SEXUAL SELECTION 389 



manner: "Let us for tlie purpose of illustration take three 

 families as representing an average of the entire tribe; say- 

 that one mother gives birth to six daughters and no sons; 

 a second mother has six sons only, -v^hile the third mother 

 has three sons and three daughters. The iirst mother, fol- 

 lowing the tribal custom, destroys four daughters and pre- 

 serves two. The second retains her six sons. The third 

 kills two daughters and keeps one, as also her three sons. 

 We have, then, from the three families, nine sons and three 

 daughters with which to continue the breed. But while the 

 males belong to families in which the tendency to produce 

 sons is great, the females are of those of a converse inclina- 

 tion. Thus the bias strengthens with each generation, until, 

 as we find, families grow to have habitually more sons than 

 daughters." 



That this result would follow from the above form of 

 infanticide seems almost certain; that is, if we assume that 

 a sex-producing tendency is inherited. But as the above 

 numbers are so extremely scanty, I have searched for ad- 

 ditional evidence, but cannot decide whether what I have 

 found is trustworthy; nevertheless the facts are, perhaps, 

 worth giving. The Maories of ISTew Zealand have long 

 practiced infanticide ; and Mr. Fenton" states that he "has 

 met with instances of women who have destroyed four, six, 

 and even seven children, mostly females. However, the 

 universal testimony of those best qualified to judge is con- 

 clusive that this custom has for many years been almost ex- 

 tinct. Probably the year 1835 may be named as the period 

 of its ceasing to exist. " Now among the New Zealanders 

 as with the Todas, male births are considerably in excess. 

 Mr. Fenton remarks (p. 30): "One fact is certain, although 

 the exact period of the commencement of this singular con- 

 dition of the disproportion of the sexes cannot be demon- 

 stratively fixed, it is quite clear that this course of decrease 

 was in full operation during Vcie years 1830 to 1844, when 



" "Aborigina.. Inhabitants of New Zealand; Government Report," 1859, 

 p. 36. 



