XXIII HUMAN SELECTION 525 



one year of 3,058, all between the ages of 5 and 35, a 

 very large portion of which is no doubt due to the greater 

 risks run by men and boys in various industrial occupa- 

 tions, in sport, and in war. In a state of society in which 

 the bulk of the population were engaged in industrial 

 work, and were all social equals, it is quite certain that 

 almost all these deaths would be prevented, thus bringing 

 the male population more nearly to an equality with the 

 female. But there are also many unhealthy employments 

 in which men are exclusively or more largely engaged, 

 such as the grinders of Sheffield, and many others ; and 

 many more men have their lives shortened by labour in 

 unventilated workshops, to say nothing of the loss of life 

 at sea and in war. When the lives of all its citizens are 

 accounted of equal value to the community, no one will 

 be allowed to suffer from such preventible causes as these ; 

 and this will still further reduce the mortality of men as 

 compared with that of women. On the whole, then, it 

 seems highly probable that in the society of the future 

 the superior numbers of males at birth will be maintained 

 throughout life, or, at all events, during what may be 

 termed the marriageable period. This will greatly in- 

 crease the influence of women in the improvement of the 

 race. Being a minority they will be more sought after, 

 and will have a real choice in marriage, which is rarely 

 the case now. This actual minority being further in- 

 creased by those who, from the various causes already 

 referred to, abstain from marriage, will cause considerable 

 numbers of men to remain permanently unmarried, and 

 as these will consist very largely, if not almost wholly, of 

 those who are the least perfectly developed either mentally 

 or physically, the constant advance of the race in every 

 good quality will be ensured. 



This method of improvement, by elimination of the 

 worst, has many advantages over that of securing the 

 early marriages of the best. In the first place it is the 

 direct instead of the indirect way, for it is more important 

 and more beneficial to society to improve the average of 

 its members by getting rid of the lowest types than by 

 raising the highest a little higher. Exceptionally great 



