EUGENIC AND DYSGENIC EFFECTS OF WAR 237 



scription or with those that have no conscription of any kind, systematic 

 differences in the diffusion of venereal diseases, in the intensity of urbanism, 

 in the decrease of the death-rate, in the spirit of discipline, in the physical 

 development of their members, and so forth, We are fully aware, however, 

 that researches of this kind can only reveal to us whether military service 

 has such an influence as would stand out against the action of the other 

 factors, but they cannot discount the possibility that an influence may exist 

 even though it remains concealed. 



Szel's paper contains data on the diffusion of venereal diseases among the 

 soldiers of several armies before the war; as regards the civilians of the vari- 

 ous social classes, some figures are given by Rosset. But neither of these 

 data, although interesting, can offer us the solution of the problem in ques- 

 tion. The great reduction in the diffusion of veneral diseases from 1885 to 

 1910 which seems to be indicated by Szel's data is, however, worthy of 

 notice. This reduction shows that, from this point of view, the effects of 

 the military organization itself, may vary greatly according to the times. 



WAR SELECTION ACCORDING TO THE EUGENIC QUALITIES OF THE INDIVIDUALS 



We must first of all define the concept of a superior individual from the 

 view-point of eugenics and later examine whether and how we may conclude 

 that war exerts on the superior individuals thus defined a favorable or un- 

 favorable selection. Strictly speaking we are justified in comparing only 

 individuals belonging to the same social class and we may practically admit 

 that in each class these types are eugenic which society appreciates most. 



Researches made by Gini in Italy among elementary school teachers 

 showed that those who had the best careers had been eliminated in the war 

 neither more nor less than their less successful colleagues. Other researches 

 made by Boldrini, Crosara, D'Addario, and L'Eltore showed, as regards the 

 students of the universities or other institutions of higher learning of Bari, 

 Cagliari, Genoa, Padua, Pisa, and Rome, that those who died in the war 

 were neither superior nor inferior to the survivors. On the other hand, the 

 survivors did not show any systematic differences according to whether they 

 did or did not serve in the army. This leads us to believe that if the war 

 had continued and the number of survivors among the students drafted had 

 been smaller, the results would not have been different. 



As concerns America, Hunt's researches regarding Harvard students dur- 

 ing the last war, do not show any systematic differences with respect to the 

 death-rate of the various classes of students: those, however, who were 

 graduated without distinction show, on the whole, a higher death rate than 

 those who were graduated with distinction and those who held higher aca- 



