Johnson: Natural Selection in War 



547 



of one or a few individuals who happen 

 to be in positions of power at the 

 critical time. 



HIGH QUALITY ON BOTH SIDES 



In this present war the contrast is 

 particularly noticeable, since on both 

 sides the combatants are in so large a 

 proportion membei s of the old Teutonic 

 or Hebrew races, both stocks being 

 preeminent for their contributions to 

 science and art. In this very feature, 

 it is probable that we have the most 

 noteworthy dysgenic element in the 

 present war. 



As for the selection taking place 

 within each of the struggling nations, 

 we must consider first of all the contrast 

 between the combatants and the non- 

 combatants of the same age and sex. 

 This difference depends largely on how 

 the army in question was raised. 

 Where the army is a permanent, paid 

 force, it probably does not represent a 

 quality above the average of the 

 nation, except physically. When it is 

 conscripted, it will be superior phys- 

 ically, and probably slightly in other 

 respects. If it is a volunteer army, its 

 quality will depend largely on whether 

 the cause being fought for is one that 

 appeals to adventurers merely or one 

 that appeals to some moral principle. 

 In the latter case, the quality may be 

 such that the loss of a large part of the 

 army will be peculiarly damaging. 

 This situation is more common than 

 might be supposed, for by skillful 

 diplomacy and journalism, a cause 

 which may be really questionable, is 

 presented to the public in a most 

 idealistic light. In the present war, 

 the soldiers of each country have been 

 made to believe that they are the glorious 

 defenders against unprincipled aggres- 

 sors. 



Even within the army of one side, 

 lethal selection is operative. Those 

 who are killed are by no means a 

 haphazard sample of the whole army. 

 Among the victims there is a dispropor- 

 tionate representation of those with 

 (1) dauntless bravery, (2) recklessness, 

 (3) stupidity. These qualities merge 

 into each other, yet in their extremes 

 they are widel}^ different. However, as 



th3 nature of warfare changes, with the 

 increase of artillery, mines and bombs, 

 and decrease of personal combat, those 

 who fall are more and -more chance 

 victims. 



In addition to the killed and mortally 

 wounded, there are many deaths from 

 disease or from wounds which are not 

 necessarily fatal. Probably the most 

 selective of any of these three agencies 

 is the variable resistance to disease and 

 the widely varying knowledge and 

 appreciation of the need for hygienic 

 living shown by the individual, as, 

 for instance, less recldess drinking of 

 unsterilized water. But here, too, in 

 modern warfare, this item is becoming 

 less selective, with the advance in 

 discipline and in organized sanitation. 



The efficiency of selection will be 

 affected by the percentage that each 

 side has sent to the front, if the com- 

 batants are either above or below the 

 average of the population. A nation 

 that sends all its able-bodied males 

 forward will be affected differently 

 from its enemy that has needed to call 

 upon only one-half of its able-bodied 

 men in order to win its cause. 



THE POPULATION AT HOME 



Back from the fighting lines of the 

 contending sides, the conditions that 

 prevail are rendered more severe in 

 many ways than in times of peace. 

 Poverty becomes rife, and sanitation 

 and medical treatment are commonly 

 sacrificed under the strain. During a 

 war, that mitigation of the action of 

 natural selection, so common now among 

 civilized nations, is somewhat less effec- 

 tive than in times of peace. 



After a war has been concluded, 

 certain new agencies of inter-group 

 selection arise. The result depends 

 largely on whether the vanquished have 

 had a superior culture brought to them, 

 as in the case of the Phihppines, or 

 whether, on the contrary, certain dis- 

 eases have been introduced or crushing 

 tribute has been levied, as in the 

 Franco-Prussian War, or grievous op- 

 pression such as befell the Hebrews in 

 Egypt. 



Sometimes the conquerors themselves 

 have suffered severely as the result of 



