has been immense +and has latterly gone on at a greatly increased speed, whereas changes +in the germinal constitution have been relatively small. This clearly +suggests that there has been but little connexion between the course of +history as usually understood and changes in the germinal constitution. +But before we can pass any judgement, we must gain some idea as to the +manner in which tradition contributes to the shaping of history. Only +then shall we be in a position to estimate the part played by such +changes in innate characters as have occurred, and to this task we may +now turn. + + + + + XIX + THE NATURE OF TRADITION + + +1. So far as bodily characters are concerned, we have seen that we have +to look for the explanation of human history primarily in changes in the +germinal constitution. With regard to mental characters the position is +different. It is evident that, at least in the later stages of history, +the outstanding features are not correlated strictly with changes in the +germinal constitution underlying mental faculties. To some extent, +possibly to a large extent, they are independent of such changes. The +influence of the environment in the second sense has to be considered, +and until it has been considered we cannot arrive at any conclusion as +to the importance to be attributed to the former factor in bringing +these events about. What is now required, therefore, is a study of the +influence of the environment in the second sense. It will be very +briefly undertaken in this and the following chapter. In this chapter we +are concerned with the nature of tradition, and the manner in which it +is passed on, stored up, and retained. In the next chapter we have to +examine the influence of the various factors in building up tradition. + +In Chapter II we saw that, as far as mental development is concerned, +the distinguishing characteristic of man is the conceptual process of +thought. Man is, of course, also possessed of all the simpler mental +processes there described. We have here in particular to study the +consequences which follow the attainment to this higher level of mental +process. It has already been observed that the circumstances were +favourable to the evolution of this faculty. They also enabled the +fullest use to be made of it.[1648] In the first place the human +instincts are very generalized. They provide a basis for all kinds of +vaguely directed activities in response to vaguely discriminated +impressions from a large class of objects. Since it is only through the +instinctive faculties that the intellect gets to work, the generalized +nature of the instincts is a great advantage. Secondly the immature +period is prolonged. In comparison with the higher animals the immature +period occupies a far longer proportion of the normal term of life and +thus there is provided a far longer period in which learning can +proceed. Lastly there is the power of speech. + +The question has been much debated as to whether there can be thought on +the conceptual level without language. It would seem that conceptual +thought can only exist without language when of a very rudimentary kind. +‘Language is not merely an accompaniment of conceptual activity; it is +an instrument essential to its development. It is an appropriate means +of fixing attention upon ideally represented objects as distinguished +from percepts.’[1649] Language, on the other hand, so far as it is a +means of communication concerning objects outside the actual range of +perception, can only arise between persons capable of conceptual +thought. And this is essentially the function of language. It reflects +the conceptions by which empirical data are brought into relation. +‘Resemblances of quality are expressed by general terms, continuity of +existence by individual names, the relation of ideas and the order of +connexion in thought by the arrangement of words in a sentence.’[1650] +Language expresses that breaking up and re-combination of the elements +of experience which we have seen to be the essential features of +conceptual thought. + +Language makes possible the influence of mind upon mind, and is the +basis of all human social development. It fixes the mind of a thinker +upon his own ideas, and, when in communication with another person, it +fixes the mind of the hearer upon the ideally represented objects +present in the mind of the speaker. Into its origin it is not necessary +to go. But it may be observed that, just as the generalized nature of +the instincts and the prolonged immature period enabled the fullest use +to be made of the power of conceptual thinking, so the fact that the +mouth and the throat, usually otherwise unoccupied, were ready at hand +as convenient instruments of communication enabled speech to be +developed without occupying other organs, such as the hands, which could +be profitably employed at the same time for other purposes. + +2. Before we go on to consider how tradition—the product of conceptual +thought—is passed on and stored up, it should be noticed that we have +not to regard the process of conceptual thought as one which sprang into +being in its present form and continued as such ever since. There has +been a movement of thought up from dim and rudimentary beginnings to its +present stage. This movement may be considered as consisting essentially +in the clarification of concepts. It is possible to examine the nature +of this movement without reference to the question as to how far the +later stages are dependent upon the evolution of innate mental +characters. It may be that the higher stages of conceptual thought are +possible only when the evolution of the intellect has proceeded beyond +the point where lower stages of thought alone are manifested. This +question may be neglected for the present and we may consider very +briefly the nature of this movement, which is best illustrated if we +contrast in a few words the stage which conceptual thought has reached +among primitive peoples as a whole with the stage it has reached in the +everyday life of the so-called civilized races of the present time, and +in so doing we may follow Professor Hobhouse’s recent exposition.[1651] + +With the origin of language arises the first sign of the power to grasp +the data of experience in accordance with their affinities and so to +build up conceptions of individuals, groups, and classes as the subject +of rough-and-ready generalizations. ‘With regard to matters standing out +very plainly in experience or very close to practical interests there is +not room for much divergence in method.... But outside the limited area +of readily tested belief lies a mass of more doubtful ideas of great +significance in human life. In this region we find in the first stage +that the movements of fancy under the sway of feeling take the lead in +forming belief, and that the ideas formed are so obscure and +inconsistent as to blur the deepest lines of distinction drawn for more +developed thought in the logical categories. We may then consider the +first stage in human thought to be one of which the process of +organizing experience into common categories is incomplete, and the +evidence for the truth of an idea is not yet separate from the quality +which renders it pleasant.’[1652] This is the stage characteristic of +the most primitive peoples. The categories—particularly the category of +substance—are not clearly defined. Thus vital functions may be confused +with material substance, men and animals may be identified with their +shadow, and a pain may be confused with a stone that can be extracted. +So, too, it is thought that a man’s qualities can be obtained by eating +him. Relations and qualities tend to become substances, substances +deliquesce into a series of changes, and the general is confused with +the particular. These tendencies of early thought underlie animism and +magic, which are characteristic of all primitive races. Mr. Frazer, for +instance, has distinguished two forms of sympathetic magic which he +calls homoeopathic and contagious magic. Dancing and leaping to make the +crops grow high is an example of the former; ‘the sympathy that is +supposed to exist between a man and any severed portion of his person, +as his hair or nails, so that whoever gets possession of human hair or +nails may work his will at any distance upon the person from whom they +were cut’,[1653] is an example of the latter. ‘Homoeopathic magic is +founded on the association of ideas by similarity: contagious magic is +founded on the association of ideas by contiguity. Homoeopathic magic +commits the mistake of assuming that things which resemble each other +are the same; contagious magic commits the mistake of assuming that +things which have once been in contact with each other are always in +contact.’[1654] + +There follows a second stage which Professor Hobhouse calls the stage of +‘common sense’. It is characterized by the organization of ideas in +accordance with the categories and by the differentiation of feeling +from belief. At this stage the categories are no longer ordinarily +confused and the difficulty of affirming what a man does not like to +believe is no longer so strongly felt as in the previous stage. +Experience is tested and good evidence is recognized as such. It is no +longer believed that an enemy can be harmed by maltreating a likeness of +him or that qualities like courage are substances that may be +transferred. This is the stage of conceptual thought reached by the +ordinary man in everyday life in a modern community when he is not +specifically engaged in work of a scientific nature or in problems of +religion or philosophy. Just as the simpler mental processes are present +among men who have reached the conceptual level, so the earliest stage +of conceptual thought can be recognized where later stages have been +reached, as, for instance, when grace is conferred by the laying on of +hands in a modern community. + +The beginnings of the common-sense stage may perhaps be found in the +second period. Essentially it is characteristic of the third period, and +it was only within this period that this stage came to its full +development. When this stage is contrasted with that which preceded it, +it is seen that it is the clarification of concepts which is the +distinguishing feature of the movement of thought. In other words there +has been an improvement in the instrument whereby the intellect +works—comparable to any other process through which skill is increased. +Just as the bow and arrow and the plough have been improved by a series +of inventions, so has the instrument of thought been improved; and just +as further improvements in the plough and the bow and arrow after a +certain stage has been reached may possibly depend upon further +evolution of mental capacity, so possibly progress in the movement of +thought may depend upon further evolution of the intellect. Again it +should be observed that just as tools such as the plough are handed down +as part of the tradition, so, too, the instrument of thought is handed +down as part of the tradition and that, therefore, in studying in what +follows the manner in which tradition is passed on and stored up, we are +studying the methods whereby the instrument of thought as much as any +other skilled process is transmitted. + +Further stages in the movement of thought maybe distinguished. It is not +necessary to go into them here. They arise within the third period, and +relatively late within that period. They are characterized by the rise +and development of science, philosophy, and religion—religion, that is +to say, which has passed beyond the stage of folk-religion. + +3. Let us now consider the passing on and storing up of the products of +conceptual thinking. We may take the latter point first. Ideas may be +stored up in language, customs, folk-lore, institutions, tools, and so +on, using tools in the narrower sense of material implements. In one +sense language is in itself a great storehouse of ideas quite apart from +its function as a means of transmitting ideas regarding specific customs +and rights. Slowly and painfully concepts have been elaborated, +distinguished, clarified; and as a child learns his native language, in +a few years he acquires the products of the thinking of untold +generations from whom he is descended. It is difficult to exaggerate the +immense importance of this method of storing ideas. Very largely through +language alone, though not without the acquirement of ideas otherwise +stored, a man passes, by the time he has reached maturity, through a +stage of thought corresponding to the primitive stage, to the +common-sense stage, and even to the higher stages. + +It is obvious enough that at the present day ideas are largely stored in +books and the vast importance of writing and printing—inventions of the +third period[1655]—is a commonplace. Similarly, ideas are stored in +customs, institutions, rites, folk-lore, and so on. Behind all +institutions, ceremonies for example, we must seek ideas. The original +ideas which gave birth to customs have often been lost, but whether this +is so or not, where an institution exists and is passed on there we are +witnessing the perpetuation of an idea, if it is merely an idea that it +is the correct thing to perform some simple action on certain occasions. +Many valuable ideas are stored up in the making and use of tools and in +the practice of skilled processes, especially those which are concerned +with the provision of food. We can understand how by the exercise of +thought improvements in some tool or in some method are now and again +made, and, once made, how they are stored up. What is less easy is to +understand precisely how the passing on of ideas so stored is brought +about. + +4. Something has already been said as to the manner in which by means of +language ideas present in the mind of the speaker are transmitted to the +hearer; and it has been pointed out that apart from this the learning of +any language is in itself a process by which the ideas elaborated by +former generations are acquired. Bearing in mind the manner in which +ideas are transmitted by language, it is clear how, after the invention +of writing and more especially after the invention of printing, ideas +thus stored up are transmitted. But before these inventions, and indeed +to a large extent after them also, ideas committed to memory by each +generation are passed on by language. Among primitive people there is a +vast store of ideas affecting conduct, belief, and every side of life +which is so passed on. But the storing up of ideas is not merely a +matter of memory and the passing on is not merely a matter of language. +Rites, ceremonies, implements, and so on, are themselves storehouses of +ideas, and the transmission of the ideas therein contained, as well +indeed as the ideas solely retained in the memory of past generations, +is accomplished in large part by a process of absorption. + +This process of absorption is due to the presence of certain innate +tendencies. These tendencies have sometimes been grouped under one head +and called imitation—as, for instance, by Tarde and others who have +studied the process and emphasized its great importance in social life. +Following McDougall we may distinguish three innate tendencies. By +sympathy is meant that the exhibition of emotional excitement on the +part of the agent may induce a similar emotional excitement on the part +of the patient. By imitation is meant that there may be a tendency for +the patient to assimilate his bodily movements to those of the agent. +Important as are these innate tendencies in facilitating the +transmission of customs and so on—themselves ultimately the product of +conceptual thought—suggestion assumes a far more prominent place. + +McDougall’s definition of suggestion has already been quoted. According +to his view it is essentially the acceptance with conviction of a +proposition in the absence of logically adequate grounds for its +acceptance. He points out that a proposition is not necessarily +communicated in formal language, and further distinguishes certain +conditions which are favourable for the communication of propositions by +suggestion. Chief among these are deficiency of knowledge relating to +the topic in regard to which the suggestion is made, imperfect +organization of knowledge, and the impressive character of the source +from which the suggested proposition is communicated. These conditions +are very prominent among children and in all primitive society. There is +no doubt that it is largely by virtue of suggestion that children absorb +the tradition of their race and time. Children have little knowledge and +what they have is imperfectly organized; further propositions come to +them from a source which is impressive and has prestige whether it is +from parents or grown-up people or from the conventions ruling in +society. Just as children in modern society absorb tradition by +suggestion, so do men among primitive races where the conditions are +even more favourable for transmission by this means. Thus, in order that +the products of conceptual thinking of former generations should be +transmitted, it is not necessary that there should be convictions based +on logical grounds or that formal language should be employed. Tradition +can be, and is to a large extent, ‘absorbed’. + +5. Tradition, having thus passed on, is retained, and in the process of +retention habit plays an important part. Habit applies to all forms of +mental process and to all forms of action. Once something has been +performed in one way, it is easier to do it again in that way than in +any other. ‘This is the great principle’, says McDougall, ‘by which all +acquisitions of the individual mind are preserved’,[1656] whatever the +mode of acquisition may be. + +6. The products of the thinking of past generations are thus stored up, +transmitted, and retained. Additions are made to the store, and +improvements are made in the method of storing. Tradition, by which is +meant this store, is thus cumulative. The acquirements of past +generations are passed on to the present generation and, modified in +some degree, are transmitted to future generations. New generations, +therefore, so far as acquired knowledge is concerned, begin at the point +where the former generation left off. It does not, of course, follow +that additions are always being made to tradition; it may be for all +practical purposes stagnant or much that has been acquired may be +lost.[1657] It does, however, permit of accumulation, and this fact +introduces an element of vast importance into the life of man as +compared with his pre-human ancestors. + +It is not, however, correct to say that this is a wholly new element. +Tradition may be and is present before the level of conceptual thinking +has been reached. Many animals, for example, live in herds and +instinctively take shelter when one member of a herd utters a warning +cry. If at some past time a new enemy has appeared, they will have +learnt by experience to take shelter. Subsequent generations will raise +the warning cry on the appearance of the enemy, because what we may +think of as a tradition has grown up concerning the hostile nature of +the species with which past generations were brought into contact. Thus +we may think of a tradition among horses that motorcars are not +dangerous. When cars were first introduced horses tended instinctively +to avoid them. Many horses learnt from experience that cars were +harmless, and young horses, seeing motorcars for the first time in the +presence of older horses, which have learnt the lesson, absorb the +tradition that they are not dangerous. Tradition among animals can go +even farther than this. To some degree it seems that the manner of nest +building among birds is traditional and not instinctive.[1658] But +compared with the vast importance of tradition among men, tradition +among animals is an almost negligible feature in their lives, and for +all practical purposes we can think of tradition as a peculiar +characteristic of man due to the higher mental process to which he has +attained. + +7. In any race at any given time there is thus a vast body of tradition. +These traditions govern both the degree and the direction in which the +various mental processes function. What is meant will be clearer if we +think of the influence of the mass of traditions upon physical +characters. At any given time there are a number of tools and skilled +processes known and employed and, in the first place, the degree in +which the body is exercised will depend upon their nature. It may be +that hunting with bow and arrow, or fishing in canoes, is the chief +occupation of the men. The degree of physical exercise will be +conditioned by these traditions and so too will, in the second place, +the nature and direction of physical exercise. Similarly with regard to +the intellectual faculties, the degree to which they are used will be +conditioned by the form of language, by the necessity of learning what +custom lays down as the acquirement of an average member of society, and +by the opportunities and inducements generally to the employment of +reasoning. The direction in which the intellectual faculties work will +also be closely conditioned by tradition. Having absorbed the traditions +of the race and time, the direction which reasoning follows will always +be very largely governed by what has been acquired. Few men strike out +new paths, and, when they do, the direction of the path is seen to be +greatly influenced by the previous trend of thought. Tradition, as it +advances, thus tends to proceed in grooves. + +The manner in which tradition conditions the degree and nature of the +manifestation of the instinctive tendencies is equally well marked. +Among some races, such as the Eskimos, fighting is almost unknown. +Though among such races the instinct of pugnacity is probably less +strongly given in the germinal constitution than among other races, to a +large extent the relative absence of fighting is certainly due to +tradition. Among the Eskimos we find a great body of custom and ideas +all of which tend to impress upon them that fighting is wrong. An +emotion again may be greatly developed by some racial tradition. +Self-assertion is much more developed among the members of the larger +and more prosperous European races than among the smaller and weaker +races. The attitude of the Englishman is very different from that of the +Dane, who will tell you that Denmark is only a little country that wants +to be let alone. Latterly the attention of the world has been drawn to +the peculiar manner in which the teaching of various historians, +moralists, philosophers and others has moulded the outlook of the +Germans and come to direct the expression of their emotions. Thus in a +most striking manner it has been made obvious how a peculiar body of +tradition, ultimately the product of conceptual thinking, has directed +the emotions and sentiments of a whole people into certain channels with +such disastrous results. The direction of an instinct is often changed; +the tender emotion may be diverted among the childless to charitable +works, and the instincts of celibates obviously become much changed. Any +instinct indeed is capable of manifesting itself in very different forms +according to the outlet which it finds, and the nature of the outlet is +determined chiefly by tradition. ‘On a, aujourd’hui’, says Joubert, ‘non +seulement la cupidité mais l’ambition du gain.’[1659] The simpler +emotion has, that is to say, become more complex under the influence of +the traditional environment. + +8. Lastly we may note that the tradition acquired and present at any one +time may form the basis for the selection of men and of groups of men. +There are often, especially among the higher races, differences in +tradition as between the groups and classes in the same race. The +differences are usually much greater between different races. The +tradition present in a race, whether because it includes a higher degree +of skill, enables a greater degree of coherence to be realized, is the +foundation of more vigorous endeavour, or because it is a combination of +these and other elements, may enable one race, when in conflict with +other races, to overcome those other races, should the latter be +possessed of a tradition, which, taken as a whole, is, relatively to the +conditions of the contest, less valuable. There is thus a process of +natural selection based upon differences in tradition, just as there is +a natural selection based upon differences due to modifications and also +upon differences due to mutations. Selection of modifications, as we +have seen, produces no permanent results. But selection of tradition, +like selection of mutations, has results which may be permanent. In +primitive society, where tradition within a race tends to be uniform, +this selection of tradition chiefly comes into play in the conflict +between races. In more advanced societies where there are considerable +differences in tradition between the classes, it also comes into play +within races. + +The conflict between races is always in large measure a conflict between +traditions whether or not the differences in tradition are a measure of +more fundamental differences. In these conflicts a mass of tradition may +be wiped out and lost for good or any degree of amalgamation of +tradition may take place. + +At length within modern races there arises a competition of ideas of a +rather different nature. Within civilized races there is no longer a +mass of tradition which has to be accepted as a whole; there are +different ideas which may be said to compete. One idea may get the +better of another within the minds of the majority without involving any +elimination of men who hold any other idea, because men can now change +their outlook—not, of course, in the case of the great majority by any +logical process. Thus a struggle comes into being between ideas, +customs, and institutions in modern communities which leads to change +without involving human selection. + +These considerations pave the way to an examination of the influence of +the actual conditions under which tradition has been elaborated. We have +seen that conceptual thinking develops with, and is furthered by, the +use of speech. It does not develop merely to a particular level and +there stop. There is a movement of thought which at least in its earlier +stages takes the form of a clarification of concepts. The products of +conceptual thinking are stored up and handed on in the form of +tradition. This tradition is cumulative. Not only are additions made to +it but the methods of storing are improved. Elements may also be lost. +Finally, forming, as it does, a very important element in the +manifestation of human mental character, men, and more particularly +races of men, may be selected in accordance with the degree and quality +of tradition acquired by them. + + + + + XX + THE ORIGIN OF TRADITION + + +1. The study of the formation of tradition is a matter of great +complexity. Many important aspects of the problem await elucidation. It +is proposed here to reduce the discussion to the barest outline, and to +confine it to the origin of skilled processes and in particular to the +origin of skill in the provision of the essential requirements of daily +life. We further take into account only the most important aspects of +the environment—namely, the influence of fertility and the influence of +contact of man with man and of race with race. All questions connected +with innate differences in mental and physical characters will be for +the present disregarded. We want to know—other things being equal—how +skill will originate and grow, given such differences in the environment +as regards fertility and contact as exist. + +2. The first problem which confronts us is concerned with the +differences in the environment arising from differences in fertility. To +this term a special meaning is attached. Fertility as here employed +corresponds to what is usually spoken of as the wealth of any country or +district. The nature and abundance of the fauna and flora, the surface +features of the land, the composition of the upper layers of the ground, +the minerals and to some degree the climate, as well as other factors, +all go to make up the fertility or wealth of any area. The differences +in the factors which go to make up fertility as between different +portions of the world’s surface are well known; they are very +great—areas closely approximated being at times sharply differentiated +one from another whereas in other places conditions remain very similar +over large areas. + +The most important fact to be observed in this connexion is that there +is no absolute standard of fertility. ‘The term fertility’, says +Marshall, ‘has no meaning except with reference to the special +circumstances of a particular time and place.’[1660] Fertility is in +fact purely a relative term, and, now that we have for the moment put +aside differences in mental and physical characters, fertility is +relative for our purpose only to the amount of skill and such other +elements of tradition as may be in existence. An area, which is very +fertile for a race with some agricultural skill, may be far from fertile +for a race with a knowledge only of hunting and fishing, and the +presence of minerals obviously adds nothing to the fertility of an area +to a race lacking knowledge of their use. The country inhabited by the +Eskimos, who maintain a standard of living that, relative to the +standard achieved by many races, is far from low, would be wholly +infertile to a race not possessed of the peculiar skill distinctive of +Eskimo culture. + +It should be noticed that, so far as fertility is dependent upon animal +and plant life, the fertility of different regions of the world’s +surface has varied in the period covered by the emergence of man, not +merely relatively but absolutely. There have been climatic changes of +which the glacial periods were the most remarkable. There have been +changes in the boundaries of seas, such as the Mediterranean, which have +profoundly affected the fertility of the neighbouring regions. The +Sahara at one time was certainly not as barren as it is now. In any +survey, such as that we are going to make, which was at all detailed, +such changes would have to be taken into account. But in what follows +they may be disregarded. + +It may be observed here that in certain areas there is a destructive +element in the total make-up of the surroundings. The variable climatic +conditions of Australia and India which have been noticed in another +connexion are of importance also in this respect. The hurricanes of New +Caledonia are another example. So too are all those features in the +Central African environment which destroy the products of man’s +handiwork.[1661] This destructive element is only an exaggeration of +certain features which characterize all areas; nevertheless where these +features are exaggerated important results follow. There may be, for +instance, two areas, otherwise equally fertile; but if the destructive +element is important in one area, it is probable that so high an +economic stage will not be reached or maintained there as in the other, +and further, for the same reason, there will be less tendency for any +advance in tradition to be made. The reason for this will be clear when +we have examined the influence which fertility has upon skill. For this +destructive element is a kind of negative fertility, and just as +fertility is on the whole favourable to progress in skill, so what is +equivalent to its absence is a hindrance to progress in skill. + +3. Fertility is thus relative to the tradition prevalent at any one +time. Let us suppose that man has spread over the surface of the world +and that the tradition present is everywhere very similar, being of a +simple form so far as skill is concerned, and consisting in a +rudimentary knowledge of hunting and fishing. It is clear that certain +areas—the great deserts, the frozen wastes of the north—will be +absolutely infertile; with this degree of skill only, life cannot be +maintained there. The remaining areas will vary from those which are +just sufficiently fertile to permit of life being maintained to those +which are the most fertile relative to this particular degree of skill. +Supposing for the moment that the degree of skill remains everywhere +similar, it follows, from what has been said earlier, that population +will be most dense and the return per head highest where the fertility +is greatest. Other things being equal, differences in fertility are thus +responsible for important differences in social life. + +From these differences in fertility therefore consequences of the +greatest importance follow. In the first place, where population is most +dense, there, other things being equal, will be the greatest amount of +contact between men. With the results that flow from contact we shall +deal later, but it may be mentioned here that contact is in itself a +stimulus leading to the origin of, additions to, and modifications of, +tradition, and that the greater the amount of contact the more quickly +and the more thoroughly is tradition transmitted. Therefore, in the +first place, where the fertility is greatest, there will be the greatest +opportunity for existing tradition to be quickly absorbed. In the second +place, quite apart from the question of contact, where fertility is +greatest there is also for other reasons the greatest stimulus to +increase in skill. To illustrate this point let us remember in what +fertility consists. The existence of areas of greater fertility implies +that there are in such areas either a greater abundance of animals, +plants, minerals, and so on which can be of use, or a greater variety, +or both together. Let us further remember how inventions come about. For +thousands of years in a variety of ways the fact that the seed if sown +would produce its like in twenty-, fifty-, or a hundred-fold measure +must have been pressing itself upon the attention of man when supporting +himself by hunting and fishing only. How often the metal softened in the +camp fire before the method of fashioning a far more effective tool than +stone was adopted, we cannot guess. Eventually the facts were observed, +the practical applications to the needs of life undertaken, and valuable +additions made to skill and embodied in tradition. Man in fact +throughout the greater part of his history has not gone about +consciously trying to better his lot. Rude and poor as life was, his +necessity was not the mother of his inventions. Once, however, an +invention was made it became a necessity, and it is more in accordance +with the facts to invert the proverb and to regard invention as the +mother of necessity. But where should we expect the facts to be noticed +and the improvements to be made in skill? Obviously where they most +often happened, where, in other words, fertility was greatest. For it is +in those regions where there is the greatest abundance in quality and +quantity of useful objects that there will be the greatest chance of +their usefulness being observed, and that there will be derived the +highest return per head from any improvements in skill. + +The greater the fertility, therefore, the greater the incentive to +progress in skill. This conclusion may seem to be in contradiction with +the commonly accepted idea that, when a living is easily obtained, there +is a tendency to stagnation.[1662] This notion is derived from +observations and descriptions of countries where, so it is said, such is +the bounty of nature that the hand has, so to speak, only to be +stretched out in order to gather in the fruits of the earth. This idea +is largely founded upon an under-estimate of the labour undergone, +especially on the part of the women, and upon an exaggeration of the +returns per head, and, as far as it is so derived, it is incorrect. But +it is true that often in such regions there is a tendency to stagnation; +such tendency, however, is in no way derived from the fertility; it +arises because to the tradition there is added for quite other reasons a +spirit of apathy and of listlessness. How this comes about may be +discussed later but it may be mentioned here that a destructive element +in the natural endowment of any area, such as not infrequently exists in +tropical regions, is one cause of the existence of this spirit. + +4. Fertility then is relative, but, other things being equal, where +fertility is greatest there we find the greatest incentive to increase +in skill. From this follow certain important consequences. So long as +progress in skill keeps along any one line, so long as it takes the +form, for instance, of improvement in methods of hunting, so long, as a +general rule, will the same areas remain the more fertile areas. But +this does not always follow. It may be that some remarkable invention, +that of the bow and arrow perhaps, renders areas, previously not the +most fertile, the most remunerative. Hitherto it may have been that in +such areas the hunting of game was for various reasons difficult until a +higher degree of skill was reached, but this higher degree having been +reached, these areas became more remunerative than those previously the +most fertile. With the progress of skill there is thus a shifting of the +centres of the highest fertility. + +This shifting of centres becomes more marked where progress takes a +different turn, where, for instance, agriculture arises. For this there +are two main reasons. First, it generally happens that an area which is +very fertile to a high degree of development of one kind of skill, as +the north-west coast of America is fertile to hunting and fishing, is +relatively infertile to another type of skill, as, for instance, +agriculture, in any case in its lower forms. It is rare that any area is +so highly endowed that at one and the same time it offers a large return +to the development of a particular form of skill and is also relatively +fertile to the first beginnings of another and ultimately far more +remunerative type of skill. Secondly, it is not as a rule where skill is +specialized that we find the beginnings of a new form of skill. +Tradition tends to move in grooves and where attention is with success +concentrated upon one type of skilled process, it is not there that we +should expect to find the origin of quite another type of skilled +process. This is only an application of a principle noted in another +connexion, namely that evolution proceeds from the generalized and not +from the specialized type. + +In this manner the differences in natural endowment which distinguish +one part of the world from another bring about a shifting of the centres +of progress. There are other factors still to be considered which work +in the same direction; but apart from them this shifting comes about. +Though this shifting has been a feature of every stage of human history, +it must have been most noticeable where the great steps in skill were +made—when agriculture superseded hunting, when animals were first +domesticated, and when metals came into use. + +5. To differences in fertility we have to add differences in contact as +affecting progress in skill. Contact may be considered as varying in +quality and quantity and may be thought of as influenced chiefly by two +groups of factors which we may call geographical and economic. We may +first ask how it is that differences in contact bring about differences +in skill. + +From contact two results follow. The spread of tradition is in varying +degrees encouraged and progress in tradition is more or less stimulated. +For the most part differences in the spreading of tradition are to be +traced to differences in the quantity of contact, though differences in +quality also play a considerable part, while differences in the manner +in which progress is stimulated arise chiefly from differences in the +quality of contact. + +It is obvious that tradition can only be transmitted by means of +contact. Later developments such as writing and printing allow of +contact at a distance; but for the most part it is personal contact with +which we are concerned. It is on the whole true that, other things being +equal, the more contact, the more swiftly and easily is the existing +mass of tradition disseminated throughout any society, and that +therefore the more fertile an area, the greater the chance of the +spreading of tradition. But other things are by no means equal +throughout history. At a certain stage, owing to the working of what we +may sum up as economic factors, there comes about a profound change in +the organization of society, the nature of which is described below. +This change markedly favours the transmission of tradition and therefore +we have to remember that the amount of contact ascertained by the +density of population is by no means a fair measure of the degree in +which the passing on of tradition is facilitated. Further consideration +of this point may be left until we come to deal with the changes +referred to. Geographical factors also have a bearing upon the +transmission of tradition, but since their influence is chiefly +pronounced in the stimulus to skill arising from the conflict of +traditions of different quality we may leave them to be dealt with later +as a whole. + +Of more importance than the bearing of contact upon the transmission of +tradition is the part it plays as a stimulus to tradition. The +remarkable change which at a certain period supervenes in the +organization of society and to which reference has been made above, has +as far-reaching effects in affecting stimulus to skill as it has in +facilitating the transmission of tradition. Again we may leave the +consideration of this point until we have described the nature of this +change. It is clear, however, that the presence of other men is on the +whole a stimulus, though not in itself an important stimulus, so long as +tradition is fairly uniform. Nevertheless the more contact there is, on +the whole the more stimulus there is. ‘There be thoughts’, wrote +Maitland, ‘which only come to men when they be tightly packed.’[1663] +But it is when traditions of different quality come into contact that +the stimulus becomes important. Where this happens, we have to +distinguish two things. There is the passing over of the elements +peculiar to each tradition to the other tradition and there is the +stimulus which the mere contact affords. + +The passing over of elements of one tradition to another and the +stimulus afforded go more or less together. Under certain circumstances +there is no passing over and there is no stimulus, or at least they are +reduced to a minimum. This sometimes happens when two cultures varying +very markedly one from the other come into contact—one being +distinguished by the possession of a far higher degree of skill than the +other. The less skilled race is driven from its territory, and if it +survives it is because certain areas of its territory are relatively +infertile to the higher skill of the conquering race. A remnant of the +less skilled race survives in some corner of its former territory and +reaches a _modus vivendi_ with the dominant race. This _modus vivendi_ +may take the form of an almost complete disregard of one race for the +other; no influence is exerted by one on the other; little, if anything, +is absorbed from the other tradition. Some such condition was reached as +between the Veddahs, the Todas, the Central African pygmies, and the +races respectively surrounding them. + +In order that the contact should be effective it is necessary that the +differences between the cultures should not be too great. It is most +effective in such a region as Western Asia where in close proximity +there are several areas varying markedly one from another. In such a +region there will grow up, owing to the variations in fertility, +somewhat different traditions. These traditions coming into contact will +rarely wholly overwhelm one another; there will be a perpetual taking +over by one tradition of some elements from the other so that each +tradition will be enriched as it could not have been enriched had it +depended entirely upon the environment which gave birth to it. Further, +the fact that implements, skilled processes, customs, and institutions +of a strange nature are now and again coming under the notice of each +race acts as a stimulus to thought and invention quite apart from the +advantage that may be gained by the absorption of what is valuable into +its tradition. It is probable that in this stimulus to thought we have +to recognize one of the most important factors making towards progress. + +There is no space to pursue this subject here. It may perhaps be noticed +that, when two cultures come into contact, all the elements do not +spread with equal rapidity. It has been observed, for instance, that, +when a tradition comprising greater skill comes into contact with a less +full tradition, ‘it is the recognition of the superiority of the natural +objects and arts which prevails and makes possible the acceptance of +other elements of an introduced culture.’[1664] Certain general +principles can be made out but there is much that requires elucidation. +There is a considerable body of evidence in favour of the view that +megalithic buildings have been derived from one centre. If this is so, +it is a remarkable example of the fact that an art of an obviously +impressive though not useful nature can pass from one race to another +without any noticeable assimilation of other elements of the culture +where the art was first practised. Again, if this is so, it is not +improbable that useful arts which in their way are equally impressive +may have similarly proceeded from one centre. It is remarkable also that +mythology can apparently spread from one culture to another. To whatever +source we may attribute their origin there seems little doubt that in +North America, for instance, tales and legends have spread from one side +of the continent to the other after very different economic systems had +been evolved and without any marked spreading of other elements in the +traditions at the same time.[1665] + +6. Having thus indicated the manner in which contact influences the +origin, growth, and transmission of tradition we may turn to consider +what bearing geographical and economic factors have upon contact. The +former problem may be passed over with a few words; the latter will +require a rather longer discussion. The former has been the subject of +much attention and the main facts, which are all that concern us, are +familiar; the latter has not received so much attention though it is of +great importance. + +Not only the spread of elements of culture but also the movement of +peoples are governed by geographical factors. An isolated area is +isolated from the slow permeation of elements of tradition, as well as +from migratory races. To the degree, therefore, to which any area is +isolated, it is removed both from those influences which favour the +passing on of elements of tradition as well as those which form an +incentive to skill. Isolation is never complete. The more isolated an +area is, the less often have migratory races reached it, with the result +that when they have done so, there has usually been a conflict between a +culture so dissimilar in skill that the migratory race has often wiped +out the original race. Apart from the visits of migratory races the +beneficial results of contact are reduced to a minimum within an +isolated area. The differences in traditions are small, and both the +elements of culture which can be acquired and the stimulus which can be +derived from contact are of little importance. What these geographical +features are is fairly well known. + +The first factor is isolation by sea. America was apparently peopled +some time in the first period. Subsequently to the date of its original +peopling it may be regarded as having been for all practical purposes +isolated from the other continents and thus its inhabitants had been +long cut off from contact with the rest of the human race when it was +‘discovered’ by Columbus. America was probably visited, perhaps more +than once, by parties reaching the Pacific Coast and was certainly +visited by the Norsemen, but this small amount of contact has exerted no +influence upon the evolution of skill. America is the most remarkable +instance of isolation by sea. Isolation by sea has exerted a profound +influence upon Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania; and important also +has been the semi-isolation of Africa, which continent, until great +progress had been made in navigation, was only in contact with Asia by a +narrow neck. Among primitive races deserts and mountains hinder contact +in almost equal degree, and, though in one sense not geographical +features, forests and vegetation, especially in tropical countries, +exert a profound influence upon contact. + +Other features in the environment may be regarded rather as facilitating +contact. Rivers form great arteries of communication, and it is +remarkable how small a hindrance they are to contact. Thus ‘Christopher +Gist, exploring the Ohio in 1751, found a Shawnee village situated on +both sides of the river below the mouth of the Scioto, with about a +hundred houses on the north bank and forty on the south. The small and +unique nation of the Mandan Indians were found by Lewis and Clarke near +the northern bend of the Missouri in 1864 in two groups of villages on +opposite sides of the river. They had previously in 1772 occupied nine +villages lower down the stream, two on the east bank and seven on the +west.’