BIOLOGY IN ITS WIDER ASPECTS 1313 



peace there is ample opportunity for valour and heroism, and that 

 the annals of exploration, investigation, medical practice, and the 

 like, are rich in illustrations of the highest courage. To admit, as we 

 must, that there are worse things than war — slavery, softness, 

 dishonour, and moral unsoundness generally — is not to admit that 

 war has been the saving discipline that has kept nobility alive. To 

 admit that a nation may be forced to a crisis where a refusal to go 

 to war would mean disgrace is not to admit that the battlefield 

 must for ever remain man's final court of appeal. 



It is reasonable to draw a distinction between ancient and modern 

 warfare. For in a battle in ancient days there may well have been 

 a useful sifting out, on both sides, of the clumsy, the cowardly, 

 and the cumbersome; and a raid may have sometimes resulted in 

 the practical elimination of the weaker of two clans. But in modern 

 warfare one nation does not exterminate another, and the battle 

 is not always to the strong. Even if it can be proved that military 

 efficiency does on the whole tend to secure victory, it is by no means 

 to be taken for granted that it is based on qualities which make 

 for soundness and progressiveness in a race. In any case, we must 

 not argue from ancient to modern warfare without taking account 

 of the changed conditions. Another complication is that a nationality 

 in modern times is often very far from being a biological race. 



The severely scientific position that we have not sufficient data 

 on which to base a secure judgment, may be met by indicating 

 three conclusions which have a high degree of probability, although 

 statistical proof is not forthcoming, (i) When a nation with volun- 

 tary military service is involved in war the more virile and chivalrous 

 obey the call of their country in larger numbers, and their ranks are 

 disproportionately thinned. Those who cannot fight are left, and 

 those who will not fight are left; and "from the man who is left" — 

 in this case the less desirable — "flows the current of human history", 

 as Starr Jordan puts it. A rapidly decreasing proportion of brave and 

 desirable men must remain at home to keep things going, and the 

 elimination does not very directly affect the women — two facts 

 which go to counteract the impoverishment of the race ; but it seems 

 undeniable that a voluntary army raised in a crisis includes a 

 disproportionately large number of those whom the nation can least 

 afford to lose. If the number of combatants were small compared 

 with that of non-combatants, the casualties might not be of sufficient 

 magnitude to affect the welfare of the race; but if Britain, for 

 instance, has to raise an army of three millions and a quarter — that 

 is about half of the male population between 18 and 45— it does not 

 mean every second man by lot, but a larger proportion of the more 

 patriotic and courageous. In this way it seems broadly certain that 

 war works precisely in the wrong direction as far as the heritable 

 welfare of the race is concerned. 



VOL. II pp 



