676 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



destroyed so many infants of both sexes that they were on 

 the point of extinction. In the Polynesian Islands women 

 have been known to kill from four or five, to even ten of 

 their children; and Ellis could not find a single woman 

 who had not killed at least one. In a village on the 

 eastern frontier of India Col. McCulloch found not a 

 single female child. W nerey e r infanticide* prevails the 

 struggle for existence will be in so far less severe, and all 

 the members of the tribe will have an almost equally good 

 chance of rearing their few surviving children. In most 

 cases a la,rger .number of female than of male infants are 

 destroyed, for it is obvious that the latter are of more value 

 to the tribe, as they will, when grown up, aid in defending 

 it, and can support themselves. But the trouble experienced 

 by the women in rearing children, their consequent loss 

 of beauty, the higher estimation set on them when few, 

 and their happier fate, are assigned by the women them- 

 selves, and by various observers, as additional motives for 

 infanticide. 



When, owing to female infanticide, the women of a tribe 

 were few, the habit of capturing wives from neighboring 

 tribes would naturally arise. Sir J. Lubbock, however, as 

 we have seen, attributes the practice in chief part to the 

 former existence of communal marriage, and to the men 

 having consequently captured women from other tribes to 

 hold as their sole property. Additional causes might be 

 assigned, such as the communities being very small, in 

 which case, marriageable women would often be deficient. 

 That the habit was most extensively practiced during 

 former times, even by the ancestors of civilized nations, is 

 clearly shown by the preservation of many curious customs 

 and ceremonies, of which Mr. McLennan has given an 

 interesting account. In our own marriages the "best 

 man " seems originally to have been the chief abettor of 

 the bridegroom in the act of capture. Now, as long as 

 men habitually procured their wives through violence and 



*Dr. Gerland ("Ueber das Aussterben der NaturvClker," 1868) 

 has collected much, information on infanticide, see especially ss. 27, 

 51, 54. Azara ("Voyages," etc., torn, ii, pp. 94, 116) enters in detail 

 on the motives. See also M'Lennan (ibid, p. 139) for cases in India. 

 In the former reprints of the 3d edition of this book an incorrect 

 quotation from Sir G. Grey was unfortunately given in the above 

 passage and has now been removed from the text. 