[1666] Fresh-water lakes, though not salt lakes, have again been +centres in which contact has been favoured, as was the case in +Switzerland at one period and also in Mexico and Peru where the highest +level of progress was reached in America. + +In considering any area there are certain general features of importance +quite apart from those which actually hinder or facilitate contact. In +the case of any area there is what we may call its location, that is to +say, its position relative to its surroundings. The position of any area +in Africa with regard to its distance from the north-eastern corner, +through which contact with inhabitants of other continents came about, +is obviously of great importance, and similarly is the distance of any +one area from the sea when navigation has been developed. To location we +may add diversity of features which brings about the contact between +different economic systems. This feature of diversity is chiefly +relevant when considering large areas; and in this respect Europe and +Asia are far more favoured than America. + +Lastly, differences in language are a potent influence in hindering +contact though they are rather evidences than causes of isolation. When +once established differences in language intensify the isolation due to +other causes. It may be observed in passing that, contrary to what might +be expected, the degree to which among primitive races ‘foreign’ +languages are understood is considerable. + +Though in the first two periods the importance of the various factors in +hindering and facilitating contact has varied greatly, it is sufficient, +when taking a broad view, to bear the general nature of these influences +in mind. The tendency in the third period has been obviously to reduce +vastly the importance of all hindrances to contact arising from features +of the environment. Railways cross deserts and tunnels pierce mountains, +and that amount of contact, small though it may be, which owing to the +inventions of writing and printing now occurs between all parts of the +world, can transmit more tradition than wide avenues of contact between +neighbouring peoples previously made possible. + +Here we can leave this matter. It has been worked out in much detail. +All that is necessary for our purpose is to bear in mind the fact, which +indeed is obvious, that contact is in various ways hindered and +facilitated by geographical causes. + +7. We have now to consider what is less familiar—the bearing of what we +may call economic factors upon contact. These factors are themselves but +an expression of the working of the economic system, and the economic +system is correlated with fertility though modified by the degree and +kind of contact allowed by the geographical environment. Therefore in +considering the working of these economic factors, we are in fact +considering another aspect of the manner in which the environment bears +thus indirectly upon contact. + +Progress in skill, as we have said, is correlated with increasing +density of population, and, other things being equal, the greater the +density of population, the more contact there is. But other things are +not equal; the chief disturbing factors are those connected with the +organization of society in their influence both upon the quality and +quantity of contact. The vast importance of the step which led to the +origin of primitive society has already been remarked upon. When we +observe primitive society in more detail, it is seen that, compared with +the type of organization which arose in the third period, this form of +society essentially consists of a repetition of similar elements.[1667] +A perfect type of this form of society would be one which consisted +merely of a collection of families, not differing essentially one from +another, each being a microcosm of the whole society. Actually we find +that primitive society is usually composed of the repetition of larger +elements than the family, which Durkheim calls ‘clans’. This term is +employed in order to mark the family and political features which +characterize these elements. The variations of the constitution of +primitive society are very numerous, but it has essentially this form +which Durkheim calls ‘segmentary’. The solidarity of such a society +rests solely upon the similarity between these clans; the binding +forces, that is to say, which keep the society together, do not take +their origin in the fact that these elements are complementary to each +other and in combination form one organic whole; such coherence as there +is arises solely from the fact that these elements, in so far as they +are similar, coalesce together. Typically, then, we find in this stage +of organization families living side by side very largely independent +one of another but combining to form clans. These clans have as a rule +no definite constitution; but at times, owing to internal dissensions or +warfare, a leader or leaders may arise who put themselves at the head of +these groups. + +As has been said, variations in and developments of this type of +organization may arise and, though among primitive races some approach +to the higher type can be detected, the evolution of the higher type of +organization is essentially a development which took place in the third +period. This type of organization we call organic, as distinguished from +segmentary, because in the first place the elements which go to form the +whole do not simply cohere owing to their similarity; they are in the +nature of more or less specialized organs all of which are necessary in +order that the whole may exist. Each again has a particular rôle and +each organ is formed of differentiated parts. These organs are not +simply connected one with another like links in a chain; they are +co-ordinated one with another and subordinated one to another into an +organic system. The parts are dependent on the whole and the whole on +the parts. + +In an organic society, in fact, men are grouped according to their +profession and not according to their descent. One of the marks of the +segmentary type of society is that men are grouped according to their +descent, real or fictitious, and it is this relationship which +determines their position in society. In the organic type of society, +that which determines a man’s position is the function which he fulfils. +In this form of society there are remnants of the older form of +organization, as is seen in the recognition of areas, smaller elements +such as parishes being united into larger areas such as boroughs, which +are united in turn into provinces of which the country is composed. +This, however, is not the form of organization which keeps the higher +type of society together. That which forms its essential difference from +the lower type is the organic nature of the relation of the parts—the +complementary co-ordination of the various professions one with the +other. It is this interlocking of complementary parts and not the +coherence of similar segments which cement the form of society typical +of the third stage. + +8. The evolution from the segmentary to the organic form of social +organization was relatively speaking a rapid process. The approach that +can be made to the organic type within the segmentary type is only +slight. Doubtless the new type developed within the old forms. Thus we +see among the Hebrews the assumption of priestly functions by a single +tribe—that of the Levites. But the development of the organic type +cannot go far without breaking up the segmentary form of organization; +the number and importance of functions does not correspond with the +existing forms of organization and cannot long develop within them. + +We have now to ask what brings about the evolution of the organic type +of society and then what bearing these forms of organization have upon +the growth and transmission of tradition. It is rather that the +crumbling away of this segmentary organization of society brings to +birth the organic type than that the growth of the latter is the cause +of the disappearance of the former. This must be so because, as we have +seen, the existence of the segmentary type is a barrier to the +development of the organic type. This crumbling away is brought about by +what Durkheim calls the growth of moral density. Growth in moral density +comes about through the pressure of the increasing contact between men +performing the same functions, and this causes the decay of the +segmentary type of organization and brings about an organization resting +upon function. The effect acts upon the cause and accelerates the +process. The growth in moral density is connected with the growth in +volume of society which is measured solely by the increase in +population. But growth in moral density, though only made possible by +growth in volume, does not of necessity go hand in hand with it. Growth +of moral coalescence is not correlated absolutely with the increase in +volume. The density of population can become very considerable, while +the moral density remains relatively undeveloped. This result is +sometimes attributable to the survival of certain elements of segmentary +organization to which religious feelings have become attached and which +have, therefore, resisted the forces which make for their dissolution. +This is the case, for example, with regard to the maintenance of the +family system in China, which is the great barrier to a development of +moral coalescence. The most powerful motive in Chinese life is the +devotion to the family system, and this motive prevents the progress of +division of labour. Among the Hindus the caste system has the same +effect. But it is not merely a survival from a former segmentary +organization to which religious motives have become attached; it has +actually undergone a development for the most part in opposition to the +organic organization of society. ‘The divisions’, says Sherring, ‘among +the Hindus involving complete separation in respect of marriage and +social intercourse, number not hundreds but thousands. In other words +the Hindu brotherhood is split up into innumerable clans, holding not +the smallest connexion with one another, acknowledging no common bond +save that of idolatry.... Caste dissolves the social compact found in +other countries, infuses the poison of deadly strife into the small +village communities scattered in tens of thousands over the land, +induces enmity between neighbours on the most trivial grounds, carries +out its own childish rites and laws with Draconian severity, exercises +the strongest power of disintegration the human race has ever been +subject to, and only displays a spirit of binding and uniting in +relation to those selfish creatures who belong to one and the same +caste, and who are thereby kept apart from all the rest of mankind by an +unnatural divorce.’[1668] + +Thus primarily it is the breaking down of the segmentary type of +organization and the condensation of society which permits the division +of labour. In the end the advance to the higher type of organization is +attributable to the growth of population. It is first necessary that a +relatively high degree of skill should be attained involving a certain +density of population. Then there arises a tendency for the segmentary +organization to break down and give way to the organic type. The +breaking down may be more or less imperfect and there may be factors +which work against the full development of the organic type. + +9. The degree to which the higher type of organization favours the +increase of skill cannot be overestimated. So long as all men are more +or less self-supporting and perform all the functions necessary to +maintain existence, the securing of food, the building of shelters, the +fashioning of weapons, the making of clothes, their skill in any one +direction must remain small. But as soon as certain men begin to +concentrate upon certain functions the whole position changes. It then +becomes possible for skill to reach a far higher level, and with the +further division of functions there is practically no limit to the +degree of skill which may be obtained. A concentration upon one function +and the association of men so employed are themselves powerful stimuli +to further progress. The facts are familiar and there is no need to +elaborate the position. At length classification by function tends to +override classification by any other standard, and all those engaged in +any country in any one function become associated in such a manner that +the stimulus is further emphasized and the possibility of any favourable +new departure being lost is reduced to a minimum. + +The importance of the organic type of organization in favouring the +transmission and storing of tradition is equally well marked when +compared with the segmentary type. The more society is divided into +self-contained and self-sufficient segments, the less likelihood is +there that any development in one segment will spread to the other +segments. All events tend to be localized, and any promising departure +in a new direction is unlikely to penetrate far and become embodied in +tradition. New departures are more likely to be lost altogether than to +be preserved. The more society is organized on the organic type, on the +other hand, the more facilities there are for the transmission and +storing of tradition. As the segmentary system breaks down, the +transmission and storing of tradition themselves become special +functions. Various means of communication are elaborated, the spreading +of news becomes a function in itself, teaching becomes a profession, and +libraries are established. + +10. Such very briefly are the nature, causes, and results of the change +in the organization of society so far as concerns our present purpose. +There are certain points in this connexion to which some allusion may be +made. We have already commented on the fact that the transformation to +the higher type does not go hand in hand with growth in numbers. The two +examples from India and China showed how little correspondence there may +be between density of population and division of labour. Again, in +modern communities there is an apparent anomaly. There are considerable +differences as regards the amount and kind of tradition present in the +different strata of society, and this may appear all the more anomalous +because in such societies the division of labour has been developed to +the greatest extent. Tradition, it would seem, should be very uniform. +Uniformity of tradition, on the other hand, is a mark of primitive +society. But this anomaly is only apparent. Among primitive races there +is infinitely less tradition than among civilized races. Among the +latter not only is the amount of tradition vast, but it is in the course +of rapid evolution, and there is therefore in the first place a far +greater possibility for differences in tradition to arise. Further, the +very fact of the division of labour means that different forms of skill +are cultivated deliberately by different elements of the community. +Thence arise the differences in social customs and conventions which are +apparent in the different strata of modern society. Where there is +division of labour, there must be, as we have seen, differences in the +acquirement of the tradition of skill, and we may think of the +differences in the social and conventional tradition as originating in +the differences in functions. Where there is ownership of property on a +large scale, ownership may be regarded as a function in society, and +clearly enough certain customs and conventions become connected with +this function and distinguish the so-called upper classes. Differences +in social tradition so arising do lead to some approach to a segmentary +division of society. Once classes are set up, there is a tendency for a +man to take his position rather according to his class than according to +his function. Actually what happens is that the upper classes adopt +certain functions, the sacerdotal or the military for example, and thus +the differences in custom and convention become somewhat artificially +perpetuated, perpetuated that is to say over and above the distinctions +which would be the inevitable accompaniment of different functions. In +this fashion class becomes of considerable importance in modern +communities as a barrier to the transmission of tradition, and there is +thus less coalescence between those performing different functions than +the mere division of labour brings about. + +Interesting as are these modifications of the working of what we have +called economic factors, they do not seriously affect the conclusions to +be drawn in a broad survey. The transformation to the organic type of +society is a mark of the third period, and therefore within this period +the conditions became such as to stimulate the growth of skill and to +facilitate the transmission and storing of skill in a manner never +before approached. + +11. Given, therefore, differences in fertility and in the geographical +configuration as between one part of the world’s surface and another, +and given migration, we can understand how skill arises, how it is +transmitted, and how it is stored. The factors considered are not the +only factors, but they are the chief factors, and a consideration of +them alone enables us to understand how in the main progress may be +achieved—how, that is to say, to some degree command over nature may be +attained. Further, in thus tracing the causes of progress in this narrow +sense we are tracing in some manner the origin and growth of other +elements in tradition, not directly concerned with command over nature. +This can be illustrated by a reference to the results obtained by +Messrs. Hobhouse, Wheeler, and Ginsberg. As we have seen, progress in +skill falls easily into a series of stages—hunting and fishing, +agricultural and metal-using. These authors further subdivided hunting +people into two stages, agricultural peoples into three, and pastoral +into two. They then investigated the correlation between these stages +and the conditions relative to justice, the family, warfare, and so on. +It was found that in the points indicative of the degree of social +organization there is a certain correspondence with economic advance. +‘This correspondence’, they say they have found, ‘in the development of +government and of justice alike, in the fact that as we mount the scale +there is more of government and more of the public administration of +justice within society, and in the fact that the unit for government and +for justice extends. Both intensively and extensively there is a growth +of order corresponding roughly to the industrial advance. On the other +hand economic development has no necessary connexion with improvement in +the relation between members of a society. It does not imply greater +considerateness or a keener sense of justice, and in some ways may be +held even adverse to them. Thus in relation to marriage and the position +of women, we find little change throughout the grades, and of those +which we do find the most marked are specifically connected with the +economic factor, viz. the extension of purchase and of general +polygamy.... Economic causes are again associated with the development +of organized warfare and the substitution of the enslavement of +prisoners for their slaughter, liberation, or adoption.’[1669] + +In other words social institutions are correlated to a considerable +extent with economic systems, and in tracing economic systems to +differences in the ‘wealth’ of the environment and to differences in +contact, we are at the same time accounting to the extent of this +correlation for the existence of most social institutions. Those aspects +of tradition which are not correlated with the economic system are +obviously often explicable as due to the direct influence of the +environment; for differences in the environment which have little or no +bearing on the economic system may give rise to differences in these +aspects of tradition. It has often been pointed out, for example, that +the trend of legends is explicable as due to certain aspects of the +environment; thus in Assyria legends were largely connected with floods. +In large part, therefore, differences in fertility and differences in +degree and kind of contact account not merely for progress in skill but +also in large measure for many social institutions, and those aspects of +social institutions which are not so to be explained are in part due to +the influence of aspects of the environment which do not contribute +directly to fertility, and in part to a complicated interaction of +tradition. It was remarked that, so far as can be seen, the more +conscious methods of adjusting the level of population to the optimum +number are not correlated with the economic system. There is no evidence +of infanticide and abortion, for example, being so correlated. The +occurrence of these institutions among certain races irrespective of the +economic conditions may be accounted for by differences in the +environment which do not affect wealth. We have seen that certain +methods must of necessity be employed, and the adoption of one method in +one place and of another in some other place may be due, for example, to +the presence in one area of plants by the use of which abortion can be +brought about, or the presence in another area of an instrument designed +for some other purpose which can be employed for this object. In other +areas the practice of killing deformed children from superstitious +motives may have been developed into a regular custom of infanticide, or +the taboo upon intercourse for short periods may have become developed +into a practice of abstaining for prolonged periods. + + + + + XXI + THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITION AND HEREDITY + + +1. We are now in a position to attempt an estimate of the relative +importance of germinal change on the one hand and of the accumulation of +tradition on the other.[1670] The direct influence of the environment +cannot be left altogether out of account; it is, however, already +apparent from what has been said on the subject that, although the +direct influence of the environment may modify the course of history, it +is not an important factor in comparison with the other two. That which +renders the problem so difficult is the fact that the manifestations of +human characteristics are shaped both by traditional changes and by +germinal changes, and that each kind of change reacts on the other. Thus +if we observe increasing subservience in the characteristics of a race, +we must remember that previous elimination of the more self-assertive +may manifest itself in this manner by moulding tradition through a long +course of years, that the nature of the environment may set the current +of tradition flowing in this direction, or that both factors may be at +work; and that, so far as the second factor is at work, it may for +reasons to be explained below cause the elimination of the more +self-assertive and so accelerate the process. It is in fact very +difficult to arrive at any precise conclusions regarding particular +problems, but we shall, after considering certain problems, reach a +fairly definite conclusion regarding the relative importance of these +factors in general. + +2. With these problems in view we may first consider the general +characteristics of the intermediate period and then those of the three +subsequent periods. + +It is clear that at the beginning of the intermediate period the +ancestors of man were living under those conditions which we have seen +to be common to all species in a state of nature and that, therefore, if +we are to speak of history at all, history was at this time an +expression of germinal change alone. We know nothing directly as to what +happened within this period, but from such hints as we can get we must +apparently make certain deductions. We know that within this long +period—many times as long as the whole period which has succeeded +it—there was accomplished by far the greater part of the evolution of +the human intellect. This is the conclusion we draw from the fact that +the intellect of primitive races, which must be taken as representing +man in the first period, differs in a small degree from that of modern +man relative to the difference which we must suppose to have existed +between the intellect of man in the first period and that of the +pre-human ancestor. Again the picture we must draw of our ancestors in +the intermediate period is that of a species acquiring domination almost +solely by its intellect. Further we have seen that the advance to the +stage of primitive society was only made possible by an important step +in mental evolution—so important a step that none of our ancestors who +did not take it have survived. The deduction to be drawn is clearly that +in the intermediate period history was founded in the main on germinal +change. If we find reason to conclude that germinal change has ceased to +play so important a part in the following periods, it should be +remembered that the sum of all these latter periods represents but a +fraction of the length of the intermediate period. If we regard human +history as a whole and date the beginning at the time when our ancestors +began to move away from those conditions which govern the existence of +all species in a state of nature, then we must conclude that germinal +change has been the explanation of what has happened during far the +greater part of history as defined above. + +3. The course of history from the beginning of the first period to the +present day presents certain remarkable features. It has to be +remembered that the course of events in the first and second periods has +been reconstructed from evidence gathered almost solely in Europe, and +even then in large part from one country, namely, France. Europe was not +the centre of progress, and it may be that the abrupt replacement of one +stage of culture by another, of which we find evidence, would not be +what we should find nearer the centre of progress. There the evolution +of culture may have been more continuous. From time to time waves of +migration swept westwards and a higher stage of culture overwhelmed the +lower. It may be that the culture systems on reaching Europe followed +lines of development of their own which, owing to circumstances being +relatively less favourable, did not carry them so far as nearer their +point of origin. Therefore the next wave as a rule brought a higher +degree of skill which replaced the then existing European system. + +However this may be, what we do undoubtedly find is a relatively slow +rate of progress in the early part of the first period. Progress became +more rapid in the Upper Palaeolithic and in the Neolithic. Finally at +the opening of the third period progress was vastly accelerated and has +gone on with ever-increasing rapidity subject to certain checks at +various times and places. This speeding up of the evolution of skill is +the chief outstanding characteristic of history since the opening of the +first period, and with it we may associate the facts that progress has +not been uniform as between different countries, and has been subject to +set-backs within countries especially within the third period. Recalling +what was said in the last chapter as to the influence of fertility and +contact upon the growth of tradition, we may now note that the main +outline at least of these outstanding events is apparently explicable as +the result of the working of these factors. We may begin with a +consideration of the facts regarding America. + +America was apparently peopled from Asia at an early date.[1671] Putting +aside the Eskimos, it is probable that the invaders possessed a simple +and fairly uniform type of culture and that the cultural differences +found at the time of the discovery as between races in different parts +of the continent were indigenous. In other words America is a country in +which a section of the human race was early cut off from contact with +the remainder—such contact as occurred with the Norsemen and may have +occurred with the Pacific Islanders having been without importance. For +many thousands of years cultural evolution had proceeded independently +in this isolated area. At the time of the discovery it had in Mexico and +Peru reached a fairly high level. A form of writing had even been +evolved, and in general the level of culture was such as we may compare +with that attained shortly before the opening of the third period in +Eur-Asia. It is possible that at this time the evolution of culture was +on the verge of making a great step forward similar to that made in +Eur-Asia in the third period. But in any case progress in America had +fallen behind progress in Eur-Asia by some thousands of years, and it is +thus interesting to compare the endowment of America with that of +Eur-Asia. + +It may first be noticed that the area is a large one and that it is +diversified in that it contains within it many types of geographical and +climatic environment. Nevertheless the shape of the area as a whole, and +more especially perhaps the absence of relatively fertile areas in +proximity differing sharply from one another such as we find in +Eur-Asia, renders it less favourably disposed to facilitate contact than +are parts of Eur-Asia. In this connexion it may be observed that the +Isthmus of Panama is a barrier rather than a means of communication. +Apparently the civilizations of Mexico and Peru had no knowledge one of +the other. + +The differences in respect of fertility are more remarkable. Generally +speaking America is not notably less fertile than Eur-Asia, relative to +skill in hunting and fishing. The north-west coast of North America is +possibly more fertile relative to this type of skill than is any other +area in the world. But when we come to examine the endowment of America +as a whole relative to skill in the lower forms of agriculture and in +the domestication of animals, we find that America is poorly endowed +compared with Eur-Asia. Maize and rice are the only important indigenous +cereals. All the other valuable cereals were absent from America. This +is a very important fact because cereal culture is in many ways a far +more profitable art than either root-culture or arboriculture. But +America is poor not only in cereals; many plants which play so important +a part elsewhere in primitive agriculture are absent—the plantain, yam, +banana, breadfruit, and date-palm, for instance. Among the important +plants we may note the potato, coco-nut palm, manioc, arrowroot, and the +cocoa plant. Brazilian arrowroot is, it may be observed, very easily +propagated. ‘Even if the plant is left in the ground when the root has +been taken, new tubers grow from its joints after the first shower of +rain.’[1672] Some such plant as this in America or as the yam elsewhere +must have presumably been that first cultivated. + +The poverty of America in animals fit for domestication is even more +remarkable. If we except the reindeer, milch animals were entirely +absent—a fact of great significance. The Indians had made the fullest +possible use of such animals as there were. ‘Setting aside the reindeer, +an unprofitable animal on any soil which produces any better crop than +moss, the Indians had domesticated every animal in the continent which +was capable of domestication.’[1673] Among them was the llama, an animal +of restricted usefulness, as it cannot be used for draught and cannot be +milked. The fact that there are several varieties of llama would seem to +point to the fact that it had been brought under domestication many +centuries before the discovery of America. Turkeys, dogs, pheasants, +ducks, and geese were also domesticated as well as a few other animals +of little importance. + +When compared with Western Asia, America is seen to be poorly endowed in +animals fit for domestication and plants suitable for agriculture. But +it must be remembered that Western Asia is far richer than any other +area. America is not poor compared with Africa or Australia. We may now +glance at the endowment of these other regions beginning with Asia. + +4. It is often a matter of the greatest difficulty to trace the original +habitat of the species of animals and plants which after many centuries +of domestication have given rise to the varieties now in use; in some +cases it is impossible; the camel, for instance, has never been found +wild.[1674] In some cases the evidence is vague and merely points to the +original home as having been within some large and not very clearly +defined region. Nevertheless an inquiry into the original habitat of the +more important domesticated animals and plants leads to a very +remarkable conclusion. We find that with few exceptions Western Asia was +the home of the great majority of such species. The chief exceptions +among animals are the elephant, buffalo, reindeer, and llama. The llama +originated in South America, the reindeer is found in the circum-Polar +regions, the elephant and buffalo are Indian. It is probable that the +original home of the camel was somewhere in this Asiatic region, and, if +this is so, then all milch animals, with the exception of the reindeer, +whether belonging to the ovine, equine, bovine, or camel group, had +their original home in the Asiatic region—a very important fact when the +large part played by milch animals is borne in mind. It should be +perhaps mentioned that certain species had a wide range and extended +beyond this Asiatic region vaguely defined though it is. The wild +ancestors of the ox and the pig were indigenous in Europe as well as in +Asia.[1675] The richness of the Asiatic endowment as regards plants is +no less remarkable. Practically all cereals of importance with the +exception of maize and one or two others originated there. Wheat, +barley, oats, rye, millet, and others of much importance at a certain +stage of progress in skill are indigenous in that region. + +5. Turning to Africa we find that the large majority of domesticated +animals and of cultivated plants are not indigenous; when not introduced +by Arabs or Europeans, they were derived from Egypt and into Egypt they +had probably been brought from Asia. Of those animals now domesticated +cattle, goats, sheep, and fowls were derived from Egypt, the dog from +Arabia, the cat was brought by the Arabs, while pigs, muscovy ducks, +turkeys, and pigeons were introduced by the Portuguese. Sorghum grain, +millet, eleusine, colocasia (arum), yam, and the banana were introduced +from Egypt; the sugar-cane, rice, wheat, oranges, limes, cucumbers, +melons, gourds, onions, and hemp were introduced by the Arabs, while the +coco-nut palm came from Asia and the date-palm from the Mediterranean +basin. ‘The only doubtful exceptions are ground-nuts ... which may be +indigenous, and certain semi-cultivated beans.’[1676] It may be observed +that, although Africa is poor as regards animals and plants fit for +domestication, the negro never domesticated with one or two exceptions +such species as were capable of domestication. Thus the guinea-fowl and +the coffee plant, both indigenous, were not domesticated by the negroes. + +6. Of the natural endowment of other regions it is not necessary to +speak. The absence of all mammals, with the exception of marsupials, +from Australia is well known, and the handicap resulting therefrom is +obvious. There are, however, certain broad facts with regard to +fertility and geographical configuration to which attention may be drawn +here. With respect to the fertility of tropical regions in general there +are two facts of importance. For the most part cereals are absent, and +it is chiefly trees and roots among indigenous plants which lend +themselves to domestication. Arboriculture and root-culture, however, do +not in many respects give as good a return as does the culture of +cereals. Further, fruits and roots cannot be stored as a rule; their +food value is not high, and in many ways the problems presented by the +cultivation of roots and trees do not afford anything like the same +stimulus to skill or require anything like the same advance in social +organization and in settled and regulated conditions of life as does the +cultivation of cereals. Again, in the general make-up of tropical +conditions there is frequently an element of destructiveness. The +rapidity with which in tropical Africa products of human handiwork are +destroyed is well known, and to a greater or less degree something of +the kind is a feature of all tropical regions. + +7. Turning to geographical conditions in general as favouring or +hindering contact we find America isolated and, as a land mass taken by +itself, practically divided into two parts in which the conditions do +not markedly favour contact—especially contact between different +economic systems in close proximity. The remaining land masses may be +thought of as radiating out from one centre. The central area is not +only in general favourably located, but is in itself so formed as to +favour contact. The diversity of its surface, the inland seas, the +steppes, plateaux, mountain uplands, plains, and river valleys render it +in this respect richly endowed. Forests were less of a barrier to +contact in this region than elsewhere, and in this respect Western Asia +was better situated than Europe. Tropical forests and jungles form far +more serious barriers than do forests in temperate regions, and the +discovery of the use of metals is of less effect in reducing the +hindrances due to this barrier in tropical than in temperate countries. +Looking at the tracts of land which radiate out from this centre we see +how isolated is the greater part of Africa. Egypt is indeed almost a +part of the Western Asiatic region, but it is nearly cut off from the +rest of Africa by desert, being connected with the remainder of the +continent only by the valley of the Nile which in its middle regions is +almost barren while its upper reaches pass through huge tracts of marsh +and swamp. As we approach the south of Africa we come to what in +primitive times was a blind alley. So, too, in whatever direction we +pass outwards from the heart of Eur-Asia, whether we cross the sea to +Australia or travel to the eastern or western boundaries of the +Eur-Asiatic land mass, we reach regions where, on account of what we may +call their location and of other factors such as the presence of forest +or jungle or on account of the configuration of their surfaces, contact +is not favoured. We must in addition bear in mind that it is the central +region which is the most richly endowed as far as fertility is +concerned. + +We may remember that there was another factor to which as a stimulus to +the formation of skill and to the transmission and storing of tradition +we found reason to attach great importance—namely, the replacement of +the segmentary by the organic type of social organization. This great +change took place in the Eur-Asiatic region and must be traced +indirectly to the characteristics of that region as a whole. For we +found that, before such a change could come about, a growth in the +volume of population was necessary, and growth in volume is directly +dependent upon fertility and all other elements in the surroundings +which favour the increase of skill. + +8. There is, therefore, at the least a very remarkable correspondence +between the outstanding events of history since the opening of the first +period and the distribution in space and time of the chief factors which +influence tradition. We may set events in America up to the time of the +discovery against events in the rest of the world. We do not know with +what degree of skill the original emigrants were armed; but since, +generally speaking, the fertility of America relative to skill in +hunting and fishing is not, if at all, inferior to fertility elsewhere, +we have no reason to imagine that progress in the first period would be +less rapid than elsewhere. Again the presence, though not in great +variety, of easily cultivatable plants would facilitate much as +elsewhere the transition to the most primitive form of agriculture. But +the poverty in cereals and animals fit for domestication and the absence +of milch animals indicate an environment which, relative to conditions +in Western Asia, offers far less stimulus to progress. Further the +general configuration of the land does not favour contact as in the +latter region. Nevertheless considerable progress in cereal culture and +in the domestication of animals had been made, and in Mexico and Peru, +where the presence of lakes, the absence of formidable barriers, and the +diversity of surroundings offered by the proximity of high and low land +rendered contact most effective, there had grown up societies with a +relatively high level of skill. But America had lagged behind Eur-Asia, +and the degree to which this was so is only what would be expected if we +suppose that the innate capacity of the inhabitants of both regions was +once approximately equal and that, while some had wandered into less +favourable surroundings, others had remained in or migrated to more +favourable surroundings. It is at least clear that if we do set the +general trend of events in America against events in Eur-Asia there is +nothing incompatible with the theory that the constitution of the +environment can account in the main for the differences in the growth +and accumulation of skill. + +Putting America aside, the same may be said of events elsewhere. The +rich endowment of Western Asia has been emphasized, and this region +appears to have been the centre of progress in the first period and was +most certainly so in the second and during the earlier part of the third +period. Everything leads us to suppose that at any given time up to a +comparatively recent date the level of skill was higher in this region +than elsewhere. From time to time waves of migration spread +outwards—most often apparently into Europe and less often into Africa +and Oceania—carrying with them a degree of skill so much higher than +that existing in the outlying areas that an abrupt transition to another +culture took place accompanied by varying degrees of extermination of, +and mixture with, the races situated there. If we bear in mind the +endowment of, and general conditions in, Africa and Oceania, the trend +of events in these regions is again comprehensible on the same +principles as those indicated above. It may also be observed that the +principle of the shifting of the centre of progress owing to the change +in relative fertility may be seen at work in Western Asia. At a certain +period, for instance, after a particular degree of civilization had been +reached, the great river valleys of the Nile and of the Tigris and the +Euphrates, which formerly had been relatively less fertile, became the +most fertile regions. Later the progress connected with the industrial +revolution led to another remarkable shifting of the centre of +advance—into regions, that is to say, where coal is abundant and easily +worked. This shifting of the focus of progress is often overlooked by +those who seek an explanation of the fact that the site of the earlier +civilizations has not remained the site of the later civilizations. ‘The +contrasts’, says Professor Elliot Smith, ‘in the achievements of the +various peoples cannot be explained away by lack of opportunities, in +face of the patent fact that among the most backward races of the +present day are some that first came into contact with, or were even the +founders of, civilization, and were most favourably placed for acquiring +culture and material supremacy.’[1677] The shifting of the centre of +progress is at least in part an explanation. + +Within the third period there took place that remarkable change in +social organization already described which so markedly stimulated the +growth of skill and facilitated its transmission. This change had the +most profound effects on events in Europe and Asia. With it we must +associate a remarkable speeding up of the progress in skill which has +been the chief feature of the last period of human history. The +explanation of the acceleration of progress is thus ultimately based on +the endowment of different regions in respect to fertility, location, +and the facilities offered to contact. It may also be noted that the +further trend of events in Europe and Asia is made comprehensible by +this principle of the shifting of the centre of greatest fertility on +the one hand and by the imperfect realization of the organic type of +society on the other. In India and in China there have been forces +working contrary to the full development of the organic type of +organization in the shape of devotion, largely on religious grounds, to +various forms of a segmentary division of society, and this may prove to +be one of the chief reasons why in Eastern Asia we seem to be faced with +a backwater out of the main stream of progress. + +Further, as tradition became more complex, small differences in the +environment often gave a favourable or unfavourable turn to the +development of skill. Thus after the invention of writing countries were +greatly favoured that possessed suitable writing materials. In China +writing, owing to the cumbersome form which it has taken, has never been +of more than a very restricted usefulness. It has been suggested that +the differences between the clarity of Greek thought and the vagueness +of Indian speculation are in part due to the greater use made of writing +in the former country.[1678] + +9. Thus in general if we survey the outstanding facts we find that +explanations based on the influence of the environment in stimulating +progress in skill suggest themselves. Racial differences do exist and +play a part. We may gain some idea what this part is if we now turn to +consider the nature of these differences, and we may first pay attention +to the larger differences such as those which distinguish the negro from +the European. These differences, it must be emphasized, are only large +relative to the differences which exist between European races. Relative +to the difference between the ancestor in the intermediate stage and +modern man they are almost negligible. + +Some analysis has been made of the differences between negroes and white +men and with regard to these differences we may observe two things. In +the first place they can only in part account for the differences in +performance. Before coming into contact with Europeans, negroes had not +passed beyond the stage of primitive thought; but it is evident that +they are not innately incapable of so doing. The results of educating +the negro have been to narrow the conception of the gap which separates +him from the white man. Just as D’Alembert and Diderot would not believe +that the Russians could be civilized up to the European standard, so a +later generation believed that the negroes could not be so civilized; +but ‘negroes are now indisputably the equals of white men in categories +in which one hundred years ago their masters would have confidently +argued that they were naturally incapable of attaining equality’.[1679] +Nevertheless there are differences; the negro is intellectually on the +average somewhat inferior, and certainly possesses somewhat different +emotional and temperamental characteristics. + +In the second place from the end of the first period to the present day +the evolution of mental characters shows little correspondence to the +evolution of skill. Whereas progress in skill has been vastly +accelerated, progress in the evolution of mental characters has slowed +down and may within the third period have almost ceased. Selection +within this last period has, it may be remembered, come largely to be on +account of disease. + +The nature, therefore, of racial differences and the trend of evolution +of mental characters tend to confirm the conclusion derived from a study +of the influence of fertility and of contact—namely, that the +outstanding events are to be traced to environmental rather than to +germinal changes. But germinal changes are not negligible. We have seen +how these circumstances which favoured progress in skill in the earlier +part of the third period also favoured mental evolution in just those +directions in which the white race is superior. Germinal changes may +thus be regarded as contributing to the progress which occurred at this +time; evolution in the direction of self-assertion and other qualities, +which characterize the white races, must have accelerated the cultural +changes already in progress. When Mr. McDougall says that ‘in so far as +differences of cultural level are associated with differences of level +of innate intellectual and moral qualities, cultural superiority must be +regarded as the effect, rather than the cause, of innate mental +superiority’,[1680] the above considerations suggest another view. It +would appear more probable that cultural changes and germinal changes +went hand in hand, and that they were both products of the same +environment; no doubt one kind of change reacted on the other, but there +seems as little reason for holding that the former were the effect of +the latter as for holding that the opposite was the case. Mr. +McDougall’s view meets with considerable difficulties when we extend our +inquiry to the events within the third period. He attributes the +cultural level of the early civilizations to previous mental evolution, +but as he thinks that there has been no appreciable evolution since that +time, the events of the last five thousand years including the continued +progress in skill must be otherwise accounted for. It is surely more +probable that this series of events beginning with the rise to the early +civilizations and continuing to the present day is in the main based +upon one determining cause. This we have found reason to identify with +the influence of fertility and contact upon the development of +tradition; to germinal change we attribute in the earlier epochs no +little influence but an influence which is contributory—supplementing +for a time the process which continued when germinal change had largely +ceased. So far as we find this conclusion to be supported by further +inquiry, so far it is correct to say that races with the innate +mentality of the negroes would not by themselves have reached the +position attained by the white races, though it is not true that the +white races progressed directly because of their superior innate mental +endowment. + +10. We may now inquire into the importance of the lesser racial +differences. There are usually recognized in Europe three chief racial +types—Nordic, Mediterranean, and Alpine. If innate mental differences +exist, we should expect to find associated with each type certain +peculiar traditional features; for, as we have seen, innate racial +peculiarities tend to set the current of tradition flowing in certain +directions, and the association of different institutions and beliefs +with particular racial types would suggest that innate mental +differences are making themselves felt, though, before this conclusion +can be accepted, it must be shown that the play of environmental factors +upon tradition has been fairly uniform for all these types. A +considerable amount of evidence can be accumulated to show that such +association exists. Thus the Nordic peoples are mostly Protestant and +the Alpine and Mediterranean peoples mostly Catholic or Greek Church. +The fact that during the Reformation a choice was set before most +European nations as to what religion should be adopted—the issue hanging +in the balance for some time in many places—seems to indicate that the +conditions were more or less equalized and that the adoption of the +Protestant religion by the Nordic type was influenced by certain innate +characters attaching to this type—self-assertiveness and love of +independence, for instance.