228 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



war, is not war biologically justified by the results 

 produced? 



If war does benefit the race in distinct and unique 

 ways, then the biologist must favor a system of so- 

 ciety which will bring about the proper kind and 

 the correct number of wars to produce the best racial 

 selection. If war, on the other hand, tends toward 

 human deterioration then the biologist must oppose 

 a system of international relations based on war. 

 Again it is a question of evidence. 



The matter of individual biological selection is 

 one that is fairly obvious even to the layman; and 

 his conclusion that the direct results of war are harm- 

 ful biologically has been well supported by scientists 

 whose interest in the subject is more inclusive than 

 their natural sympathy for the young men of their 

 acquaintance who have incurred wounds or have 

 been gassed or have suffered severely from some of 

 the typical wartime epidemic diseases. The work of 

 David Starr Jordan before 1914 is classic; (70, 71, 

 73) but the evidence furnished by the World War is 

 more important to us. American experience at that 

 time is best set forth in the slender book by Professor 

 Harrison Hunt (67) of Michigan State College, who 

 studied the records of the American army, using mod- 

 ern statistical methods. 



He was left with no doubt that war selects the 



