Infanticide

Infanticide, the term used by anthropologists to denote the custom among races of low culture of destroying children as a means of lessening the severity of the struggle- for existence. According to Darwin (Bescent of Man, ch. xx.), wherever the practice prevails the struggle will be in so far less severe, and all the members of the tribe will have an almost equally good chance of rearing their few-surviving children. In most cases a larger number of female than of male infants are destroyed, for it is obvious that the latter are of more value to the tribe, as they will, when grown up, aid in defending it, and support themselves. On the other hand, the custom has been attributed to a, desire on the part of the women to retain their comeliness. Probably various motives led to the adoption of this custom i. even religion may have had some share therein, as it undoubtedly had in the case of some of the hill tribes of India, and in many cases its perpetuation may have been due to the feeling - akin to that of some modern juries - that the killing of a child is a small crime in comparison with the killing of an adult. The exposure and killing of infants practised in classic times hardly comes under the head of infanticide as anthropologists understand the term ; for though sometimes employed as a check to population, the object was usually to prevent the bringing up of sickly or malformed children. But irt ancient Greece and Rome the father had absolute power over his children, and decided whether their lot should be freedom or slavery, life or deaths Ellis records how prevalent the practice was when he arrived in Polynesia, and says that he could not find a woman who had not killed at least one child. In India the custom lingered till quite recent times,. and its practice among the Todas having naturally led to polyandry, induced Colonel Marshall to come to the conclusion that the ancient Britons, who were undoubtedly polyandrous (Be Bello Gal., v. 14), were also infanticidal.