[1681] The South Germans, who are of the +Alpine race, remained Catholic, while in the Netherlands the Nordic +Dutchmen became Protestant. Similarly there is a certain correspondence +in Europe between the distribution of types of political institutions +and that of racial types, and much other relevant evidence could be +brought forward. We have seen how sharply negroes are distinguished from +Europeans in emotional disposition; similar differences, though on a +much smaller scale, are visible as between European races. It can hardly +be doubted that the Irish and the Scotch differ from the English in +disposition and—though this is more doubtful—there may be intellectual +differences. There may be some slight difference between the English and +the French intellect; it is hardly likely that the French passion for +logic and the English aversion to it are altogether traditional +characteristics. It would, therefore, appear that there are innate +mental differences between European races which tend not so much to +thrust races along certain paths as in the course of generations to +colour tradition and even at crises in national life, when a choice is +presented, to determine which path shall be taken. These differences may +be explained—though it is a somewhat speculative enterprise—by supposing +that the ancestors of the various racial types were exposed to different +surroundings—the ancestors of the Alpine race to patriarchal +institutions, of the Nordic race to more individualistic +institutions—and that thus subservient and assertive types were +respectively favoured.[1682] + +The influence, however, of innate racial differences between races so +closely related as those of modern Europe must not be overrated. It is +possible to point to many examples of the fact that the distribution of +institutions, customs, and so on does not always correspond to that of +racial types. In Belgium, to take only one instance, the Walloons are of +Alpine stock, that is to say, they are racially similar to the great +majority of Germans. But the Walloons are distinctly French in character +and sympathy, whereas the Flemings—the other element in the Belgian +population—are Nordic and are in certain respects more allied to the +Germans with whom racially they have little in common. Either in such a +case innate racial differences do not exist of the kind suggested, or, +as is more probable, they exist but have been obscured by tradition. +That tradition is the predominant factor in shaping those +characteristics, of which we think when we have any nation in mind, can +be seen when we look at two examples of race formation in modern times. +Those characteristics which we find to be distinctive of the Boer race, +for instance, can be traced to the peculiar turn given by the +environment to the peculiar tradition—remarkable both in its religious +and social aspects—brought by the first settlers. The racial elements +represented among the Boers of to-day are well known—Dutch for the most +part with some admixture of French and English blood. But it is not to +this peculiar germinal constitution but to the motherhood of the South +African veldt acting upon a peculiar tradition that what is +distinctively Boer is to be attributed. So, too, there are no mental +characteristics as manifested so definite as those which are associated +with Americans. But it is impossible to think that they are the product +of the influence of the various racial stocks which have gone to make +the modern American population. Clearly enough these characteristics are +almost wholly traditional, and it can without much difficulty be shown +how the peculiar geographical, social, and political environment has +given rise to them. + +Can we further understand how these distinctive accumulations of +tradition are maintained? Let us remember that a man requires not only a +home in the usual sense of a roof over his head, but what we may call a +home in the world of tradition, and that just as most men find a +dwelling-place in the country in which they are born, so most men at the +same time find a home in the world of tradition in the same country. Now +in any area, where men have for a longer or shorter time acted together, +there has been evolved a certain tradition under the influence of those +elements in the surroundings enumerated above. If another group of men +has been associated together in a very similar area, the tradition there +elaborated will show a likeness to that in the former area. But there +may be considerable differences. Small differences in the aggregate of +influences sometimes have far-reaching effects, and again what we regard +in our ignorance as ‘chance’ happenings may have, as we shall point out +later, profound consequences. Small differences and apparently +unimportant happenings give turns and twists to the direction in which +tradition is built up, and the individual differences between one +tradition and another become exaggerated by the tendency of tradition to +move in grooves. The peculiarities of a tradition become embodied in the +sum of all the institutions—using that term in the widest +sense—characteristic of a race and, as each man passes under the +influence of those traditions, so these peculiarities are maintained. As +often pointed out language is of less importance than might be supposed. +A common language does not imply a common tradition, and on the other +hand a diversity in language does not imply a diversity in tradition. +Institutions of another kind are of more importance. It is institutions +like the public schools of England which embody the distinctive elements +in social tradition. The case of the Jews is especially noteworthy. +There is no common language, no Jewish state, but one thing a Jew has in +common with other Jews—his religion. Round the Jewish religion centres +all that is distinctively Jewish, and the clinging of the Jew to his +religion has resulted in the maintenance of a Jewish race amidst all the +strange vicissitudes to which the Jews have been subject. ‘Qu’est-ce qui +a conservé le Juif à travers les siècles et l’empêché de disparaître au +milieu des nations? C’est sa religion.... Or ces rites protecteurs, +cette cuirasse ou cette carapace d’observances qui l’a défendu durant +deux mille ans, et que rien ne pouvait transpercer, notre esprit +occidental l’a entamée.... Si le judaïsme, débilité, venait à se +décomposer et à se dissoudre, qu’adviendrait-il du Juif? Fermé et +sauvegardé par sa religion, le Juif ne risquait-il point de s’évanouir +avec le judaïsme?’[1683] + +Again, it has been pointed out that men have often achieved fame as +contributors to the civilization or literature of countries other than +that to which they by race belonged. It has been said that no one could +have been more French than the English Hamilton, the Swiss Rousseau, the +Italian de Maistre, the German Heine, or the mulatto Dumas. Great +contributions to the building up of what is typically British have been +made by men who were not of British blood though of course distinguished +British patriots. A string of names from Simon de Montfort to Disraeli +can be quoted. On the other hand, ‘natives of the British Isles have +helped to create the armies and fleets, and to build up the politics of +most European States. In the eighteenth century you might have found an +Irishman directing as Prime Minister the fortunes of Spain, and another +those of Naples, a third commanding the forces of Austria, and a fourth +seeking to rebuild the French dominions in India. Scots as a rule +restricted their attention to Protestant countries, but John Law in the +early years of that century did wonderful things with French finance. +The right-hand man of Frederick the Great was a Scot, and Scots took +more than their share in the making of Russia—an article of almost +exclusively foreign manufacture. Peter the Great himself had a mother of +Scottish birth, and the fact made all the difference between him and his +imbecile half-brothers. Napoleon himself was not a Frenchman by birth; +one of his marshals, an Italian, became king of Sweden, and founded the +present Swedish line of monarchs.’[1684] + +This reference to the nature of minor racial differences thus tends to +confirm what was said above. Germinal differences are not to be +disregarded, but we must reject such theories as those of Gobineau and +Houston Chamberlain, who see in race the primary explanation of all +national achievement. Mommsen poured scorn upon the Celts and Vacher de +Lapouge attributed most of the misfortunes of France to the +brachycephalic element in the population.[1685] But we are now sceptical +of any such facile explanations of the course of history. + +11. We can now come rather closer to the problem if we go on to examine +certain instances of germinal change that we know to have taken place, +and ask what effect is to be attributed to them and to such traditional +changes as have accompanied them. + +Again and again in the course of history certain stocks have been +exterminated. This was apparently the fate of the Neanderthal race, and +in modern times was the fate of the Tasmanians. But though in this +manner the average germinal constitution of the whole species has been +altered, and as a rule raised, there has been little or nothing in such +events working towards the further evolution of the remaining stocks. + +Intermingling of different racial stocks has been of frequent +occurrence.[1686] As we have seen, if the differences are large, vigour +may be exhibited in the first cross but will soon disappear; +unfavourable combinations of characters on the other hand are likely to +arise, and the mulatto thus tends to be a genetically undesirable type. +Nevertheless, the undesirable character of the mulatto is in large part +traditional. The mulatto is neither of one race nor the other and he +knows it. He is an outcast. There is no tradition which he naturally +absorbs. He neither grows up with the pride of the white man nor with +the feeling of community with his coloured relatives, whose position +with regard to other races is generally accepted as something +inevitable. In the world of tradition there is no home for him. There +are no channels which enable his capacities, such as they are, to +develop in a favourable manner, and we have thus to give greater weight +to tradition than to an unfavourable germinal constitution in producing +the results which we see. + +When the differences are less, there is again the advantage of hybrid +vigour, though this again is transitory. More important is the chance of +a favourable re-combination of characters. Many interesting speculations +have been made, though they are all very fanciful, with regard to the +fortunate blendings which have produced some races, the bringing +together of practical capacities and imagination and the like. In +general we may regard such crossing as genetically favourable and of +considerable importance in history. Its frequent occurrence in Europe +and Asia has probably favoured those regions as compared with India, +where racial differences have perhaps been too great, and China, where +they have perhaps been too small. + +Nevertheless, it is probable that too great an effect has been +attributed to the genetic results of crossing. When we come to consider +traditional changes, we shall see how potent a factor is the contact of +traditions which accompanies the intermingling of stocks and to which +the greater part of the results observed have to be in all probability +attributed. + +It has been noticed that to an increasing extent from the first period +onwards the selection of mental characters comes largely to be +determined by tradition. The trend of tradition sets in a peculiar +direction; tradition develops in a groove and the peculiarities tend to +become exaggerated. Men are favoured in so far as they are innately +adapted to the chief features of the tradition. In an oligarchic society +like that of ancient Peru the naturally servile man fares better than +the self-assertive man; among the warlike tribes of North America the +servile man goes under. It may be argued that so distinctive a religion +as the Mohammedan would only gain ascendancy where the average innate +mental faculties were of a peculiar kind; however that may be, it is +clear that once having gained ascendancy this peculiar tradition would +favour a certain mental type and discourage others. Thus again we see +the tendency of germinal change to reinforce the trend of traditional +change rather than to determine traditional change. + +We also saw that under a segmentary organization of society the tendency +was towards the preservation of a certain type of mental constitution +adapted to the peculiar tradition. Departures from the favoured type in +any direction are cut off. When organic organization supersedes +segmentary organization the whole position changes. It is no longer +necessary that a peculiar tradition should be strictly maintained +demanding a certain type of mental organization. There is favoured a +tradition allowing of the fullest division of labour which not only +permits but even encourages various types of innate mental capacity. +Various forms of intellectual and emotional capacity thus find a place +which would otherwise have gone under. But there are two sides to the +picture; though artists and philosophers may survive, even if they do +not exactly flourish, the feeble-minded survive also. + +12. The selection of mental characters within the third period demands +further attention. We have commented upon the incompatibility between +group selection and the selection of individuals in the earlier periods. +Favourable individual developments may not survive because they are not +in harmony with the type necessary to maintain the group. Group +selection was active in the earlier part of the third period, and +resulted in the evolution of higher types. Later group selection took +rather a different form, but though it allowed the survival of +variations from the favoured type, it did not altogether cease. There +was, however, apparently little tendency towards further evolution of +groups as a whole; but germinal changes took place according as to +whether circumstances allowed the survival of more departures in an +upward or in a downward direction. We may glance at the results of +lethal and of reproductive selection. The average germinal constitution +of a race may be profoundly changed by the operation of factors that we +may place under the heading of lethal factors, though they do not always +operate by elimination. In a civilized country with its complicated +machinery of social organization, the government may adopt a policy +which greatly favours certain types and discourages others; apparently +chance happenings may so turn the course of events as to produce the +same results. Thus the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes drove out of +France men who undoubtedly differed in their innate mental constitution +from the average; so too did the setting up of the Inquisition in Spain. +The bad management of the liberal movement in Germany in 1848 resulted +in the setting up of a régime as a result of which a certain type of +German, to whom the régime was uncongenial, tended to emigrate. The +Bolshevist régime obviously favours a peculiar mentality. From such +instances it is clear that the average germinal constitution may be +changed in very different directions in neighbouring countries with +great suddenness. But in seeking the explanation of what follows in +these cases, it is clear that germinal change is following traditional +change; it may accelerate traditional change, but it is only a +contributory cause of the historical movement that we observe. The lack +of enterprise that has marked the Spanish people during the last three +hundred years was not caused by germinal change but by traditional +change which moulded the outlook and disposition of the people; germinal +change doubtless followed in the same direction and contributed to the +present position. The true importance of germinal change is not, as some +authors would have it, that it sets movements in progress among +civilized nations, but that it exaggerates the tendencies of traditional +change, and renders it difficult for nations to get out of the grooves +into which they have moved. + +Just as germinal change may set in different directions owing to lethal +selection, so it may do owing to reproductive selection. In the +religious celibates of the Middle Ages we have probably to recognize a +distinct mental type, though how far a more valuable type than the +average it is impossible to say. Some of their peculiar qualities were +doubtless valuable, but they presumably lacked other valuable qualities, +since they were disinclined to face the difficulties of the normal +social life of their time. Even if it is held that their peculiar +qualities were on the whole distinctly valuable, we have, before a final +judgement is passed as to the effects of celibacy, to remember that it +may have had a beneficial influence on tradition. An authority upon the +Middle Ages has said that ‘It is more than probable that any real +familiarity with the early Middle Ages will lead an unprejudiced student +to the belief that the celibacy of the clergy was at that time essential +to the setting apart of the clerical order, to the purification of the +Church, and to its influence upon the world, that clerical celibacy was +in fact a necessary stage in the spiritualization of European +society’.[1687] + +Reproductive selection chiefly arises because certain classes make +greater contributions to the following generation than other +classes.[1688] Generally speaking, throughout the Middle Ages, so far as +is known, the so-called upper classes contributed more to succeeding +generations than the so-called lower classes. The position is now +reversed, and it would appear that in the later days of Greece and Rome +also the upper classes contributed less to the population than the lower +classes. It is possible that the same may have been the case in other +ancient empires. The utmost importance has been attributed to the +influence of this form of differential fertility upon the course of +history. Mr. McDougall, for instance, writes as follows: ‘Looking at the +course of history widely, we may see in the differentiation of the +social classes by the social ladder and in the tendency of the upper +strata to fail to reproduce themselves, an explanation of the cyclic +course of civilization.’[1689] Clearly a careful inquiry into this +subject is needed. There are certain points to which attention may be at +once drawn, but we shall not be able to reach any definite conclusion +until we have examined farther into the nature of the modifications +produced by differences in tradition between the different classes. + +Here we may observe that it is altogether misleading to speak, as Mr. +McDougall does, of the lower classes as being ‘drained’ by the operation +of the social ladder, even in England at the present day where the +chance of rising is as great, if not greater, than it has ever been +before. A very limited number can and do rise. The ladder is not only +steep and difficult to climb; it is also narrow and does not permit of +many upon it at the same time. Further, so great is the prestige of +class that very few of the descendants of those who have climbed ever +sink back, and yet among them the regression to the mean is always in +operation. In other words, supposing that the ancestors of those +composing the upper social classes to have been distinguished by +desirable mental qualities, their descendants, to whose disappearance so +much is attributed, are not distinguished by a similar superiority to +the average. + +Granting for the moment all that has ever been claimed regarding the +superiority of those who climb, the above considerations modify the +importance to be attributed to differential fertility. It may further be +noticed that, although Mr. McDougall and others speak of differential +fertility as the origin of the cyclical course of civilization, what +they in fact attribute to this cause are the periods of decline. Other +causes are sought for to account for the equally remarkable periods of +advance. Mr. McDougall, for instance, attributes the rise of Greek +civilization to a ‘happy blending’ of two races.[1690] It may be said, +on the other hand, that the facts point strongly to the conclusion that +both the ‘ups’ and the ‘downs’ are part of the same phenomenon. The +‘ups’ are as remarkable as the ‘downs’; one process seems just the +reverse of the other. No one proposes to explain the ‘ups’ as due to the +favourable results of differential fertility, and before we can accept +unfavourable differential fertility as the chief cause of the ‘downs’ we +may ask if the fundamental cause of both processes is not of another +kind. If we should find this to be the case, it of course by no means +implies that germinal change does not play a contributory part. + +13. The greater part of the discussion in this chapter has been devoted +to an attempt to estimate the importance of germinal differences and of +germinal changes; it is clear that in order to arrive at more definite +conclusions we have to consider in rather more detail traditional +differences and traditional changes. The influence of the direct effect +of the environment must not be forgotten, as it frequently enters as a +contributory factor into the moulding of the course of history. It may +conveniently be considered here. + +Temperament is a characteristic of great importance. Just as among men +around us temperament is seen to influence each man’s achievement, and +largely to determine failure or success, so racial temperament is +important in determining racial achievement. This characteristic is +peculiarly sensitive to the direct effect of the environment, and it may +very well be that changes in diet and so on may have influenced the +course of history through their bearing upon temperament. At the present +day the urban conditions under which so large a percentage of the +members of western nations live—smoke, noise, vibration, and so on—may +have a bearing upon temperament and so upon achievement. + +Such considerations are somewhat speculative. More clear are the results +of disease upon temperament. It is a remarkable fact that disease, which +is chiefly noticeable within the third period, upon the whole then takes +a lethal form from which the patient either dies or recovers more or +less completely. In tropical regions, however, there are a number of +diseases of the non-lethal chronic type, such as the hook-worm disease +for instance, which affect a large percentage of the population and sap +the energy—mental and physical—of those attacked. The prevalence of any +such disease must act in an important fashion as a drag upon progress, +and the spreading of such a disease into a country previously unaffected +may quite conceivably put a stop to progress, and even bring about a +condition of decadence. The decline of Greece has been attributed, for +instance, to the introduction of malaria. In answering the question, +therefore, why certain areas have lagged behind others, we must not +forget the influence of chronic disease when it affects a large +proportion of the population, and it is a curious fact that in general +the working of this factor has been in the same direction as that of +other factors which influenced tradition. Where, that is to say, there +has been a low degree of fertility in the environment and little +stimulus through contact, there also upon the whole the deleterious +effect of disease has been most pronounced. + +It may further be noticed that the direct effect of the environment has +a bearing upon the moulding of tradition. The apathy and listlessness, +for example, resulting from the prevalence of a disease like malaria +form an element in the environment and give an unfavourable turn to the +development of tradition. + +14. Something has been said in the last two chapters as to the nature +and formation of tradition, and in this chapter as to its influence in +determining the main outlines of the course of history in the chief +geographical divisions of the world. The part played by tradition may be +best further illustrated by a reference to two problems to which +allusion has already been made—namely, the cyclical course of +civilization and modern differential fertility. When we speak of the +cyclical course of civilization we have in mind the alternations of +periods exhibiting vigour and energy with periods exhibiting apathy. As +within the same culture we see progress along one line and within one +atmosphere. At times, more especially when the degree of skill is +relatively low, there may be scarcely any progress and the condition is +one of stagnation. But under such circumstances any turning back is +rare. On the other hand, when the degree of skill is relatively high, we +sometimes see periods of sudden advance often initiated almost at a +definite date, and brought to a climax within a few—perhaps even in +one—generations. There often follows a period of stagnation or even of +decline. Professor Flinders Petrie has set out in a small book some +striking facts regarding this tendency based largely on the history of +Egypt. He shows how, taking what is left from various periods of +artistic production, this tendency may be illustrated, and it would not +be difficult to find many further illustrations in the history of any +art in the last few hundred years in Europe, and in a less degree in the +history of the various sciences.[1691] Sir Francis Galton, whose life +work has done so much to illuminate the nature and importance of +germinal characters, wrote as follows: ‘I have studied the causes of +civic prosperity in various directions and from many points of view, and +the conclusion at which I have arrived is emphatic, namely, that chief +among these causes are a large capacity of labour—mental, bodily, or +both—combined with eagerness for work.’[1692] Now the periods of advance +are marked by the exhibition of these characteristics, and we may ask +how far they are traditional in nature. Let us take as an example of a +period of advance the Renaissance in England. ‘Englishmen of the +sixteenth century’, says Sir Sidney Lee, ‘breathed a new atmosphere +intellectually and spiritually. They came under a new stimulus, +compounded of many elements, each of them new and inspiring. To that +stimulus must be attributed the sudden upward growth of distinctive +achievement among them, the increase of the opportunities of famous +exploits, and the consequent preservation from oblivion of more names of +Englishmen than in any other century before. The stimulus under which +Englishmen came in the sixteenth century may be summed up in the +familiar word Renaissance. The main factor of the European Renaissance, +of the New Birth of the intellect, was a passion for extending the +limits of human knowledge, and for employing men’s capabilities to new +and better advantage than of old. New curiosity was generated in regard +to the dimensions of the material world. There was a boundless +enthusiasm for the newly discovered art and literature of ancient +Greece. Men were fired by a new resolve to make the best and not the +worst of life upon earth. They were ambitious to cultivate as the +highest good the idea of beauty.’[1693] + +Let us look at the other side of the picture when energy is lacking. +There was a widely held opinion that the world would end in the year A. +D. 1000. All classes shared this opinion and prepared for the end, and +it can easily be understood how under these circumstances, whatever the +innate capacities may have been, little capacity for labour or eagerness +for work would be manifested. Again, in the later days of the Roman +Empire there was abroad a spirit of lethargy and apathy. The great +Empire was like a clock that had run down; the machinery was all intact, +but there was no force to set it in movement. It is said that there was +abroad in the minds of men prescience of some coming catastrophe, a +feeling that the inevitable end was approaching. If such a mental +horizon is contrasted with that set before an Englishman of the +sixteenth century or a Greek in the age of Pericles, we can understand +how eagerness for work as outwardly manifested is profoundly influenced +by tradition. + +When our knowledge of the circumstances is sufficiently precise, we can +always detect the influence of a powerful stimulus in periods of +progress. It often takes the form of a national purpose. ‘A national +purpose’, it has been said, ‘is the most unconquerable and victorious of +all things upon earth. It can raise up Babylon from the sands of the +desert, and make imperial civilizations spring from a score of huts, and +after it has wrought its will can leave monuments that seem as +everlasting a portion of nature as the rocks.’[1694] At times the +stimulus may arise from an invention of great import, such as the +discovery of the use of metals. More often, however, the stimulus takes +the form not directly of invention but of friction between different +ideas—the coming into the mental horizon not merely of new skilled +methods but of strange and foreign ideas of all kinds. Thus contact of +cultures is followed by more than the transfer of the elements of one +culture to another; it is in itself a stimulus so powerful as to be of +the greatest import in history. + +In the past when there was little or no contact at a distance, stimuli +were most often due to the physical contact of races whose tradition was +not too dissimilar. ‘Just as in the mental development of the individual +a conflict of impressions invites selective attention, so in the +spiritual development of society a clash of cultures awakes latent +energies of a constructive kind.’[1695] This fact has led to the error +of attributing to war a more direct importance in stimulating energy +than there is evidence for.[1696] Contact usually implied war, but +contact is equally effective without war, as can be seen in the example +of the Italian Renaissance. The stimulus in this case was largely +derived from the rediscovery of the ideals and learning of ancient +society, and can only be attributed to war in the far-fetched sense that +Greek scholars were disseminated over Europe by the capture of +Constantinople. And in more modern times stimulus is often derived from +indirect contact in which war plays no part at all—as can be seen often +enough in the history of art, in the influence, for example, of Chinese +and Japanese art upon European painting. + +The effect of a sudden stimulus may be to break down habit, and the +importance of habit has been dwelt upon as the characteristic which +enables tradition once acquired to be maintained. Such breakings down +can be observed in the lives of men and women around us under the +influence of sudden stress, and something similar may happen to a nation +as a whole. Professor Graham Wallas has, for instance, dwelt upon the +importance of the breaking down of habit as accounting for the excesses +of the French Revolution.[1697] + +Though a stimulus may always be detected at work during periods of +advance, it is by no means always possible to find evidence of +favourable germinal change. There is frequently no evidence at all of +germinal change at such periods. In the past no doubt contact often +implied racial intermingling, and, though in the present state of +biological knowledge we are justified in supposing that crosses between +two races not too distinct would usually have favourable results, there +is no sufficient foundation for attributing favourable results to all +such intermingling as has been done by some authors—von Luschan, for +instance. The conclusion would seem to be that germinal change is never +more than a contributory cause of advance, and that traditional change +is the whole explanation of some of such periods. + +Periods of decline are, as we have seen, sometimes associated with +unfavourable traditional changes. Tradition may be of such a nature as +to sap rather than to encourage vigour. But directly unfavourable +turnings of tradition, such as the belief that the world would come to +an end at a certain date, are only occasional causes of decline. There +is in the course which the development of tradition takes an almost +inevitable tendency for periods of advance to be succeeded by periods of +repletion and apathy. What appears to happen so often in the history of +art after a time of advance may lead to an understanding of the tendency +of events in general. If we watch the flowering of any school of art we +reach a period, exemplified in the work of the followers of Raphael for +instance, and perhaps, as some would say, in the work of Raphael +himself, when the artists appear to be lost in the practice of the +technical side of artistic production. The ideal, in order to express +which the technique has been called into existence, has been lost. The +original stimulus has in fact lost its power, and the means to the +expression of the ideal have been mistaken for ends in themselves. The +technique becomes a plaything, and, there being nothing to express, art +takes the form of variations in technique, and becomes, in a word, +conventional. This is what would appear to happen as regards progress in +general—due allowance being made in the case of skilled processes for +the fact that, since they are designed to achieve practical ends, there +is less chance of decadence. But in general we see the fading of the +power of the stimulus, the coming of a time of repletion, when men are +lost in the mass of what has under the influence of the stimulus been +accumulated, and in the case of the arts tend to use the skill achieved +as an end in itself. We may trace such a course of events in the history +of Greek thought. The course of events may be profoundly modified in a +multitude of ways by the appearance of a new stimulus and so on. But we +may say that such is the inevitable working of the factors upon the +formation of tradition, that periods of stagnation, of repletion, and +sometimes of decadence tend to occur after periods of sudden advance. + +It appears that we should attribute differential fertility, with its +possibly serious effect upon the direction of germinal change which +marks these periods, rather to the prevalence of apathy than, as Mr. +McDougall and others would do, attribute to differential fertility the +evidence of decline. For it is the upper classes upon whom the sense of +apathy weighs, and it is they who contribute least to future +generations. Further, we may remark that decline is not so mysterious a +matter as is sometimes suggested. Such complex organizations are +vigorous civilizations that, as has been said, ‘the wonderful thing is +that they exist at all; what needs explanation is not so much the decay +of some, but rather the long persistence of others.’[1698] + +In concluding our reference to this matter, we may notice that in recent +times, when the working of tradition is known to us in detail, changes +can be traced as due to tradition to which the cyclical changes are +similar though of greater magnitude. Attention has been drawn to the +moulding of tradition in Germany in a particular direction which so +powerfully affected the achievement of that race. These events cannot be +explained as due in the main to germinal change, though possibly, as +observed, the German régime initiated about 1850 may have resulted in +the emigration of a certain type of German, and thus in this way +germinal change may have played a minor part. So too England during the +Boer War was very different to England at the election of 1906, and the +difference which was obviously traditional was enough to affect the +achievement of the race. In such examples, which could be multiplied +indefinitely, we see how the current of tradition may set in one way or +another quite apart from germinal changes, and such changes of current +may lead, when they hold good over generations, to periods of advance or +of decay. + +15. There remains to be discussed the importance of tradition in modern +differential fertility. It is first necessary to examine rather more +closely than has yet been done the manner in which mental characters as +manifested are due to tradition, and then to ask how far the particular +traditions, to which the upper and lower classes are respectively +subject, account for the mental characteristics manifested by them. + +As pointed out, it is obvious that the direction in which the intellect +works and the degree to which it works are very largely determined by +tradition. Thought will be in the primitive or common-sense stage +according to the nature of tradition. It is not so obvious that the +manifestation of the disposition is equally governed by tradition. The +negroes are innately placid, good tempered, and un-self-assertive as +compared with white men. Yet Americans constantly complain of the +‘sauciness’ and truculence of the negro. These characters are evidently +attributable to the surroundings to which the negroes in America are +subject; the manner in which they are looked down upon and the +irritating minor restrictions to which they are subject evoke in the +negroes a reaction which results in their being called ‘saucy’ and +truculent. In other words their disposition is so modified by tradition +that, as manifested, it belies their innate characteristics. In an +earlier chapter reference was made to the subservience of the Egyptian +fellah. In the production of this characteristic a centuries-old +tradition of oppression plays a large part, though the elimination of +the more self-assertive individuals may have produced a low average +level of self-assertiveness. If we compare an English public-school boy +with an Egyptian fellah in respect to self-assertiveness and +self-reliance, those characters as manifested form no guide to the +underlying innate differences. Among the former self-reliance is +strongly encouraged, among the latter it is inhibited. But if we compare +English public-school boys one with another, and Egyptian fellaheen one +with another, then the differences disclosed are to some considerable +degree a measure of innate differences, because tradition is more or +less equalized. Again, let any one observe the attitude of the British +private soldier towards our coloured subjects, or for that matter what +he can make of the attitude of the latter towards the English soldier, +and he will not be in doubt as to the importance of tradition in +producing the attitude of command and its opposite—the tendency to +submission. + +There is no doubt therefore as to the possibility of tradition affecting +profoundly the manifestation of all mental characters. When we compare +white with black races in their original home, we have to discount the +whole tradition. European races, however, have a considerable amount in +common, and when we compare them we have less to discount. When classes +within the same race are compared, there is still less to be discounted; +they have both European and racial tradition in common; the differences +come in at a higher level. Finally, when we compare individuals in the +same class, we have only to discount family and individual differences +in tradition. It is therefore clear that we have to gain some idea as to +the nature of the differences in tradition to which the classes in +England at the present day are subject. + +16. We have already remarked upon the curious fact that, although the +organization of society on organic lines greatly favoured the +transmission of tradition, there have come to be large differences in +tradition as between the different component elements of society. This +we attribute to the fact that in the first place the different component +elements specialize in different kinds of skill; the vastness of the +mass of tradition makes it impossible for every man to absorb all of it; +so far as skill is concerned, each man absorbs that development of it, +the specialization in which characterizes his function in society. This +may account for differences as between classes with regard to skill, but +why, it may be said, should it account for differences in manners, +customs, and mode of life? Whatever functions may be performed by the +different elements of society, do not the members of all alike now, in +any case, enjoy the same privileges, have they not all homes, have they +not access to the same interests apart from their professions? Manners +and customs differ, and differ so much that a public-school boy finds +himself out of his element as a private in a line regiment, and a +university man finds it difficult to establish ordinary human relations +with the men he meets in a working men’s club such as he establishes +without effort when in company of men of his class. + +These differences are attributable to the fact that ownership of +property has become a function in society. Further, there has come about +the reservation to the property-owning class of certain +professions—notably the military and the clerical—which, though they do +not afford a high rate of remuneration, do afford, as property-owning +affords, ample opportunities for leisure. Property owners as a class +have had thus both the time and the means to cultivate the art of +living. Some of the results are, as all will admit, of value. Some of +the results are harmful; but for the most part cultivation of the art of +living results in the multiplication of conventions which are neither +useful nor harmful, being mere matters of form. The wage-earning class, +on the other hand, has neither the time nor the means to elaborate any +code of manners. Working long hours for what amounts to little more than +a bare subsistence, they could not have evolved such a code of manners +nor have they absorbed any considerable part of it. There was no room +for it as their lives were lived. Other consequences follow from +property-owning. Property-owning is power; in the property-owning class +there arises a tradition of self-assertion, a habit of command, whereas +in the wage-earning class there arises a tradition of self-abasement and +a habit of subservience, traditions and habits so strong as largely to +obscure natively given characters. We may note with interest, therefore, +that it is on these lines, and not on a theory of germinal differences, +that an eminent historian answers the question why military history +shows that men of greater age and wider experience will on the field of +battle follow to the death a boy of the upper class when they will not +follow one of their own class. It may be objected that what has been +said scarcely applies to the conditions of the present day and that +subservience of the wage-earning class is not very marked at the moment. +This is true, but it is a recent change. The reason why the change has +come about is surely that the wage-earning class has obtained power and +knows it. The change is an illustration of the power of tradition to +dominate the outward expression of such important characteristics as +assertion or subservience. No one can attribute the difference to +germinal change. The wage-earning class has not absorbed the manners and +customs of the property-owning class at the same time for a variety of +reasons; for one thing they have still little place for such conventions +in their lives, and for another thing they tend to regard everything +connected with the property-owning class as hostile, while we may also +remember that many elements in the upper-class tradition depend for +their existence upon the presence of servants. + +An insight into the nature of these traditional differences may be +gained in rather a different way. Many members of the upper class have +attempted to interest themselves in the conditions of life among the +less fortunate classes. It is doubtful how far the experience gained in +the majority of cases is of value in throwing light upon the problems +under consideration. But let any unprejudiced person go and live in the +working-class quarter of any large town without any object in view other +than to experience the conditions. Under such circumstances the +conclusions which grow up in his mind will probably be something of the +following nature. To all seeming the innate qualities of the boys and +girls, in temperament, disposition, and intellect, are very much what +they were in the boys and girls he was at school with or formerly +associated with himself. The more intimate his acquaintance becomes with +the conditions among which these boys and girls grow up, the more +striking seem the peculiarities and limitations of the mental horizon +outside of which they have little chance of penetrating compared with +that which confronts children of his own class. The dullness and +drabness, if there is nothing worse, of a home life in two or three +rooms, relieved by what excitement can be found in the smaller streets +of a large town, or later by picture palaces or an occasional football +match, followed by marriage and the struggle to keep up a home under +discouraging circumstances—all these features, which are not appreciated +in their full weight until they are, as it were, felt by individual +experience, seem adequately to explain the differences between the +adults of one class and those of another. Any one who has had such an +experience will, on the whole, be rather surprised that more sordidness +does not exist, than be inclined to summon the hypothesis of innate +inferiority to explain the sordidness that does exist. + +17. Profound differences in tradition as between the social classes do +therefore exist and, as far as we have gone, they might appear to +account for all mental differences manifested; they must in any case +account for a considerable part of them. But though we could prolong the +discussion on the same lines and produce much evidence tending to the +same conclusion, we could reach no precise result. We may go on +therefore and ask whether there is any evidence of the existence of +innate differences between the classes. + +Mere observation of the boys and girls of the different classes does not +indicate any differences. But mere observation is not enough. The +problem may be approached in two ways. We may notice the results of +inquiries made regarding the intelligence of children by modern methods, +and we may also ask by what characters those who rise to a higher social +status are distinguished, and further what innate differences may be +supposed to underlie these apparent differences. The results of +inquiries made to test the relative intelligence of children of parents +of different social status are fairly uniform. Bridges and Coles, for +example, found as the result of such an investigation that ‘there was +very considerable dependence of intelligence upon “sociological +conditions”’; they go on to say that ‘when children are classified +according to the occupations of their fathers, a striking correlation is +shown between intelligence quotient and occupation group. Hence if +mental age rather than chronological age were used to determine the time +for beginning school, the children of the professional group, for +example, would begin school two years earlier than the children of the +unskilled labour group; for the former mature intellectually much +earlier than the latter.’