OF "HE 



UNIVERSITY 



CHAP, xvii METAPHYSICS J0F NATURAJ/SELECTION 221 



than it repressed. Even at the present day, how- 

 ever, we do some "eliminating." We hang a few 

 criminals, and we seclude others, both men and 

 women, for long terms of imprisonment, during 

 which terms at least it is impossible for them to pro- 

 duce offspring. We may attribute these results to 

 Natural Selection if only in this sense, that the re- 

 duction or checking of population was not the design 

 of our criminal law, but an incidental consequence. 



It is a favourite idea with some students of society 

 that " the sterilisation of the unfit " ought to be car- 

 ried very much farther. Theoretically, one is tempted 

 to sympathise with the opinion, but it is doubtful 

 whether any such mechanical methods will do much 

 for human welfare. 



War is among the strangest and saddest of man's 

 institutions. Systematised violence and wholesale 

 slaughter are new things in the animal world. War 

 has been immensely widespread and potent in the 

 course of human development. Socially, we saw 

 that, as between community and community, war has 

 often done good. In early days the best fighters are 

 generally the best tribe ; and war has not infrequently 

 become a pioneer of civilisation. But, alas ! at what 

 a cost! Morally and socially, the cost is beyond 

 reckoning. And biologically, or in its bearing on 

 individuals, war has usually snatched away the fittest 

 and left the weak or the cowards to become the 

 parents of the next generation. In early days, when 

 individual valour counted for much, war exercised 

 some influence in the way of selecting the best 

 backed as it was by a sexual selection ; redcoats have 

 always charmed the gentler half of the race. But in 



