SOME EUGENIC ASPECTS OF WAR 



By A G. THACKER, A.R.C.Sc. 

 Public Museum, Gloucester 



We all know only too well that the catastrophe which came 

 upon Europe last August will be far-reaching in its effects. 

 A stupendous sum of money utterly wasted, hundreds of 

 thousands of men killed and several millions maimed, hundreds 

 of thousands of women desolate and several millions of children 

 fatherless, a serious check to social reform and to scientific 

 research, and, worse still, a disgraceful and blighting legacy 

 of international hatreds : assuredly the evils of the war are in 

 no need of exaggeration. And yet there are some who hold that 

 the conflict will bring another misfortune of a still more 

 fundamental character. It is contended that the very racial 

 qualities of Europe's population are being injured. It is pointed 

 out that the healthy, energetic, strong, and courageous part of 

 European manhood is being passed through the furnace and 

 decimated, whilst in each country the weakly section is being 

 carefully preserved. And it is inferred from this that the average 

 standard of physical and mental fitness in the men of the present 

 generation is being lowered, and that consequently the quality 

 of the next and later generations will be inferior. This view of 

 the matter is taken by Dr. C. W. Saleeby, 1 who has done so 

 much, perhaps in some directions a little too much, to popularise 

 eugenics ; and similar opinions have been expressed by the 

 American eugenist, Dr. Starr Jordan. 



The purpose of the present article is to consider certain 

 aspects of this subject which have not always been remembered. 

 It appears to me that when the problem is subjected to a closer 

 scrutiny, the pessimistic conclusion above mentioned is seen to 

 be extremely dubious. The question of the biological effects of 

 war is one of extreme complexity, and it is certainly true that 

 the effects may be very dissimilar in different sorts of war. No 

 doubt if those who think with Dr. Starr Jordan are right, they 

 have found a new and stout stick wherewith to beat the 

 1 See the Contemporary Review, March 191 5. 



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