[1699] The interpretation of such observations +bristles with difficulties. It is not clear what relation earlier +maturity bears to adult intelligence. Though the direct effect of the +environment is probably negligible, the possibility that tradition may +influence the results is certainly not shut out. Indeed, the fact that +the correlation is higher for boys than for girls suggests that +tradition does come in. Nevertheless, a consideration of these results +suggests that the whole explanation cannot be found in tradition and +that we have here a sign of some superiority of intelligence in the +children of parents of a higher social status. More than that cannot be +said. + +18. Let us approach the question in another way. Can we discover any +characteristics distinctive of those who succeed in modern society, who +rise, as it is called, from the ranks of the wage-earning classes, and, +if we can, what these characters are and how far we must assume the +existence of innate differences to account for them? We may think of the +upper social classes in England to-day as falling roughly into three +divisions—the professional and the business classes and those whose +fathers, grandfathers, or more remote ancestors came into possession of +property by one means or another. In the case of a small proportion of +the latter class, the position was won under conditions which differ +more or less profoundly from these ruling to-day. This section is a +small section, and we need not further consider it here. A large +proportion of the so-called upper classes have attained their position +under the conditions which now exist, or their forefathers have attained +it under conditions which did not greatly differ from them. What +characteristics are they, which, when manifested under these conditions, +lead to success? + +It has often been assumed that intellect is the chief factor in success. +This assumption is not only made in ordinary conversation when a +reference to the career of a successful man in any line is almost +certain to be followed by the comment that ‘he must be a very clever +fellow’ but in serious contributions to the problem. This assumption is +certainly wrong. There are many elements in character which contribute +more largely to success than the intellectual, such as capacity for +work, energy, ambition, desire to dominate, tact, and so on. +Furthermore, success in a profession is, to an almost as great an extent +as success in business, attributable to such characteristics. Few more +remarkable things—remarkable in being in conflict with ideas as commonly +preconceived—are learnt from observation and experience than the length +to which such characteristics in favourable association can carry a man +even in the strictly learned professions where it might be supposed that +intellect alone would carry off the prizes. There can be no doubt that +those elements in character which are most important as regards success +are such as we must attribute to differences in disposition and +temperament rather than in intellect so far as we can attribute them at +all to innate differences. + +This is essentially what we want to know—what innate differences do +exist. We have, when trying in the first place to fix upon the outwardly +existing characteristics, to remember that tradition may give powerful +twists and turns—sometimes of a desirable and sometimes of an +undesirable nature—to the simpler characteristics mentioned above, such +as ambition. In the business world, for example, the successful man is +from many points of view the man who gets his head above the heads of +other people, who gets more out of other people than they get out of +him. But are we to imagine that there is something in him which impels +him so to act with regard to his fellow men, or are we to imagine that +the simpler characteristics of ambition and love of power lead to such +conduct under the guidance of a particular tradition without any +definite desire on his part or even perhaps without any clear +realization as to what it is precisely that he is doing? The second +explanation is that which best fits the facts. It seems clear that, as +tradition changes in the course of years, the activities of the +energetic ambitious men are led this way and that. At present no doubt +to a certain degree they are led in the direction of ‘pushfulness’—by +what M. Faguet has called ‘le goût d’arrivisme’. It is always dangerous +to read into the activities of men the working of particular innate +characteristics. Few things in history perhaps have been as harsh as the +conduct of the generation which devised the game laws, and yet these +very men did not merely quote the classics with unbounded enthusiasm but +were also moved by genuine sympathy and altruism to abolish slavery, the +horrors of which were known to them only by report. We should refrain, +therefore, from deducing from the activities of the successful men and +of the upper classes more than the presence of those simpler +characteristics mentioned above as leading to positions of pre-eminence +over other men. + +These simpler characteristics are in themselves very complex +manifestations of many elements, of which tradition is one. But in the +case of this particular problem, as we are considering rise from a lower +to a higher social status, tradition cannot be held to be the cause of +the differences. There are, in fact, unquestionably innate differences +in temperament and disposition which underlie the characteristics +leading to success, and the temperamental differences which have been +curiously neglected are probably the most important and form perhaps +half the secret of success. Among the temperamental characteristics +leading to success we may note low degree of fatiguability, high power +of recuperation, rapidity of response, hopeful nature, vigour, energy, +and healthy nervous tone. Among the characteristics of disposition we +may note similarly the instincts of self-assertion, of emulation, and of +acquisition. The power of forming habits is probably also a considerable +aid to success under modern conditions. + +What part does intellect play? Judging from the fact that it is +certainly an aid to success, though not so powerful a factor as is +usually thought, we may conclude that there is some, probably a slight, +difference in intellectual capacity between the classes. Intellect, when +it accompanies success, is rather more in the nature of an incidentally +favourable factor than of a primary cause of success. The powerful +instinct of self-assertion will make itself felt; its possessor will +probably arrive somewhere; a powerful intellect may, in the absence of, +or rather with the inadequate development of, other innate qualities, +not advance its possessor’s position in the world. + +But though considerations based upon a testing of intelligence on the +one hand and upon an analysis of qualities leading to success on the +other do without question lead to the conclusion that there are +differences in innate qualities as between the successful and the +unsuccessful, there are grounds for thinking, for the reasons mentioned +above, that the differences between the classes are not large. For we +must remember that, so far from the lower classes being drained of men +of certain qualities, a very small proportion of the men of these +classes is ever enabled to set out on the path leading to success in +business or in a profession. Also we must not forget, when considering +success, the part played by fortunate accidents under complex modern +conditions—mere chance happenings which, altering the whole course of a +man’s life, may determine whether he is successful or unsuccessful. +Again, there is little or no relapse worth speaking of into the lower +classes when once a status is gained. Such is the influence of place and +status that for the most part, whatever may be the innate qualities, the +descendants of men who won their way upwards maintain their position. +Therefore the regression to the mean which is always at work must tend +to lessen such innate differences as exist between the classes. + +19. Lastly, there is a very difficult problem the existence of which +must not be forgotten inasmuch as it affects in the most fundamental +manner the judgement to be passed on the meaning of these differences. +We have to ask what is the value of the differences which exist. Success +alone cannot be taken as an indication of the value of the characters +exhibited by the successful. There can indeed be no doubt that, other +things being equal, a decrease in the average intellect would be an +unfortunate thing. Similarly we may regard those temperamental qualities +which were indicated as leading to success as on the whole of value. But +it cannot be affirmed without more consideration that all temperamental +qualities which distinguish the successful are desirable, and more +particularly that a further development of the instincts of +self-assertion, acquisition, and emulation would be desirable under +present circumstances; it may even be that we might view a diminution in +the average strength of some of the qualities which mark the successful +at least with equanimity. The instincts of acquisition and +self-assertion were of great value in the past, highly indeed as mankind +has paid for the careers of men markedly endowed with these qualities. +But, with the present stage of social evolution in Europe in mind, +should it not be said that the instinct of acquisition when developed +above the average is on the whole harmful, and may it not be that +self-assertion is likely to be a source of difficulty in any form of +co-operative commonwealth, and to some form of co-operation as replacing +or modifying competition we seem to be tending. + +We may see this whole problem of value in another light if we ask what +it is that we value in the men of our race. Latterly we have had reason +to dwell upon the qualities which we feel to characterize the men of our +race at their best. Are they not self-respect together with modesty, +tenacity together with tenderness? Any one who has served in the ranks +of the army is not likely to allow that these qualities are on the whole +less developed in the classes from which the ranks of the army are +usually filled than in the rest of the nation. In this connexion we +should perhaps remember that a sense of comradeship in facing the +elemental facts of existence without material wealth may provide an +impetus to the expression of these qualities, whereas an absorption in +the less immediate necessities of life may militate against their +expression. To the degree to which this is so, we should, when trying to +estimate the innate capacities in the different classes, make the +necessary allowances—in the case of the so-called upper classes for the +circumstances adverse to the expression of these qualities and in the +case of the so-called lower classes for circumstances which on the whole +perhaps favour their expression. However this may be, we feel that these +qualities are the most valuable which our race has produced and that +upon their preservation and upon greater opportunities for their +expression depends our best hope for the future. He would be a bold man, +however, who suggested that the possession of these qualities in more +than average amount was a characteristic of the successful. The same may +be said of good taste, good manners, and of other qualities which, to +say the least of them, contribute to the amenities of life. + +It is at least apparent how difficult a problem is the judgement to be +passed on the effects of modern differential fertility. There are +grounds for thinking that those who see in differential fertility the +cause of the cyclical course of civilization both over-estimate the +results and neglect certain aspects of the changes involved. +Differential fertility is not a factor to be disregarded; the results +which it is now producing demand the most careful investigation. +Nevertheless, so far as our knowledge extends, we should view it rather +as the result than as the cause of the cyclical course of history—the +course which historical changes take being due primarily to changes in +tradition. This conclusion is in harmony with all that has been said in +this chapter as to the relative importance of change in tradition and of +change in the germinal constitution. From the first period in history +changes in tradition have come to override changes in the germinal +constitution; the latter form of change is far from being negligible, +but it is a contributory rather than a fundamental cause of the events +of history. + + + + + XXII + CONCLUSION + + +1. An attempt has been made to trace the origin of problems of +population from their source and to indicate their nature and +interdependence. They have been traced back to man’s place in nature. +The ancestors of man must at one time have been subject to the same +conditions as those to which all species in a state of nature are +subject. These conditions were investigated, and it was shown that +fecundity is in the main determined by the sum of all the dangers to +which the young of any species are exposed—allowance being made for the +fact that a certain proportion of ova will not be fertilized. It was +also shown that change or history—if history can be spoken of in this +connexion—is due to germinal change alone, and it was further indicated +how it may be supposed that germinal change comes about. The early +stages in the moving away of the pre-human ancestor from these +conditions elude our inquiry, though certain deductions may be made as +to the main outline of what happened. For evidence as to the latter +stages, until we reach historical times, we are chiefly dependent upon +the method of using our knowledge of existing primitive races as +throwing light upon prehistoric races. + +2. Problems of population fall under two main headings, problems of +quantity and problems of quality. But all problems of population are +interwoven one with another and the method of solving any quantitative +problem bears upon the quality of population. Thus the methods of +regulating quantity affect quality by influencing germinal change, and +in the later periods of history growth in quantity affects quality by +its influence upon tradition. No one problem should be considered +without reference to its bearing both upon quantity and quality. At the +present day, for instance, differential fertility is almost always +considered solely from the point of view of quality; it is forgotten +that the reduction in the birth-rate may be that which economic +conditions demand and that it may of necessity have to begin among the +upper classes. Though, therefore, differential fertility by producing +unfavourable germinal changes is to be to that degree deplored, yet we +have to remember that, so far as quantity is concerned, failure to meet +economic requirements might be a much greater misfortune. + +3. As regards quantitative problems we saw that from the first period of +history onwards—from the time, that is to say, that it began to be +possible for man to reap the benefits of co-operation—it was of the +utmost importance for every group to approximate to the optimum number. +This is the number which—taking into consideration the nature of the +environment, the degree of skill employed, the habits and customs of the +people concerned, and all other relevant facts—gives the highest average +return per head. This number is not fixed once and for all. On the +contrary it is constantly varying as the conditions referred to vary, +and, as skill has tended to increase throughout history, so has the +number economically desirable tended to increase. The errors underlying +the wholly different exposition given by Malthus have been indicated; +for him there was no such thing as over-population. In his view +population had at any one time increased up to the possible limit and +was in process of being checked. In the modern view numbers may +approximate to the desirable level, may not reach it, or they may exceed +it, and if either of two latter positions arise, the return per head +will not be as high as it might be. + +The quantitative problem presents itself to all races at all times. +There is no escaping it. The common notion that it only presents itself +at certain times and in certain places is based upon a failure to grasp +the strength of fecundity. Almost without exception those factors, which +incidentally restrict increase and produce elimination, are insufficient +so to reduce fertility as to keep numbers down to the optimum level. +There thus arises the need for factors which directly restrict fertility +and cause elimination; among primitive races these factors take the form +of abortion, infanticide, and prolonged abstention from intercourse. +There is no correlation between these factors and the economic stage +reached, and therefore we have no grounds for assuming any one factor to +have been prevalent at any one stage in pre-history, though we must +assume that one or more of these factors was always at work. This +assumption is confirmed by the fact that, whenever we can catch sight of +the emergence of prehistoric races into the light of history, we find +one or other of these factors to have been present. Further there is +every reason to suppose that normally such of these factors as are in +use are effective and that therefore in the first and second periods of +history some approximation to the optimum number was normally attained. + +The third period is in many respects different from those that preceded +it. In the first place the number desirable has been constantly +increasing, so much so that increasing numbers are taken as being a +normal feature of human society whereas, in fact, numbers throughout +human history as a whole have been stationary. It may be that we are +nearing a time when numbers will be again normally stationary, for +though increase may remain economically desirable, it may cease to be so +from a wider point of view of human welfare, when, that is to say, facts +other than income per head are taken into account. In the second place +there have been frequent failures to attain to the optimum number owing +to the many disturbing influences at work. Chief among them are the +fluctuations in the number desirable, the erratic action of certain +causes of elimination, such as war and disease, and migrations. + +Regarding the quantitative problem as a whole, it is evident that the +necessity of solving it has had the most profound effect upon all +societies at all times. It bears directly upon the relation between the +sexes—around which so largely centres human welfare—and upon the most +intimate and most valued aspects of the life of every adult—those +connected with the family. In the past the solution has been +unconsciously or semi-consciously achieved; it has now come within the +power of mankind after a due consideration of the position deliberately +to decide what the best solution may be. + +4. Turning now to the problems of quality, we found that change among +species in a state of nature, and therefore among our pre-human +ancestors, was due to germinal change alone. Just as man has moved away +from the position in which all species in a state of nature are situated +as regards quantity, so he has moved away from the position in which +they are placed as regards quality. Human history, in other words, is +not explicable as due to germinal change alone. Tradition becomes a +factor of ever-increasing importance; the direct influence of the +environment also assumes a greater importance than among species in a +state of nature, though it remains relatively insignificant compared +with changes in tradition and changes in the germinal constitution. +Germinal change, however, retains almost its full importance so far as +permanent changes in physical characters are concerned. + +We have seen that physical characters as presented to us are the +expression of the interaction between certain germinal predispositions +and a certain environment, and that, disease apart, such variations as +usually occur in the environment do not in any notable manner affect +these characters. Tradition does not enter directly into the expression +of physical character; it alters the environment, it is true, but that +is another matter. Nevertheless when we come to investigate the smaller +differences, such as those which are found as between members of +different classes in a modern community, the greatest caution is +necessary before the differences in the environment are ruled out as +contributory factors in producing these differences. Broadly speaking, +we may say that differences in stature, eye colour, eyesight, muscular +power, and so on, are all, though in varying degrees, because different +organs vary in their susceptibility to environmental differences, +expressions of germinal differences. It follows that, so far at least as +physical characters are concerned, the germinal constitution is of +primary importance. Disease due to parasites is a question apart. The +parasites might be eliminated, or conceivably preventive medicine might +render susceptibility to disease of little account. Disease due to +structural defects must be classed with other physical characters and, +whether it be that we are considering health (immunity from parasitic +disease excepted), stature, eye colour, or any other physical character, +it is to the germinal constitution that we must look as the factor of +chief importance. + +It is not, however, of changes in physical characters but of changes in +mental characters of which we think when we ask what it is that has +caused those events the recording of which is the province of +historians. There are three factors to be considered, germinal change, +traditional change, and the direct effect of the environment, which +latter factor we may pass over, merely recalling that it can at times—as +in the case of chronic disease affecting at one time a large proportion +of the inhabitants of a country—appreciably retard progress. It is never +in the true sense a cause of progress. In thus relegating the direct +effect of the environment to a very subsidiary place among the factors, +we are not dismissing the environment as of little account in human +history or in the lives of individual men and women. Though the direct +effect of the environment on the germinal constitution is seldom clearly +distinguished from its effect in moulding tradition, yet it is wholly +distinct; and in fact, while attributing to the former little +importance, we have found the latter to be of increasing importance +until it comes altogether to dominate germinal change. + +Nevertheless when this distinction is realized and an unbiased effort +made to estimate the relative importance of these factors, it seems that +the position is often curiously misunderstood. It is frequently +suggested that the achievement of our race in the future and of mankind +in general will somehow depend principally upon the course of germinal +change, and that it is in the lives of men at the present day or at any +given time that environment in its bearing upon tradition is of +importance. But this is a misconception of the position. Bearing in mind +the discussions in former chapters as to what is inherited and as to the +direct influence of the environment, let us ask wherein the importance +of germinal differences is to be sought, first as between men at the +present day and afterwards in history as a whole. With regard to +physical characteristics it is clear that, disease apart, men are what +they are owing principally to their native endowment. Whether a man is +tall or short, dark or fair, has blue or brown eyes, or what is, apart +from the possibility of a correlation between these and more valuable +characters, of more importance, whether he is healthy, vigorous, strong, +endowed with good eyesight and hearing, in short with a sound +constitution—this is a matter principally of native endowment, supposing +the differences in the environment not to exceed those which now on the +average occur. And the same applies to mental characters with an +allowance made for the marked degree of susceptibility which temperament +exhibits to changes in the environment. Whether a man has more than the +average degree of intellect, is markedly assertive, pugnacious, or +inquisitive, is capable of withstanding or recovering from fatigue, +depends upon his native endowment. But it is at the same time true that +achievement is in very large degree governed by tradition. This is true +if the criterion of achievement is an historical criterion, as, for +instance, when a man of one race is compared with another man of the +same race belonging to a different epoch or when a man of one race is +compared with a man of another race. It is not true when the comparison +is made between two men of the same class within the same race because +within classes in a race tradition is more or less equalized. And where +tradition is equalized, there achievement is a measure of innate +endowment, and it is within a class usually so equalized that at any +given time the outward manifestation of mental characters is nearly as +much a measure of native endowment as are those of physical characters. +Therefore not what a man achieves as judged by historical standards, not +whether his thought will follow primitive or common-sense lines, is +dependent upon his endowment, but what he will make of the tradition of +his time—his performance, in other words, compared with that of men +around him. + +Achievement, therefore, as judged historically, is in very large measure +to be explained as due to the influence of the environment upon the +origin and transmission of tradition. Up to a certain stage, however, +and, when the whole of human history is taken into account, up to a late +stage, achievement was in the main dependent upon germinal change. But +this late stage is anterior by many thousands of years to the beginning +of history in the usual meaning of that term. Beginning not later than +the last period of the Palaeolithic, the explanation of the course of +events is in the main to be sought not in germinal change but in the +influence of environment upon tradition. The importance of germinal +change in the later stages is by no means negligible. Germinal change, +however, was not so much the cause of the course which events followed +as a consequence of these events. The effect reacted upon the cause and +accelerated the process. Finally when considering the latest phase of +history—the latest phase, that is to say, when taking a broad view—we +reach the following conclusion. We find that the great acceleration of +the rate of progress which characterizes the history of the period is to +be explained, not by a change in quality, but by the growth in quantity +of the population which, though it does not of necessity lead to, is the +indispensable condition precedent to, the breakdown of the segmentary +organization of society and to the rise of the organic type of social +organization. This is the paradox of the population problem. Change +among species in a state of nature is based upon germinal change alone; +change among our pre-human ancestors was equally a matter of change in +the quality of population; but the explanation of the most outstanding +fact in recent history broadly viewed is to be sought in a change in +quantity rather than in quality of population. + +The explanation of the course of events since late Palaeolithic times as +due to tradition on the lines indicated in the last chapter is in +general satisfactory, provided that on the one hand allowance is made +for the fact that differences in race do imply differences in mental and +moral qualities, which arising on the whole together with changes in +tradition, reinforce the tendency to change along certain lines, and +that on the other hand apparently chance happenings do give turns and +twists to the course of events. The reconciliation of this latter +phenomenon with the general trend of the argument is not difficult. +Under certain conditions the death or even the indisposition of some +prominent man or the whim of a powerful minister may appear to divert +the course of events. Nevertheless in reality such events have only a +passing effect and do not obscure the broad workings of the factors we +have indicated. + +The relation of the innate qualities to tradition may be illustrated by +the use of a metaphor. Tradition may be likened to some vast structure +which mankind is building. Each generation adds a few bricks to the +structure. The part of the building to which any one man contributes, +whether it is to the ground floor or to one of the upper stories, wholly +depends upon the race and epoch to which he belongs; so too does for the +most part the kind of brick he will lay and the methods he will employ +in laying it. His contribution to the structure is governed by the plan +of the building as elaborated by previous generations and by the bricks +they have prepared and the methods of laying them they have introduced. +But in any generation whether a man will lay a brick at all or whether +he will do it energetically and intelligently as compared with his +fellow-workers will depend upon the innate qualities with which he is +endowed. + +Our conclusion therefore must be something after this kind. Those who +base upon germinal change their hopes for the physical condition of the +human race in the future are building upon sound foundations. However +much our power to control and regulate vital processes may increase—and +it is clearly upon the verge of a very great increase—in the end a +satisfactory physical condition can only be the product of a certain +germinal constitution. On the other hand, those who think that germinal +change in mental characters will effect the evolution of society and +mould the course of history are upon the whole mistaken. The course of +history is in the main dependent upon changes in tradition which are for +the most part independent of germinal change. Just as the outstanding +happenings in the last century—the turning of thought and conduct in +Germany, for example, along certain lines, which ended in so great a +catastrophe—were due to changes in tradition and not to changes in the +germinal constitution, so whether the problems now pressing upon +European society are to be solved or whether some greater catastrophe, +reaching a climax in a long course of years or bursting suddenly upon +us, is to be the outcome, will depend upon changes in tradition and not +upon germinal change. The reason for this lies in the fact that the vast +accumulation of tradition overlays the outward expression of mental +character, determines the direction of intellectual activity and moulds +the expression of the instinctive faculties. But as far as tradition is +equalized, so far do innate mental differences manifest themselves as +between man and man, and since tradition is more or less equalized, if +not within races, at least within classes in the same race, to that +degree is mental endowment of pre-eminent importance to the individual. + + + + + APPENDIX I + + +There is presented below a summary of the evidence that in all parts of +the world there existed among primitive races, before they had been +subjected to European or other outside influence, customs the primary +function of which was the restriction of increase. An ideal review of +the matter would require a preliminary selection of certain areas where +the conditions referred to could be thoroughly studied. After a mapping +out of the races and tribes, in order that some idea might be obtained +of the relative numerical importance of each, an exhaustive examination +of the literature might be undertaken and the date of the observations +noted. The credibility of the authors would have to be considered and +some method of allowing for negative evidence elaborated. Nothing of the +kind has been attempted here. It may be suggested that the problem +should have been pursued at least somewhat further. Various attempts +were made to analyse the evidence in other ways, but the difficulties +met with were such that it seemed best to present the evidence as +follows. Evidence of a reasonably credible nature as to the existence of +these customs has been noted. In many of these cases other authors are +silent as to these practices; in one or two cases the practices have +been denied; but when the denial is either not apparently founded on +careful observation or is of a distinctly later date, these instances +have not been omitted. Where the weight of the evidence is against the +existence of the practice, as in the case of the existence of +infanticide among the Veddahs, any positive evidence is omitted. One +author does record infanticide among the Veddahs, and it may be that it +formerly existed. + +It is submitted that the evidence as given below does show customs +restrictive of increase to have been so widespread, in the form either +of abortion, infanticide, or prolonged abstention from intercourse, as +to have been practically universal. It is in fact submitted that, +although for the many reasons set out in the text the evidence must be +very incomplete, there is ample support for the theory which has been +advanced. + +In the following summary the letter ‘R’ stands for prolonged restriction +of intercourse, ‘A’ for abortion, and ‘I’ for infanticide. Where the +evidence records the practice to be rare, but there are reasons for +thinking that the rarity may be recent, the reference has been included +with the word ‘rare’ given in brackets. + + + AUSTRALIA + + Group I. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + General References. Parker, _Aborigines_, p. 23; Lumholtz, _Among + Cannibals_, p. 134. + + Victoria. Curr, _Recollections_, p. 252. + + Victoria and Riverina. Beveridge, _Aborigines_, p. 26. + + New South Wales and Victoria. Mathews, _Ethnological Notes_, p. 17. + + Port Lincoln. Wilhelmi, _Transactions of the Royal Society of + Victoria_, vol. v, p. 180; Schürmann, _Aboriginal Tribes_, p. 223. + + River Darling. Bonney, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 125. + + Southern Australia. Palmer, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 280; Fison and + Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 190; Eylmann, _Kolonie + Südaustralien_, p. 261; Smyth, _Aborigines_, vol. i, p. 52. + + Mining Tribe. Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 748. + + Tongeranka. Ibid., p. 749. + + Mukjarawaint. Ibid. + + Wotjos. Ibid. + + Tatuthi. Ibid. + + Wadthaurung. Ibid. + + Narrinyeri. Taplin, _Native Tribes_, p. 13. + + Queensland. Mathew, _Two Tribes_, p. 165. + + Port Darwin. Foelsche, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiv, p. 192. + + Central Australia. Eyre, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 376; Spencer and + Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 269. + + Northern Tribes. Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes_, p. 608. + + Western Australia. Grey, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 251. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + North-west and Central Queensland. Roth, _Ethnological Studies_, p. + 183. + + Mythuggadi. Palmer, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 280. + + Port Jackson. Collins, _Edinburgh Review_, vol. ii, p. 34. + + TASMANIA + + Group I. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + Bonwick, _Tasmanians_, p. 76. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + Ibid., pp. 79 and 85; Ling Roth, _Tasmania_, p. 167. + + BUSHMEN + + Group I. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + Moffat, _Missionary Labours_, p. 58; Stow, _Native Races_, p. 51. + + AMERICA + + Group I. + +[Sidenote: R.] + + General References. Weld, _Travels_, p. 373; Heriot, _Travels_, p. + 339. + + Yguazas. Cabeça da Vaca, _Narrative_, p. 62. + + Abipones. Dobrizhoffer, _Abipones_, vol. ii, p. 97. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + General References. Weld. loc. cit., p. 373; Robertson, _History_, + vol. i, p. 297. + + Eskimos. Wells and Kelly, _U.S.A. Bur. of Education_, 1890, p. 19; + Bessels, _Arch. für Anth._, vol. viii, p. 112. + + Hudson Bay. Ellis, _Voyage_, p. 198. + + Knisteneaux. Mackenzie, _Voyages_, vol. i, p. 148. + + Haidahs. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 169. + + Puget Sound. Lord, _Naturalist_, vol. ii, p. 231. + + Vancouver Island (Nootkas). Sproat, _Savage Life_, p. 94; Bancroft, + vol. i, p. 197. + + Thompson Indians. (Rare.) Teit, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, + vol. i, p. 305, and vol. ii, p. 584. + + Shushwap. (Rare.) Ibid. + + Western Washington and North-western Oregon. Gibbs, _U.S. Geog. and + Geol. Survey_, vol. i, p. 199. + + Chinooks. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 242. + + Inland Tribes Pacific Coast. Ibid. + + Omahas. (Rare.) Dorsey, 3rd _A. R. B. E._, p. 263. + + Californians. Powers, loc. cit., p. 207. + + New Mexico. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 590. + + Guaycurus. Castelnau, _Expedition_, vol. ii, p. 450; Azara, + _Voyages_, p. 146. + + Payaguas. Rengger, _Reise_, p. 329. + + Fuegians. Cooper, _S. I. B. E._, No. 63, p. 171. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + Eskimos. Behring Straits. Nelson, 18th _A. R. B. E._, p. 289. + + Central. (Rare.) Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 580. + + Smith Sound. Murdoch, 9th _A. R. B. E._, p. 417; Bessels, _Arch. für + Anth._, vol. viii, p. 112. + + King William Land. Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 417. + + Greenland. Nansen, _Greenland_, p. 330. + + Aleuts. (Rare.) Dall, _Alaska_, p. 399. + + Malemutes. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 81. + + Kutchins. Kirkby, _Church Missionary Intelligencer_, vol. xiv, p. + 115; Hardisty, 21st _A. R. B. E._, p. 312; Mackenzie, _Voyages_, + vol. i, p. 148. + + Copper River District. Woldt, _Reise_, p. 393. + + Chinooks. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 242; Lord, loc. cit., vol. + ii, p. 231. + + Koniagas. Bancroft, vol. i, p. 81. + + Nootkas. Bancroft, vol. i, p. 197. + + Haidahs. Gibbs, loc. cit., p. 198; Bancroft, vol. i, p. 169. + + Kwakiutl. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 169. + + Chepewayans. Keating, _Narrative_, p. 160. + + Californians. Powers, loc. cit., p. 416; Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. + i, pp. 390 and 413. + + Yguazas. Cabeça da Vaca, _Narrative_, p. 62. + + Abipones. Dobrizhoffer, _Abipones_, vol. ii, p. 97; Charlevoix, loc. + cit., vol. i, p. 405. + + Guaycurus. Church, _South America_, p. 248. + + Puelches. Guinnard, _Patagonians_, p. 143. + + Fuegians. (Rare.) Westermarck, _Human Marriage_, p. 313. + + Group II. + +[Sidenote: R.] + + Iroquois. Le Beau, _Aventures_, vol. ii, p. 200. + + Illinois. Charlevoix, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 5. + + Crows. Holder, _Am. Journ. Obstet._, vol. xxv, p. 44. + + Mexico. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 281. + + Moxos and Chiquitos. D’Orbigny, _L’Homme Américain_, vol. i, p. 47. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + Sioux. Keating, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 394; Schoolcraft, loc. cit., + vol. i, p. 204. + + Crows. Holder, loc. cit., p. 44. + + Apaches, Navahos, Pueblos, Pimas, Nahua, Otommi, and Aztec. + Hrdlicka, _S. I. B. E._, Bull. 34, p. 163. + + Menomini. Stevenson, 23rd _A. R. B. E._, p. 296. + + Zuni. (Rare.) Ibid. + + Mexico. Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, pp. 183 and 269. + + Brazil and the Chaco. Ehrenreich, _Königliches Museum zu Berlin_, + vol. i, Heft 2, p. 27; Azara, vol. ii, p. 116. + + Bakairi. Von den Steinen, _Brazilien_, p. 123. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + Pimas. Yarrow, _A. R. B. E._, vol. i, p. 99. + + Sioux. Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 243. + + Creeks. Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 272. + + Guanas. Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 93. + + Mbayas. Ibid., p. 116. + + Lenguas. Hawtrey, _J. A. I._, vol. xxi, p. 295. + + Guaranis. Rengger, _Reise_, p. 329. + + AFRICA + +[Sidenote: R.] + + Yoruba-speaking. Ellis, _Yoruba-Speaking Peoples_, p. 185. + + Ewe-speaking. Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, p. 206. + + Kagero. Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 174. + + Hausa. Ibid., vol. xxxvi, p. 93. + + Benin. Ling Roth, _Benin_, p. 39. + + Niger District. Mungo Park, _Travels_, p. 402. + + Warri District. Granville, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvii, p. 106. + + Moioa. Tremearne, _Nigeria_, p. 239. + + Gallinas. Harris, _Darkest Africa_, p. 36. + + Hobbés. Desplagnes, _Plateau Nigérien_, p. 227. + + Cameroon. Nassau, _West Africa_, p. 11. + + Ashanti. Reade, _South Africa_, p. 45. + + Congo District. Cureau, _Sociétés primitives_, p. 378; Johnston, + _George Grenfell_, p. 671; Ward, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiv, p. 289. + + Bangala. Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 418; Overbergh and + Jonghe, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 1, p. 199. + + Mayombe. Overbergh and Jonghe, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 2, p. 219. + + Ababua. Halkin, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 7, p. 260. + + Bayaka. Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 51. + + Mandja. Gaud, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 8, p. 154. + + Warega. Delhaise, ibid., No. 5, p. 154. + + Uganda. Wilson and Felkin, _Uganda_, vol. i, p. 187. + + Baganda. Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 55. + + Rovuma River. Thomson, _Geog. Journ._, vol. iv, p. 73. + + Swaheli. Velten, _Suaheli_, p. 73. + + Baringo District. Dundas, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 60. + + Wanjamuesi. Reichard, _Z. G. E._, vol. xxiv, p. 257. + + British Central Africa. Stannus, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 311. + + Miri District. Felkin, _Trans. Edin. Obstet. Soc._, vol. ix, p. 31. + + Atonga. Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 415. + + South Africa. Junod, _Baronga_, p. 490; Kidd, _Essential Kaffir_, p. + 19. + + Baronga. Junod, _Baronga_, p. 490. + + Loango. Pechuel-Loesche, _Loango-Expedition_, p. 31. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + Tenda. Delacour, _Rev. d’Eth._, 1912, p. 45. + + Nigeria. Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 171. + + Congo District. Johnston, _George Grenfell_, p. 671. + + Bangala. Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 449; Overbergh and + Jonghe, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 1, p. 201. + + Bahuana. Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 228. + + Warega. Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 147. + + Ababua. Halkin, loc. cit., p. 259. + + Onolove. de Rochebrune, _Rev. d’Anth._, vol. iv, p. 283. + + Mangbetu. (Rare.) Van Overbergh, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 4, p. 298. + + Bushongo. (Rare.) Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 111. + + Akamba. Hobley, _Akamba_, p. 58. + + Swaheli. Velten, loc. cit., p. 29. + + Nyassa District. Fülleborn, _Nyassa-Gebiet_, p. 352. + + British Central Africa. Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 417; + Angus, _Azimba and Chipitaland_, p. 324. + + Zambezi Valley. Maugham, _Zambezia_, p. 339. + + South Africa. Maclean, _Kaffir Laws_, p. 62. + + Wadschagga. Gutmann, _Wadschagga_, p. 3. + + Madagascar. Ellis, _Madagascar_, vol. i, p. 55. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + Hottentots. Kolben, _Cape of Good Hope_, vol. i, p. 144. + + Madagascar. Ellis, _Madagascar_, vol. i, p. 155; Little, + _Madagascar_, p. 60. + + OCEANIA + +[Sidenote: R.] + + New Zealand. Tregear, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 103. + + Torres Straits. _Cambridge Expedition_, vol. v, p. 199. + + Savage Island (Niue). Thomson, _Savage Island_, p. 141. + + Pelew Islands. Kubary, _Journal des Museum Godeffroy_, vol. i, p. + 54. + + Samoa. Krämer, _Samoa-Inseln_, vol. i, p. 38. + + New Guinea. Seligman, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxii, p. 302 (Sinaugola); + Schellong, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xxviii, p. 19 (Finschafen). + + Solomon Islands. Ribbe, _Zwei Jahre_, p. 144; Glaumond, _Rev. + d’Eth._, vol. vii, p. 80. + + Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain Group). Brown, _Melanesians_, p. + 37. + + New Caledonia. Glaumond, loc. cit., p. 80; Lambert, + _Néo-Calédoniens_, p. 104. + + Fiji. Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 176; Seeman, _Viti_, p. 191. + + Tonga. Thomson, loc. cit., p. 178. + + Gilbert Islands (Kingsmill or Line Islands). Thomson, loc. cit., p. + 178. + +[Sidenote: A.] + + New Zealand. Dieffenbach, _New Zealand_, vol. ii, p. 12; Goldie, + _Trans. and Proc. N. Z. Inst._, vol. xxxvii, p. 110; Tuke, _Edin. + Med. Journ._, vol. ix, p. 735. + + Torres Straits. Hunt, _J. A. I._, vol. xxviii, p. 9; Haddon, _J. A. + I._, vol. xix, p. 359; _Cambridge Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 197. + + Hawaii. Dumas, _Îles Hawaï_, p. 18. + + Gilbert Islands. Jenkins, _Voyage_, p. 404; Krämer, loc. cit., vol. + ii, p. 53; Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 211. + + Samoa. Krämer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 53; Turner, _Samoa_, p. 79. + + Rotuma. Gardiner, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvii, p. 480. + + Savage Island. Thomson, loc. cit., p. 141. + + Fiji. Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. 423; Waterhouse, + _Fiji_, p. 327. + + New Hebrides. Hagen and Pineau, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. vii, p. 332; + Jamieson, _Aust. Med. Journ._, vol. vii, p. 53. + + New Caledonia. Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 33; Ribbe, loc. cit., + p. 144; Parkinson, _Int. Arch. Eth._, vol. xiii, p. 8; Elton, _J. A. + I._, vol. xvii, p. 93. + + Solomon Islands. Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 144. + + Bismarck Archipelego. Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 33; Danks, _J. A. + I._, vol. xviii, p. 291; Pfeil, _Studien_, p. 313; Stephan and + Graebner, _Neu-Mecklenburg_, p. 18. + + New Britain. Danks, _J. A. I._, vol. xviii, p. 291. + + Aru Islands. Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 194. + + Flores. Riedel, _Rev. Col. Inter._, vol. ii, p. 71. + + New Guinea. Krieger, _Neu-Guinea_, pp. 165, 292, 390, and 392; + Murray, _Papua_, p. 194; Rosenberg, _Malayische Archipel_, p. 454; + Williamson, _Mafulu People_, p. 176; Seligman, _Melanesians_, pp. + 135 and 568; Neuhaus, _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_, vol. ii, p. 150. + + Nias. Modigliani, _Viaggio_, p. 554. + + Celebes. Kreutz, _Zeit. Soc. Wiss._, Heft 11, p. 21. + + Luzon. Jenks, _Ethnological Survey Publications_, vol. i, p. 60. + + Mitchell Group. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 280. + +[Sidenote: I.] + + New Zealand. Angas, _Savage Life_, vol. i, p. 312; Taylor, _Te Ika a + Maui_, p. 338; Tuke, loc. cit., p. 312. + + Torres Straits. Haddon, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 359; _Cambridge + Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 107. + + Gilbert Islands. Tuituila, _Journ. Pol. Soc._, vol. i, p. 267. + + Savage Island. Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 141. + + Rarotonga. Gill, _Coral Islands_, vol. ii, p. 13. + + Tahiti. Lutteroth, _Insel Tahiti_, p. 12; Ellis, _Polynesian + Researches_, vol. i, p. 249. + + Pelew Islands. Kotzebue, _Histoire_, vol. xvii, p. 211. + + Sandwich Islands. Ellis, _Narrative_, p. 324; Angas, _Polynesia_, p. + 144; Dumas, loc. cit., p. 19. + + Fiji. Waterhouse, _Fiji_, p. 328. + + New Caledonia. Glaumond, loc. cit., p. 79; Bernard, + _Nouvelle-Calédonie_, p. 288; Moncelin, _Bull. Soc. Anth._, vol. ix, + p. 357. + + New Hebrides. Somerville, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiii, p. 4; Paton, _New + Hebrides_, p. 452. + + Banks Island. Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 229. + + Solomon Islands (Ugi). Elton, _J. A. I._, vol. xvii, p. 93; Guppy, + _Solomon Islands_, p. 42. + + Bismarck Archipelago. Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 36; Pfeil, loc. cit., + p. 18. + + New Guinea. Seligman, _Melanesians_, pp. 568 and 705; Williamson, + _Mafulu People_, p. 176; Newton, _New Guinea_, p. 189. + + Funafuti. Edgeworth David, _Funafuti_, p. 195. + + Tikopia (Barwell Island). Rivers, _Melanesian Society_, vol. i, p. + 313. + + Nissau. Thurmwald, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xl, 1908, p. 111. + + Radeck. Kotzebue, _Voyages_, p. 173. + + Vaitapu (Ellice Archipelago). Turner, _Samoa_, p. 284. + + Marquesas. Hale, _U.S. Exploring Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 15. + + Maupiti. Montgomery, _Journal_, vol. ii, p. 12. + + Murray Islands. Hunt, _J. A. I._, vol. xxviii, p. 9. + + + + + APPENDIX II + + +Since the chapter on Human Fecundity was set up in type my attention has +been called to a paper by Siegel (_Münchener Medizinische +Wochenschrift_, 1916, p. 748). Though much has been said as to the +supposed influence of the time of copulation with reference to the +sexual cycle upon fertility, no definite information has been +forthcoming. This paper, however, contains important data which bear +upon this point. Owing to the fact that married soldiers only had +occasional leave from the army during the war and then only for two or +three days at a time, it has been possible to obtain information as to +the period in the sexual cycle in which between two and three hundred +children were conceived. Siegel finds that the likelihood of +fertilization increases from the beginning of menstruation, reaches the +highest point six days later, remains almost at the same height until +the twelfth or thirteenth day, and then declines to the twenty-second +day, after which there is absolute sterility. + +If these data are confirmed, then those customs which encouraged +copulation immediately after menstruation (as among the ancient Jews) or +discourage it (as among the Hindus) must have an important bearing upon +fertility. + + + + + LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED + + + A + + A. E. _Imagination and Reveries_, London, 1915. + + Abeel, D. _Journal of a Residence in China_, London, 1865. + + Abel, C. W. _Savage Life in New Guinea_, London, 1902. + + Acton, H. W., and Harvey, W. F. The Increase in the Number of + Erythrocytes in the Blood, _Biometrika_, vol. viii. + + Adami, J. G. 