THE SELECTIVE INFLUENCE OF WAR 213 



average height of the annual conscription contingents born 

 during the Napoleonic Wars was about 1625 mm.; of those born 

 after the wars it was about 1655 mm." Exemptions for infirmi- 

 ties ran nearly parallel with exemptions for undersize. 



The researches of Lapouge on the height, color and head form 

 of recruits born in the cantons of Herault just before, during and 

 after the Franco-Prussian War offer interesting results. The 

 classes of recruits born in 187 1 (during the war) were, with the 

 exception of those in a few urban cantons, shorter than those born 

 in 1867. Those born in 187 1 were of lighter complexion than the 

 recruits of preceding and succeeding years. It was found that 

 in Herault the blonds furnished an undue proportion of those 

 who were rejected for military service. The recruits born in 

 187 1 were characterized by an unusual degree of brachycephaly 

 while those born in 1872 had a doHchocephaly no less exaggerated, 

 the one class being with heads broader than the average, the other 

 with heads narrower than the average. It has been objected by 

 Steinmetz and Whetham that the smaller size of the recruits born 

 in 187 1 is due, not to selection, but to the stunting effects of the 

 hardships entailed during the war. Granting that this might 

 account for their lower stature, it could not explain the relatively 

 large number of blond and brachycephalic types. The latter 

 seem to have preponderated among the classes of rejected 

 recruits. 



In any evaluation of the biological effects of war we must 

 consider not only the characteristics of the individuals who are 

 destroyed in each country, but the effects of the victory of one 

 group of contestants over another group. Clans, tribes and 

 nations function as units in the struggle for existence. Other 

 things equal, the group with the greatest military efficiency will 

 be victorious. Even though the selective elimination within each 

 group should be dysgenic, the survival of a superior people may 

 lead to a racial advance. There can be Httle doubt that what 

 may be called group selection has proven of great importance in 

 the evolution of the human species. It has placed a premium 

 upon the virtues of fealty, reliability, sympathy and all those 



