PROPORTION OF THE SEXES. 291 



to 10,773, and the females under the same age to 9,593, or 

 as 112.3 to 100. From the census of 1872 the proportion 

 of males of all ages (including half-castes) to females is as 

 125.30 to 100. It must be borne in mind that all these 

 returns for the Sandwich Islands give the proportion of 

 living males to living females, and not of the births; and 

 judging from all civilized countries the proportion of males 

 would have been considerably higher if the numbers had 

 referred to births.* 



From the several foregoing cases we have some reason to 

 believe that infanticide practiced in the manner above 

 explained, tends to make a male-producing race; but I am 

 far from supposing that this practice in the case of man, or 

 some analogous process with other species, has been the sole 

 determining cause of an excess of males. There may be 

 some unknown law leading to this result in decreasing 



*Dr. Coulter, in describing (" Journal R. Geograph. Soc.," vol. v, 

 1835, p. 67) the state of California about the year 1830, says that the 

 natives, reclaimed by the Spanish missionaries, have nearly all per- 

 ished, or are perishing, although well treated, not driven from their 

 native land, and kept from the use of spirits. He attributes this, in 

 great part, to the undoubted fact that the men greatly exceed the 

 women in number; bu* he does not know whether this is due to a 

 failure of female offspring, or to more females dying during early 

 youth. The latter alternative, according to all analogy, is very 

 improbable. He adds that "infanticide, properly so called, is not 

 common, though very frequent resource is had to abortion." If Dr. 

 Coulter is correct about infanticide, this case cannot be advanced in 

 support of Col. Marshall's view. From the rapid decrease of the 

 reclaimed natives, we may suspect that, as in the cases lately given, 

 their fertility has been diminished from changed habits of lii'e. I 

 had hoped to gain some light on this subject from the breeding of 

 dogs; inasmuch as in most breeds, with the exception, perhaps, of 

 greyhounds, many more female puppies are destroyed than males, 

 just as with the Toda infants. Mr. Cupples assures me that this is 

 usual with Scotch deer-hounds. Unfortunately I know nothing of 

 the proportion of the sexes in any breed, excepting greyhounds, and 

 there the male births are to the females as 110.1 to iOO. Now from 

 inquiries made from many breeders, it seems that the females are in 

 some respects more esteemed, though otherwise troublesome; and it 

 does not appear that the female puppies of the best-bred dogs are 

 systematically destroyed more than the males, though this does some- 

 times take place to a limited extent. Therefore I am unable to 

 decide whether we can, on the above principles, account for the pre- 

 ponderance of male births in greyhounds. On the- other hand, we 

 have seen that with horses, cattle and sheep, which are too valuable 

 for the young of either sex to be destroyed, if there is any difference, 

 tlio females are slightly in excess. 