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E._, 1879. + + Young, A. _Travels in France_, London, 1794. + + Yule, G. U.: _see_ Greenwood, M. + + + + + INDEX + + + Ababua, restriction of intercourse, 175; + abortion, 179; + infanticide, 180; + property, 210. + + Abipones, lactation, 138; + age at marriage, 140; + abstention from intercourse, 140; + infanticide, 149, 219; + feuds, 152; + health, 159; + treatment of children, 160; + age at marriage, 226. + + Abortion, among hunting and fishing races, 145; + among agricultural races, 168, 178, 189, 196; + extent of, 215; + origin of, 216; + as regulating numbers, 222; + among historical races, 256, 268, 314. + + Acheulean period, 121. + + Acquired characters, not inherited, 74; + contrasted with inherited characters, 68. + + Adio, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Africa, evolution of tradition in, 442. + + Aged, treatment of, among hunting and fishing races, 154. + + Ahts, lactation, 138; + war, 151; + treatment of aged, 155; + food, 233; + property, 296. + + Ainu, lactation, 185; + fertility, 189; + war, 194. + + Akamba, abortion, 179; + property, 209; + marriage customs, 228. + + Akikuyu, fertility, 178; + war, 181; + property, 210; + age at marriage, 228; + health, 235. + + Aleuts, fertility, 143; + infanticide, 148. + + Amazon tribes, war, 171. + + America, evolution of tradition in, 439; + racial characteristics, 451. + + American Indians, fertility, 99. + _See also under various tribes._ + + Andamanese, lactation, 138; + fertility, 144; + infant mortality, 160; + intellect, 390. + + Animal behaviour, evolution of, 45 ff. + + Annam, abortion, 256. + + Anthropoid apes, evolution of, 109; + mode of life, 110. + + Apaches, contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168. + + Arabs, celibacy, 252; + lactation, 254; + restriction of intercourse, 254; + contraceptive methods, 255; + abortion, 256; + infanticide, 259; + over-population, 275; + migration, 302. + + Aru Islands, fertility, 186; + abortion, 189. + + Ashanti, restriction of intercourse, 175; + sacrifices, 180. + + Asia, evolution of tradition in, 441. + + Assiniens, fertility, 177. + + Atonga, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Attakapas, age at marriage, 229. + + Aurignacian period, 122. + + Australians, fertility, 99; + early intercourse, 135; + lactation, 137; + initiation ceremonies, 138; + age at marriage, 139; + abortion, 145; + infanticide, 147, 216; + war, 149; + feuds, 152; + treatment of sick, 154; + disease, 157; + health, 158, 231; + property, 203; + division of food, 211; + marriage customs, 224; + storing of food, 232; + intellect, 389. + + Awa-Wanga, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Aymaras, lactation, 165; + fertility, 168. + + Azilian-Tardenoisian, 123. + + Aztecs, contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168. + + + Baganda, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + war, 181; + witchcraft, 182; + health, 183; + property, 210; + marriage customs, 228; + food, 233. + + Bahamas, 396. + + Bahima, war, 181. + + Baholoholo, fertility, 178. + + Bahuana, war, 171; + early intercourse, 173; + abortion, 179. + + Bakairi, abortion, 169. + + Bakalai, war, 181. + + Bakene, fertility, 178. + + Bambala, war, 171; + early intercourse, 173; + fertility, 178; + intellect, 391. + + Bangala, early intercourse, 173; + age at marriage, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + fertility, 178; + abortion, 179; + property, 209; + marriage customs, 228; + intellect, 391. + + Banks Island, early intercourse, 185; + infanticide, 191. + + Bantu Races, polygamy, 102; + age at marriage, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + health, 183; + intellect, 390. + + Banyala, war, 181. + + Baringo District, early intercourse, 173; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + war, 181. + + Baronga, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + age at marriage, 227. + + Basonge, infanticide, 180. + + Basuto, health, 183; + infant mortality, 184. + + Bayaka, restriction of intercourse, 175; + fertility, 178; + war, 181; + witchcraft, 182. + + Bechuanaland, property, 210. + + Behaviour, evolution of, 45. + + Benin, restriction of intercourse, 175; + war, 180. + + Binet-Simon methods, 393. + + Biometric methods, 358. + + Bismarck Archipelago, lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 188; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 191. + + Black Death, 248. + + Blackfeet, war, 152, 170. + + Boers, 450. + + Bontoc Igorot, lactation, 185; + abortion, 190; + head hunting, 194; + infant mortality, 195; + marriage customs, 226. + + Borneo, fertility, 191; + war, 194; + head hunting, 194, 227. + + Bornu, age at marriage, 174. + + Botocudos, fertility, 144; + infanticide, 149; + health, 159. + + Brazilians, early intercourse, 164; + fertility, 168; + abortion, 169, 221; + health, 172, 236; + infant mortality, 172; + property, 208; + marriage customs, 230. + + Bronze Age, 125. + + Buddhism, celibacy, 252. + + Burma, marriage, 253. + + Bushmen, early intercourse, 136; + fertility, 143; + infanticide, 148; + war, 150; + treatment of aged, 154; + health, 158, 232; + property, 205; + division of food, 212. + + Bushongo, early intercourse, 173; + lactation, 174; + abortion, 179; + infanticide, 180; + property, 209. + + + Californians, early intercourse, 126; + lactation, 138; + age at marriage, 140; + fertility, 140; + infanticide, 149; + war, 152; + treatment of aged, 155; + health, 159; + infant mortality, 160. + + Cameroon district, restriction of intercourse, 175. + + Caroline Islands, infanticide, 190; + marriage customs, 224. + + Carrier tribes, property, 206. + + Casual Labour, over-population and, 290. + + Catholic Church, contraceptive practices and, 294. + + Celebes, early intercourse, 185; + fertility, 189; + abortion, 190. + + Celibacy, primitive races, 226; + historical races, 251, 263, 278. + + Cells, nature of, 39. + + Chaco Indians, abortion, 169; + infanticide, 169; + war, 171. + + Chaldea, celibacy, 251. + + Charruas, war, 152; + health, 236. + + Chellean period, 121. + + Chepewayans, lactation, 138; + fertility, 144; + infanticide, 149; + war, 152; + treatment of aged, 155. + + Cheyennes, abortion, 169, 220. + + Chichmics, lactation, 165. + + Children, death-rate among hunting and fishing races, 159; + among agricultural races, 172, 183, 196; + among historical races, 249. + + —— number of, _see_ Fertility. + + Chinese, fecundity, 100; + celibacy, 252; + marriage, 253; + restriction of intercourse, 254; + contraceptive methods, 255; + fertility, 256; + abortion, 256; + infanticide, 259, 276; + over-population, 276; + organization of society, 432. + + Chinooks, fertility, 99; + lactation, 138; + abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149; + war, 151. + + Chiquitos, fertility, 168. + + Christianity, war and, 249; + marriage and, 263; + infanticide and abortion and, 268. + + Chromosomes, as physical basis of heredity, 65. + + Civilization, cyclical course of, 459. + + Climate, famine and, 249, 274; + migration and, 301; + head form and, 341; + tropical effects of, 342; + selection and, 371. + + Comanches, early intercourse, 137; + fertility, 144; + war, 152. + + Confucianism, marriage and, 253. + + Congo tribes, early intercourse, 173; + lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + contraceptive methods, 177; + fertility, 178; + abortion, 179; + infanticide, 180; + war, 180; + witchcraft, 182; + infant mortality, 184; + marriage customs, 229; + food, 234. + + Contact, influence upon tradition, 424; + geography and, 427. + + Contraceptive methods, agricultural races, 177, 186; + historical races, 255, 266, 287, 315; + Catholic Church and, 294. + + Co-operation, in search for food, 211. + + Copper Age, 125. + + Copper River tribes, infanticide, 148. + + Copulation, external, 42; + internal, 43. + + Corea, celibacy, 252. + + Creeks, infanticide, 169, 220. + + Crees, war, 211. + + Cro-Magnon man, 117. + + Cross River tribes, early intercourse, 172. + + Crow tribe, fertility, 99; + restriction of intercourse, 166; + abortion, 168; + war, 170. + + Cytoplasm, nature of, 39; + relation to nucleus, 66. + + + Dacotahs, war, 170. + + Dahomey, war, 170. + + Damaras, health, 175. + + Death, origin of, 38; + causes of, among animals, 57; + among plants, 58; + ignorance of cause among hunting and fishing races, 153. + + Decreasing returns, 199. + + Development of organisms, 41, 66, 325. + + Disease, evolution of, 155; + among hunting and fishing races, 158; + among agricultural races, 171, 183, 195; + among historical races, 244; + tropical, 348; + twins and, 352; + inheritance of, 359; + selection and, 377. + + Ductless glands, 347, 372. + + Dyaks, use of metal, 163; + food, 233. + + + Egbas, fertility, 177. + + Egypt, disease, 245, 247; + treatment of children, 250; + celibacy, 251; + lactation, 254; + restriction of intercourse, 254; + infanticide, 272; + over-population, 277. + + Ekoi, fertility, 177; + property, 209; + marriage customs, 229. + + Elimination, causes of among animals, 58; + among plants, 59; + under natural conditions, 75. + + Enclosures, population and, 284. + + Environment, influence of upon animals and plants, 325; + upon men, 336; + influence upon progress, 458. + + Eoanthropus, 115. + + Eoliths, 118, 130. + + Eskimos, fertility, 99, 143; + early intercourse, 136; + lactation, 137; + age at marriage, 140; + abortion, 145; + infanticide, 148; + war, 150; + feuds, 153; + treatment of aged, 154; + health, 158; + infant mortality, 159; + property, 205; + division of food, 212; + marriage customs, 225; + celibacy, 226; + storing of food, 232. + + Eugenics, attitude of Romans, 18; + term due to Galton, 35; + modern problems, 308. + + Evolution, theory of, 17, 18, 34; + of animal behaviour, 45; + among species in a state of nature, 77; + of Primates, 109; + of man, 110, 128; + of culture, 129; + of disease, 155; + of tradition, 438. + + Ewe-speaking people, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + war, 180; + property, 209; + marriage, 229. + + Exercise, influence of, 329, 339. + + + Factory Acts, 290, 340. + + Famine, climate and, 249. + + Fecundity, early references to human, 25; + definition of, 51; + distinguished from fertility, 52; + among species in nature, 63; + how determined, 60; + not influenced by the male, 88; + relation to length of mature period, 90; + to interval between births, 92; + effect of captivity upon, 95; + relation to number at a birth, 95; + increase of human, 97; + of primitive races, 99; + in India and China, 100; + opinion of Darwin regarding, 101; + relation to polygamy, 102; + to lactation, 102; + to age at marriage, 103; + to early intercourse, 103; + to development of fat, 104; + among men, 105; + of pre-human ancestor, 241. + + Fertility, distinguished from fecundity, 52; + among hunting and fishing races, 141; + among agricultural races, 167, 177, 183, 196; + among historical races, 255; + Indian and European compared, 256; + calculations regarding, 291; + differential, 316; + differential between classes, 316, 457; + between races, 320. + + Fertilization, 40. + + Feuds, among hunting and fishing races, 152; + among agricultural races, 171. + + Fiji, lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 188; + abortion, 189, 221; + infanticide, 191, 219; + war, 193; + obligation to work, 212; + age at marriage, 226; + food, 233. + + Flores, abortion, 190. + + Food, co-operation in search for, 211. + + Franks, contraceptive methods, 255. + + Fuegians, early intercourse, 137; + lactation, 138; + fertility, 144; + abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149; + war, 152; + treatment of aged, 155; + infant mortality, 160; + restriction of intercourse, 166; + property, 207; + marriage customs, 225. + + Funafuti, infanticide, 190, 219. + + + Gallinomero, infanticide, 149. + + Gallinas, restriction of intercourse, 175; + war, 180. + + Gametes, nature of, 40. + + Geological strata, time occupied by deposition of, 107. + + Ghiliaks, lactation, 138; + infant mortality, 160. + + Glacial epoch, duration of, 108; + subdivisions of, 109. + + Gonorrhoea, effect upon fecundity, 89. + + Greece, discussion regarding population in, 19; + celibacy, 251; + contraceptive methods, 255; + abortion, 256; + infanticide, 258; + malaria, 349. + + Grimaldi man, 117. + + Guanas, fertility, 168; + infanticide, 169; + age at marriage, 230. + + Guaranis, fertility, 168; + war, 171; + abortion, 220. + + Guatemala, early intercourse, 164. + + Guaycurus, abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149; + war, 152. + + Guiana, lactation, 165; + infanticide, 169; + feuds, 171; + marriage customs, 229; + food, 234. + + + Habit, inheritance of, 362; + tradition and, 414, 462. + + Haidahs, abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149; + war, 151; + feuds, 154; + property, 206; + marriage customs, 225. + + Hausa, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + infanticide, 180. + + Hawaii, early intercourse, 185; + abortion, 189. + + Head, shape of, and environment, 341. + + Head hunting, 194. + + Health, of primitive races, 158, 196, 231; + of historical races, 245. + + Heidelberg man, 114. + + Hobbés, restriction of intercourse, 175. + + Hottentots, fertility, 178; + infanticide, 179, 180; + war, 182; + health, 183; + property, 208. + + Housing accommodation, population and, 280. + + Hualaga tribes, fertility, 168. + + Hudson Bay tribes, fertility, 143; + abortion, 145. + + Hungary, lactation, 263. + + Hurons, early intercourse, 165. + + + Ibo-speaking people, early intercourse, 173. + + Ice Age, _see_ Glacial epoch. + + Illinois, early intercourse, 165; + restriction of intercourse, 166. + + Imitation, inheritance of, 364; + tradition and, 413. + + Income, average per head, 310. + + Increase, possible among animals and plants, 54; + actual, 55. + + India, fecundity, 100; + early intercourse, 104; + infant mortality, 250; + celibacy, 251; + early intercourse, 253; + contraceptive methods, 255; + fertility, 255; + abortion, 256; + infanticide, 260; + climate, 274; + over-population, 275; + caste system, 432. + + Infant mortality, _see_ Children. + + Infanticide, hunting and fishing races, 146; + agricultural races, 169, 179, 190, 196; + extent of under-estimated, 215; + origin of, 216; + importance of, in regulating numbers, 228; + among historical races, 257, 268. + + Ingaliks, lactation, 138. + + Inheritance, relation of, to social problems, 18; + physical basis of, 64; + biparental, 71; + environment and, 326; + in man, 356; + of physical characters, 359; + of disease, 359; + of mental characters, 361. + + Initiation ceremonies, 138. + + Instinct, nature of, 47; + inheritance of, 363. + + Intellect, inheritance of, 364; + among prehistoric races, 387, 398; + primitive races, 389; + negroes, 393; + in the Bahamas, 396; + evolution of, 399, 409, 438; + influence upon progress, 447. + + Intelligence, nature of, 47; + development among animals, 50. + + Interdependence of organisms, 56. + + Ireland, over-population, 284, 294. + + Iron Age, 127. + + Iroquois, restriction of intercourse, 166; + fertility, 167; + health, 172. + + + Jakun, marriage customs, 225. + + Japan, rise of, 82. + + Java, early intercourse, 185; + fertility, 189; + health, 343. + + Jews, contraceptive methods, 255; + infanticide, 256; + civilization, 452. + + + Kabinapek, abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149. + + Kaffirs, _see_ South Africa. + + Kagero, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + infanticide, 180; + food, 234. + + Kalabar, witchcraft, 182. + + Kalmucks, marriage customs, 253. + + Kamtchatka, age at marriage, 196; + abortion, 196; + infanticide, 196. + + Kenai, marriage customs, 225. + + Kingsmill Islands, restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 188; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 190, 219; + war, 192. + + Kirghiz, early intercourse, 254. + + Knisteneaux, abortion, 146. + + Konde-land, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Koniagas, infanticide, 149. + + Koryak, lactation, 196. + + Kuku, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + fertility, 178; + marriage customs, 228. + + Kutchins, infanticide, 148; + celibacy, 226; + health, 233. + + Kwakiutl, war, 151. + + + Lactation, influence upon fecundity, 102; + among hunting and fishing races, 137; + among agricultural races, 165, 174, 185, 196; + among historical races, 254. + + Land, claims of groups to areas of, 203; + property in, 279. + + Language, tradition and, 408, 412. + + Laws, encouraging population, 22. + + Lenda district, infanticide, 180. + + Lenguas, lactation, 165; + infanticide, 169, 220. + + Liberia, lactation, 174; + fertility, 177. + + Lillooets, age at marriage, 140, 226; + war, 151; + division of food, 212. + + Limitation of families, views of Mill, 202. + + Limitation of the surface of the world, theories of population and, 20; + influence upon evolution, 59. + + Lind hinterland, 180. + + Loango, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Loucheux, food, 233. + + + Macusis, fertility, 168. + + Madagascar, fertility, 178; + abortion, 179; + witchcraft, 182. + + Madi district, lactation, 174. + + Magdalenian period, 123. + + Makalaka, fertility, 178. + + Makonde, early intercourse, 173. + + Malaria, 349. + + Malays, 163. + + Maldive Islands, marriage customs, 226. + + Malemutes, infanticide, 148; + war, 151. + + Malthusian theory, anticipations of, 19, 25; + nature of, 28; + reception of, 29; + debt of Darwin and Wallace to, 34; + summary of, 197; + criticism of, 199. + + Mandans, fertility, 167; + health, 172; + food, 234. + + Mandingoes, fertility, 177. + + Mandja, restriction of intercourse, 175; + infanticide, 180; + food, 234. + + Mandrucos, war, 171; + health, 236. + + Mangbetu, early intercourse, 173; + lactation, 174; + fertility, 178; + abortion, 179; + infant mortality, 184; + property, 209. + + Manu, Laws of, 253. + + Marquesas, fertility, 187; + infanticide, 191. + + Marriage, among animals, 62; + influence of age at, 103; + among primitive races, 139; + postponement of, among hunting and fishing races, 139, 226; + disparity in age at, 140; + postponement of, among agricultural races, 165, 174, 185, 196; + customs regarding, 224, 275; + postponement of, among historical races, 251, 264, 279, 306; + prohibition of, 281, 282. + + Marshall Islands, war, 193. + + Masai, early intercourse, 173; + war, 181; + marriage customs, 228. + + Mayombe, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175. + + Mbayas, infanticide, 169; + health, 236. + + Memory among animals, 50. + + Mendelian inheritance, nature of, 71; + in man, 356. + + Menstruation, relation to ovulation, 90. + + Mental evolution, among animals, 45; + connexion with reproduction, 51; + among men, 50; + influence upon population problem, 80. + + Mercantile theory of trade, 22. + + Mexico, lactation, 165; + restriction of intercourse, 166; + abortion, 169; + war, 170; + property, 208; + age at marriage, 220. + + Migration, over-population and, 297; + selection and, 381. + + Minnetanes, war, 170. + + Minoan civilization, 244. + + Miri district, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Mitchell Islands, abortion, 190. + + Mittelschmerz, 94. + + Modifications, nature of, 68. + + Mohammedanism, celibacy, 253; + lactation, 254. + + Mohaves, infanticide, 169. + + Moioa, restriction of intercourse, 175. + + Monasticism, celibacy and, 279. + + Mongols, marriage, 253. + + Montagnais, health, 233. + + Mousterian period, 121. + + Moxos, restriction of intercourse, 166; + fertility, 168. + + Mundas, marriage customs, 275. + + Murray Islands, war, 192; + infanticide, 220. + + Mutations, nature of, 68; + origin of, 73; + among men, 81, 383. + + + Nagas, war, 248. + + Nahuas, contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168. + + Nandi, early intercourse, 173; + lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Nandowensis, marriage customs, 229. + + Natchez, marriage customs, 229; + health, 236. + + Natural Selection, among species in nature, 75; + lethal and reproductive, 367; + strength of, 369; + in intermediate period, 370; + in first and second periods, 371; + of tradition, 417. + + Navahos, early intercourse, 164; + contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168; + infanticide, 169; + property, 208. + + Neanderthal man, 116. + + Neolithic period, 118, 123. + + Neomalthusianism, early history of, 31; + Bradlaugh-Besant trial, 33; + in foreign countries, 33. + + New Britain, early intercourse, 185; + abortion, 222; + celibacy, 226. + + New Caledonia, early intercourse, 185; + lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 188; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 191; + war, 193. + + New Guinea, early intercourse, 185; + lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + contraceptive practices, 186; + fertility, 188; + abortion, 190; + infanticide, 191; + war, 193; + head hunting, 194; + witchcraft, 195. + + New Hebrides, abortion, 189; + infanticide, 191, 221; + war, 193. + + New Zealand, early intercourse, 184; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 187; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 190; + war, 192; + property, 211. + + Nias, fertility, 189; + abortion, 190. + + Nigeria, fertility, 177; + abortion, 178; + war, 180; + property, 209. + + Nishinan, infanticide, 149. + + Nissau, 190. + + Nitrogen in the sea, 59. + + Nootkas, fertility, 99; + lactation, 138; + abortion, 146; + health, 159; + infant mortality, 160. + + Nucleus, nature of, 39; + function of, 66. + + + Oestrous cycle, 44. + + Ojebway Indians, war, 170; + marriage customs, 229. + + Omahas, fertility, 144; + property, 208; + age at marriage, 229. + + Onolove, early intercourse, 173; + abortion, 179. + + Optimum density of population, 200, 213; + approximation to, among primitive races, 230, 236, 292; + among historical races, 239, 270, 293, 309; + military needs and, 310. + + Orthogenesis, 79. + + Ostyaks, health, 196. + + Otommi, abortion, 168. + + Ovaherero, property, 210. + + Over-population, fear of, in England, 23; + among historical races, 275, 283, 284, 290, 304; + migration and, 297; + war and, 304; + in the future, 308; + unemployment and, 312. + + Ovulation, _see_ Menstruation. + + Ovum, 40. + + + Palaeolithic period, 118 + + Patagonians, health, 159. + + Pawumwa Indians, obligation to work, 213. + + Payaguas, abortion, 146; + health, 236. + + Pelew Islands, early intercourse, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 187; + war, 192; + property, 211. + + Persia, celibacy, 251; + marriage, 253; + lactation, 254; + restriction of intercourse, 254; + abortion, 265. + + Peruvian tribes, fertility, 167; + infanticide, 169; + war, 170; + age at marriage, 230. + + Pimas, contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168, 221; + infanticide, 169. + + Pithecanthropus, 112. + + Plough, invention of, 127; + use of, 162. + + Polygamy, influence upon fecundity, 102; + among primitive races, 132. + + Poor law, marriage and, 282. + + Port Herald, contraceptive methods, 177. + + Primates, evolution of, 109. + + Primitive races, value of evidence regarding, 85, 131; + intellect and, 447. + + Progress, definition of, 85; + rate of, 130; + in different regions, 438. + + Protista, reproduction among, 39. + + Pueblos, contraceptive methods, 167; + abortion, 168; + war, 170. + + Puelches, lactation, 138; + fertility, 144; + infanticide, 149, 218; + war, 152; + infant mortality, 160. + + Puget Sound Indians, lactation, 138; + abortion, 146. + + Pure Line inheritance, 69. + + + Queka Indians, treatment of aged, 155. + + + Racial crosses, 380, 453. + + Radeck, infanticide, 191, 221; + health, 235. + + Rarotonga, infanticide, 190; + war, 192. + + Ratios of increase of food and of population, 26, 198; + of human population, 105. + + Reflex action, 45. + + Religious writers, attitude to Malthus, 30. + + Reproduction, necessity for, 38; + nature of, 39; + methods of, 41; + among species in nature and men, 52. + + Reproductive organs, size among primitive races, 97. + + Rome, discussion of population problem in, 18, 49; + expectation of life in, 246; + age at marriage in, 251; + early intercourse, 254; + contraceptive methods, 255; + abortion, 256, 272; + infanticide, 258. + + Rotuma, abortion, 189; + war, 192. + + Rovuma River, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + + Salish, lactation, 138; + age at marriage, 140; + health, 159; + property, 206. + + Samoa, lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 187; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 190; + war, 192; + infant mortality, 195. + + Samoyeds, fertility, 196; + infanticide, 196; + health, 196. + + Sandwich Islands, infanticide, 101, 219; + fertility, 187; + war, 192; + health, 235. + + Sarawak, lactation, 185; + fertility, 188; + property, 211. + + Savage Island, restriction of intercourse, 186; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 190. + + Selection, _see_ Natural Selection. + + Seri Indians, war, 152; + treatment of aged, 155; + division of food, 212; + marriage customs, 225; + elimination among, 375. + + Sexual cycle in Mammals, 44; + former condition in man, 92; + effect of captivity upon, 94; + peculiarity of, in man, 98. + + Sexual instinct, 42, 43, 51; + among primitive races, 97. + + Sexual intercourse, before maturity, influence upon fecundity, 103; + among hunting and fishing races, 135; + taboo upon, among hunting and fishing races, 141; + among agricultural races, 164, 172, 184; + taboo upon, among agricultural races, 165, 175, 186; + before maturity among historical races, 253, 263; + taboo upon, among historical races, 267; + restrictions upon, 315. + + Shawnees, contraceptive methods, 167; + health, 172. + + Shekiani, feuds, 181. + + Shoshones, war, 170. + + Shushwap, lactation, 138; + age at marriage, 144; + war, 151; + health, 159. + + Siam, marriage, 253; + lactation, 254. + + Sierra Leone, property, 209. + + Sioux, lactation, 165; + fertility, 167; + abortion, 168, 221; + infanticide, 169; + war, 170; + infant mortality, 172. + + Sitkins Indians, property, 207. + + Social organization, origin of, 132; + mental evolution and, 401; + organic, 401; + segmentary, 429. + + Socialists, attitude to Malthus, 31. + + Society Islands, age at marriage, 185. + + Solomon Islands, lactation, 185; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 191; + war, 193. + + Sound Indians, fertility, 144. + + South Africa, lactation, 174; + abortion, 179; + infanticide, 180; + witchcraft, 182; + infant mortality, 184; + property, 210; + marriage customs, 227; + intellect, 392. + + Spermatozoa, 40, 41. + + Starvation, no evidence for, among primitive races, 231; + among animals, 58, 61; + among plants, 59. + + Stature, increase of, 340. + + Sterility, in males, 89; + among Australians, 99; + fat and, 104. + + Suggestion, inheritance of, 364; + tradition and, 413. + + Sumatra, fertility, 188; + marriage customs, 227. + + Swaheli, early intercourse, 173; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + fertility, 178. + + Sympathy, inheritance of, 364; + tradition and, 413. + + + Tahiti, infanticide, 190; + war, 192. + + Tasmanians, early intercourse, 135; + lactation, 137; + fertility, 141; + abortion, 145; + infanticide, 146; + war, 149; + treatment of sick, 154; + health, 158; + infant mortality, 159; + property, 203. + + Tehuelches, age at marriage, 140. + + Temperament, disease and, 347; + environment and, 353, 438; + inheritance of, 361. + + Tendas, lactation, 171; + abortion, 178. + + Tepecanos, infanticide, 169. + + Texas tribes, fertility, 167. + + Thirty Years’ War, 247. + + Thlinkeet, lactation, 138; + war, 151; + health, 159; + infant mortality, 160; + property, 207. + + Thompson tribes, age at marriage, 140, 226; + abortion, 146; + infanticide, 149; + war, 151; + infant mortality, 160. + + Thonga, restriction of intercourse, 177; + property, 210; + age at marriage, 227. + + Tibet, celibacy, 251. + + Tikopia, infanticide, 190, 219. + + Timor Laut, health, 235. + + Tinneh, early intercourse, 136; + lactation, 138; + age at marriage, 140; + fertility, 143; + war, 150; + infant mortality, 150; + property, 206. + + Todas, infanticide, 222; + early intercourse, 254. + + Tonga, restriction of intercourse, 186; + infanticide, 190. + + Topebatos, age at marriage, 224. + + Torres Straits, age at marriage, 185, 227; + restriction of intercourse, 186; + fertility, 187; + abortion, 189; + infanticide, 190, 220; + war, 192; + food, 234. + + Trent, Council of, celibacy and, 264. + + Tunguses, lactation, 196; + property, 211. + + Turkomans, war, 248. + + Turkey, lactation, 254; + restriction of intercourse, 255; + abortion, 256. + + + Uaupes, feuds, 171. + + Uganda, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + war, 181. + + Under-population, 294, 295, 297. + + Unemployment, over-population and, 312. + + Unit-factors, 71. + + Utilitarian school, attitude to Malthus, 29, 32. + + Utis, contraceptive methods, 167. + + + Vaitapu, infanticide, 191, 221. + + Vancouver Island, fertility, 99; + age at marriage, 140; + abortion, 146. + + Veddahs, early intercourse, 137; + age at marriage, 140; + fertility, 145; + infanticide, 149; + infant mortality, 160; + property, 207. + + Venereal disease, 269. + _See also_ Gonorrhoea. + + + Wadschagga, lactation, 174; + infant mortality, 184; + abortion, 221. + + Wagogo, restriction of intercourse, 176. + + Wakamba, infanticide, 180. + + Wamakonde, lactation, 174. + + Wanika, infanticide, 180. + + Wanjamuesi, early intercourse, 173; + lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + fertility, 178. + + Wapagoro, early intercourse, 173; + restriction of intercourse, 176; + marriage customs, 228. + + War, among hunting and fishing races, 149; + among agricultural races, 169, 180, 192; + among historical races, 247; + Christian Church and, 249; + over-population and, 304; + origin of, 305; + selection and, 379. + + Warega, early intercourse, 173; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + fertility, 178; + abortion, 179; + infant mortality, 184. + + Warri district, restriction of intercourse, 175. + + Wazaramo, lactation, 174. + + Wealth, of different areas, 419; + influence upon tradition, 421; + shifting of centres of greatest, 423. + + Welle district, war, 181. + + West African tribes, lactation, 174. + + Wheel, invention of, 127. + + Witchcraft, as cause of death, 182. + + Work among primitive races, obligation to, 212. + + Workers’ Education Association, 239. + + Woruk, infanticide, 149. + + Writing, invention of, 127. + + + Yakuts, lactation, 196; + property, 211. + + Yguazas, abstention from intercourse, 141; + infanticide, 149; + war, 152. + + Yoruba-speaking people, lactation, 174; + restriction of intercourse, 175; + property, 209. + + Yuchi, war, 170; + health, 172. + + + Zambala, marriage customs, 227. + + Zaporos, treatment of aged, 155. + + Zoroastrianism, marriage and, 253. + + Zulus, war, 181; + infant mortality, 184; + marriage customs, 227. + + Zuni, abortion, 169; + infanticide, 169; + property, 208. + + + PRINTED IN ENGLAND + AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + On this subject see Roper, _Ancient Eugenics_. + +Footnote 2: + + Roper (loc. cit., p. 12) quotes Seneca as follows: ‘We drown the + weakling and the monstrosity. It is not passion, but reason, to + separate the useless from the fit.’ + +Footnote 3: + + Campanella, _Civitas Solis_. + +Footnote 4: + + Mr. Roper in his book quoted above exaggerates the attention paid in + early times to quality. He says, for instance, when speaking of + infanticide and similar practices, that ‘these barbaric eugenics ... + were concerned with questions both of quantity and of quality’ (p. + 11). As will be pointed out later, these practices were in fact + primarily concerned with quantity; such bearing as they had upon + quality was incidental. + +Footnote 5: + + See, for instance, Mill, _Principles of Political Economy_, vol. i, p. + 389. Darwin commented upon this aspect of Mill’s work (_Descent of + Man_, p. 98). + +Footnote 6: + + Malthus, _Essay on the Principle of Population_, vol. i, p. 5. + +Footnote 7: + + Plato, _Laws_, v. 737. + +Footnote 8: + + Plato, _Republic_, v. 460. + +Footnote 9: + + Plato, _Laws_, v. 740. + +Footnote 10: + + This is apparently a reference to a work by Varro. + +Footnote 11: + + Tertullian, _De Anima_ (Ante-Nicene Christian Library), p. 481. + +Footnote 12: + + The realization of the limitation of the surface of the + globe—following upon the circumnavigation of the world—had no doubt an + influence. The fact that the earth is spherical—or at least that it is + not flat—(as a matter of fact it is somewhat tetrahedral) was of + course known to Aristotle (_De Caelo_, ii. 14). It has been remarked + that this conception was always present to the minds of the authors of + all those speculations which have come down from antiquity (Bosanquet, + _Philosophical Theory of the State_, p. 330). But it was not forced + upon men’s notice until it was practically demonstrated. + +Footnote 13: + + Prov. xiv. 28. + +Footnote 14: + + Thus Montesquieu wrote: ‘Il n’y a que les grandes nations qui aient + des armées’ (_Grandeur et Décadence des Romains_, p. 130). + +Footnote 15: + + The literature has been several times reviewed. I am chiefly indebted + to Stangeland, ‘Pre-Malthusian Doctrines of Population’, _Studies in + History, Economics and Public Law_—Columbia University; vol. xxi, No. + 3, 1901. + +Footnote 16: + + Thomas Aquinas, _De Regimine Principum_, Bk. IV, ch. ix. (The fourth + book is supposititious; nevertheless it probably represents the views + of St. Thomas.) + +Footnote 17: + + Bodin, _Six Books of a Commonweale_, Bk. V, ch. ii, p. 575. + +Footnote 18: + + Botero, _Delle Cause della Grandezza della Città_, p. 5. + +Footnote 19: + + Quoted by Stangeland, loc. cit., p. 103, from the _Nouveau + Dictionnaire d’Économie Politique_, article ‘Population’. According to + Vauban (_La Dîme Royale_, p. 18) ‘La grandeur des rois se mesure par + le nombre de leurs sujets’. + +Footnote 20: + + Petty, ‘Treatise of Taxes and Contributions’ in _Economic Writings_, + vol. i, p. 34. + +Footnote 21: + + Graunt, _National and Political Observations upon the Bills of + Mortality_, ch. viii, section 14. + +Footnote 22: + + Davenant, _Political and Commercial Works_, vol. i, p. 16. + +Footnote 23: + + Child, _New Discourse upon Trade_, ch. x, p. 181. + +Footnote 24: + + Child, loc. cit., p. 179. + +Footnote 25: + + Temple, _Observations upon the United Provinces_, p. 164. + +Footnote 26: + + Quoted by Ferdy, _Die künstliche Beschränkung der Kinderzahl_, p. 85. + +Footnote 27: + + Quoted by Cannan, _History of the Theories of Production and + Distribution_, p. 124. + +Footnote 28: + + Quoted by Stangeland, loc. cit., p. 110. + +Footnote 29: + + Quoted by Stangeland, loc. cit., p. 234. Brückner’s work was published + in 1769. + +Footnote 30: + + Young, _Travels in France_, vol. i, p. 481. + +Footnote 31: + + Quoted by Leroy-Beaulieu, _La Question de la Population_, p. 31. + +Footnote 32: + + Wallace, _Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind_, p. 12. + +Footnote 33: + + Steuart, _Principles of Political Economy_, vol. i, p. 20. + +Footnote 34: + + Malthus, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 3. + +Footnote 35: + + Mirabeau, _L’Ami des Hommes_, ch ii, p. 14. + +Footnote 36: + + ‘There is a principle in human society by which population is + perpetually kept down to the level of the means of subsistence,’ said + Godwin in 1798 (_Political Justice_, Bk. VIII, p. 518). Many similar + remarks are to be found in the writings of the Physiocrats. See, for + instance, Turgot, _Sur le Commerce_, section 7, and Quesnay, _Analyse + du Tableau Économique_, chs. xxv and xxvi. + +Footnote 37: + + Raleigh, _History of the World_, in collected Works, vol. ii, p. 25. + +Footnote 38: + + Machiavelli, _History of Florence_, Bk. I, p. 5. + +Footnote 39: + + Botero, loc. cit., p. 73. + +Footnote 40: + + Botero, loc. cit., p. 75. + +Footnote 41: + + Hale, _Primitive Origination of Mankind_, ch. viii, section 2. + +Footnote 42: + + Petty, _Essay concerning the Increase of Mankind_, p. 21. + +Footnote 43: + + See Stangeland, loc. cit., p. 230. There are two valuable and + important books which appeared in the eighteenth century dealing with + population. They do not lend themselves to quotation, but deserve + mention here. Benjamin Franklin, in his _Observations concerning the + Increase of Mankind and the Peopling of Countries_, pointed out the + differences in the marriage-rate as between Europe and the more + recently colonized countries and analysed the causes. It is + interesting to note that he was led to a more or less clear + recognition of the presence of the struggle for existence among all + living organisms (p. 21). The second book referred to above is Adam + Ferguson’s _Essay on the History of Civil Society_. The name of Ortes + should perhaps be mentioned. His book _Riflessioni sulla Popolazione_, + published in 1792, anticipated Malthus in almost every respect and yet + aroused practically no attention. + +Footnote 44: + + According to Leslie Stephen’s article in the _Dictionary of National + Biography_, the chief authorities for the life of Malthus are (1) a + notice by Otter, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, prefixed to the + second edition of the _Political Economy_ published in 1836 and (2) an + article by Empsen in the _Edinburgh Review_. Jan. 1837, p. 469 to p. + 506. See also Bonar’s _Malthus and his Work_, to which in this and the + following sections I am indebted. For some personal reminiscences see + Martineau’s _Autobiography_, vol. i, p. 211. He is described as + possessing the ‘most pleasing manners and the most benevolent heart’ + (Manning, _History and Antiquities of Surrey_, p. 578). + +Footnote 45: + + In the eighteenth century it was commonly supposed that the population + of England was decreasing. Arthur Young was one of the few who did not + share this view. (Mirabeau indeed thought that the population of the + whole of Europe was increasing.) All kinds of reasons were brought + forward to explain the supposed decrease. Price thought that it was + due to the enclosures; Horace Walpole suggested excessive drinking as + the cause. + +Footnote 46: + + It is not correct to say that ‘the essay attracted comparatively + little attention until 1803’ (_Political History of England_, vol. xi, + p. 421). + +Footnote 47: + + Bonar, loc. cit., p. 43. + +Footnote 48: + + Bonar, loc. cit., p. 363. + +Footnote 49: + + Mill, _Autobiography_, p. 105. It is interesting to note that one of + the reasons why Coleridge left the Utilitarians was the popularity of + the Essay among them. See Benn, _History of Rationalism_, vol. i, p. + 238. + +Footnote 50: + + Shelley, Preface to the _Revolt of Islam_, p. xi. + +Footnote 51: + + It is thus curious to find that the Essay was highly praised by Joseph + de Maistre—one of the greatest of conservatives of this or of any age: + see _Du Pape_, Bk. III, ch. iii, section 3, where the Essay is called + ‘un profond ouvrage’ ... ‘un des livres rares après lesquels tout le + monde est dispensé de traiter le même sujet’. Yet in 1856 the + _Dictionnaire de l’Économie Politique_ was put upon the Index because + it supported the conclusions of the Essay. + +Footnote 52: + + See, for instance, _Aitken’s Annual Review_, vol. ii, 1803, p. 292. + +Footnote 53: + + Quoted by Leslie Stephen, _English Utilitarians_, vol. ii, p. 255. + +Footnote 54: + + Bonar, loc. cit., p. 1. + +Footnote 55: + + Luden, _Handbuch der Staatsweisheit oder Politik_. Von Mohl gives a + useful review of the literature following upon the publication of the + Essay (_Die Geschichte und Literatur der Staatswissenschaften_, vol. + iii, p. 480, and _Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften_, vol. ii, + p. 955). + +Footnote 56: + + Sumner, _A Treatise on the Records of Creation and the Moral + Attributes of the Creator_; Chalmers, _On Political Economy in + connexion with the Moral State and Moral Prospects of Society_. + +Footnote 57: + + Leslie Stephen, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 180. + +Footnote 58: + + Greg, _Enigmas of Life_, ch. ii. + +Footnote 59: + + On this subject see Soetbeer, _Die Stellung der Sozialisten zur + Malthusischen Bevölkerungslehre_. Soetbeer includes in his review the + writings of Godwin, Henry George, and others who cannot properly be + regarded as socialists. + +Footnote 60: + + Soetbeer, loc. cit., p. 20. + +Footnote 61: + + Marx, _Capital_, vol. ii, p. 629. + +Footnote 62: + + There does not seem to be any foundation whatever for the statement + made by Place to the effect that Malthus recognized the advocacy of + Neomalthusian methods to be the logical outcome of his position but + that he shrank from their advocacy for fear of prejudice. Place, + _Illustrations and Proofs of the Principle of Population_, p. 173. + +Footnote 63: + + Harriet Martineau, _Illustrations to Political Economy_, No. VI, _Weal + and Woe in Graveloch_. + +Footnote 64: + + On this subject see Field, ‘The Early History of the Population + Movement’, _American Economic Review_, April, 1911. I am indebted to + this valuable article in what follows. + +Footnote 65: + + Graham Wallas, _Life of Francis Place_, p. 169. + +Footnote 66: + + For the later history of this movement see Hans Ferdy, loc. cit.; + Garnier, _Du Principe de la Population_; and Leroy-Beaulieu, loc. cit. + +Footnote 67: + + Still more recently prosecutions have taken place in the United + States. The publications of the eminent Danish economist Pierson may + be consulted for an able advocacy of Neomalthusian methods put forward + at a time when birth-control received little scientific support. See + _Principles of Economics_, vol. ii, p. 107. + +Footnote 68: + + _Life and Letters of Charles Darwin_, vol. i, p. 83. + +Footnote 69: + + Haeckel, _History of Creation_, vol. i, p. 134. + +Footnote 70: + + Marchant, _A. R. Wallace, Letters and Reminiscences_, vol. i, p. 136. + +Footnote 71: + + Darwin, _Origin of Species_, p. 50. + +Footnote 72: + + Marchant, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 116. + +Footnote 73: + + See _Sociological Papers_, p. 45. Galton first proposed to use the + word ‘stirpiculture’. + +Footnote 74: + + Among many plants and not infrequently among lower animals the sexes + are not separate—both male and female generative organs being found on + the same individual. This condition occurs in some fish, though + examples of hermaphroditism are rare in the Vertebrates. As a general + rule in such cases the two generative organs found in the same + individual ripen at different times and cross-fertilization is + effected. In such cases the description given above applies. Where + self-fertilization occurs, the above account does not apply in detail; + the occurrence of self-fertilization, however, in no way invalidates + the general conclusions that will be drawn in what follows. + +Footnote 75: + + ‘The nucleus [of the spermatozoon] is probably enclosed within sheaths + of cytoplasm, although this is not usually readily visible’ + (Doncaster, _Cytology_, p. 92). + +Footnote 76: + + A few bony fish, e. g. Anableps, copulate internally. + +Footnote 77: + + Internal copulation among the flat worms is of a very primitive + type—the penis apparently, at least at times, penetrating the female + at any point. + +Footnote 78: + + Letourneau, _Evolution of Marriage_, p. 8. + +Footnote 79: + + Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 384. + +Footnote 80: + + Letourneau, loc. cit., p. 28. + +Footnote 81: + + Except in man—the importance of which fact is dealt with in Chapter + IV. + +Footnote 82: + + Jennings, _Behaviour of the Lower Organisms_, p. 277. + +Footnote 83: + + Hobhouse, _Development and Purpose_, p. 62. In this and the following + sections I am indebted to Professor Hobhouse’s review of the evolution + of animal behaviour. + +Footnote 84: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, p. 29. + +Footnote 85: + + McDougall, loc. cit., p. 25. + +Footnote 86: + + Lloyd Morgan, _Animal Behaviour_, p. 84. + +Footnote 87: + + Hobhouse, loc. cit., p. 76. + +Footnote 88: + + Thomson, _Darwinism and Human Life_, p. 81. + +Footnote 89: + + Bridge, _Cambridge Natural History_, vol. _Fishes_, p. 412. + +Footnote 90: + + Thomson, loc. cit., p. 82. + +Footnote 91: + + Darwin, _Origin of Species_, p. 51. + +Footnote 92: + + Darwin, _Origin of Species_, p. 49. + +Footnote 93: + + Darwin, _Origin of Species_, p. 49. + +Footnote 94: + + Johnstone, _Conditions of Life in the Sea_, p. 235. + +Footnote 95: + + For the sake of simplicity fecundity has been spoken of as though it + was fixed at a certain strength for each species. As a matter of fact + it varies within fairly wide limits—increasing with better conditions. + In this fact lies the explanation of the increase of species under + favourable conditions which has often been observed, although, when + conditions are less favourable, there is little or no evidence of + starvation among such species. + +Footnote 96: + + Westermarck, _History of Human Marriage_, p. 19. + +Footnote 97: + + Brehm, _Bird Life_, p. 285. + +Footnote 98: + + That the basis of the inherited qualities is wholly situated in the + chromatin cannot be considered as established beyond doubt. The + element of doubt, however, has no bearing upon the argument. + +Footnote 99: + + In this and the following sections I am indebted to Professor + Goodrich’s admirable treatment of these problems in his book. _The + Evolution of Living Organisms._ + +Footnote 100: + + There is probably no actual loss—no gap in a chromosome. It may be + supposed that owing to a ‘negative variation’ a factor ceases to be + functional. + +Footnote 101: + + A certain amount of confusion has been introduced into the whole + question of evolution by the manner in which in recent biological + writings the function of selection has been depreciated. The followers + of Darwin undoubtedly at times exaggerated the importance of + selection. In particular selection has even been spoken of as though + it caused variation and, as it were, drew organisms along certain + paths. It is essential to remember, as has been emphasized above, that + it can only act upon what is given. But without doubt there has been + recently a tendency to under-estimate the importance of selection. + Though the process of selection is nothing more than a process of + sifting, that process is of fundamental importance; unless due weight + is given to it, evolution cannot be rendered comprehensible. + +Footnote 102: + + Osborn, _Evolution of Mammalian Molar Teeth_, p. 228. One of the most + valuable contributions to the discussion of orthogenesis has been made + by Plate, _Über die Bedeutung des Darwinischen Selectionsprinzips_. + Plate concludes that the evidence points to some kind of orthogenesis. + +Footnote 103: + + Except where otherwise stated, increase of skill—of power, that is to + say, to control the environment—is taken as the criterion of + ‘progress’. Except, therefore, where otherwise stated, the terms + ‘civilized’ and ‘higher’ races are merely intended to convey that + races so denominated have a greater power of controlling the + environment than ‘uncivilized’ and ‘lower’ races. The terms ‘higher’ + and ‘lower’ are thus in this book merely convenient labels used in a + special sense. In a fuller sense the terms ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ would + take account of innate faculties, social organization, and moral + tradition, as well as of the tradition of skilled methods. It is + worthy of note, so far as the argument in this book is concerned, that + there is a correlation between the tradition of skilled methods and + the tradition of social organization and between both of these + traditions and the innate faculties. The result, therefore, of a + classification of races according to the special sense of the terms + ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ as given above, does not conflict so directly as + might be thought with a classification according to the fuller meaning + of these terms. Further reference is made to the subject in the later + part of this book. + +Footnote 104: + + Marshall, _Phil. Trans._ B, cxcvi, 1904, p. 77. + +Footnote 105: + + Heape, _Q. J. M. S._, vol. xliv, p. 12. + +Footnote 106: + + Mayer, _Über Sterilität_, p. 401. + +Footnote 107: + + Kelly, _Medical Gynecology_, p. 354. See also Matthews Duncan, + _Sterility in Women_, p. 3. + +Footnote 108: + + See Mosnier-Clauzel, _De quelques Causes de Stérilité chez la Femme_, + for a summary of this question. + +Footnote 109: + + Except in the case of ‘identical’ twins. + +Footnote 110: + + Engelmann, _Trans. Amer. Gyn. Soc._, vol. xxvi, p. 87. + +Footnote 111: + + Krieger. _Die Menstruation_, p. 52. See also Ploss and Bartels, _Das + Weib_, vol. i, p. 421. + +Footnote 112: + + Engelmann, loc. cit., p. 98. + +Footnote 113: + + Krieger, loc. cit., p. 17. + +Footnote 114: + + It is a remarkable fact that the Eskimo begin to menstruate at about + thirteen years of age—at an earlier age, that is to say, than the + average for the United States (Kelly, loc. cit., p. 83). + +Footnote 115: + + Marshall, _Physiology of Reproduction_, p. 672. + +Footnote 116: + + Krieger, loc. cit., p. 21. + +Footnote 117: + + Ibid., p. 24. + +Footnote 118: + + Marshall, _Physiology of Reproduction_, p. 63. There are considerable + variations in the conditions among monkeys; the above is only + generally true. + +Footnote 119: + + Westermarck, _History of Human Marriage_, p. 25; Ploss and Bartels, + loc. cit., vol. i, ch. xxi; Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology + of Sex_, vol. i, p. 85. + +Footnote 120: + + Westermarck, loc. cit., p. 28. + +Footnote 121: + + See Frazer, _Golden Bough_, vol. iii, pp. 230 ff., where this subject + is discussed at length. + +Footnote 122: + + Heape, loc. cit., p. 34. + +Footnote 123: + + It may also be observed that among certain primitive races the + menstrual flow is said only to occur at long intervals (Heape, loc. + cit., p. 30). Among Eskimo women there is said to be no menstruation + in winter (ibid., p. 29). + +Footnote 124: + + For further details see Croom, _Trans. Edin. Obstet. Soc._, vol. xxi, + 1896; Havelock Ellis, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 90; Marshall, loc. cit., + p. 65; and Kelly, loc. cit., ch. v. + +Footnote 125: + + Heape, loc. cit., p. 15. + +Footnote 126: + + Marshall, loc. cit., p. 57. + +Footnote 127: + + Ibid., p. 59. + +Footnote 128: + + Heape, loc. cit., p. 15. + +Footnote 129: + + Ibid., p. 15. + +Footnote 130: + + This and the following examples are taken from Darwin, _Variations of + Animals and Plants under Domestication_, vol. ii, p. 90. + +Footnote 131: + + Marshall, loc. cit., p. 596. + +Footnote 132: + + Ibid., p. 597. + +Footnote 133: + + Heape, _Jour. Roy. Agric. Soc._, vol. x, p. 236. + +Footnote 134: + + The evidence is summarized by Ploss and Bartels, loc. cit., vol. i, + ch. vi. + +Footnote 135: + + See Ploss and Bartels, loc. cit., vol. i, ch. xix, and Havelock Ellis, + ‘Studies in the Psychology of Sex’, _Analysis of the Sexual Impulse_, + p. 209. The fact is commented upon by Ratzel, _History of Mankind_, + vol. ii, p. 17. As examples of the evidence for particular races see, + for the Malays, Stevens, _Zeit. für Eth._, Bd. xxviii, 1896, p. 180; + for the Fuegians, Hyades et Deniker, _Mission scientifique du Cap + Horn_, Tome vii, p. 187; for the Andamanese, Portman, _J. A. I._, vol. + xxv, p. 369. + +Footnote 136: + + Mayer, loc. cit., p. 409. + +Footnote 137: + + Stopes, _Married Love_, p. 68. + +Footnote 138: + + Curr, _The Australian Race_, p. 70. + +Footnote 139: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 52. + +Footnote 140: + + Ibid., p. 264. + +Footnote 141: + + Murdoch, _Ethnological Results of the Port Barrow Expedition_, 9th _A. + R. B. E._, p. 38. + +Footnote 142: + + Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 150. + +Footnote 143: + + Holder, _Am. Jour. Obstet._, vol. xxv, 1891, p. 44. + +Footnote 144: + + Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 94. + +Footnote 145: + + Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, vol. i, p. 197. + +Footnote 146: + + Ibid., p. 242. + +Footnote 147: + + Catlin, _North American Indians_, vol. ii, p. 228. + +Footnote 148: + + Matthews Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and Sterility_, p. 112. + +Footnote 149: + + Wattal, _Population Problem in India_, p. 7. + +Footnote 150: + + See, for instance, Eucken, _Currents of Modern Thought_, p. 264. When + Herbert Spencer says (_Principles of Biology_, vol. ii, p. 431) that + ‘advancing evolution must be accompanied by declining fertility’, he + is apparently using the term fertility as equivalent to fecundity and + is therefore misrepresenting the position. The Dean of St. Paul’s is + doubtless aware of the true state of the case: nevertheless his + reference to the subject is likely to be misleading. After remarking + upon the fact that fecundity (which he calls fertility) decreases + among animals with increasing care for the offspring, he goes on to + say that ‘man is no exception to these laws’ (_Outspoken Essays_, p. + 60). As a matter of fact, man is a remarkable exception to this ‘law’; + if anything, his fecundity has increased. His position has become + assimilated to that of the animals because his fertility has + decreased—quite another matter. + +Footnote 151: + + Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 132. + +Footnote 152: + + Heape, loc. cit., p. 39. This is also the opinion of Havelock Ellis, + see ‘Studies in the Psychology of Sex’, _Analysis of the Sexual + Impulse_, p. 220. + +Footnote 153: + + Newsholme and Stevenson, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lix, p. 64. + +Footnote 154: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People of Africa_, p. 348. + +Footnote 155: + + Heape, loc. cit., p. 43. + +Footnote 156: + + Marshall, loc. cit., p. 400. + +Footnote 157: + + Marshall, loc. cit., p. 74. See also Heape, loc. cit., p. 43, and + Matthews Duncan, _Sterility in Women_, p. 85. + +Footnote 158: + + Dunlop, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lxxvi, p. 266. + +Footnote 159: + + Ibid., p. 267. + +Footnote 160: + + Quoted by Wattal, loc. cit., p. 23. + +Footnote 161: + + Ibid., p. 15. See also Matthews Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and + Sterility_, pp. 277 ff. + +Footnote 162: + + Marshall, loc. cit., p. 595. The corpus luteum persists in the ovary + of fat animals and to this fact Fraenkel (_Archiv für Gynaekologie_, + Bd. lxviii, 1903) ascribes the barrenness that so often accompanies + fatness. + +Footnote 163: + + Jolly, _Science Progress_, 1914, No. 33, p. 41, states that there are + four methods of estimating the duration of the whole period, by + considering (1) the thickness of the sediment, (2) the mass of the + sediment, (3) the sodium contained in the sea, and (4) radioactive + transformation. (1) gives about 100 to 134 million years, (2) about 87 + million years, (3) about 80 to 90 million years, and (4) a much longer + period. + +Footnote 164: + + Osborn, _Old Stone Age_, p. 22. + +Footnote 165: + + Ibid., p. 23. It is well to lay stress on the fact that all these + figures are little more than guesses founded on various observations + such as the rate of deposition of sediment by rivers. No conclusions + with regard to evolution can be drawn from the supposed length of the + whole period or from the supposed length of the subdivisions. + Nevertheless the relative length of the different subdivisions as + estimated has in all probability some approximation to fact, and thus, + whatever may be the real length of the period, the time which elapsed + between, say, the beginning of the Pleistocene and the middle of the + third genial epoch was at least twice and perhaps three times longer + than that which has elapsed since the beginning of the latter epoch to + the present day. + +Footnote 166: + + The extinct Lemurs of the Lower Eocene were, it may be noticed, of a + very generalized type and can only with difficulty be distinguished + from Insectivores. At this time the chief features now characteristic + of the various Mammalian classes had not yet appeared. + +Footnote 167: + + Sollas, ‘Presidential Address to the Geological Society’, 1910, p. 48 + (_Quart Journ. Geol. Soc._, vol. lxvi). + +Footnote 168: + + The table is based on those given by Osborn (_Old Stone Age_, pp. 18 + and 41). + +Footnote 169: + + To show how the estimates vary it may be mentioned that Sollas + (_Ancient Hunters_, ch. xiv) only allows 27,000 years since the close + of the Chellean period. + +Footnote 170: + + Dubois, _Pithecanthropus erectus: eine menschenähnliche Übergangsform + aus Java_. Dubois has published several other papers and the + literature is very large. The earlier literature has been summarized + by Klaatsch (_Zoologisches Centralblatt_, vol. vi, 1899, p. 217), and + by Schwalbe (_Zeit. für Morph. und Anth._, Bd. I, 1899, p. 16). For a + concise account see Duckworth, _Morphology and Anthropology_, pp. 510 + ff. The remains consist of the upper portion of a skull, a left femur, + a second left upper molar, a third right upper molar and a second left + lower pre-molar. The last tooth was not found by Dubois but by + subsequent excavators. The skull and the femur were not found together + but some fifty feet apart. The attribution of all the remains to one + individual is, however, probably justified. + +Footnote 171: + + Elbert (_Cent. für Min., Geol. und Pal._, Bd. 17, 1909, p. 513) holds + that the beds are on the border between the Pliocene and the + Pleistocene. Volz (_Neues Jahr. für Min., Geol. und Pal.; Festband zur + Feier des 100-jährigen Bestehens_, 1907, p. 256) places the beds in + the Middle Pleistocene. The whole problem is discussed by Selenka and + Blanckenhorn. See _Die Pithecanthropus-Schichten auf Java_. + +Footnote 172: + + Osborn, _Old Stone Age_, p. 83. + +Footnote 173: + + Schoetensack, _Der Unterkiefer des H. heidelbergensis_. + +Footnote 174: + + Dawson and Woodward, _Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc._, vol. lxix, 1913, p. + 117. + +Footnote 175: + + The Gibraltar skull may have been discovered before the specimen from + Neanderthal; it aroused no interest, however, until after the + discovery of the latter. + +Footnote 176: + + Boule, _Ann. de Pal._, vol. vi, 1911, vol. vii, 1912, vol. viii, 1913. + +Footnote 177: + + In some cases the origin has not been clearly identified (e. g. the + Gibraltar skull). It is said that remains of Neanderthal man are + sometimes found associated with Acheulean instruments (in the case of + the Krapina remains, for example). See Boule, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. + 120, and vol. vii, p. 227, and also Anthony, _Bull. et Mém. Soc. + d’Anth._, 1913, p. 189. + +Footnote 178: + + The remains found at the station of Raymonden, Chancelade, and + described by Testut (_Bull. Soc. d’Anth. de Lyon_, vol. viii, 1889), + are now generally classed with Cro-Magnon man. As Testut says, + Chancelade man possesses ‘tous les caractères propres aux races + supérieures’. The cranial capacity was 1,710 c.c. But there are + certain features in which it departs from the ordinary Cro-Magnon type + and certain features in which it resembles the modern Eskimo + type—particularly in the shape of the cranium, the sides of which tend + to slope up and meet at an angle. The possible significance of this + will be referred to later. + +Footnote 179: + + Thus Boule (loc. cit., vol. viii, p. 111), speaking of the Upper + Palaeolithic types in general, says: ‘Tous ces hommes fossiles ne sont + pas plus différents des hommes actuels que ceux-ci ne diffèrent entre + eux.’ + +Footnote 180: + + Pottery stated to be Palaeolithic has been found in Belgium. There is + nothing surprising in the fact, if it is a fact, that Palaeolithic man + should have possessed this art, so far as his abilities are concerned. + In general, however, nomadic races (and the Palaeolithic races were, + of course, nomadic) have little use for pottery. See Déchelette, + _Manuel d’Archéologie_, vol. i, pp. 169 ff. + +Footnote 181: + + Reid Moir, _Pre-Palaeolithic Man_. Rostro-carinates are found in the + Red Crag which is a Pliocene formation. Mr. Reid Moir holds that they + were evolved from eoliths (p. 66). + +Footnote 182: + + Sollas, _Ancient Hunters_, ch. iii. + +Footnote 183: + + Breuil, _L’Anthropologie_, vol. xx, 1910. + +Footnote 184: + + Professor Wood Jones, basing his conclusions on comparative anatomy, + has lately put forward a view of the course of human evolution + somewhat at variance with that outlined above. He sums up his view by + saying that ‘Homo is not descended from the anthropoid apes preceded + by a series of Primate forms represented by Old World Monkeys, New + World Monkeys, and Lemurs. For we have seen that the anatomical + characters of man demand rather a recognition of the finding that his + stock branched off from the very root of the Primates; that man has + evolved entirely by generalized development of the brain, and that he + retains the bodily simplicity only found in some such far distant + progenitor as the Tarsius stock; that no matter what may be the + relation of the New World and Old World Monkeys, the human race + combines, in some instances, a blend of their characters; that the + anthropoid apes retain a certain, and a varying, amount of the basal + simplicity that belongs to man, but that the Old World Monkeys have + specialized far away from this simplicity. Regarded in this way we may + say that the line of Homo springs from the base of the (non-Lemurine) + Primate stem and not from its systematic apex’ (‘Origin of Man’, p. + 126, in _Animal Life and Human Progress_, edited by Dendy). In this + view therefore the human stock has been separate from the rest of the + primate stock since early in the Tertiary period. If this conclusion + is well founded, the argument derived from the course of evolution as + outlined above is certainly weakened. + +Footnote 185: + + Sollas, loc. cit., p. 72. + +Footnote 186: + + With reference to this subject Breuil says with great force that ‘si + la nature, _exceptionnellement_ sans doute, peut produire des objets + aussi semblables à des types industriels _parfaitement définis et + connus comme tels dans leurs milieux normaux en dehors de toute + possibilité d’erreur_, à combien plus forte raison doit-on se montrer + circonspect à l’égard des manifestations les plus élémentaires de + l’activité humaine, et se montrer exigeant avant de fonder sur leur + constatation si problématique des théories dépassant si formidablement + ce qui est acquis d’une manière définitive et en toute évidence!’ + (_L’Anthropologie_, vol. xxi, p. 407). For examples of the expression + of similar views see Obermaier, _Der Mensch der Vorzeit_, p. 412, and + Déchelette, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 22. The weight of expert opinion is + against the acceptance of eoliths as genuine. Among the more + distinguished supporters of the theory may be mentioned Rutot in + Belgium, Ray Lankester and Reid Moir in England, Verworn in Germany, + and de Mortillet in France. Among those who are sceptical are Boule, + Breuil, and Déchelette in France, Schmidt and Obermaier in Germany, + and Sollas in England. + +Footnote 187: + + Rutot, _Revue, de l’Université de Bruxelles_, 1911, p. 258. + +Footnote 188: + + Remains of Chellean industry are widespread and are found outside + Europe—in Africa, for example, from the Cape to the Sahara. See + Déchelette, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 88. + +Footnote 189: + + The admiration, justly enough aroused, for these works of art has + undoubtedly led to an exaggeration of the level of social and + intellectual development reached by Upper Palaeolithic man, whose + times are sometimes referred to as though they were a kind of Golden + Age. + +Footnote 190: + + Azilian remains are confined to the south of Europe; Tardenoisian + remains are widely distributed in Europe. To this period also belongs + the Maglemose culture from Zeeland. Some grain found in the cave of + Mas d’Azil has been interpreted as showing that agriculture was + practised; in all probability, however, the grain has been introduced + recently—perhaps by rats. Certain curiously marked pebbles are known + from Azilian times and have been taken by some authors to be evidence + of the use of an alphabet. This interpretation cannot be accepted, + though possibly these markings may have been signs intended to assist + the memory—such as were in use in Peru, for example. + +Footnote 191: + + Palaeolithic man may have kept animals as pets. Many primitive races + have a passion for keeping pets though they derive no economic + advantage from so doing. + +Footnote 192: + + That agriculture is an art learnt but recently is not yet appreciated + by some men of science. Thus Sir A. D. Hall in a book published in + 1919 says that ‘agriculture must be almost coeval with the human race’ + (_Fertilizers and Manures_, p. 2). + +Footnote 193: + + Montelius, _C. I. A._, 1906, vol. ii, p. 32. + +Footnote 194: + + Pottery from the earliest Neolithic at Cnossus was well made, and + therefore this culture must have originated considerably more than + 14,000 years ago. + +Footnote 195: + + On this subject see Déchelette, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 336. + +Footnote 196: + + Jade was found in the first city of Hissarlik, which must have come + from the Kuen-lun (Gowland, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, 1912, p. 260). + +Footnote 197: + + On this subject see Gowland, loc. cit., p. 236. + +Footnote 198: + + _Handbook of American Indians_: articles on _Copper_ and _Iron_. + +Footnote 199: + + Reisner, ‘Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naga-ed-Dêr’, _University of + California Publications_, 1908, p. 117. + +Footnote 200: + + Reisner, loc. cit., p. 127. + +Footnote 201: + + Ibid., p. 134. + +Footnote 202: + + Iron weapons are found in late Mycenean graves (Ridgeway, _Early Age + of Greece_, p. 294). + +Footnote 203: + + Ridgeway, _Beginnings of Iron_, p. 644. + +Footnote 204: + + Von Luschan supports this view (_Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xli, 1909, p. + 52). + +Footnote 205: + + Hall, _Ancient History of the Near East_, p. 254. + +Footnote 206: + + See on this point Breuil, ‘Les Subdivisions du Paléolithique + Supérieur,’ _C. I. A._, 1912. With regard to the Neolithic period + Déchelette says: ‘Il est permis de placer en Orient le principal + centre de diffusion des accroissements successifs de la civilisation + occidentale’ (loc. cit., vol. i, p. 313). + +Footnote 207: + + See Hrdlicka, ‘Early Man in South America’ (_S. I. B. E._, No. 52, + 1912), ‘Skeletal Remains suggesting or attributed to Early Man in + North America’ (ibid., No. 33, 1907), and ‘Recent Discoveries + attributed to Early Man in America’ (ibid., No. 66, 1917). + +Footnote 208: + + It is interesting to note the cranial capacity of these races and to + compare them with the figures given above for prehistoric races: + Tasmanians, 1,225 c.c.; Australians, 1,320 c.c.; Bushmen, 1,244 c.c.; + Veddahs, 1,201 to 1,336 c.c.; American Indians, 1,300 to 1,450 c.c. + See Hoernes, _Natur und Urgeschichte der Menschen_, vol. i, p. 60. + +Footnote 209: + + See J. J. Atkinson, _Primal Law_ (in _Social Origins_, by Lang and + Atkinson). + +Footnote 210: + + Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 164. + +Footnote 211: + + See, for example, Parker, _Euahlayi Tribe_, p. 56, and, for the tribes + of Western Victoria, Brown, _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. 158. + +Footnote 212: + + Early betrothal is also common among other races of this group; but, + unless otherwise stated, this should not be taken as meaning that + cohabitation follows until after puberty. The more careful accounts + usually state that it does not; for the Thompson Indians, for + instance, see Teit, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. i, p. 321. + +Footnote 213: + + Hartland, _Primitive Paternity_, vol. i, p. 267. This author has dealt + at some length with the prevalence of this habit. + +Footnote 214: + + Nansen, _First Crossing of Greenland_, p. 320. + +Footnote 215: + + Murdoch, 9th _A. R. B. E._, p. 419. + +Footnote 216: + + Turner, 11th _A. R. B. E._, p. 188. See, for Behring Strait Eskimos, + Nelson, 18th _A. R. B. E._, p. 292. + +Footnote 217: + + Ross, _A. R. S. I._, 1860, p. 305. + +Footnote 218: + + Gibbs, _U.S. Geog. and Geol. Survey_, vol. i, p. 199. + +Footnote 219: + + Powers, ibid., vol. iii, p. 413. + +Footnote 220: + + Ibid., p. 157. + +Footnote 221: + + Ten Kate, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. iv, p. 129. + +Footnote 222: + + Hyades and Deniker, _Mission Scientifique_, p. 188. + +Footnote 223: + + Ibid., p. 187. + +Footnote 224: + + Seligman, _Veddahs_, p. 95. It is possible that this may have been + formerly forbidden (ibid., p. 96). + +Footnote 225: + + Ling Roth, _Aborigines of Tasmania_, p. 168, note. + +Footnote 226: + + Bonwick, _Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians_, p. 85. + +Footnote 227: + + Eyre, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 250. See also Spencer and Gillen, + _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 51. + +Footnote 228: + + Grey, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 250. + +Footnote 229: + + Eylmann, _Die Eingeborenen der Kolonie Südaustralien_, p. 261. + +Footnote 230: + + Taplin, _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 15. + +Footnote 231: + + Meyer, _Aborigines of the Encounter Bay Tribe_, p. 187. + +Footnote 232: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 263. See also Smyth, _Aborigines of + Victoria_, vol. i, p. 48. + +Footnote 233: + + R. Brown, _Geog. Journ._, vol. i, p. 39. + +Footnote 234: + + Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 415. + +Footnote 235: + + Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 151. + +Footnote 236: + + Crantz, _History of Greenland_, vol. i, p. 162. + +Footnote 237: + + Bessels, _Arch, für Anth._, vol. viii, p. 113. + +Footnote 238: + + Heriot, _Travels_, p. 339. See also Weld, _Travels_, p. 373. + +Footnote 239: + + J. Long, _Voyages_, p. 60. + +Footnote 240: + + Dall, _Alaska_, p. 196. + +Footnote 241: + + Ross, loc. cit., p. 305. + +Footnote 242: + + Krause, _Die Thinklit-Indianer_, p. 216. See also Bancroft, _Native + Races_, vol. i, p. 111. + +Footnote 243: + + Lord, _Naturalist in Vancouver_, vol. ii, p. 233. + +Footnote 244: + + Sproat, loc. cit., p. 94. + +Footnote 245: + + Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, vol. iii, p. 212. + +Footnote 246: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 197. + +Footnote 247: + + Ibid., p. 242. + +Footnote 248: + + Ibid. + +Footnote 249: + + Gibbs, loc. cit., p. 209. + +Footnote 250: + + Long, loc. cit., p. 60. + +Footnote 251: + + Guinnard, _Three Years’ Slavery among the Patagonians_, p. 146. + +Footnote 252: + + Dobrizhoffer, _Abipones_, vol. ii, p. 195. + +Footnote 253: + + Hyades and Deniker, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 195. + +Footnote 254: + + Man, _J. A. I._, vol. xii, p. 81. + +Footnote 255: + + Deniker, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. ii, p. 303. + +Footnote 256: + + For races of North-east Africa see King, _Journal Anthropological + Society of Bombay_, vol. ii, 1890. + +Footnote 257: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 52. + +Footnote 258: + + W. E. Roth, _Ethnological Studies_, p. 179. + +Footnote 259: + + R. H. Mathews, _Ethnological Notes_, p. 177. + +Footnote 260: + + Curr, _Australian Race_, vol. ii, p. 19. + +Footnote 261: + + W. E. Roth, loc. cit., p. 179; Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of + Central Australia_, p. 264. + +Footnote 262: + + Semon, _Australian Bush_, p. 234. + +Footnote 263: + + Westermarck, _Human Marriage_, p. 134. + +Footnote 264: + + Malinowski, _Family among Australian Aborigines_, p. 134. + +Footnote 265: + + Smyth, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 77. + +Footnote 266: + + Taplin, loc. cit., p. 10. + +Footnote 267: + + Sproat, loc. cit., p. 94. + +Footnote 268: + + Powers, loc. cit., p. 413. + +Footnote 269: + + Hill Tout, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxiv, p. 319. + +Footnote 270: + + Sarasin, _Forschungen aus Ceylon_, vol. iii, p. 469. + +Footnote 271: + + Crantz, loc. cit., p. 158. + +Footnote 272: + + Hill Tout, _British North America_, p. 182. + +Footnote 273: + + Hill Tout, loc. cit., p. 190. + +Footnote 274: + + Teit, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. i, p. 190. + +Footnote 275: + + Ibid., vol. ii, p. 591. + +Footnote 276: + + Ibid., p. 255. + +Footnote 277: + + Musters, _Patagonians_, p. 186. + +Footnote 278: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 42. + +Footnote 279: + + See, for instance, as regards the Australians, Malinowski, loc. cit., + p. 48; Tasmanians, Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 85; Bushmen, Theal, _Yellow- + and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 46; and Chinooks, Bancroft, loc. cit., + vol. i, p. 241. + +Footnote 280: + + It is rare that the prohibition for such reasons extends over so long + a period as a year. This is the period of abstinence sometimes + enjoined upon the Thlinkeet Indians (Swanton, 26th _A. R. B. E._, p. + 449). On this subject see Crawley, _Mystic Rose_, pp. 187, 215, and + 342; Hubert and Mauss, _Histoire des Religions_; Frazer, _Golden + Bough_, vol. i, p. 29; and Westermarck, loc. cit., pp. 150 ff. + +Footnote 281: + + Cabeça de Vaca, _Narrative_, p. 62. + +Footnote 282: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 97. + +Footnote 283: + + This has, of course, often been remarked upon. See, for instance, + Darwin, _Descent of Man_, vol. i, p. 132. + +Footnote 284: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 79. + +Footnote 285: + + Ibid., p. 85. + +Footnote 286: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 76. + +Footnote 287: + + Ibid., p. 85. See also Smyth, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 387. + +Footnote 288: + + Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 39. The interesting estimate of + Curr has been given on p. 99. In another place he says: ‘The number of + children born, on the average, by Bangerang women I estimate at six or + perhaps eight’ (_Recollections_, p. 252). + +Footnote 289: + + Lumholtz, loc. cit., p. 134. + +Footnote 290: + + J. Mathew, _Eaglehawk and Crow_, p. 165. + +Footnote 291: + + Grey, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 250. He also remarks that, although + girls are mature at twelve, ‘child-bearing does not often commence + before the age of sixteen’ (ibid., p. 323). + +Footnote 292: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 264. + +Footnote 293: + + Ibid., p. 52. + +Footnote 294: + + Eyre, _Journals_, vol. ii, p. 376. + +Footnote 295: + + Schürmann, _Aboriginal Tribes_, p. 223. + +Footnote 296: + + Wilhelmi, _Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria_, vol. v, p. + 180. + +Footnote 297: + + Stow, _Native Races_, p. 50. + +Footnote 298: + + Theal, loc. cit., p. 44. + +Footnote 299: + + Crantz, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 161. + +Footnote 300: + + p. 99. Hutton, however, gives a high figure for the birth-rate + (_Eskimos of Labrador_, p. 80). + +Footnote 301: + + p. 99. + +Footnote 302: + + Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 39. This author says further that ‘all authors + who have described Eskimos of unmixed descent agree in regard to the + generally small number of their offspring’ (ibid., p. 419). + +Footnote 303: + + Bessels, loc. cit., p. 112. + +Footnote 304: + + Turner, loc. cit., p. 189. + +Footnote 305: + + Armstrong, _Personal Narrative_, p. 195. + +Footnote 306: + + Ritter, _Zeit, für all. Erd._, vol. xiii, p. 265. + +Footnote 307: + + Hearne, _Journey_, p. 312. + +Footnote 308: + + Ross, loc. cit., p. 305. + +Footnote 309: + + Petroff, ‘Report of the Population of Alaska’, _10th Census of the + U.S.A._, p. 127. + +Footnote 310: + + p. 99. + +Footnote 311: + + S. H. Long, loc. cit., p. 19. See also Dorsey, 3rd _A. R. B. E._, p. + 264. + +Footnote 312: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 218. + +Footnote 313: + + Ibid., p. 156. + +Footnote 314: + + Keating, _Narrative_, p. 156. + +Footnote 315: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 211. + +Footnote 316: + + Baegert, _A. R. B. E._, 1863, p. 368. + +Footnote 317: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 513. + +Footnote 318: + + Guinnard, loc. cit., p. 143. + +Footnote 319: + + Bridges, _A Voice from South America_, vol. xiii, p. 202. + +Footnote 320: + + Hyades and Deniker, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 189. + +Footnote 321: + + Ibid., p. 188. + +Footnote 322: + + It may be observed that according to Keane the Botocudos form an + exception. ‘Families’, he says, ‘are said to be comparatively large, + four or five children being common enough’ (_J. A. I._, vol. xiii). + This is, however, contradicted by von Tschudi, _Reisen durch + Südamerika_, vol. ii, p. 284. + +Footnote 323: + + Man, loc. cit., p. 81. + +Footnote 324: + + Portman, _J. A. I._, vol. xxv, p. 369. + +Footnote 325: + + Sarasins, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 169. + +Footnote 326: + + Dall, loc. cit., p. 381. + +Footnote 327: + + Deniker, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. ii, p. 302. + +Footnote 328: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 76. + +Footnote 329: + + See, for example, Klemm, _Allgemeine Kultur-Geschichte der + Menschheit_, vol. i, p. 291. + +Footnote 330: + + Curr, _Australian Race_, vol. i, p. 76. + +Footnote 331: + + Quoted by a reviewer in the _Edinburgh Review_, vol. ii, 1803, p. 34. + +Footnote 332: + + Palmer, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 280. + +Footnote 333: + + Roth, loc. cit., p. 183. + +Footnote 334: + + Wells and Kelly, _U.S.A. Bureau of Education_, 1890, p. 19; Bessels, + loc. cit., p. 112. + +Footnote 335: + + See Weld, loc. cit., p. 373, and Robertson, _History of America_, vol. + i, p. 297 + +Footnote 336: + + H. Ellis, _Voyage_, p. 198. + +Footnote 337: + + Mackenzie, _Voyages_, vol. i, p. 148. + +Footnote 338: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 169. + +Footnote 339: + + Ibid., p. 197. + +Footnote 340: + + Lord, _Naturalist in Vancouver_, vol. ii, p. 231. + +Footnote 341: + + Sproat, loc. cit., p. 94. + +Footnote 342: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 305. + +Footnote 343: + + Ibid., vol. ii, p. 584. + +Footnote 344: + + Gibbs, loc. cit., p. 199. + +Footnote 345: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 242. It also occurred among the Omahas + but was not common (Dorsey, loc. cit., p. 263, and Long, loc. cit., p. + 20). + +Footnote 346: + + Powers, loc. cit., p. 207. For New Mexico see Bancroft, loc. cit., + vol. i, p. 590. + +Footnote 347: + + Castelnau, _Expedition_, vol. ii, p. 450. See also Azara, _Voyages_, + p. 146. + +Footnote 348: + + Rengger, _Reise_, p. 329. + +Footnote 349: + + Cooper, _S. I. B. E._, Bull. No. 63, 1917, p. 171. + +Footnote 350: + + Female infanticide was brought into great prominence by MacLennan. + Although he asserted that female infanticide was ‘common among savages + everywhere’ (_Studies in Ancient History_, p. 111), he did not bring + forward any considerable body of evidence. + +Footnote 351: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., pp. 79 and 85. See also Smyth, loc. cit., vol. ii, + p. 386. + +Footnote 352: + + Ling Roth, loc. cit., p. 167. This author suggests that infanticide + may have increased owing to the disturbances due to the arrival of the + Europeans. There is no evidence that this was so, and for the reasons + given later it is most improbable that this is ever the result of + European influence. + +Footnote 353: + + K. L. Parker, loc. cit., p. 23. + +Footnote 354: + + Lumholtz, loc. cit., p. 134. + +Footnote 355: + + Dawson, loc. cit., p. 39. + +Footnote 356: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 252. + +Footnote 357: + + Ibid., p. 263. + +Footnote 358: + + Wilhelmi, loc. cit., p. 180. + +Footnote 359: + + P. Beveridge, _Aborigines of Victoria_, p. 26. + +Footnote 360: + + R. H. Mathews, _Ethnological Notes_, p. 17. + +Footnote 361: + + Bonney, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 125. + +Footnote 362: + + Palmer, loc. cit., p. 280; Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, + p. 190; Eylmann, loc. cit., p. 261; and Smyth, loc. cit., vol. i, p. + 52. + +Footnote 363: + + Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 748. + +Footnote 364: + + Howitt, loc. cit., p. 749. + +Footnote 365: + + Ibid., p. 749. + +Footnote 366: + + Ibid., p. 750. + +Footnote 367: + + Ibid., p. 750. + +Footnote 368: + + Taplin, loc. cit., p. 13. + +Footnote 369: + + Ibid., p. 14. + +Footnote 370: + + Meyer, loc. cit., p. 186. + +Footnote 371: + + Schürmann, loc. cit., p. 223. + +Footnote 372: + + Gason, _Manners and Customs_, p. 258. + +Footnote 373: + + Mathew, _Two Representative Tribes_, p. 165. + +Footnote 374: + + Foelsche, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiv, p. 192. + +Footnote 375: + + Eyre, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 376. See also Spencer and Gillen, _Native + Tribes_, p. 264. + +Footnote 376: + + Ibid., _Northern Tribes_, p. 608. + +Footnote 377: + + Grey, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 251. + +Footnote 378: + + Moffat, _Missionary Labours_, p. 58. See also Stow, _Native Races_, p. + 51. + +Footnote 379: + + Reclus, _Primitive Folk_, p. 34. + +Footnote 380: + + Nelson, loc. cit., p. 289. + +Footnote 381: + + Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 580. + +Footnote 382: + + Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 416. + +Footnote 383: + + Ibid., p. 417. + +Footnote 384: + + Bessels, loc. cit., p. 112. + +Footnote 385: + + Nansen, _Greenland_, p. 330. See also Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 151. + +Footnote 386: + + C. E. Smith, _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, vol. xiii, p. 859. + +Footnote 387: + + Rink, loc. cit., p. 35. + +Footnote 388: + + Dall, loc. cit., p. 399. + +Footnote 389: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 81. + +Footnote 390: + + Kirkby, _Church Missionary Intelligencer_, vol. xiv, p. 115; Hardisty, + _A. R. S. I._, 1866, p. 312; S. Jones, ibid., p. 327; MacKenzie, + _Voyages_, vol. i, p. 148. + +Footnote 391: + + Woldt, _Kapitän Jacobsen’s Reise_, p. 393. + +Footnote 392: + + Lord, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 231. + +Footnote 393: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 242. + +Footnote 394: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 305. + +Footnote 395: + + Gibbs, loc. cit., p. 198; Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 169. + +Footnote 396: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 169. + +Footnote 397: + + Keating, loc. cit., p. 160. + +Footnote 398: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 81. + +Footnote 399: + + Powers, loc. cit., p. 416; Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, pp. 390 and + 413. + +Footnote 400: + + Ibid., p. 177. + +Footnote 401: + + Ibid., p. 222. + +Footnote 402: + + Ibid., p. 328. + +Footnote 403: + + Ibid., p. 382. + +Footnote 404: + + Cabeça de Vaca, loc. cit., p. 62. According to Ten Kate (_Rev. + d’Eth._, vol. iv) the Comanches kill one of two twins. This is not an + uncommon custom; in itself, however, it can have very little effect + upon the quantity of the population. For the Californians see + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, pp. 390 and 413. + +Footnote 405: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 97. + +Footnote 406: + + Charlevoix, _Histoire_, vol. i, p. 405. + +Footnote 407: + + Keane, loc. cit., p. 206. + +Footnote 408: + + Church, loc. cit., p. 248. + +Footnote 409: + + Guinnard, loc. cit., p. 143. + +Footnote 410: + + Westermarck, loc. cit., p. 313, quoting a letter from Mr. Bridges who + in another place (loc. cit., p. 181) says that deformed children are + especially likely to be killed. + +Footnote 411: + + Sarasins, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 469. + +Footnote 412: + + It should be remembered that elimination through war tells more upon + males than females. Out of sixty-six cases in which there was the + relevant information investigated by Professor Hobhouse and his + collaborators, men only were slain in twenty cases (Hobhouse, Wheeler, + and Ginsberg, _Simpler Peoples_, p. 232). + +Footnote 413: + + Ling Roth, loc. cit., p. 83. + +Footnote 414: + + Wheeler, _Tribe in Australia_. + +Footnote 415: + + Ibid., pp. 116 ff. + +Footnote 416: + + Curr (_Recollections_, p. 309) says that he never heard of any one + being killed in a regular battle. + +Footnote 417: + + Wheeler, loc. cit., p. 151. + +Footnote 418: + + Ibid., p. 154. + +Footnote 419: + + Stow, loc. cit., p. 38. Letourneau, however, says that war was common + (_La Guerre_, p. 54). + +Footnote 420: + + Nelson, loc. cit., p. 327. + +Footnote 421: + + Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 162. + +Footnote 422: + + Boas, loc. cit., p. 465. + +Footnote 423: + + Nelson, loc. cit., p. 237. + +Footnote 424: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 120. + +Footnote 425: + + Hall, loc. cit., p. 598. + +Footnote 426: + + Ellis, loc. cit., p. 182. + +Footnote 427: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 91. + +Footnote 428: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 57. See also ibid., vol. iii, p. + 64. + +Footnote 429: + + Carver, _Travels_, p. 229. For accounts of early military training see + Domenech, _Seven Years’ Residence_, vol. ii, p. 229, and Dodge, + _Hunting Grounds of the Great West_, p. 256. + +Footnote 430: + + Harmon, _Journal_, p. 306. He is speaking in particular of the Carrier + tribe; a good account of the methods of fighting is given. + +Footnote 431: + + Krause, loc. cit., p. 248; Swanton, 26th _A. R. B. E._, p. 449. + +Footnote 432: + + Niblack, _A. R. S. I._, 1888, p. 340; Swanton, _Jesup North Pacific + Expedition_, vol. v, pp. 55 ff. + +Footnote 433: + + Sproat, loc. cit., p. 59. + +Footnote 434: + + Boas, _A. R. B. E._, 1895, p. 425. + +Footnote 435: + + MacKenzie, loc. cit., vol. ii, pp. 123–30. + +Footnote 436: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 236. + +Footnote 437: + + Ibid., vol. i, p. 268. + +Footnote 438: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. ii, pp. 540 ff. + +Footnote 439: + + Ibid., p. 234. + +Footnote 440: + + Ibid., vol. i, p. 263. + +Footnote 441: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 53. + +Footnote 442: + + MacKenzie, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 171. + +Footnote 443: + + Gibbs, loc. cit., p. 190. + +Footnote 444: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 379. + +Footnote 445: + + Ibid., vol. i, p. 562. + +Footnote 446: + + Baegert, loc. cit., p. 359. + +Footnote 447: + + MacGee, 17th _A. R. B. E._, pp. 157 and 273. He speaks of a ‘frequent + decimation of the warriors’ (p. 273). + +Footnote 448: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 499. + +Footnote 449: + + Cabeça de Vaca, loc. cit., p. 54. + +Footnote 450: + + Guinnard, loc. cit., p. 125. + +Footnote 451: + + Azara, vol. ii, p. 146. + +Footnote 452: + + Ibid., p. 7. + +Footnote 453: + + King and Fitzroy, _Narrative_, vol. ii, p. 183. See also Featherman, + _Social History_, vol. iii, p. 508. + +Footnote 454: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 45. To show the length to + which this belief is carried, the following story may be quoted. ‘A + woman, while clearing out a well, was bitten in the thumb by a black + snake. It began to swell immediately, and in the short space of + twenty-four hours the woman was a corpse. Still it was asserted that + it was not an accident, but that the deceased had pointed out a + certain aborigine as her murderer’ (Wilhelmi, loc. cit., p. 191). In + this case no killing actually followed, though it nearly did so. + +Footnote 455: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 84. + +Footnote 456: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, vol. ii, p. 45. + +Footnote 457: + + Curr, _Australian Race_, vol. i, p. 86. + +Footnote 458: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 477. Wheeler (loc. cit., p. + 149) says that ‘warfare only arises as a result of a blood feud, due + to the killing of a member of one local group by a member of another + local group, nearly always by magical means. But even this ground of + offence is most generally settled by one of the methods of regular + procedure above described.’ Since, as we have seen, the regular + procedure seldom ends in the shedding of blood, many deaths thus pass + unavenged. + +Footnote 459: + + Thomas, _Natives of Australia_, p. 47; Eyre, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. + 379. + +Footnote 460: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 317. + +Footnote 461: + + Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 582. Similar accounts are given by other + authors: see Nelson, loc. cit., p. 293; Rink, loc. cit., p. 35; + Klutschak, _Als Eskimo unter den Eskimos_, p. 228. + +Footnote 462: + + For instance, the Lillooet (Teit, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 236) and the + Shastika (Powers, loc. cit., p. 29). + +Footnote 463: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 348. + +Footnote 464: + + Niblack, loc. cit., p. 348. A somewhat similar account is given of the + Zaporos (Simson, _J. A. I._, vol. vii, p. 506). + +Footnote 465: + + It is not only among these races that the aged are thought to be in + the way. Bonnard, in an article in the _Figaro_ on the Prince de + Beauvais’ travels in Canada, mentions that the latter saw an + enterprising Canadian township recommended by the announcement that + there were ‘no old inhabitants to hinder progress’ (_Figaro_, March + 28, 1914). The evidence for the existence of this custom has been + reviewed by Westermarck, _Moral Ideas_, vol. ii, pp. 386 ff. + +Footnote 466: + + Ling Roth, loc. cit., p. 73. + +Footnote 467: + + Sartori, _Globus_, vol. lxvii, p. 108. + +Footnote 468: + + See, for instance, Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes_, p. 32, and + _Natives Tribes_, p. 51. + +Footnote 469: + + Theal, loc. cit., p. 19. + +Footnote 470: + + Turner, loc. cit., p. 186. + +Footnote 471: + + Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 165. + +Footnote 472: + + Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 151. + +Footnote 473: + + Woldt, loc. cit., p. 57. + +Footnote 474: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 205. + +Footnote 475: + + Willoughby, _A. R. S. I._, 1886, p. 274. + +Footnote 476: + + Long, loc. cit., p. 74. + +Footnote 477: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 390. + +Footnote 478: + + MacGee, loc. cit., p. 157. Conditions are similar among the Yguazas: + see Cabeça de Vaca, loc. cit., p. 80. + +Footnote 479: + + Featherman, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 503. + +Footnote 480: + + Simson, loc. cit., p. 507. + +Footnote 481: + + It is impossible to estimate the amount of elimination from this + source. It is, as a rule, no doubt small. In India, although a higher + degree of skill has been reached, elimination from this source is not + inconsiderable owing to the prevalence of poisonous snakes. ‘In 1910, + 55 persons were killed by elephants, 25 by hyenas, 109 by bears, 319 + by wolves, 853 by tigers, and 688 by other animals, including wild + pigs. No less than 22,478 died from the bite of poisonous snakes. The + grand total of mortality is 24,878’ (Lull, _Organic Evolution_, p. + 105). The amount of elimination will vary according to the nature of + the fauna, the geographical surroundings, habits, and other factors. + Thus among the Eskimo the use of the ‘kayak’ is responsible for a + considerable number of deaths. See Crantz, loc. cit., p. 166; Nansen, + loc. cit., p. 55; Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 433. + +Footnote 482: + + Cohen, _Physiological Therapeutics_, vol. v, p. 158. + +Footnote 483: + + Davidson, _Geographical Pathology_, vol. ii, p. 565. + +Footnote 484: + + Hrdlicka, _S. I. B. E._, Bull. 42. + +Footnote 485: + + Hrdlicka, _S. I. B. E._, Bull. 34. See also Adami, _Medical + Contributions_, pp. 15–22. + +Footnote 486: + + Among many races in this group—especially in tropical + countries—certain non-lethal diseases are prevalent which are of great + importance from another point of view. They will be referred to again + in Chapter XV. + +Footnote 487: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 87. + +Footnote 488: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 282. + +Footnote 489: + + Mathew, loc. cit., p. 92. See also Eyre, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 377, + and Curr, _Recollections_, p. 297. + +Footnote 490: + + Burchell, _Travels_, vol. ii, p. 57. + +Footnote 491: + + Smith, loc. cit., p. 859. + +Footnote 492: + + Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 39. + +Footnote 493: + + Crantz, loc. cit., p. 166. + +Footnote 494: + + Heriot, loc. cit., p. 350. + +Footnote 495: + + Harmon, loc. cit., p. 271. + +Footnote 496: + + Krause, loc. cit., p. 148. + +Footnote 497: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 618. + +Footnote 498: + + Hill Tout, _British North America_, p. 252. + +Footnote 499: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 284. + +Footnote 500: + + Powers, loc. cit., p. 416. + +Footnote 501: + + Baegert, loc. cit., p. 385. + +Footnote 502: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 219. + +Footnote 503: + + Hardt, _Geography of Brazil_, p. 598. + +Footnote 504: + + King and Fitzroy, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 155. + +Footnote 505: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., pp. 78 and 85. + +Footnote 506: + + Turner, loc. cit., p. 189. See also Armstrong, loc. cit., p. 197, and + Hutton, loc. cit., p. 80. + +Footnote 507: + + Crantz, loc. cit., p. 162; Murdoch, loc. cit., p. 415. + +Footnote 508: + + _Handbook of American Indians_: Article, _Child Life_. + +Footnote 509: + + The absence of care and the resulting mortality is emphasized by + Gerland (_Über das Aussterben der Naturvölker_, p. 24 to p. 39). + +Footnote 510: + + _Handbook of American Indians_: Article, _Child Life_. It may be + noticed that, among the older authors, Robertson (loc. cit., vol. 1, + p. 297) has very similar remarks on the same subject. + +Footnote 511: + + Heriot, loc. cit. p. 344. + +Footnote 512: + + Domenech, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 295. + +Footnote 513: + + Krause, loc. cit., p. 217. Of these people Bancroft (loc. cit., vol. + i, p. 111) says that ‘when the child is able to leave its cradle, it + is bathed in the ocean every day without regard to season’. + +Footnote 514: + + Ross, loc. cit., p. 305. + +Footnote 515: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121. + +Footnote 516: + + Ibid., p. 201. + +Footnote 517: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 178. + +Footnote 518: + + Baegert, loc. cit., p. 368. + +Footnote 519: + + Dobrizhoffer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 43. + +Footnote 520: + + Guinnard, loc. cit., p. 147. + +Footnote 521: + + Bridges, loc. cit., p. 202. + +Footnote 522: + + Man, loc. cit., p. 79. + +Footnote 523: + + Ibid., p. 81. + +Footnote 524: + + Sarasins, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 469. + +Footnote 525: + + Deniker, loc. cit., p. 303. + +Footnote 526: + + Czaplicka, _Aboriginal Siberia_, p. 137. For a general sketch of the + treatment of children by parents see Steinmetz, _Entwicklung der + Strafe_, vol. i, pp. 179 ff. + +Footnote 527: + + Reference has been made in Chapter V to the use of metals in America. + Mr. Joyce, however, says that in spite of progress in this direction + the Central American races ‘were living at the discovery practically + in an age of stone’ (_Mexican Archaeology_, p. 304). + +Footnote 528: + + The importance of the plough in agriculture has been emphasized by + many authors. See, for instance, Hahn, _Die Entstehung der + Pflugkultur_. + +Footnote 529: + + The influence of different phases of Eur-Asiatic culture upon the + races of Africa must be borne in mind. Early Egyptian civilization + exerted great influence and so at a later date did the + Semitic—especially on the east coast; since the time of Mohammed the + influence of Eur-Asiatic culture has been marked among the more + northern of the negroid races. The inhabitants of Bornu were, for + instance, converted to Islam in the eleventh century. + +Footnote 530: + + They may have had a knowledge of iron before the migration (see + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 11). + +Footnote 531: + + The Samoyeds formerly worked iron but have now lost the art—obtaining + what they want from the Russians. + +Footnote 532: + + Hartland, _Primitive Paternity_, vol. i, p. 272. + +Footnote 533: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 702. + +Footnote 534: + + Stephen, _Am. Anth._, vol. vi, p. 356. + +Footnote 535: + + Charlevoix, loc. cit., vol. v, pp. 5 and 38. For the Creeks see + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. v, p. 272. + +Footnote 536: + + Pöppig, _Reise in Chile_, vol. ii, p. 128; von Martius, _Ethnographie + Amerikas_, vol. i, p. 112; Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 104. + +Footnote 537: + + _Handbook of American Indians_, vol. i, p. 265. Heriot (loc. cit., p. + 344) mentions six to seven years as not uncommon. Schoolcraft (loc. + cit., vol. v, p. 655) gives eighteen months to two years for the + Oregon Indians. + +Footnote 538: + + Keating, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 417. + +Footnote 539: + + Hawtrey, _J. A. I._, vol. xxi, p. 295. Grubb gives three to four years + (_An Unknown People_, p. 142). + +Footnote 540: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 633. + +Footnote 541: + + Ibid., vol. ii, p. 281. + +Footnote 542: + + im Thurn, _Savages of Guiana_, p. 219; Joest, _Int. Arch. Eth._, vol. + v, p. 94. + +Footnote 543: + + D’Orbigny, _L’Homme Américain_, vol. i, p. 47. + +Footnote 544: + + Forbes, _Journ. Eth. Soc._, vol. ii (new series), p. 224. + +Footnote 545: + + Joyce, loc. cit., p. 162. + +Footnote 546: + + Weld, loc. cit., p. 373. + +Footnote 547: + + Heriot, loc. cit., p. 339. + +Footnote 548: + + Le Beau, _Aventures, ou Voyage curieux et nouveau_, vol. ii, p. 200. + +Footnote 549: + + Charlevoix, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 5. Ashe (_Travels_, p. 276) says + that the Shawnees abstain for nine weeks after birth. + +Footnote 550: + + Holder, _Am. Journ. Obstet._, vol. xxv, p. 44. + +Footnote 551: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 281. + +Footnote 552: + + D’Orbigny, _L’Homme Américain_, vol. i, p. 47. + +Footnote 553: + + Hyades and Deniker, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 195. + +Footnote 554: + + Ashe, loc. cit., p. 272. + +Footnote 555: + + Hrdlicka, _S. I. B. E._, Bull. 34, p. 163. + +Footnote 556: + + Weld, loc. cit., p. 373. + +Footnote 557: + + Le Beau, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 199. + +Footnote 558: + + Charlevoix, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 5. + +Footnote 559: + + p. 99. + +Footnote 560: + + p. 99. + +Footnote 561: + + Keating, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 415. + +Footnote 562: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. v, p. 684. + +Footnote 563: + + Nordenskiöld, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xxxviii, p. 98. + +Footnote 564: + + Forbes, _Journ. Eth. Soc._, vol. ii, p. 224. + +Footnote 565: + + Spix and Martius, _Travels_, vol. ii, p. 246. + +Footnote 566: + + Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 59. + +Footnote 567: + + Ibid., p. 179. + +Footnote 568: + + Rengger, loc. cit., p. 133. + +Footnote 569: + + Ibid., p. 335. + +Footnote 570: + + von Martius, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 642. + +Footnote 571: + + D’Orbigny, loc. cit., vol. i, pp. 46 and 47. + +Footnote 572: + + Pöppig, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 323. + +Footnote 573: + + Keating, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 394. + +Footnote 574: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 243. + +Footnote 575: + + Holder, loc. cit., p. 44. + +Footnote 576: + + Hrdlicka, loc. cit., p. 163. + +Footnote 577: + + Russell, 26th _A. R. B. E._, p. 186. + +Footnote 578: + + Stevenson, 23rd _A. R. B. E._, p. 296. + +Footnote 579: + + Grinnell, _Am. Anth._, vol. iv, p. 15. + +Footnote 580: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. ii, pp. 183 and 269. + +Footnote 581: + + Von den Steinen, _Durch Central-Brazilien_, p. 123. + +Footnote 582: + + Ehrenreich, _Königliches Museum zu Berlin_, vol. i, Heft 2, p. 27; + Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 116. + +Footnote 583: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 243. + +Footnote 584: + + Ibid., vol. ii, p. 272. + +Footnote 585: + + Yarrow, _A. R. B. E._, vol. i, p. 99. + +Footnote 586: + + Hrdlicka, loc. cit., p. 165. + +Footnote 587: + + Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 93. + +Footnote 588: + + Ibid., p. 116. + +Footnote 589: + + Hawtrey, _J. A. I._, vol. xxi, p. 295. + +Footnote 590: + + Grubb, loc. cit., p. 223. + +Footnote 591: + + Bonaparte, _Suriname_, p. 48. + +Footnote 592: + + Smythe and Lowe, _Narrative_, p. 240. + +Footnote 593: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 119. + +Footnote 594: + + Jones, _Ojebway Indians_, p. 64. + +Footnote 595: + + Neill, _History of Minnesota_, p. 68. + +Footnote 596: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 42. + +Footnote 597: + + Neill, loc. cit., p. 70. + +Footnote 598: + + Matthews, _U.S. Geog. and Geol. Survey_, Misc. Publications, No. 7, p. + 61. For the wars of the Iroquois see Perrot, _Mémoires_, pp. 9 ff. and + pp. 78 ff. + +Footnote 599: + + Long, loc. cit., p. 29. + +Footnote 600: + + Speck, _Univ. of Pennsylvania Publications_, vol. i. No. 1, p. 84. + +Footnote 601: + + Russell, loc. cit., p. 200. + +Footnote 602: + + Wallace, _Travels on the Amazon_, p. 516. See also Church, loc. cit., + p. 77. + +Footnote 603: + + Church, _South America_, pp. 78, 99, and 137. See also Von Martius, + loc. cit., vol. i, p. 129. + +Footnote 604: + + White, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 244. + +Footnote 605: + + Grubb, loc. cit., p. 105. + +Footnote 606: + + Brett, _Indian Tribes_, p. 357. + +Footnote 607: + + Wallace, loc. cit., p. 500. + +Footnote 608: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 228. + +Footnote 609: + + Le Beau, loc. cit., vol. ii, pp. 93 and 98. + +Footnote 610: + + Speck, loc. cit., p. 14. + +Footnote 611: + + Ashe, loc. cit., p. 270. + +Footnote 612: + + Spix and Martius, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 249. + +Footnote 613: + + For the North American Indians see _Handbook of American Indians_, p. + 238. + +Footnote 614: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 238. + +Footnote 615: + + Domenech, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 295. + +Footnote 616: + + Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_, vol. ii, p. 90. + +Footnote 617: + + Heriot, _Travels_, p. 343. Dumarest, speaking of the Cochiti, says + that ‘sometimes, in the midst of winter, the child’s father will take + him out and, after breaking the ice, ... will immerse him in the + river. Formerly when, in winter, children came from bathing in the + river, they were not allowed to approach the fire until their hair was + thawed out’ (_Mem. Am. Anth. Ass._, vol. vi, No. 3, p. 144). + Koch-Grünberg states the mortality is heavy among the children of the + Amazon tribes and that they are dipped in cold water (_Zwei Jahre_, + vol. ii, pp. 59 and 150). + +Footnote 618: + + Partridge, _Cross River Natives_, p. 254. + +Footnote 619: + + Thomas, _Ibo-speaking Peoples_, p. 62. + +Footnote 620: + + Hutereau, _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_, sér. 3, tome i, p. 4; Cureau, + _Sociétés Primitives_, p. 109. + +Footnote 621: + + Torday and Joyce, _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_, sér. 3, tome ii, p. 110. + +Footnote 622: + + Van Overbergh, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 4, p. 309. + +Footnote 623: + + Delhaise, ibid., No. 5, p. 157. He thinks, however, that the practice + was introduced by the Arabs. + +Footnote 624: + + Rochebrune, _Rev. d’Anth._, vol. iv, sér. 2, p. 281. + +Footnote 625: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 442. + +Footnote 626: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 288. + +Footnote 627: + + Ibid., vol. xxxv, p. 420. + +Footnote 628: + + du Chaillu, _Explorations and Adventures_, p. 162. + +Footnote 629: + + Johnston, _Uganda Protectorate_, vol. ii, pp. 824 and 878. + +Footnote 630: + + Dundas, K. R., _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. 60. + +Footnote 631: + + Velten, _Sitten und Gebräuche der Swaheli_, p. 28. + +Footnote 632: + + Fabry, _Globus_, vol. xci, p. 221. + +Footnote 633: + + Weule, _East Africa_, p. 305. + +Footnote 634: + + Reichard, _Z. G. E._, vol. xxiv, p. 253. + +Footnote 635: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 409, note. + +Footnote 636: + + Stannus, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 309. + +Footnote 637: + + Maugham, _Zambezia_, p. 333. + +Footnote 638: + + Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, p. 206. + +Footnote 639: + + Ellis, _Yoruba-Speaking Peoples_, p. 185. + +Footnote 640: + + Delacour, _Rev. d’Eth._, 1912, p. 45. + +Footnote 641: + + Buttikoffer, _Inter. Arch. Eth._, vol. i, p. 82. + +Footnote 642: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 174. + +Footnote 643: + + Tremearne, _Hausa Superstitions and Customs_, p. 93. + +Footnote 644: + + Torday and Joyce, _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_, sér. 3, vol. ii, p. 112. + +Footnote 645: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 180. + +Footnote 646: + + Overbergh, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 3, p. 296. + +Footnote 647: + + Harris, _Mem. Anth. Soc._, vol. ii, p. 68. + +Footnote 648: + + Overbergh and Jonghe, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 2, p. 217. + +Footnote 649: + + Wilson and Felkin, _Uganda_, vol. i, p. 187. + +Footnote 650: + + Hollis, _Nandi_, p. 65. + +Footnote 651: + + Plas, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 6, p. 205. + +Footnote 652: + + Fülleborn, _Nyassa- und Rowuma-Gebiet_, p. 61. + +Footnote 653: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 55. + +Footnote 654: + + Gutmann, _Globus_, vol. xcii. + +Footnote 655: + + Reichard, loc. cit., p. 257. + +Footnote 656: + + Burton, _Central Africa_, vol. i, p. 117. + +Footnote 657: + + Junod, _Ba-Ronga_, p. 19. + +Footnote 658: + + Felkin, _Trans. Edin. Obstet. Soc._, vol. ix, p. 19. + +Footnote 659: + + Lichtenstein, _Travels_, vol. i, p. 260. + +Footnote 660: + + Kidd, _Essential Kaffir_, p. 19. + +Footnote 661: + + Denham and Clapperton, _Narrative_, p. 319. + +Footnote 662: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 417. + +Footnote 663: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, p. 183. + +Footnote 664: + + Stannus, loc. cit., p. 310. + +Footnote 665: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 347. + +Footnote 666: + + Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, p. 206. + +Footnote 667: + + Ellis, _Yoruba-Speaking Peoples_, p. 185. + +Footnote 668: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 174. + +Footnote 669: + + Ibid., vol. xxxvi, p. 93. + +Footnote 670: + + Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 39. + +Footnote 671: + + Granville, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvii, p. 106. + +Footnote 672: + + Mungo Park, _Travels_, p. 402. + +Footnote 673: + + Tremearne, _Head Hunters of Nigeria_, p. 239. + +Footnote 674: + + Harris, loc. cit., p. 36. + +Footnote 675: + + Desplagnes, _Plateau Central Nigerien_, p. 227. + +Footnote 676: + + Nassau, _Fetichism in West Africa_, p. 11. + +Footnote 677: + + Reade, _South Africa_, p. 45. + +Footnote 678: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 378. + +Footnote 679: + + Johnston, _George Grenfell and the Congo_, p. 671. + +Footnote 680: + + Ward, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiv, p. 289. + +Footnote 681: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 418. + +Footnote 682: + + Overbergh and Jonghe, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 1, p. 199. + +Footnote 683: + + Ibid., No. 2, p. 219. + +Footnote 684: + + Halkin, ibid., No. 7, p. 260. + +Footnote 685: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 51. + +Footnote 686: + + Gaud, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 8, p. 154. + +Footnote 687: + + Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 154. + +Footnote 688: + + Hutereau, loc. cit., p. 46. + +Footnote 689: + + Plas, loc. cit., p. 203. + +Footnote 690: + + Ibid., p. 205. + +Footnote 691: + + Hollis, _Nandi_, p. 66. + +Footnote 692: + + Ibid., p. 65. + +Footnote 693: + + Hobley, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxiii, p. 358. + +Footnote 694: + + Wilson and Felkin, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 187. + +Footnote 695: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 55. Ratzel (_History_, vol. iii, p. 16) gives + three years. + +Footnote 696: + + Thomson, _Geog. Journ._, vol. iv, p. 73. + +Footnote 697: + + Velten, loc. cit., p. 73. + +Footnote 698: + + Dundas, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 60. + +Footnote 699: + + Reichard, loc. cit., p. 257. + +Footnote 700: + + Fülleborn, loc. cit., p. 352. + +Footnote 701: + + Fabry, loc. cit., p. 223. + +Footnote 702: + + Cole, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxii, p. 312. + +Footnote 703: + + Stannus, loc. cit., p. 311. + +Footnote 704: + + Felkin, loc. cit., p. 31. + +Footnote 705: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 415. + +Footnote 706: + + Junod, _Ba-Ronga_, p. 490. + +Footnote 707: + + Kidd, _Essential Kaffir_, p. 19. + +Footnote 708: + + Pechuel-Loesche, _Loango-Expedition_, p. 31. + +Footnote 709: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, vol. i, p. 488. + +Footnote 710: + + Junod, ibid. See Macdonald, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 117. + +Footnote 711: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 189. + +Footnote 712: + + Fülleborn, loc. cit., p. 552, note. + +Footnote 713: + + Junod, loc. cit., p. 55. + +Footnote 714: + + Fülleborn, loc. cit., p. 550. + +Footnote 715: + + Mungo Park, loc. cit., p. 403. + +Footnote 716: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 174. + +Footnote 717: + + Talbot, _Shadow of the Bush_, p. 12. + +Footnote 718: + + Burton, _Abeokuta_, vol. i, p. 207. + +Footnote 719: + + Mondière, _Rev. d’Anth._, vol. iv, p. 75. + +Footnote 720: + + Buttikoffer, loc. cit., p. 82. + +Footnote 721: + + Overbergh and Jonghe, loc. cit., No. 1, p. 201. + +Footnote 722: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 420. + +Footnote 723: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 138. + +Footnote 724: + + Plas, loc. cit., p. 208. + +Footnote 725: + + Schmitz, _Coll. Mon. Eth._, No. 9, p. 595. + +Footnote 726: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxv, p. 51. + +Footnote 727: + + Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 157. + +Footnote 728: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 4, p. 297. + +Footnote 729: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 51. + +Footnote 730: + + Velten, loc. cit., p. 28. + +Footnote 731: + + Routledge, _Prehistoric People_, p. 136. Owing to the fact that the + families are incomplete, there is some uncertainty about these + figures. + +Footnote 732: + + Roscoe, _Man_, vol. ix, p. 118. See also same author’s _Northern + Bantu_, p. 151. + +Footnote 733: + + Reichard, loc. cit., p. 255. + +Footnote 734: + + Stannus, loc. cit., p. 310. + +Footnote 735: + + Elton, _Journal_, p. 6. + +Footnote 736: + + Barrow, _Travels_, vol. i, p. 97. See also Theal, _Yellow- and + Dark-Skinned People_, p. 86. + +Footnote 737: + + Little, _Madagascar_, p. 64. + +Footnote 738: + + Delacour, loc. cit., p. 45. + +Footnote 739: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 171. + +Footnote 740: + + Johnston, _George Grenfell and the Congo_, p. 671. + +Footnote 741: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 449; Overbergh and Jonghe, loc. + cit., No. 1, p. 201. + +Footnote 742: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 228. + +Footnote 743: + + Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 147. + +Footnote 744: + + Halkin, loc. cit., p. 259. Hutereau (loc. cit., p. 101) says that it + is not often employed. + +Footnote 745: + + Rochebrune, loc. cit., p. 283. + +Footnote 746: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 4, p. 298. + +Footnote 747: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 111. + +Footnote 748: + + Lübbert, _Mitth. der Forschungsreisenden_, vol. xiv, p. 88. + +Footnote 749: + + Hobley, _Akamba_, p. 58. + +Footnote 750: + + Velten, loc. cit., p. 29. + +Footnote 751: + + Fülleborn, loc. cit., p. 352. + +Footnote 752: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 417; Angus, _Azimba and + Chipitaland_, p. 324. + +Footnote 753: + + Maugham, _Zambezia_, p. 339. + +Footnote 754: + + Maclean, _Kaffir Laws and Customs_, p. 62. + +Footnote 755: + + Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, vol. i, p. 55. + +Footnote 756: + + Kolben, _Cape of Good Hope_, vol. i, p. 144. + +Footnote 757: + + Ellis, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 155; Little, loc. cit., p. 60. + +Footnote 758: + + Tremearne, _Hausa Superstitions_, p. 93. + +Footnote 759: + + Ibid., _Head Hunters of Nigeria_, p. 239. + +Footnote 760: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 177; Ward, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiv, p. 291. Torday + (_Camp and Tramp_, p. 142), when speaking of the Bayaka, mentions them + as an exception to the general rule that Congo tribes kill misshapen + children. + +Footnote 761: + + Gaud, loc. cit., p. 257. + +Footnote 762: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 3, p. 241. + +Footnote 763: + + Halkin, loc. cit., p. 260. + +Footnote 764: + + Torday and Joyce, _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_, sér. 3, tome ii, p. 113. + +Footnote 765: + + Krapf, _Travels_, p. 193. + +Footnote 766: + + Hildebrand, _Recht und Sitte_, p. 293. + +Footnote 767: + + Livingstone, _Labours and Travels_, p. 577. + +Footnote 768: + + Fülleborn, loc. cit., p. 62. + +Footnote 769: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 417. + +Footnote 770: + + Maugham, _Portuguese East Africa_, p. 270. + +Footnote 771: + + Barrow, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 157; Kidd, _Essential Kaffir_, p. 202; + Shooter, _Kaffirs of Natal_, p. 88. + +Footnote 772: + + Theal, _History and Ethnography_, vol. i, p. 48. + +Footnote 773: + + Harris, loc. cit., p. 27. + +Footnote 774: + + Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, p. 190; Maclean, _Compendium_, p. 62. + +Footnote 775: + + F. E. Forbes, _Dahomey_, p. 15. + +Footnote 776: + + Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 125. + +Footnote 777: + + See Forbes, loc. cit., p. 23. + +Footnote 778: + + Tremearne, _Head Hunters of Nigeria_, _passim_. + +Footnote 779: + + Beecham, _Ashantee_, p. 207. + +Footnote 780: + + See Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, pp. 117 ff. + +Footnote 781: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 348. + +Footnote 782: + + Weeks, _Congo Cannibals_, p. 222. + +Footnote 783: + + Du Chaillu, loc. cit., p. 161. + +Footnote 784: + + Ibid., p. 386. + +Footnote 785: + + Burrows, loc. cit., p. 38. For the Azanda and Abandia see Hutereau, + loc. cit., p. 36 and p. 44. + +Footnote 786: + + Coquilhat, _Haut-Congo_, p. 287; Overbergh and Jonghe, loc. cit., No. + 1, p. 413. + +Footnote 787: + + Torday, loc. cit., pp. 97 ff.; Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. + xxxv, p. 416. + +Footnote 788: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvi, p. 289. + +Footnote 789: + + Ibid., vol. xxxv, p. 49. + +Footnote 790: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 346. + +Footnote 791: + + Hollis, _Masai_, _passim_. + +Footnote 792: + + Hobley, _Akamba_, p. 45. See also Dundas, _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. + 505. + +Footnote 793: + + Routledge, _Prehistoric People_, p. 13. + +Footnote 794: + + Dundas, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 51. + +Footnote 795: + + Roscoe, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxvii, p. 108. + +Footnote 796: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 470. + +Footnote 797: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 344. + +Footnote 798: + + Same author, _History_, vol. i, p. 38. + +Footnote 799: + + Kolben, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 282. + +Footnote 800: + + Hutchinson, _Western Africa_, p. 150. See also same author’s _Ten + Years’ Wanderings_, p. 54. + +Footnote 801: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 98. + +Footnote 802: + + Torday, loc. cit., p. 137. + +Footnote 803: + + Maugham, _British Central Africa_, p. 276. + +Footnote 804: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 205. + +Footnote 805: + + Wilson, _Western Africa_, pp. 115 and 179; Beecham, loc. cit., p. 227. + +Footnote 806: + + Burrows, loc. cit., p. 43. + +Footnote 807: + + Du Chaillu, loc. cit., p. 271. + +Footnote 808: + + Werner, _Native Races_, p. 168. + +Footnote 809: + + Macdonald, loc. cit., p. 106. + +Footnote 810: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, vol. i, p. 417. + +Footnote 811: + + Parker, G. W., _J. A. I._, vol. xii, p. 478. + +Footnote 812: + + Weeks, _Congo Cannibals_, p. 341. + +Footnote 813: + + On this subject see Davidson, _Geographical Pathology_; Clemow, + _Geography of Disease_; Hirsch, _Geographical and Historical + Pathology_; and Johnston, _Negro in the New World_, pp. 15 ff. + +Footnote 814: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 174. + +Footnote 815: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 174. + +Footnote 816: + + Ellenberger, _Basuto_, p. 295. + +Footnote 817: + + Barrow, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 109. + +Footnote 818: + + Harris, loc. cit., p. 68. + +Footnote 819: + + Talbot, loc. cit., p. 12. + +Footnote 820: + + Mungo Park, loc. cit., p. 403. + +Footnote 821: + + Du Chaillu, loc. cit., p. 163. + +Footnote 822: + + Johnston, _George Grenfell and the Congo_, vol. ii, p. 672. + +Footnote 823: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 4, p. 297. + +Footnote 824: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 418. + +Footnote 825: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 3, p. 244. + +Footnote 826: + + Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 157. + +Footnote 827: + + Gutmann, loc. cit., p. 3. + +Footnote 828: + + Leslie, _Zulus and Amatongas_, p. 198. + +Footnote 829: + + Casalis, _Basutos_, p. 193. + +Footnote 830: + + Holden, loc. cit., p. 172. + +Footnote 831: + + Best, _Man_, vol. xiv, p. 32. + +Footnote 832: + + Dieffenbach, _Travels_, vol. ii, p. 16; Angas, _Australia and New + Zealand_, vol. i, p. 314; Tuke, _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, vol. ix, + part 1, p. 224; Tregear, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 101. + +Footnote 833: + + Dumas, _Collection des Thèses_, p. 18. + +Footnote 834: + + Kubary, _Journal des Museum Godeffroy_, vol. i, p. 53. See also same + author, _Ethnographische Beiträge_, p. 148. + +Footnote 835: + + Brainne, _Nouvelle-Calédonie_, p. 250. + +Footnote 836: + + Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 235. + +Footnote 837: + + Danks, _J. A. I._, vol. xviii, p. 288. + +Footnote 838: + + Krieger, _Neu-Guinea_, p. 297. + +Footnote 839: + + Murray, _Papua_, p. 195. + +Footnote 840: + + Seligman, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxii, p. 302. + +Footnote 841: + + Epp, _Holländisch-Ostindien_, p. 393. + +Footnote 842: + + Kreutz, _Zeit. Soc. Wiss._, vol. ii, p. 201. + +Footnote 843: + + Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. 141. + +Footnote 844: + + Ribbe, _Zwei Jahre_, p. 144. + +Footnote 845: + + Bernard, _Nouvelle-Calédonie_, p. 288. See also Glaumont, _Rev. + d’Eth._, vol. vii, p. 80; Lortsch, _Globus_, 1885, p. 107; and + Moncelon, _Bull. Soc. Anth._, vol. ix, p. 361. + +Footnote 846: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 176. + +Footnote 847: + + Thurmwald, _Forschungen_, p. 123. + +Footnote 848: + + Hagen, _Unter den Papuas_, p. 233. + +Footnote 849: + + Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, p. 100. + +Footnote 850: + + Jenks, _Ethnological Survey Publications_, vol. i, p. 61. + +Footnote 851: + + Hitchcock, _A. R. B. E._, 1890, p. 465. + +Footnote 852: + + Moerenhaut, _Voyages_, p. 62. + +Footnote 853: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. v, p. 247. + +Footnote 854: + + Tregear, loc. cit., p. 103. + +Footnote 855: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. v, p. 199. + +Footnote 856: + + Thomson, _Savage Island_, p. 141. + +Footnote 857: + + Kubary, _Journal des Museum Godeffroy_, vol. i, p. 54. + +Footnote 858: + + Krämer, _Samoa-Inseln_, vol. i, p. 38. + +Footnote 859: + + Seligman, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxii, p. 302. See also Seligman, + _Melanesians_, p. 86. + +Footnote 860: + + Schellong, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xxviii, p. 19. + +Footnote 861: + + Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 144. + +Footnote 862: + + Glaumont, loc. cit., p. 80. + +Footnote 863: + + Lambert, _Néo-Calédoniens_, p. 104. + +Footnote 864: + + Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 37. + +Footnote 865: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 176. + +Footnote 866: + + Ibid., p. 178. + +Footnote 867: + + Seeman, _Viti_, p. 191. + +Footnote 868: + + Seligman, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxii, p. 303. + +Footnote 869: + + Krieger, _Neu-Guinea_, p. 165. + +Footnote 870: + + Pfeil, _Studien und Beobachtungen_, p. 31. + +Footnote 871: + + Angas, loc. cit., p. 314. + +Footnote 872: + + Dieffenbach, loc. cit., p. 33. + +Footnote 873: + + Brown, _New Zealand_, p. 40. + +Footnote 874: + + Haddon, _J. A. I._, vol. xix. p. 359. + +Footnote 875: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. iii, p. 108. + +Footnote 876: + + Krämer, _Die Samoa-Inseln_, p. 335. + +Footnote 877: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 83. + +Footnote 878: + + Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 194. + +Footnote 879: + + Kubary, _Journal des Museum Godeffroy_, vol. i, p. 54. + +Footnote 880: + + Melville, _Narrative_, p. 213. + +Footnote 881: + + Tautain, _L’Anthropologie_, vol. ix, p. 418. + +Footnote 882: + + Jenkins, _Voyage_, p. 404. + +Footnote 883: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 80. + +Footnote 884: + + Stone, _New Guinea_, p. 93. + +Footnote 885: + + Krieger, loc. cit., pp. 165, 293, and 390. Neuhaus confirms this + (_Deutsch Neu-Guinea_, vol. i, p. 150). + +Footnote 886: + + Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 37. + +Footnote 887: + + Pfeil, loc. cit., p. 32. See also Stephan and Graebner, + _Neu-Mecklenberg_, p. 16. + +Footnote 888: + + Lortsch, loc. cit., p. 107; De Vaux, ‘Les Canaques’, _Rev. d’Eth._, + vol. ii, p. 330. + +Footnote 889: + + Blyth, _Glasgow Medical Journal_, vol. xxviii, p. 178. + +Footnote 890: + + Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, vol. i, p. 106. + +Footnote 891: + + Brooke, _Sarawak_, vol. ii, p. 335. + +Footnote 892: + + Wallace, _Malay Archipelago_, vol. i, p. 141. + +Footnote 893: + + Bock, _Head Hunters_, p. 211. + +Footnote 894: + + Hagen, _Unter den Papuas_, p. 27. + +Footnote 895: + + Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 219. + +Footnote 896: + + Modigliani, _Viaggio_, p. 554. + +Footnote 897: + + Bickman, _Travels_, p. 278. + +Footnote 898: + + Kreutz, loc. cit., p. 40. + +Footnote 899: + + Batchelor, _Ainu_, p. 19. + +Footnote 900: + + Hitchcock, loc. cit., p. 465. + +Footnote 901: + + Dieffenbach, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 12; Goldie, _Trans. and Proc. N. + Z. Inst._, vol. xxxvii, p. 110; Tuke, loc. cit., p. 735. + +Footnote 902: + + Hunt, _J. A. I._, vol. xxviii, p. 9. + +Footnote 903: + + Haddon, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 359. + +Footnote 904: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 197. + +Footnote 905: + + Dumas, loc. cit., p. 18. + +Footnote 906: + + Jenkins, loc. cit., p. 404; Krämer, loc. cit., p. 335; Thomson, + _Fijians_, p. 211. + +Footnote 907: + + Krämer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 53; Turner, _Samoa_, p. 79. + +Footnote 908: + + Gardiner, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvii, p. 480. + +Footnote 909: + + Thomson, _Savage Island_, p. 141. + +Footnote 910: + + Pritchard, _Polynesian Reminiscences_, p. 423; Waterhouse, _King and + People of Fiji_, p. 327; Thomson (_Fijians_, p. 180) thinks that it + has been introduced lately. On the other hand Blyth says that it was + formerly more prevalent than it is now (loc. cit., p. 181). + +Footnote 911: + + Hagen and Pineau, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. vii, p. 332. + +Footnote 912: + + Jamieson, _Aust. Med. Journ._, new series, vol. vii, p. 53. + +Footnote 913: + + Bernard, _Nouvelle-Calédonie_, p. 288; Rochas, _Nouvelle-Calédonie_, + p. 200. + +Footnote 914: + + Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 229; Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 144; + Parkinson, _Int. Arch. Eth._, vol. xiii, p. 8; Elton, _J. A. I._, vol. + xvii, p. 93. + +Footnote 915: + + Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 33; Danks, _J. A. I._, vol. xviii, p. 291; + Pfeil, loc. cit., p. 313; Stephan and Graebner, loc. cit., p. 18. + +Footnote 916: + + Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 194. + +Footnote 917: + + Riedel, _Rev. Col. Inter._, vol. ii, p. 71. + +Footnote 918: + + Krieger, loc. cit., p. 165 (German New Guinea), p. 292 (British New + Guinea), and p. 390 (Dutch New Guinea). + +Footnote 919: + + Ibid., p. 392. + +Footnote 920: + + Murray, _Papua_, p. 194. + +Footnote 921: + + Rosenberg, _Malayische Archipel_, p. 454. + +Footnote 922: + + Williamson, _Mafulu People_, p. 176. + +Footnote 923: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 135. + +Footnote 924: + + Ibid., p. 568. + +Footnote 925: + + Modigliani, loc. cit., p. 554. + +Footnote 926: + + Kreutz, loc. cit., p. 201. + +Footnote 927: + + Jenks, loc. cit., p. 60. + +Footnote 928: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 280. + +Footnote 929: + + Angas, _Australia and New Zealand_, vol. i, p. 312. + +Footnote 930: + + Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui_, p. 338. + +Footnote 931: + + Tuke, loc. cit., p. 221. + +Footnote 932: + + Polack, _Manners and Customs_, vol. ii, p. 92. See also Meade, _Ride_, + p. 163, and Dieffenbach, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 16. + +Footnote 933: + + Brown, _New Zealand_, p. 41; Earle, _Narrative_, p. 243. + +Footnote 934: + + Haddon, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, p. 359; _Cambridge Anthropological + Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 107. + +Footnote 935: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 107. + +Footnote 936: + + Tuituila, _Journ. Pol. Soc._, vol. i, p. 267. + +Footnote 937: + + West, _Ten Years_, p. 270. + +Footnote 938: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 79; Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 47. + +Footnote 939: + + Krämer, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 53. + +Footnote 940: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 141. + +Footnote 941: + + Rivers, _Melanesian Society_, vol. i, p. 313. + +Footnote 942: + + Thurmwald, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. xlii, p. 111. + +Footnote 943: + + Gill, _Coral Islands_, vol. ii, p. 13. + +Footnote 944: + + Edgeworth David, _Funafuti_, p. 195. + +Footnote 945: + + Lutteroth, _Insel Tahiti_, p. 12. + +Footnote 946: + + Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, vol. i, pp. 249 ff.; same author, + _Tour through Hawaii_, p. 325. + +Footnote 947: + + Kotzebue, _Voyage_, p. 211. + +Footnote 948: + + Ellis, _Narrative_, pp. 324 ff.; Angas, _Polynesia_, p. 144; Dumas, + loc. cit., p. 19. The last-named author says that it was undoubtedly + more prevalent before the arrival of Europeans than later. + +Footnote 949: + + Waterhouse, loc. cit., p. 328. + +Footnote 950: + + Glaumond, loc. cit., p. 79. + +Footnote 951: + + Bernard, loc. cit., p. 288. + +Footnote 952: + + Moncelin, loc. cit., p. 357. + +Footnote 953: + + Somerville, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiii, p. 4. According to Paton, + ‘Infanticide is systematically practised’ (_New Hebrides_, p. 452). + +Footnote 954: + + Meinecke, _Z. G. E._, vol. ix, p. 340. + +Footnote 955: + + Codrington, _Melanesians_, p. 229. + +Footnote 956: + + Kotzebue, loc. cit., p. 173. + +Footnote 957: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 284. + +Footnote 958: + + Hale, _U.S. Exploring Expedition_, vol. vi, p. 15. + +Footnote 959: + + Elton, _J. A. I._, vol. xvii, p. 93. + +Footnote 960: + + Guppy, _Solomon Islands_, p. 42. + +Footnote 961: + + Elton, loc. cit., p. 93; Somerville, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvi, p. 393; + Parkinson, loc. cit., p. 8; Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 144. + +Footnote 962: + + Verguet, _Rev. d’Eth._, vol. iv, p. 206. + +Footnote 963: + + Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 36; Pfeil, loc. cit., p. 18. + +Footnote 964: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 568. + +Footnote 965: + + Ibid., p. 705. + +Footnote 966: + + Williamson, _Mafulu People_, p. 176. + +Footnote 967: + + Murray, loc. cit., p. 194. + +Footnote 968: + + Erdweg, _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, + vol. xxxii, p. 281. + +Footnote 969: + + Newton, _New Guinea_, p. 189. + +Footnote 970: + + St. John, _Forests of the Far East_, vol. i, p. 48; Brooke, loc. cit., + vol. ii, p. 337. + +Footnote 971: + + Ratzel, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 268; Romilly, _Western Pacific_, p. 68. + +Footnote 972: + + Moerenhaut, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 30, says that ‘Tous ces peuples + étaient très fréquemment en guerre’. + +Footnote 973: + + Dieffenbach, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 16; Tregear, _J. A. I._, vol. xix, + p. 110. + +Footnote 974: + + Hunt, loc. cit., p. 10. + +Footnote 975: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. iv, p. 6; vol. v, p. 229; + and vol. vi, p. 189. + +Footnote 976: + + Ibid., vol. v, p. 298. + +Footnote 977: + + Ellis, _Narrative_, p. 4; Dumas, loc. cit., p. 19. + +Footnote 978: + + Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, p. 293; Lutteroth, loc. cit., p. 17. + +Footnote 979: + + Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, p. 294. + +Footnote 980: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 189; Pritchard, loc. cit., p. 55; Angas, + _Polynesia_, p. 270. + +Footnote 981: + + Brown, _Melanesians_, p. 173. + +Footnote 982: + + Gardiner, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvii, p. 470. + +Footnote 983: + + Ibid., p. 474. + +Footnote 984: + + Gill, _Coral Islands_, vol. ii, p. 12. + +Footnote 985: + + Jenkins, loc. cit., p. 407. + +Footnote 986: + + Kubary, _Journal des Museum Godeffroy_, vol. i, p. 62; Wilson, _Pelew + Islands_, p. 334. + +Footnote 987: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 671. + +Footnote 988: + + Williams, _Fiji_, p. 43. + +Footnote 989: + + Ibid., p. 203. He calculates the annual loss as from 1,500 to 2,000, + and adds that this should be increased in order to include widows + strangled on the death of their husbands (p. 53). + +Footnote 990: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 86. + +Footnote 991: + + Hagen and Pineau, loc. cit., p. 336. + +Footnote 992: + + Lambert, loc. cit., pp. 173 ff.; Moncelon, loc. cit., p. 358; de + Rochas, p. 304; Brainne, loc. cit., pp. 244 ff. + +Footnote 993: + + Guppy, loc. cit., p. 33; Verguet, loc. cit., p. 215. + +Footnote 994: + + Romilly, _Western Pacific_, p. 69. + +Footnote 995: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 121. + +Footnote 996: + + Abel, _New Guinea_, pp. 129 ff.; Williamson, _Mafulu People_, p. 180; + Reche, _Südsee-Expedition_, 1908–10, p. 289. + +Footnote 997: + + Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, vol. ii, p. 117; Hose and McDougall, _Pagan + Tribes_, pp. 158 ff. + +Footnote 998: + + Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, vol. ii, p. 120. + +Footnote 999: + + Batchelor, loc. cit., p. 15. + +Footnote 1000: + + Chalmers, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxiii, p. 123. + +Footnote 1001: + + Thomson, _British New Guinea_, p. 23. + +Footnote 1002: + + Woodford, _Head Hunters_, p. 154; Guppy, loc. cit., p. 16; Romilly, + _Western Pacific_, p. 73. + +Footnote 1003: + + Hickson, _New Hebrides_, p. 275. + +Footnote 1004: + + Hose and McDougall, loc. cit., p. 187. + +Footnote 1005: + + Ibid., p. 187. + +Footnote 1006: + + Gomes, _Sea Dyaks_, p. 5. + +Footnote 1007: + + Brooke, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121; Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, vol. ii, p. + 143. + +Footnote 1008: + + Brooke, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121; St. John, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 68. + +Footnote 1009: + + Jenks, loc. cit., p. 172. + +Footnote 1010: + + Ibid., p. 182. + +Footnote 1011: + + Romilly, _From my Verandah_, p. 52. + +Footnote 1012: + + Von der Sande, _Nova Guinea_, vol. iii, p. 270. Neuhaus, loc. cit., + vol. i, p. 131, attributes considerable importance to this factor. + +Footnote 1013: + + It is again noticeable that in the accounts of the older observers the + general good health of these races is remarked upon. See, for + instance, Kotzebue, loc. cit., p. 129 (for the Sandwich Islands) and + p. 170 (for Radeck); Cheyne, _Western Pacific Ocean_, p. 9 (for Island + of Pines). + +Footnote 1014: + + Newton, loc. cit., p. 189. For New Ireland see Stephan and Graebner, + loc. cit., p. 18, where the high child mortality is attributed to + exposure. + +Footnote 1015: + + Kreutz, loc. cit., p. 202. + +Footnote 1016: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 135. + +Footnote 1017: + + Jenks, loc. cit., p. 61. For the whole question of child mortality + among primitive races see Gerland, _Über das Aussterben der + Naturvölker_, p. 24 to p. 39. + +Footnote 1018: + + Bogoras, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, p. 690. + +Footnote 1019: + + Jochelson, ibid., vol. ix, p. 110. + +Footnote 1020: + + Ibid., vol. vi, p. 413. + +Footnote 1021: + + Ibid., vol. ix, p. 104. + +Footnote 1022: + + Sumner, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxi, p. 79. + +Footnote 1023: + + For instance, by Sumner, loc. cit., p. 79, for the Yakuts; by Jackson, + _Great Frozen Land_, p. 82, for the Samoyeds; and by Georgi, + _Bemerkungen_, vol. i, p. 265, for the Tunguses. + +Footnote 1024: + + Krasheninicoff, _History of Kamtchatka_, p. 216. De Lesseps + (_Travels_, vol. i, p. 133) puts the average at four to five children. + It may be noticed that according to Pallas (_Reise_, vol. iii, p. 77) + the Samoyeds do not cohabit for two months after the birth of a child. + +Footnote 1025: + + Sograff, _Arch. für Anth._, vol. xiv, p. 293. + +Footnote 1026: + + Jochelson, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 414. + +Footnote 1027: + + Krasheninicoff, loc. cit., p. 217. + +Footnote 1028: + + Stellers, _Kamtchatka_, p. 349. + +Footnote 1029: + + Sarytschev, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. vi, p. 50; Bogoras, loc. + cit., p. 513. + +Footnote 1030: + + Finsch, _Reise_, p. 538. See Georgi, loc. cit., p. 263, for the + Tunguses and Bogoras, loc. cit., p. 33, for the Chuckee. + +Footnote 1031: + + See Finsch, loc. cit., p. 538, for the Ostyaks and Samoyeds; + Jochelson, loc. cit., vol. vi, p. 423, for the Koryak; and Sumner, + loc. cit., p. 79, for the Yakuts. + +Footnote 1032: + + On this subject see Cannan, _Theories of Production and Distribution_, + ch. v. Professor Cannan’s work has been used in this and in the two + following sections. + +Footnote 1033: + + Nicholson, _Political Economy_, vol. i, p. 182, note. + +Footnote 1034: + + Cannan, loc. cit., p. 143. + +Footnote 1035: + + Cannan, loc. cit., p. 144. + +Footnote 1036: + + Nicholson, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 163. + +Footnote 1037: + + Cannan, _Wealth_, p. 68. This is frequently misunderstood. Thus we + read that ‘occasionally, from accidental circumstances, England was + for a short time under-populated, and these were the periods when ... + the labourer was well off’ (Inge, loc. cit., p. 90). The evidence + alluded to would tend to show that there was previously a condition of + over-population. In any case a people as a whole is not better off + when under-population arises. + +Footnote 1038: + + Cannan, _Theories of Production and Distribution_, p. 181. + +Footnote 1039: + + See Leroy-Beaulieu, _Question de la Population_, ch. iii. + +Footnote 1040: + + Quoted by Nicholson, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 180. + +Footnote 1041: + + Ling Roth, _Tasmania_, p. 116. + +Footnote 1042: + + Bonwick, loc. cit., p. 83. + +Footnote 1043: + + Wheeler, _Tribe in Australia_, p. 35. + +Footnote 1044: + + Wheeler, loc. cit., p. 45. Malinowski (loc. cit., p. 152) comments on + this tribal over-right, which, he says, is shadowy. + +Footnote 1045: + + See, for instance, Brown, _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. 144, for Western + Australia; Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 7, for Central + Australia; and Stanbridge, _Trans. Eth. Soc._, new series, vol. i, p. + 286, for Victoria. + +Footnote 1046: + + Malinowski, loc. cit., p. 156. + +Footnote 1047: + + Brown, _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. 145. Spencer and Gillen describe the + ownership by local groups of quarries where stone suitable for making + instruments is found (_Native Tribes_, p. 590). + +Footnote 1048: + + Ibid., p. 146. See, too, Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes_, p. 27. + +Footnote 1049: + + Stanbridge, loc. cit., p. 286. See also Parker, _Aborigines_, p. 12. + +Footnote 1050: + + Brown, _Geog. Journ._, vol. i, p. 12. + +Footnote 1051: + + Eyre, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 297. + +Footnote 1052: + + Smyth, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 145. + +Footnote 1053: + + Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 147. + +Footnote 1054: + + See Grosse, _Die Formen der Familie_, p. 35. + +Footnote 1055: + + Stow, loc. cit., p. 35. + +Footnote 1056: + + Ibid., p. 86. + +Footnote 1057: + + Klutschak, loc. cit., p. 227. + +Footnote 1058: + + Rink, loc. cit., p. 31. + +Footnote 1059: + + ‘Captain Cook found among the Ahts “very strict notions of their + having a right to the exclusive property of everything that their + country produces”, so that they claimed pay for even wood, water, and + grass. The limits of their tribal property are very clearly defined, + but individuals rarely claim any property in land’ (Bancroft, loc. + cit., vol. i, p. 191). See also Dellenbaugh, _North Americans_, pp. + 410 ff. + +Footnote 1060: + + _Handbook of American Indians_, Article ‘Land Tenure’. + +Footnote 1061: + + Harmon, loc. cit., p. 255. + +Footnote 1062: + + Hill Tout, _British North America_, p. 147. See also Bancroft, loc. + cit., vol. i, p. 118. + +Footnote 1063: + + Ibid., p. 157. + +Footnote 1064: + + Ibid., p. 159. + +Footnote 1065: + + _Handbook of American Indians_, Article ‘Property’. See Teit, loc. + cit., vol. ii, p. 255, for a description of this among the Lillooet + Indians; also Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 230, and Niblack, loc. + cit., pp. 298 and 337. + +Footnote 1066: + + Swanton, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. v, p. 71. + +Footnote 1067: + + Elliot, _Arctic Province_, p. 54. + +Footnote 1068: + + Krause, loc. cit., p. 167. Before leaving the Indians it is worth + noticing that each family had, as a rule, its own store of food. Many + different methods of storing food are known; the more migratory tribes + of the Salish and the Tinneh stored food either in detached sheds + elevated on posts several feet from the ground, or where the soil was + unusually dry in well-like holes. See Hill Tout, _British North + America_, p. 108. + +Footnote 1069: + + Sarasins, loc. cit., vol. iii, pp. 475 ff. See also Seligman, loc. + cit., p. 106. + +Footnote 1070: + + Cooper, loc. cit., p. 178. + +Footnote 1071: + + Hobhouse, Wheeler, and Ginsberg, _Institutions of the Simpler + Peoples_, pp. 243 ff. + +Footnote 1072: + + _Handbook of American Indians_, Article ‘Property’. + +Footnote 1073: + + Ibid., Article ‘Land Tenure’. + +Footnote 1074: + + Fletcher and La Flesche, 27th _A. R. B. E._, p. 269. Dorsey (loc. + cit., p. 366) gives further details. + +Footnote 1075: + + Joyce, _Mexican Archaeology_, p. 116. + +Footnote 1076: + + Spix and Martius, vol. i, p. 83. + +Footnote 1077: + + Bartle Frere, _J. A. I._, vol. xii, p. 260. + +Footnote 1078: + + Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking People_, p. 217. + +Footnote 1079: + + Ibid., _Yoruba-Speaking People_, p. 188. + +Footnote 1080: + + Talbot, loc. cit., p. 262. + +Footnote 1081: + + Scott Elliot, _J. A. I._, vol. xxiii, p. 82. + +Footnote 1082: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 187. + +Footnote 1083: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 123. + +Footnote 1084: + + Ibid., p. 129. + +Footnote 1085: + + Torday and Joyce, _Ann. Mus. Congo Belge_, sér. 3, tome ii, p. 91. + +Footnote 1086: + + Van Overbergh, loc. cit., No. 2, p. 465. + +Footnote 1087: + + Hobley, _Akamba_, pp. 82 and 136 ff. + +Footnote 1088: + + Halkin, loc. cit., p. 493. + +Footnote 1089: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 15. + +Footnote 1090: + + Routledge, _Prehistoric People_, p. 39. + +Footnote 1091: + + Werner, loc. cit., p. 179. + +Footnote 1092: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 471. + +Footnote 1093: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, vol. i, p. 307. + +Footnote 1094: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 230. + +Footnote 1095: + + Conder, _J. A. I._, vol. xvi, p. 86. + +Footnote 1096: + + Hahn, _Z. G. E._, vol. iii, p. 255. For Madagascar, where conditions + are much the same, see Parker, _J. A. I._, vol. xii. + +Footnote 1097: + + Wilson, _Pelew Islands_, p. 297. + +Footnote 1098: + + Tregear, loc. cit., p. 106. + +Footnote 1099: + + Ling Roth, loc. cit., p. 419. + +Footnote 1100: + + Thomson, _British New Guinea_, p. 194. + +Footnote 1101: + + Müller, _Unter Tungusen_, p. 46. + +Footnote 1102: + + Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 759. + +Footnote 1103: + + Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 765. + +Footnote 1104: + + Ibid., p. 767. + +Footnote 1105: + + Stow, loc. cit., p. 41. See also Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned + People_, p. 48. + +Footnote 1106: + + Nansen, _Eskimo Life_, p. 113. + +Footnote 1107: + + See, for instance, Klutschak, pp. 231 ff., and Whymper, _Voyages et + Aventures_, p. 346. + +Footnote 1108: + + Rink, loc. cit., p. 31. + +Footnote 1109: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121. + +Footnote 1110: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 256. + +Footnote 1111: + + MacGee, 17th _A. R. B. E._, p. 273. + +Footnote 1112: + + Hill Tout (_British North America_, p. 159) describes an exceptional + case of a Salish tribe in which ‘even the food was held and the meals + taken in common, the presiding elder or headsman calling a certain + family each day to provide the meals for all the rest, every one + taking it in turn to discharge this social duty’. + +Footnote 1113: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 229. + +Footnote 1114: + + Angas, loc. cit., p. 373. + +Footnote 1115: + + Haseman, _Am. Anth._, vol. xiv, p. 338. + +Footnote 1116: + + Some authors have assumed without producing any evidence that these + practices—especially infanticide—have increased, if they have not been + initiated, after contact with Europeans. It is, therefore, of interest + to note that according to Rivers there is definite genealogical + evidence from Tikopia of the disappearance of infanticide (_Melanesian + Society_, vol. i, p. 352). + +Footnote 1117: + + According to Neuhauss for instance, both abortion and infanticide were + formerly prevalent in parts of New Guinea where they are now rare + owing to missionary teaching. No accurate account has been given of + these tribes in their former state, and thus quite possibly a modern + observer might well merely record the practices as being ‘rare’—a + statement which would be misleading for our present purpose but which + is of the kind likely to be relied on by those who do not admit the + wide prevalence of these customs (_Deutsch Neu-Guinea_, vol. i, p. + 31). + +Footnote 1118: + + As will be pointed out later, this statement of Tacitus is undoubtedly + incorrect. + +Footnote 1119: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 252. + +Footnote 1120: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 263. + +Footnote 1121: + + Taplin, loc. cit., p. 14. + +Footnote 1122: + + Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 748. + +Footnote 1123: + + Howitt, _Native Tribes_, p. 749. + +Footnote 1124: + + Bonney, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 125. + +Footnote 1125: + + Beveridge, loc. cit., p. 26. + +Footnote 1126: + + Wilhelmi, loc. cit., p. 181. See also Eylmann, loc. cit., p. 261. + +Footnote 1127: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 608. + +Footnote 1128: + + Foelsche, loc. cit., p. 192. + +Footnote 1129: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 264. + +Footnote 1130: + + Curr, _Australian Race_, vol. i, p. 76. In another work, however, the + same author says that he often spoke to the natives on this subject, + and is ‘sure that the idea of over-population never entered their + heads’ (_Recollections_, p. 263). Smyth (loc. cit., vol. i, p. 52) + thinks that there may be some fear of over-population. + +Footnote 1131: + + Schürmann, loc. cit., p. 223. + +Footnote 1132: + + Gason, loc. cit., p. 8. + +Footnote 1133: + + Foelsche, loc. cit., p. 192. + +Footnote 1134: + + Eyre, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 376. + +Footnote 1135: + + Mathew, _Two Representative Tribes_, p. 165. + +Footnote 1136: + + Guinnard, loc. cit., p. 143. + +Footnote 1137: + + Charlevoix, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 405. + +Footnote 1138: + + Edgeworth David, _Funafuti_, p. 195. + +Footnote 1139: + + Rivers, _Melanesian Society_, vol. i, p. 313. + +Footnote 1140: + + Neuhaus, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 150. + +Footnote 1141: + + Jenkins, loc. cit., p. 404. See also Krämer, loc. cit., p. 335. + +Footnote 1142: + + Ellis, _Narrative_, p. 324. + +Footnote 1143: + + Ibid., p. 327. + +Footnote 1144: + + Tuituila, loc. cit., p. 267. + +Footnote 1145: + + Waterhouse, loc. cit., p. 327. + +Footnote 1146: + + Hunt, _J. A. I._, vol. xxviii, p. 9. + +Footnote 1147: + + Codrington, loc. cit., p. 229. + +Footnote 1148: + + Williamson, _Mafulu People_, p. 177. + +Footnote 1149: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. v, p. 198. + +Footnote 1150: + + Ibid., vol. vi, p. 107. + +Footnote 1151: + + Rengger, loc. cit., p. 329. + +Footnote 1152: + + Hawtrey, loc. cit., p. 295. + +Footnote 1153: + + Schoolcraft, loc. cit., vol. v, p. 272. + +Footnote 1154: + + Grinnell, loc. cit., p. 15. + +Footnote 1155: + + Keating, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 394. + +Footnote 1156: + + Ehrenreich, loc. cit., p. 27. + +Footnote 1157: + + Russell, 26th _A. R. B. E._, p. 186. + +Footnote 1158: + + Blyth, loc. cit., p. 181. + +Footnote 1159: + + Seeman, _Viti_, p. 191. + +Footnote 1160: + + Gutmann, loc. cit., p. 3. + +Footnote 1161: + + Krieger, loc. cit., p. 165. See also Parkinson, loc. cit., p. 22. + +Footnote 1162: + + Kotzebue, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 173. + +Footnote 1163: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 284. + +Footnote 1164: + + Seligman, _Melanesians_, p. 270. + +Footnote 1165: + + Turner, _Samoa_, p. 333. According to Paton, loc. cit., p. 452, + infanticide was ‘systematically practised’. + +Footnote 1166: + + Danks, loc. cit., p. 291. + +Footnote 1167: + + Rivers, _Todas_, p. 401. + +Footnote 1168: + + Malinowski, loc. cit., p. 48. + +Footnote 1169: + + Curr, _Australian Race_, vol. i, p. 110; Dawson, loc. cit., p. 35; + Smyth, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 291; Malinowski, loc. cit., p. 259; + Lumholtz, _Among Cannibals_, p. 184. + +Footnote 1170: + + Crantz, loc. cit., p. 158; Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 579. + +Footnote 1171: + + Crantz, loc. cit., p. 158; Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 579; Klutschak, + loc. cit., p. 233; Nansen, _Greenland_, vol. ii, p. 230; id., _Eskimo + Life_, p. 139; Murdoch, 9th _A. R. B. E._, p. 104. ‘There is a + superstition’, says Dall, speaking of the Eskimos of Alaska, ‘that a + youth must not marry until he has killed a deer, otherwise he will + have no children’ (loc. cit., p. 196). + +Footnote 1172: + + _Handbook of American Indians_, Article ‘Marriage’. + +Footnote 1173: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 134. For the Kutchins see Richardson, + _Arctic Searching Expedition_, vol. i, p. 407, and for the inhabitants + of Cadiack, Lisiansky, _Voyage_, p. 198. + +Footnote 1174: + + Swanton, _Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. v, p. 50. + +Footnote 1175: + + MacGee, 17th _A. R. B. E._, p. 280. For further details of marriage by + service among the Indians see Carver, loc. cit., p. 373, and Domenech, + loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 300. + +Footnote 1176: + + Skeat and Blagden, _Malays_, vol. ii, p. 70. + +Footnote 1177: + + King and Fitzroy, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 182. See also Bridges, loc. + cit., p. 201. + +Footnote 1178: + + See Carpenter, _Intermediate Types_, _passim_. + +Footnote 1179: + + Richardson, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 383. + +Footnote 1180: + + Crantz, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 163. + +Footnote 1181: + + Teit, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 321. + +Footnote 1182: + + Ibid., vol. ii, p. 265. + +Footnote 1183: + + Ratzel, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 124. According to Man (loc. cit., p. + 81) men among the Andamanese marry at from eighteen to twenty-three + years of age; Portman (loc. cit., p. 369) says twenty-six. Deniker + (_Rev. d’Eth._, p. 301) says that the Ghiliaks do not marry until + between twenty and twenty-five years old. The Aetas of the province of + Cagayan have to pass a bow and arrow shooting test before marriage + (Blumentritt, _Z. G. E._, vol. xxvii, p. 65). The custom of wrestling + for wives has been recorded for various races (Lubbock, _Primitive + Man_, p. 106). + +Footnote 1184: + + Kreutz, loc. cit., p. 202. + +Footnote 1185: + + Jenks, loc. cit., p. 68. + +Footnote 1186: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 172. + +Footnote 1187: + + Ibid., p. 202. + +Footnote 1188: + + Rosset, _J. A. I._, vol. xvi, p. 168. + +Footnote 1189: + + Christian, _Geog. Journ._, vol. xiii, p. 114. + +Footnote 1190: + + Krieger, loc. cit., pp. 172, 297. + +Footnote 1191: + + Danks, loc. cit., p. 288. + +Footnote 1192: + + Marsden, _Sumatra_, pp. 218, 219; Brenner, _Besuch bei den + Kannibalen_, p. 247. + +Footnote 1193: + + Reed, loc. cit., p. 56. + +Footnote 1194: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. v, p. 247. + +Footnote 1195: + + Ibid., p. 230. + +Footnote 1196: + + Hickson, loc. cit., p. 275 (of the New Hebrides). + +Footnote 1197: + + Bock, _Head Hunters_, p. 216. + +Footnote 1198: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, p. 100. + +Footnote 1199: + + Ibid., p. 102. + +Footnote 1200: + + Ibid., p. 101. + +Footnote 1201: + + Ibid., p. 125. + +Footnote 1202: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 220. + +Footnote 1203: + + Junod, _Ba-Ronga_, p. 30. + +Footnote 1204: + + Werner, loc. cit., p. 129. + +Footnote 1205: + + Werner, loc. cit., p. 128. + +Footnote 1206: + + Routledge, _Prehistoric People_, p. 124. + +Footnote 1207: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 88. The price of course varies with varying + economic conditions, as Dundas notes for the Wawanga (_J. A. I._, vol. + xliii). + +Footnote 1208: + + Fabry, loc. cit., p. 221. + +Footnote 1209: + + Plas, loc. cit., pp. 215, 219. + +Footnote 1210: + + Dundas, _J. A. I._, vol. xliii, p. 516. + +Footnote 1211: + + Johnston, _Uganda_, vol. ii, p. 822. + +Footnote 1212: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 440. + +Footnote 1213: + + Ibid., p. 441. + +Footnote 1214: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 417. + +Footnote 1215: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 417. + +Footnote 1216: + + Talbot, loc. cit., p. 105. It will also be remembered that + contraceptive practices are of importance in Africa, and that there is + evidence that in the neighbourhood of Port Herald a young couple must + not have children until they have built a house for themselves. See p. + 177. + +Footnote 1217: + + Carver, loc. cit., p. 373. + +Footnote 1218: + + Jones, _Ojebway Indians_, p. 79. + +Footnote 1219: + + Du Pratz, loc. cit., p. 199. + +Footnote 1220: + + Dorsey, loc. cit., p. 259. + +Footnote 1221: + + Bossu, _Voyages_, p. 247. + +Footnote 1222: + + Joyce, _Mexican Archaeology_, p. 162. See also Bancroft, loc. cit., + vol. ii, p. 251. + +Footnote 1223: + + Schomburgk, _Reisen_, vol. ii, p. 251. + +Footnote 1224: + + im Thurm, loc. cit., p. 221. + +Footnote 1225: + + Rivero and von Tschudi, _Peruvian Antiquities_, p. 185. + +Footnote 1226: + + Von Martius, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 109. + +Footnote 1227: + + Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 93. + +Footnote 1228: + + See Herbert Spencer, _Principles of Biology_, vol. ii, p. 515. + +Footnote 1229: + + Morgulis, _American Naturalist_, vol. xlvii, p. 477. + +Footnote 1230: + + Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 44. + +Footnote 1231: + + Same authors, _Across Australia_, vol. i, p. 191. + +Footnote 1232: + + Ibid., vol. i, p. 197. + +Footnote 1233: + + Schürmann, loc. cit., p. 209. + +Footnote 1234: + + Curr, _Recollections_, p. 259. + +Footnote 1235: + + Semon, loc. cit., p. 217. See also Smyth, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 122. + +Footnote 1236: + + Thomas, _Natives of Australia_, p. 88. See also Eylmann, loc. cit., p. + 293. + +Footnote 1237: + + See, for instance, Palmer, _J. A. I._, vol. xiii, p. 281. + +Footnote 1238: + + Burchell, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 422. + +Footnote 1239: + + Stow, loc. cit., p. 91. + +Footnote 1240: + + Ibid., p. 180. + +Footnote 1241: + + Theal, loc. cit., p. 36. See also Moffat, loc. cit., p. 57, and + Campbell, _Personal Narrative_, p. 88. + +Footnote 1242: + + Thomas (loc. cit., p. 117) speaks of storing up of food. The Kurnai do + not store up food, but the Dieri, who are closely allied to them, do + so on a small scale (Fison and Howitt, loc. cit., p. 108). + +Footnote 1243: + + The beginnings of this custom are found among the Fuegians. Darwin + says that ‘when they find a stranded whale, they bury large portions + in the sand, and during the often recurrent famines travel from great + distances for the remnants of the half putrid mass’ (_Voyage_, vol. i, + p. 327). + +Footnote 1244: + + Boas, 6th _A. R. B. E._, p. 427. See also Rink, loc. cit., p. 186. + +Footnote 1245: + + Crantz, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 134. + +Footnote 1246: + + Bancroft, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 127. In the spring, when the winter + stores are exhausted, they usually experience a lean season (ibid., p. + 129). + +Footnote 1247: + + Swan, _North-west Coast_, p. 154. + +Footnote 1248: + + Le Jeune, _Jesuit Relations_, vol. vi, p. 229. + +Footnote 1249: + + Ibid., pp. 233, 277, and 285. + +Footnote 1250: + + Hardisty, loc. cit., p. 311. Other accounts describe lean periods + among the northern tribes as fairly common, during which ‘they often + subsist for a great length of time upon a very little food’ (Harmon, + loc. cit., p. 284). See also Morgan, _Houses and House Life_, p. 56. + +Footnote 1251: + + Sproat, loc. cit., p. 53. + +Footnote 1252: + + Ibid., p. 22. + +Footnote 1253: + + Baegert, loc. cit., p. 366. + +Footnote 1254: + + Ibid. + +Footnote 1255: + + Cabeça de Vaca, p. 63. + +Footnote 1256: + + Similar evidence is forthcoming for many other races. For the + Andamanese see Man, loc. cit., pp. 342 ff.; for the Payaguas, Azara, + loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 142; for the Ghiliaks, Deniker, _Rev. d’Eth._, + vol. ii, p. 295; and for the Fuegians, Hyades and Deniker, loc. cit., + pp. 122, 339. + +Footnote 1257: + + _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition_, vol. iv, p. 180. + +Footnote 1258: + + Ling Roth, _Sarawak_, vol. i, p. 422. + +Footnote 1259: + + Thomson, _Fijians_, p. 332. + +Footnote 1260: + + Ibid., p. 335. + +Footnote 1261: + + Roscoe, _Baganda_, p. 12. + +Footnote 1262: + + Ibid., p. 6. + +Footnote 1263: + + Cureau, loc. cit., p. 252. + +Footnote 1264: + + Werner, loc. cit., p. 181. + +Footnote 1265: + + Tremearne, _J. A. I._, vol. xlii, p. 180. + +Footnote 1266: + + Gaud, loc. cit., p. 21. + +Footnote 1267: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 124. + +Footnote 1268: + + im Thurm, loc. cit., p. 253. + +Footnote 1269: + + Forbes, _Timor Laut_, p. 9. + +Footnote 1270: + + Kotzebue, loc. cit., p. 129. + +Footnote 1271: + + Ibid., p. 170. + +Footnote 1272: + + Routledge, _Prehistoric People_, p. 19. + +Footnote 1273: + + Anderson, _Lake Ngami_, p. 49. + +Footnote 1274: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 175. See also + Ellenberger, loc. cit., p. 295. + +Footnote 1275: + + Catlin, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 228. + +Footnote 1276: + + Heriot, loc. cit., p. 350. + +Footnote 1277: + + Du Pratz, vol. ii, p. 161. + +Footnote 1278: + + Azara, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 142. + +Footnote 1279: + + Ibid., p. 107. + +Footnote 1280: + + Ibid., p. 8. + +Footnote 1281: + + Wallace, _Narrative_, p. 478. + +Footnote 1282: + + Humboldt, _Personal Narrative_, vol. iii, p. 233. + +Footnote 1283: + + Spix and Martius, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 249. + +Footnote 1284: + + There is evidence of an Australian tribe asking for an extension of + territory. So rare, however, is evidence of this kind that it only + serves to emphasize that the strict maintenance of territories was the + normal condition. + +Footnote 1285: + + Knibbs, _Census of Australia_, Appendix A, vol. i, p. 31. + +Footnote 1286: + + There is some evidence that miscarriages are not uncommon among these + races (for Australia see Grey, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 249, and for the + Loucheux Indians see Hardisty, loc. cit., p. 312). If this is so, it + would appear also to be due to changed conditions to which primitive + races had not learnt to adapt themselves—there being no advantages in + their so doing. + +Footnote 1287: + + Hall,_ Ancient History of the Near East_, p. 110. So, too, Memphis was + apparently a very cramped city. + +Footnote 1288: + + Rogers, _Six Centuries_, vol. i, p. 336. + +Footnote 1289: + + On this subject see Hirsch, _Handbook of Geographical and Historical + Pathology_; Hecker, _Epidemics of the Middle Ages_; Clemow, _Geography + of Disease_. + +Footnote 1290: + + The famous ‘plague’ of Athens, 430 to 428 B. C., was not plague in the + technical sense; it was probably typhoid or small-pox. + +Footnote 1291: + + Macdonell, _Biometrika_, vol. ix, p. 369. + +Footnote 1292: + + Rogers, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 118. + +Footnote 1293: + + Ibid., p. 336. + +Footnote 1294: + + Theilhaber, _Das sterile Berlin_, p. 27. + +Footnote 1295: + + Henderson, _Mortality Laws and Statistics_, p. 3. + +Footnote 1296: + + Ibid., pp. 4, 110. + +Footnote 1297: + + _Annual Report of the Registrar-General for 1917._ + +Footnote 1298: + + Rogers, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 332. + +Footnote 1299: + + Niebuhr, _Lectures in Ancient History_, vol. ii, p. 234. + +Footnote 1300: + + Hecker, loc. cit., p. 30. The proportion of the population which + perished is often said to have been greater. Rogers (loc. cit., vol. + ii, p. 223) puts it at one-third of the population of England. + +Footnote 1301: + + Vambéry, _Travels_, p. 313. + +Footnote 1302: + + Hodson, _Naga Tribes_, p. 113. + +Footnote 1303: + + Crooke, _Northern India_, p. 41. + +Footnote 1304: + + Ibid., p. 47. + +Footnote 1305: + + Thus in irrigated countries, if the system of irrigation is allowed to + fall into decay or if it is damaged directly or indirectly by war, + famine may result. See Creswell, _Man_, vol. xv, p. 68. + +Footnote 1306: + + Lecky, _European Morals_, vol. ii, p. 248. + +Footnote 1307: + + Wattal, _Population Problem_, p. 20. + +Footnote 1308: + + Ibid., p. 21. + +Footnote 1309: + + Balls, _Egypt_, p. 224. For Chinese Tibet see Wilson, _Abode of Snow_, + p. 193. + +Footnote 1310: + + See Rubin, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lxiii, p. 610. + +Footnote 1311: + + Wattal, loc. cit., p. 20. + +Footnote 1312: + + Westermarck, _Moral Ideas_, vol. ii, p. 403. See on this subject + Schömann, _Griechische Alterthümer_, vol. i, p. 271, and Plutarch, + _Lycurgus_, p. 15. + +Footnote 1313: + + Macdonell, loc. cit., p. 369. + +Footnote 1314: + + Müller, _Das Sexuelle Leben_, p. 7. + +Footnote 1315: + + Ibid., p. 14. + +Footnote 1316: + + Westermarck, _Moral Ideas_, vol. ii, p. 407. In China there is a + Golden Orchid Society, the girl members of which swear never to marry + (Giles, _China_, p. 69). + +Footnote 1317: + + Monier-Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 269. + +Footnote 1318: + + Polak, _Persien_, vol. i, p. 205. + +Footnote 1319: + + Fustel de Coulanges, _Cité antique_, p. 50. + +Footnote 1320: + + Doughty, _Travels_, vol. i, p. 321. See also Bertherand, _Médecine et + Hygiène des Arabes_. + +Footnote 1321: + + Gardner, _Journ. Eth. Soc._, new series, vol. ii, p. 19. + +Footnote 1322: + + Ross, _Corea_, p. 313. + +Footnote 1323: + + Kerr, _Natives of India_, p. 202. + +Footnote 1324: + + Wattal, loc. cit., p. 3. + +Footnote 1325: + + Westermarck, _Moral Ideals_, vol. ii, p. 400. + +Footnote 1326: + + Ibid., p. 400. + +Footnote 1327: + + Monier-Williams, _Buddhism_, pp. 363, 364. + +Footnote 1328: + + Dubois, _Hindu Manners_, p. 214. + +Footnote 1329: + + Gray, _China_, vol. i, p. 186. See also Douglas, _China_, p. 85, and + Giles, _China_, p. 189. + +Footnote 1330: + + Leong and Tao, _Life in China_, p. 10. + +Footnote 1331: + + Crawford, _Journal_, vol. ii, p. 240. + +Footnote 1332: + + Bock, _Temples and Elephants_, p. 186. + +Footnote 1333: + + Polak, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 201. + +Footnote 1334: + + Hue, _Souvenirs_, vol. i, p. 297. + +Footnote 1335: + + Pallas, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 305. + +Footnote 1336: + + Crooke, _North-Western Provinces_, p. 228. + +Footnote 1337: + + Risley, _People of India_, p. 185. + +Footnote 1338: + + Leopold and Weise, _Sexual-Ordnung_, p. 347. In the Vedic Age, + however, child marriages were apparently unknown (see Bennet, + _Antiquities of India_, p. 114). + +Footnote 1339: + + Eram, _Accouchements en Orient_, p. 69. + +Footnote 1340: + + Wassilief, _Zentralblatt für Anthropologie_, vol. x. + +Footnote 1341: + + Mondière, _Mém. Soc. Anth._, vol. ii, p. 465. + +Footnote 1342: + + Rivers, _Todas_, p. 503. + +Footnote 1343: + + Lenormant, _Histoire ancienne_, vol. iii, p. 142. + +Footnote 1344: + + Doughty, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 237; Burckhardt, _Notes on the + Bedouins_, p. 96. + +Footnote 1345: + + Koran, ch. ii. + +Footnote 1346: + + Faulds, _Nine Years_, p. 285. See also Warnick, _Archiv für + Gynaekologie_, vol. x, p. 574. For China see Matignon, _Dix Ans_, p. + 318. + +Footnote 1347: + + Polak, loc. cit., p. 216. + +Footnote 1348: + + Bock, _Temples and Elephants_, p. 260. + +Footnote 1349: + + Rigler, _Die Türkei_, vol. i, p. 212. + +Footnote 1350: + + Müller, _Das Sexuelle Leben_, p. 6. + +Footnote 1351: + + Ibid., p. 29. + +Footnote 1352: + + Ibid., p. 37. + +Footnote 1353: + + Gray, _China_, vol. i, p. 185. + +Footnote 1354: + + Smith, _Kinship_, p. 283. + +Footnote 1355: + + Rigler, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 212. + +Footnote 1356: + + It is possible that there are traces of this custom in Persia (see + Polak, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 216). + +Footnote 1357: + + Theilhaber, _Das sterile Berlin_, p. 10. See also Theilhaber, ‘Die + Geburten-Beschränkung’, _Neue Generation_, 1913. + +Footnote 1358: + + Collineau, _Revue Mensuelle de l’ École d’ Anthropologie_, 1899. + +Footnote 1359: + + Webb, _Pathologia Indica_, p. 258. + +Footnote 1360: + + Wattal, loc. cit., p. 28. + +Footnote 1361: + + Aristotle, _Politics_, ii. 9. + +Footnote 1362: + + Wattal, loc. cit., p. 7. + +Footnote 1363: + + Lecky, _European Morals_, vol. ii, p. 21. + +Footnote 1364: + + Ibid., p. 21. + +Footnote 1365: + + Westermarck, _Moral Ideals_, vol. i, p. 415. + +Footnote 1366: + + Theilhaber, _Das sterile Berlin_, p. 11. See also von Siebold, + _Versuch einer Geschichte der Geburtshilfe_. + +Footnote 1367: + + Eram, loc. cit., p. 45. It was forbidden by the Laws of Manu (viii. + 37). + +Footnote 1368: + + Wilkins, _Hinduism_, p. 429. See also Shortt, _Transactions + Obstetrical Society_, vol. ix; Webb, loc. cit., p. 259; and + Jellinghaus, _Zeit. für Eth._, vol. iii, p. 365. + +Footnote 1369: + + Matignon, _Dix Ans au Pays du Dragon_, p. 318. See also the same + author’s _La Superstition, le Crime et la Misère en Chine_, and + Collineau, loc. cit., p. 352. + +Footnote 1370: + + Mondière, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 487. + +Footnote 1371: + + Warnick, loc. cit., p. 574. See also MacLennan’s quotations from Miss + Bird, loc. cit., p. 105. + +Footnote 1372: + + Polak, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 217. + +Footnote 1373: + + Ploss and Bartels, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 846. + +Footnote 1374: + + Rique, _Gaz. Méd._, vol. xviii, p. 161. For the Tartars see + Niemojowski, _Siberian Pictures_, vol. i, p. 161. + +Footnote 1375: + + Rigler, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 206, and vol. ii, p. 229. + +Footnote 1376: + + Polak, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 218. + +Footnote 1377: + + Sutherland, _Moral Instinct_, vol. i, p. 139. + +Footnote 1378: + + Buckle, _Miscellaneous Works_, vol. ii, p. 240. + +Footnote 1379: + + Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 132. + +Footnote 1380: + + Glotz, _Études sociales_, p. 187. + +Footnote 1381: + + Ibid., p. 188. + +Footnote 1382: + + Ibid., p. 191. Possibly, however, there was no public ceremony unless + the father had decided to keep the child. + +Footnote 1383: + + Ibid., p. 212. + +Footnote 1384: + + Ibid., p. 224. + +Footnote 1385: + + Lecky, _European Morals_, vol. ii, p. 26. + +Footnote 1386: + + Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 136. + +Footnote 1387: + + Ibid., p. 137. + +Footnote 1388: + + Smith, _Kinship_, p. 279. See also Doughty, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 239, + and Wilken, _Das Matriarchat_, p. 53. + +Footnote 1389: + + Smith, _Kinship_, p. 129. For evidence of infanticide in Mingrelia see + Chardin, _Travels_, p. 144. The Gagas put all children to death and + stole others (Battel, _Strange Adventures_, p. 326). + +Footnote 1390: + + Norman, _Peoples and Politics_, p. 290. + +Footnote 1391: + + Gray, _China_, vol. ii, p. 50. + +Footnote 1392: + + Douglas, _China_, p. 106. + +Footnote 1393: + + Abeel, _Journal_, p. 108. + +Footnote 1394: + + Ibid., p. 109. Douglas, however, says that infanticide scarcely exists + in Pekin (_Society in China_, p. 353). + +Footnote 1395: + + Moule, _New China_, p. 179. + +Footnote 1396: + + Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 142. + +Footnote 1397: + + Giles, _China_, p. 97. + +Footnote 1398: + + Leong and Tao, loc. cit., p. 91. + +Footnote 1399: + + Faulds, loc. cit., p. 285. For Tonquin see Richard, _History of + Tonquin_, p. 757. + +Footnote 1400: + + Wilkins, _Hinduism_, p. 431. + +Footnote 1401: + + Risley, loc. cit., pp. 166 and 168; Dubois, _Hindu Manners_, vol. ii, + p. 612; Crooke, loc. cit., p. 136; Browne, _Indian Infanticide_, p. + 612; Wilkins, loc. cit., p. 431; Russell, _Central Provinces_, vol. + iv, p. 419. + +Footnote 1402: + + Wilkins, loc. cit., p. 432. + +Footnote 1403: + + Godden, _J. A. I._, vol. xxvi, p. 179; Risley, loc. cit., p. 165. + +Footnote 1404: + + Hodson, _Man_, vol. xiv, p. 98. + +Footnote 1405: + + Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes_, p. 504. + +Footnote 1406: + + Macpherson, _Memorials of Service_, p. 132; Campbell, _Personal + Narrative_, p. 139. + +Footnote 1407: + + Macpherson, _Religion of the Khonds_, p. 65. + +Footnote 1408: + + Rivers, _Todas_, p. 478. + +Footnote 1409: + + Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 144. + +Footnote 1410: + + Wilkins, loc. cit., p. 431. + +Footnote 1411: + + Dubois, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 612. Infanticide was sometimes + committed by the Kandyans (Bailey, _Trans. Eth. Soc._, vol. ii, p. + 296), by the Koulous (Ujfalvy, _Bull. Soc. Anth._, vol. v, p. 227), by + the Belochis (Barton, _Sindh_, p. 244), and in Svanetia + (Phillipps-Wolley, _Savage Svanetia_, vol. ii, p. 92). + +Footnote 1412: + + Stricker, _Arch. für Anth._, vol. v, p. 451. It was practised in the + Vedic age (Kaegi, _Rigveda_, p. 16). + +Footnote 1413: + + Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 138. See Grimm, _Deutsche + Rechtsalterthümer_, pp. 455 ff. + +Footnote 1414: + + Ibid., p. 138. + +Footnote 1415: + + Lubbock, _Prehistoric Times_, p. 176. + +Footnote 1416: + + Infanticide was practised by the extinct Guanches of the Canary + Islands (Ploss, _Das Kind_, vol. ii, p. 259). Dasent says of the + Norsemen that it was the father’s right to rear his children or not at + his will. ‘As soon as it was born the child was laid upon the bare + ground; and until the father came and looked at it ... its fate hung + in the balance’ (_Story of Burnt Njal_, vol. i, p. xxv). + +Footnote 1417: + + Gönezi, ‘Die auf die Geburt und das Säugen der Kinder bezughabenden + Gebräuche’, _Zentralblatt für Anthropologie_, vol. xii. + +Footnote 1418: + + Tertullian, _First Book to His Wife_, p. 414. + +Footnote 1419: + + Augustine, _On the Good of Marriage_, p. 285. + +Footnote 1420: + + Lea, _Sacerdotal Celibacy_, vol. i, p. 62. + +Footnote 1421: + + Ibid., pp. 260 and 301. + +Footnote 1422: + + Ibid., p. 105. + +Footnote 1423: + + Schönberg, _Volkswirtschaftslehre_, p. 868. + +Footnote 1424: + + Lea, loc. cit., p. 107. + +Footnote 1425: + + _Concilium Tridentinum_, Sessio 24, Can. 10. ‘Si quis dixerit statum + coniugalem anteponendum esse statui virginitatis vel coelibatus, et + non esse melius ac beatus manere in virginitate aut coelibatu, quam + iungi matrimonio, anathema sit’ (quoted by Lea, loc. cit., vol. ii, p + 204). + +Footnote 1426: + + Rubin, loc. cit., p. 598. + +Footnote 1427: + + Ibid., p. 606. + +Footnote 1428: + + Ibid., p. 608. + +Footnote 1429: + + Ibid., p. 609. + +Footnote 1430: + + Westermarck, _Human Marriage_, p. 145. + +Footnote 1431: + + Popenoe and Johnson, _Applied Eugenics_, p. 136. + +Footnote 1432: + + See, for instance, Albertus Magnus, _De Secretis Mulierum_, p. 233. + +Footnote 1433: + + Rubin, loc. cit., p. 614. + +Footnote 1434: + + _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 20. + +Footnote 1435: + + Lecky, _European Morals_, vol. ii, p. 21. + +Footnote 1436: + + _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 58. Leroy-Beaulieu gives a very high + estimate of the number of abortions which occur yearly in France + (_Question de la Population_, p. 330). + +Footnote 1437: + + Glotz, loc. cit., p. 223. + +Footnote 1438: + + Lecky, _European Morals_, vol. ii, p. 27. + +Footnote 1439: + + The fact that penance was imposed upon the mother who killed her child + by the Council of Mentz in 852 suggests that the practice was not + uncommon at that time (Westermarck, _Moral Ideas_, vol. i, p. 411). + +Footnote 1440: + + See _The Declining Birth-rate_, pp. 58–62. + +Footnote 1441: + + Among these races the evolution of the capitalist system had begun and + in Babylonia had gone a considerable distance (Sayce, _Babylonians and + Assyrians_, p. 127). + +Footnote 1442: + + Myres, _Eug. Rev._, vol. vii, p. 30. + +Footnote 1443: + + There are often a limited number of families in each village (Barnett, + _Antiquities of India_, p. 105). + +Footnote 1444: + + For particulars see Gray, _China_, vol. ii, p. 108. + +Footnote 1445: + + Leong and Tao, loc. cit., p. 10. + +Footnote 1446: + + Giles, loc. cit., p. 189. + +Footnote 1447: + + Robertson Smith, _Kinship and Early Marriage_, p. 36. + +Footnote 1448: + + For Tartar tribes see William de Rubruck, _Journey_, pp. 53 and 188. + +Footnote 1449: + + Dickson, _Climate and Weather_, p. 148. For a study of somewhat + similar conditions in Australia see Taylor, _The Australian + Environment_. + +Footnote 1450: + + Roy, _Mundas_, p. 346. + +Footnote 1451: + + Wattal, loc. cit., ch. v. + +Footnote 1452: + + Moule, _New China and Old_, p. 179. See also Bland, _Recent Events and + Present Policies in China_. + +Footnote 1453: + + See p. 260. + +Footnote 1454: + + See Marshall, _Principles of Economics_, p. 186. + +Footnote 1455: + + Rogers, _Six Centuries_, vol. i, p. 47. + +Footnote 1456: + + Ibid., p. 45. + +Footnote 1457: + + Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 246. + +Footnote 1458: + + Pollard, _Factors in Modern History_, p. 135. + +Footnote 1459: + + Marshall, _Principles of Economics_, p. 186. + +Footnote 1460: + + Froude, _Henry VIII_, p. 3, note. + +Footnote 1461: + + Davies, _Life in an English Village_, p. 31. + +Footnote 1462: + + Rogers, _Six Centuries_, vol. i, p. 106. + +Footnote 1463: + + Tawney, _Agrarian Problem_, p. 105, note. + +Footnote 1464: + + Rubin, loc. cit., p. 598. + +Footnote 1465: + + Rubin, loc. cit., p. 597. + +Footnote 1466: + + _Report for Inquiry into the Administration and Practical Operation of + the Poor Laws_, Appendix F, p. 283. + +Footnote 1467: + + Ibid., p. 520. For further information on this subject see the + _Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften_, Article ‘Eheschliessung’. + The Danish Poor Law Act of 1891 prohibits the marriage of the poor + under certain circumstances. + +Footnote 1468: + + Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, vol. i, p. 442. + +Footnote 1469: + + Pollard, loc. cit., p. 144. + +Footnote 1470: + + _Two Centuries of Irish History_, edited by Bryce, p. 21. Sir Horace + Plunkett estimates that Ireland can now support about 2,500,000 + agriculturalists or 500,000 families (_Ireland in the New Century_, p. + 30). The population in 1790 was estimated at over 4,000,000. In the + sixteenth century it was probably less than 1,000,000. + +Footnote 1471: + + Quoted by J. A. Hobson in evidence before the National Birth-Rate + Commission, _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 285. + +Footnote 1472: + + Bowley, _Distribution of National Income_, p. 18. + +Footnote 1473: + + The decline in Austria dates from 1883, in Germany, Hungary, and + Italy, from 1885, in Norway from 1900. + +Footnote 1474: + + Thus the mean age for marriage of all husbands in England only + increased from 28·43 years in 1896 to 28·88 years in 1909, while the + mean age for all wives only increased from 26·21 in 1896 to 26·69 in + 1909. + +Footnote 1475: + + For evidence that the decrease in fertility is due to artificial + restraint see Stevenson, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lxxxiii, p. 431. There + are reasons for thinking that contraceptive methods play a smaller, + and restraint from intercourse a larger, part than is generally + supposed (see Dr. Greenwood’s remarks on the paper quoted above, p. + 440, and also Dudfield, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lxxi, 1908, p. 25). + +Footnote 1476: + + Rubin, loc. cit., p. 606. + +Footnote 1477: + + Hammond, _Village Labourer_, ch. vii. + +Footnote 1478: + + See Pigou, _Wealth and Welfare_, p. 28. + +Footnote 1479: + + Hobson, ‘Evidence before the National Birth-Rate Commission’, _The + Declining Birth-rate_, p. 289. + +Footnote 1480: + + Myres, _Eugenics Review_, vol. vii, p. 21. + +Footnote 1481: + + Also abortion, as we have seen, is not uncommon. + +Footnote 1482: + + The excessive practice of infanticide in Tahiti and elsewhere in + Oceania may be regarded as an example of selfish indulgence. See p. + 190. So, too, the Gagas put all children to death and stole others + (Battel, _Strange Adventures_, p. 326). + +Footnote 1483: + + Keynes, _Economic Consequences of the Peace_, p. 215. + +Footnote 1484: + + Ibid., loc. cit., p. 12. + +Footnote 1485: + + Haddon, _Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 1. + +Footnote 1486: + + _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 43. + +Footnote 1487: + + Myres, _Eugenics Review_, vol. vii, p. 31. These authors are only + repeating what has often been said in former times, as, for instance, + by Bacon in the following passage: ‘Look when the world has fewest + barbarous people but such as commonly will not marry, or generate, + except they know means to live (as is almost everywhere at this day + except Tartary) there is no danger of inundations of people. But when + there be great shoals of people which go on to populate, without + foreseeing means of life and sustentation, it is of necessity that + once in an age or two they discharge a portion of their people upon + other nations’ (_Essay on the Vicissitude of Things_). + +Footnote 1488: + + These remarks also apply to those cases in which countries at times + appear to be empty. Attention is, for example, sometimes drawn to the + fact that England appears to have been an ‘empty’ country in the + Middle Ages. The emptiness is only apparent. Relative to the available + skill and all other relevant circumstances England was fully populated + in the Middle Ages; the tendency was rather towards over- than + under-population. + +Footnote 1489: + + Except perhaps in the case of the so-called Irish migration to America + after the famine in the middle of the last century. Without doubt, + however, there was in this migration a large political element—the + nature of which is referred to below. Further there were many peculiar + features in the position, and the migration was scarcely a migration + in the broad historical sense. + +Footnote 1490: + + Haddon, _Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 3. + +Footnote 1491: + + See especially his _Pulse of Asia_, and _Civilization and Climate_, + ch. xi. + +Footnote 1492: + + See Gregory, _Geographical Journal_, vol. xliii. + +Footnote 1493: + + Peisker, _Cambridge Mediaeval History_, vol. i, p. 328. + +Footnote 1494: + + Frequently, no doubt, such driftings were directed towards regions + previously uninhabited and uninhabitable. + +Footnote 1495: + + Hogarth, _Ancient East_, p. 78. + +Footnote 1496: + + Quoted by Mitchell, _Evolution and the War_, p. 3. + +Footnote 1497: + + It is only fair to say that at least one German author has recently + demonstrated the falsity of this view (see Nicolai, _Biology of War_, + p. 34). + +Footnote 1498: + + Mitchell, loc. cit., ch. i. + +Footnote 1499: + + Comte, _Philosophie positive_, vol. iv, p. 506. + +Footnote 1500: + + Nicolai, loc. cit., p. 34. + +Footnote 1501: + + Holland Rose, _Origins of the War_, p. 47. + +Footnote 1502: + + Evidence has lately been brought forward to show that not only is war + a custom but also that it is a custom of relatively late origin + (Perry, ‘Ethnological Study of Warfare’, _Mem. and Proc. Man. Lit. and + Phil. Soc._, vol. lxi). It is suggested that it is bound up with + organization under kings and chiefs, and that it was introduced at a + more or less definite time by a certain race. The evidence adduced + would seem not to be adequate. The theory belongs to a series of + attempts to show that very many customs and social institutions now + widespread evolved in some one centre and spread thence. Though + Professor Elliot Smith and his school may with justice insist on the + fact that the multiple origin of similar customs has been too lightly + assumed, it is equally unreasonable to insist upon tracing all similar + customs and institutions to the same source. Those who are acquainted + with the numerous and wonderful examples of convergence in the animal + kingdom—the independent evolution of tracheae in the Arachnids and in + the Insects, to take only one example—will have little difficulty in + accepting the view that, in response to similar environmental + conditions, similar customs may from time to time have been + independently evolved. Other authors have urged that the apparent + absence of weapons among the cultural remains of early races is + evidence that they did not practise warfare (Havelock Ellis, + _Philosophy of Conflict_, p. 49). But when so much doubt surrounds the + question as to how the most common implements were used, it is + dangerous to attribute much weight to this argument. + +Footnote 1503: + + It has been remarked that those countries which began the war were on + the whole the countries with the highest birth-rate. The conclusion + has been drawn that pressure of population brings about war. On the + same lines as above, this conclusion may be shown to be unacceptable. + +Footnote 1504: + + Voltaire, _Candide_—the opinion of the Anabaptist Jacques. + +Footnote 1505: + + As an example of this increase in skill it may be noted that between + 1840 and 1895 the quantity of product of various crops in America per + unit of labour increased fivefold (Quaintance, _American Economic + Association Publications_, 3rd Series, vol. v, 1904, p. 21). + +Footnote 1506: + + Knibbs, _Scientia_, vol. xii, p. 495. + +Footnote 1507: + + Mr. J. A. Hobson’s opinion, which is in conformity with that of the + great majority of economists, may be noted: ‘there is’, he says, ‘no + evidence that the world’s population is outrunning the natural + resources; but on the contrary the presumption is that for their + fuller utilization a larger population is necessary and thereby could + be maintained with a higher standard of living’ (_The Declining + Birth-rate_, p. 75). + +Footnote 1508: + + Bowley, _Division of the Product of Industry_, p. 49. + +Footnote 1509: + + Harrison, _Description of England_, Bk. II, ch. x, p. 215. + +Footnote 1510: + + Nicolai, loc. cit., p. 48. + +Footnote 1511: + + _Problems of Population and Parenthood_, p. 73. A French historian + says that ‘la densité de la population fait la force des nations’ (de + Morgan, _Premières Civilisations_, p. 111). + +Footnote 1512: + + Holdich, _Political Frontiers_, p. 256. It is interesting to note that + the wheat-eating population of the world increased less rapidly in the + twenty-five years preceding 1906 than the wheat area of the world. At + the beginning of this period there were 283 people (more or less + wheat-eaters) for every hundred acres of wheat, whereas in 1906 there + were 264 such people for the same area (_Agricultural Statistics_, Cd. + 3832, vol. xvi, part 4). + +Footnote 1513: + + Beveridge, _Unemployment_, ch. i. + +Footnote 1514: + + The average income per head in 1914 is given by Stamp as follows (_J. + R. S. S._, vol. lxxxii, p. 491): + + £ + United States 72 + United Kingdom 50 + Germany 30 + France 38 + Italy 23 + Austria-Hungary 21 + Spain 11 + Australia 54 + Canada 40 + Japan 6 + + The figures are only approximate. The most accurate—those for the + United Kingdom and for Australia—are not likely to be inaccurate to a + greater extent than 10 per cent., while the least accurate—those for + Japan—may be inaccurate to a greater extent than 40 per cent. + Rowntree, commenting upon the low wages in Belgium as compared with + England, attributes them, not to over-population, but to a low + standard of education, low degree of efficiency and productivity, to + the fact that only a small proportion of workers are engaged in the + production of high-class goods, and to the feebleness of the trade + unions (_Land and Labour_, pp. 75 ff.). + +Footnote 1515: + + Newsholme and Stevenson, loc. cit., p. 55. + +Footnote 1516: + + Leroy-Beaulieu, _Question de la Population_, p. 55. + +Footnote 1517: + + The high birth-rate in certain parts of Ireland—said to be due to the + influence of the Roman Catholic Church in discouraging the use of + contraceptive methods—may be leading to over-population. + +Footnote 1518: + + Thus Marro found that children of older parents were more melancholy + than those of younger parents (_La Pubertà studiata nell’ uomo e nella + donna_). + +Footnote 1519: + + _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 63. + +Footnote 1520: + + The arguments for and against are fully and fairly set out in + _Problems of Population and Parenthood_, pp. 44–8. + +Footnote 1521: + + Personally I agree with the views of the Dean of St. Paul’s on this + matter. Speaking of the use of these methods, ‘it seems’, he says, ‘a + _pis aller_ which high-minded persons should avoid if they can + practise self-restraint. Whatever injures the feeling of + “sanctification and honour” with which St. Paul bids us regard these + intimacies of life, whatever tends to profane or degrade the + sacraments of wedded love, is so far an evil. But this is emphatically + a matter in which every man and woman must judge for themselves, and + must refrain from judging others’ (_Outspoken Essays_, p. 74). + +Footnote 1522: + + Heron, _Drapers’ Company Research Memoirs_, No. 1, 1906. See also + Stevenson, loc. cit. + +Footnote 1523: + + _The Declining Birth-rate_, p. 9. + +Footnote 1524: + + It is also noticeable in India (Wattal, loc. cit., p. 24). It will be + remembered that in Denmark in the latter part of the mediaeval period + there was some slight tendency according to Rubin for marriage to be + postponed among the very highest social class; among the independent + class generally marriage in those days, however, not only took place + earlier than now but earlier than in the lower grades of society. + +Footnote 1525: + + Among the industrial classes conception before marriage is not + uncommon. It is said that many men are not desirous of legal marriage + until it is probable that they will have children. This is not to be + regarded as evidence of loose sexual morality so much as evidence of + foresight and of thought for old age when, if they have children, they + will be more or less secure against extreme poverty. + +Footnote 1526: + + Hill, _Am. Stat. Ass._, vol. xiii, p. 590. An allied problem is that + connected with the proportion of various racial elements among the + immigrants into a new country. Thus between 1900 and 1913 Great + Britain contributed roughly one-third and the United States and + continental Europe two-thirds of the immigrants into Canada. + +Footnote 1527: + + Tucker, _Progress of the U.S.A._, p. 98. + +Footnote 1528: + + Leroy-Beaulieu estimates that, if the degree of skill in production + now found in Western Europe was extended throughout the world, the + population economically desirable would be from two to three times + that of the present population of the world (_Question de la + Population_, p. 174). + +Footnote 1529: + + These experiments have been summarized by Jenkinson (_Experimental + Embryology_, pp. 141 ff.). + +Footnote 1530: + + Jenkinson, loc. cit., p. 151. + +Footnote 1531: + + Ibid., p. 157. + +Footnote 1532: + + Klebs, ‘Influence of the Environment’, in _Darwinism and Modern + Science_, p. 227. + +Footnote 1533: + + MacLeod, _Quantitative Method_, p. 12. + +Footnote 1534: + + Vernon, _Variation in Animals and Plants_, p. 312. + +Footnote 1535: + + Quoted from Henslow by Vernon, ibid. + +Footnote 1536: + + Thomson, _Animal Life_, p. 407. + +Footnote 1537: + + Morgan, _Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity_, p. 38. + +Footnote 1538: + + Stockard, _Journal of Experimental Zoology_, vol. vi, p. 334. + +Footnote 1539: + + Jenkinson, loc. cit., p. 132. + +Footnote 1540: + + Agar, _Phil. Trans._, Series B, vol. cciii, p. 319. + +Footnote 1541: + + Tower, _Investigation of Evolution_, pp. 168 ff. + +Footnote 1542: + + Morgan, loc. cit., p. 39. + +Footnote 1543: + + Vernon, loc. cit., p. 219. + +Footnote 1544: + + Thomson, _Animal Life_, p. 383. + +Footnote 1545: + + Vernon, loc. cit., p. 294. + +Footnote 1546: + + Thomson, _Animal Life_, p. 391. In the case of the Porto Santo rabbit + examined by Darwin the change in colour was found to be due to the + environment. + +Footnote 1547: + + Ibid., p. 383. + +Footnote 1548: + + Lock, _Recent Progress_, p. 317. + +Footnote 1549: + + Shinji, ‘Wing Development in Aphids’, _Biol. Bull._, vol. xxxv. + +Footnote 1550: + + Quoted by Vernon, loc. cit., p. 242. + +Footnote 1551: + + Gemmill, _Teratology of Fishes_, p. 44. The cyclopia found was + attributed by Gemmill only partly to environmental causes. + +Footnote 1552: + + Vernon, loc. cit., p. 213. + +Footnote 1553: + + Ibid., p. 215. Similarly the snail, _Helix aspersa_, has a variety + (_tenuis_) with a thin shell which is found where calcareous material + is scarce. + +Footnote 1554: + + Vernon, loc. cit., p. 261. + +Footnote 1555: + + Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 33. + +Footnote 1556: + + Mitchell, loc. cit., p. 47. + +Footnote 1557: + + Hansen, ‘Increase in Stature’, p. 23, in _Problems in Eugenics_. + +Footnote 1558: + + Ewart, ‘The Influence of Parental Age on Offspring’, _Eugenics + Review_, vol. iii. + +Footnote 1559: + + Boas, _Changes in Immigrants_, p. 5. + +Footnote 1560: + + Sergi, ‘Variation and Heredity’, p. 18 (in _Problems in Eugenics_). + Few anthropologists, it may be added, accept Boas’s conclusions. + +Footnote 1561: + + See Ammon, _Natürliche Auslese beim Menschen_ and _Zur Anthropologie + der Badener_. + +Footnote 1562: + + Levi, _Anthropometria Militare_. + +Footnote 1563: + + Huntington, _World Power and Evolution_, p. 173. + +Footnote 1564: + + Fishberg, _Mem. Am. Anth. Ass._, vol. i, 1905. + +Footnote 1565: + + Nystrom has elaborated a theory according to which the habits and + customs of races profoundly affect the shape of the head, but it + cannot be said that he brings forward any convincing evidence (‘Über + die Formenveränderungen des menschlichen Schädels’, _Arch. für Anth._, + Bd. 27). + +Footnote 1566: + + Boas, loc. cit., p. 76. + +Footnote 1567: + + _System of Medicine_, edited by Allbutt and Rolleston, vol. ii, part + ii, p. 2. + +Footnote 1568: + + See Kohlbrugge, ‘Influence of a Tropical Climate on Europeans’, _Eug. + Rev._, vol. iii. + +Footnote 1569: + + Huntingdon, _Civilization and Climate_. See also the same author’s + ‘Climate and Evolution of Civilization’, in _Evolution of the Earth + and its Inhabitants_, edited by Lull. + +Footnote 1570: + + Thus Montesquieu remarked upon the fact that greatest vigour is found + in the colder climates (_Esprit des Lois_, Part III, Bk. XIV, ch. ii). + +Footnote 1571: + + Gregory, _Geog. Journ._, vol. xliii. There have been many studies of + the influence of climate upon temperament. See, for instance, Dexter, + _Weather Influences_. + +Footnote 1572: + + Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 35. + +Footnote 1573: + + Acton and Harvey, ‘Increase in the Number of Erythrocytes’, + _Biometrika_, vol. viii. See also the results of the Monte Rosa and + Pike’s Peaks Expeditions, _Phil. Trans._, vols. cciii and ccvi. + +Footnote 1574: + + Barrington and Pearson, _Eug. Lab. Mem._, No. 5, 1909. + +Footnote 1575: + + The results of these investigations have been summed up by Miss + Elderton in a pamphlet entitled _The Relative Strength of Nature and + Nurture_. + +Footnote 1576: + + See, for instance, Bridges and Coles, ‘Relation of Intelligence to + Social Status’, _Psychological Review_, vol. xxiv. + +Footnote 1577: + + Galton, _Inquiries into Human Faculty_, p. 236. + +Footnote 1578: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, p. 118. + +Footnote 1579: + + Here environment clearly means social or traditional environment. + +Footnote 1580: + + Leiper, ‘Some Inhabitants of Man’, p. 151 (in _Animal Life and Human + Progress_, edited by Dendy). + +Footnote 1581: + + See Jones, _Malaria and Greek History_. + +Footnote 1582: + + See Fisher, ‘Genesis of Twins’, _Genetics_, vol. iv. + +Footnote 1583: + + Galton, _Inquiries into Human Faculty_, p. 219. Curiously enough there + was no similarity to be detected in handwriting—an interesting + commentary on the value to be attributed to deductions drawn from + handwriting as to character. + +Footnote 1584: + + Galton, loc. cit,. p. 226. + +Footnote 1585: + + Ibid., p. 231. + +Footnote 1586: + + Ibid. + +Footnote 1587: + + Ibid., p. 232. + +Footnote 1588: + + Ibid., p. 233. + +Footnote 1589: + + Galton, _Inquiries into Human Faculty_, p. 233. + +Footnote 1590: + + Ibid., p. 235. + +Footnote 1591: + + Ibid., p. 237. The general results of Galton’s work have been + confirmed in all important respects by Thorndike’s elaborate + investigations (‘Measurements of Twins’ _Archives of Philosophy, + Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, vol. i, 1905). + +Footnote 1592: + + Ridgeway, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 13. + +Footnote 1593: + + The ‘Ancestral Law of Heredity’, which attributes on the average half + the germinal constitution to the parents, a quarter to the + grandparents, an eighth to the great-grandparents, and so on, is not + incompatible with Mendelian inheritance as a general statistical + result. The conception of the nature of inheritance involved in this + theory is, however, incompatible with the Mendelian conception of + unit-characters, which conception, it may be said, is the only one + which fits the facts. + +Footnote 1594: + + The fact that the germinal constitution of any one individual + belonging to a species, in which biparental reproduction is taking + place, differs almost always from that of any other member of the + species is due on the Mendelian hypothesis to the chance mixture of + factors in the zygote. + +Footnote 1595: + + Adami, ‘Inheritance and Disease’, p. 26 (in _A System of Medicine_, + edited by Osler and McCrae). + +Footnote 1596: + + Adami, loc. cit., p. 26. + +Footnote 1597: + + Ibid. + +Footnote 1598: + + Quoted by Thomson, _Heredity_, p. 275. + +Footnote 1599: + + Tredgold found that 80 per cent. of the mentally deficient had a bad + nervous inheritance (_Mental Deficiency_, p. 40). + +Footnote 1600: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, ch. iii. + +Footnote 1601: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, ch. iv. + +Footnote 1602: + + Ibid., ch. iii. + +Footnote 1603: + + Pearson, ‘Groundwork of Eugenics’, _Eugenics Laboratory Lecture + Series_, 1909, p. 25. + +Footnote 1604: + + Snow, _Studies in National Deterioration_, No. 7, p. 34. See also + Beeton and Pearson, ‘Inheritance of the Duration of Life’, + _Biometrika_, vol. i, 1901, and Elderton and Pearson, ‘Further + Evidence of Natural Selection in Man’, _Biometrika_, vol. x, 1915. + +Footnote 1605: + + Pruner-Bey (‘Mémoire sur les Nègres’, _Mém. Soc. Anth._, vol. i, p. + 334) has shown in detail how the peculiarities of negro structure are + to be regarded as adaptations to the surrounding conditions. + +Footnote 1606: + + Keith, _Nature_, vol. civ, p. 302. + +Footnote 1607: + + Ibid., p. 303. + +Footnote 1608: + + Keith, _Nature_, vol. civ, p. 303. + +Footnote 1609: + + Ibid., p. 404. + +Footnote 1610: + + McGee, loc. cit., p. 157. + +Footnote 1611: + + For evidence that disease leads to a selective death-rate see Popenoe + and Johnson, loc. cit., pp. 124 ff. + +Footnote 1612: + + See Popenoe and Johnson, loc. cit., ch. xi. + +Footnote 1613: + + There has been much discussion as to the effect upon the population of + France owing to the Napoleonic wars. The facts have been summed up by + Havelock Ellis (_Essays in War Time_, pp. 33 ff.), and it appears that + without any question the average physical constitution of the French + was lowered; most kinds of infirmities, for instance, became more + frequent. + +Footnote 1614: + + Recent research bearing on this problem has been summed up by East and + Jones in their book _Inbreeding and Outbreeding_. + +Footnote 1615: + + Dublin and Baker, _Amer. Stat. Soc._, vol. xvii, 1920. Nevertheless, + as shown by an important memoir by Hrdlicka, a new variety is not + being produced, at least with any rapidity, under the influence of the + American environment. Hrdlicka studied representatives of the old + white American stock, whose ancestors had been for four generations in + the United States, and concluded that no new sub-type has yet emerged. + In fact the faithful preservation of the traits of the original + immigrants is the outstanding result of the study. + +Footnote 1616: + + An admirable summing up of what is known as to the effect of alcohol + on the germinal constitution will be found in Popenoe and Johnson, + loc. cit., ch. ii. + +Footnote 1617: + + Pearson, ‘Problem of Practical Eugenics’, _Eugenics Laboratory Lecture + Series_, No. 5. + +Footnote 1618: + + Greenwood and Yule, _J. R. S. S._, vol. lxxii, 1914. See Pearson’s + reply ‘On the Handicapping of the First-born’, _Eugenics Laboratory + Lecture Series_, No. 10. + +Footnote 1619: + + Ridgeway, loc. cit., p. 18. + +Footnote 1620: + + Punnett, _Mendelism_, p. 208. + +Footnote 1621: + + Thomas, _Natives of Australia_, p. 25. + +Footnote 1622: + + Smyth, _Aborigines_, vol. i, p. 22. + +Footnote 1623: + + Spiller, ‘Mentality of Australian Aborigines’, _Soc. Rev._, vol. vi. + +Footnote 1624: + + Semon, _Australian Bush_, p. 78. + +Footnote 1625: + + Smyth, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 22 + +Footnote 1626: + + Mathew, _Eaglehawk and Crow_, p. 78. + +Footnote 1627: + + Man, _J. A. I._, vol. xii, p. 95. + +Footnote 1628: + + Baegert, loc. cit., p. 378. + +Footnote 1629: + + Theal, _Yellow- and Dark-Skinned People_, p. 264. + +Footnote 1630: + + Theal, loc. cit., p. 265. + +Footnote 1631: + + Weeks, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxix, p. 131. + +Footnote 1632: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 408. + +Footnote 1633: + + Junod, _South African Tribe_, p. 100. + +Footnote 1634: + + Ellis, _Ewe-Speaking Peoples_, p. 9. + +Footnote 1635: + + Torday and Joyce, _J. A. I._, vol. xxxv, p. 268. + +Footnote 1636: + + Maugham, _Portuguese East Africa_, p. 268. + +Footnote 1637: + + Weeks, _Among Congo Cannibals_, p. 76. + +Footnote 1638: + + Bryant, _Eug. Rev._, vol. ix., pp. 47–9. + +Footnote 1639: + + Olivier, _White Capital and Coloured Labour_, p. 59. + +Footnote 1640: + + Strong, _Pedagogical Seminary_, vol. xx, p. 501. + +Footnote 1641: + + Strong, loc. cit., p. 503. + +Footnote 1642: + + Ibid., p. 501. With regard to the disabilities under which the Negro + labours in America see Booker T. Washington, _Story of the Negro_, + vol. ii, pp. 114 ff. + +Footnote 1643: + + Popenoe and Johnson, loc. cit., p. 288. + +Footnote 1644: + + Huntington, _Civilization and Climate_, p. 12. + +Footnote 1645: + + Huntington, loc. cit., p. 14. + +Footnote 1646: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, p. 284. + +Footnote 1647: + + Ibid., p. 286. + +Footnote 1648: + + See McDougall, _Psychology_, p. 171. + +Footnote 1649: + + Stout, _Manual of Psychology_, p. 597. + +Footnote 1650: + + Hobhouse, _Development and Purpose_, p. 91. + +Footnote 1651: + + Hobhouse, _Development and Purpose_, chs. vi, vii, viii, and ix. + +Footnote 1652: + + Ibid., p. 96. + +Footnote 1653: + + Frazer, _Golden Bough_, London, 1911, part i, vol. i, p. 175. + +Footnote 1654: + + Frazer, loc. cit., part i, vol. i, p. 53. Taboo, it may be observed, + is merely a kind of negative magic. + +Footnote 1655: + + The beginning of writing—for instance the Maya script—dates from the + second period. + +Footnote 1656: + + McDougall, _Social Psychology_, p. 111. + +Footnote 1657: + + See on this subject, Rivers, ‘Disappearance of Useful Arts’, + _Festskrift tilleguad Edward Westermarck_, 1912. + +Footnote 1658: + + There is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of tradition among + animals. Thus it has been said that nest building is ‘largely’ + traditional among birds. But the Curator of Birds in the New York + Zoological Park raised a number of wild birds from incubated eggs, and + found that these birds, although they had never had parental care or + example, nevertheless learnt to fly, to build nests, and to perform + all these activities—though they were sometimes slower in so doing + than they would otherwise have been—that are at times said to be + ‘largely’ traditional (see Lull, _Organic Evolution_, p. 170). + +Footnote 1659: + + Joubert, _Pensées_, p. 217. + +Footnote 1660: + + Marshall, _Principles of Economics_, p. 160. + +Footnote 1661: + + See Cureau, loc. cit., p. 253. + +Footnote 1662: + + Statements such as the following are commonplaces of anthropological + literature. ‘These [Brazilians] have found life too easy, as the + latter [Australians] have found it too difficult’ (Herbertson, _Man + and His Work_, p. 3). + +Footnote 1663: + + Quoted by Fisher, _Soc. Rev._, vol. i, p. 61. + +Footnote 1664: + + Rivers, ‘Contact of Peoples’, _Essays and Studies presented to W. + Ridgeway_, p. 478. + +Footnote 1665: + + Boas, _J. A. I._, vol. xl, p. 536. + +Footnote 1666: + + Semple, _Geographic Environment_, p. 357. + +Footnote 1667: + + See Durkheim, _Travail Social_, chs. vi and vii. + +Footnote 1668: + + Sherring, _Hindu Castes and Tribes_, vol. iii, p. 218. + +Footnote 1669: + + Hobhouse, Wheeler, and Ginsberg, loc. cit., p. 254. + +Footnote 1670: + + According to Delvaille (_Histoire de l’Idée de Progrès_, p. 405) + Terrasson, writing in the eighteenth century, was the first author to + emphasize the importance of tradition in the modern sense—particularly + in his work _La Philosophie applicable à tous les objets de la + raison_. + +Footnote 1671: + + See _Am. Anth._, vol. xiv, 1912, for a symposium of the views of + American authorities on this point. + +Footnote 1672: + + Payne, _History of the New World_, vol. i, p. 311. + +Footnote 1673: + + Payne, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 289. + +Footnote 1674: + + The single-humped Arabian camel has never been found wild, but it is + said that the double-humped Bactrian camel has been found wild in + Turkestan. See Flower and Lydekker, _Mammals_, p. 297. + +Footnote 1675: + + Wild oxen were abundant in Europe in the time of Julius Caesar, and of + them the Chillingham herd may be a remnant. Horses were abundant in + Europe in Neolithic times. But it is probable that both oxen and + horses were first domesticated in Asia. The ovine group was originally + situated in the mountain region of Central Asia, though _Ovis + savigni_, apparently allied to the Argoli, has been found fossil in + the Forest Bed of Norfolk (Flower and Lydekker, loc. cit., pp. 355, + 357, 367, and 382). + +Footnote 1676: + + Johnston, _British Central Africa_, p. 429. + +Footnote 1677: + + Elliot Smith, _Presidential Address to the British Association_, + Section H, 1912, p. 577. + +Footnote 1678: + + Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. 40. + +Footnote 1679: + + Olivier, _White Capital and Coloured Labour_, p. 57. + +Footnote 1680: + + McDougall, _Group Mind_, p. 119. + +Footnote 1681: + + McDougall, _Group Mind_, p. 112. + +Footnote 1682: + + See McDougall, _Group Mind_, ch. xvii. + +Footnote 1683: + + Leroy-Beaulieu, _Israël chez les Nations_, p. 77. + +Footnote 1684: + + Pollard, _Factors in Modern History_, p. 15. + +Footnote 1685: + + Vacher de Lapouge, _Sélections sociales_, pp. 293 ff. + +Footnote 1686: + + For a discussion of this problem see Hoernes, _Naturund Urgeschichte + des Menschen_, vol. i, pp. 119 ff. + +Footnote 1687: + + Smith, _Church and State in the Middle Ages_, p. 83. + +Footnote 1688: + + Where, as in America, different racial stocks exist, differential + fertility assumes greater importance. See p. 320. + +Footnote 1689: + + McDougall, _Group Mind_, p. 260. + +Footnote 1690: + + McDougall, _Group Mind_, p. 247. + +Footnote 1691: + + Flinders Petrie, _Revolutions of Civilization_. + +Footnote 1692: + + Galton, _Eug. Rev._, vol. i, p. 75. + +Footnote 1693: + + Lee, _Great Englishmen of the Sixteenth Century_, p. 28. + +Footnote 1694: + + A. E., _Imagination and Reveries_, p. 107. + +Footnote 1695: + + Marett, _Psychology and Folk-Lore_, p. 73. + +Footnote 1696: + + As, for instance, by Renan in the following passage which contains + nevertheless an element of truth: ‘La guerre est, de la sorte, une des + conditions du progrès, le coup de fouet qui empêche un pays de + s’endormir, en forçant la médiocrité satisfaite d’elle-même à sortir + de son apathie. L’homme n’est soutenu que par l’effort et la lutte.... + Le jour où l’humanité deviendrait un grand empire romain pacifié et + n’ayant plus d’ennemis extérieurs serait le jour où la moralité et + l’intelligence courraient les plus grands dangers’ (_Réforme + intellectuelle et morale_, p. 111). + +Footnote 1697: + + Wallas, _Great Society_, p. 80. ‘In a settled and traditional society + custom is of such overwhelming weight that a law can only act in + accordance with it; a sudden change in the machinery of government + would break down of itself—nay, in such a society laws can hardly be + passed save those that the development of tradition demands’ (Belloc, + _Life of Danton_, p. 142). + +Footnote 1698: + + McDougall, _Group Mind_, p. 146. + +Footnote 1699: + + Bridges and Coles, _Psychological Review_, vol. xxiv, p. 29. These + authors do not commit themselves to any view with regard to the + interpretation of their results—a fact which commends the + investigation to students of these matters as indicating that the + investigation was not undertaken with any bias (a condition of things + unfortunately not common in studies of this problem). + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● Enclosed bold or blackletter font in =equals=. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77753 *** |