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INFANTICIDE

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 517 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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INFANTICIDE , the killing of a newly-See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born See also:

child or of the matured foetus. When practised by civilized peoples the subject of infanticide concerns the criminologist and the jurist; but its importance in See also:

ANTHROPOLOGY (Gr. avOpw1ror man, and Xoyos, theory or science)

anthropology, as it involves a widespread practice among See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive or See also:

savage nations, requires more detailed See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention. J. F. McLennan (Studies in See also:

Ancient See also:

HISTORY

History, pp. 75 et seq.) suggests that the practice of See also:

FEMALE

female infanticide was once universal, and that in it is to be found the origin of See also:

EXOGAMY (Gr. few, outside; and yaµor, marriage)

exogamy. Much See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence, however, has been adduced against this See also:

HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis by See also:

Herbert See also:

Spencer and See also:

EDWARD

Edward Westermarck. Infanticide, both of See also:

MALES

males and See also:

FEMALES

females, is far less widespread among savage races than McLennan supposed. It certainly is See also:

COMMON

common in many lands, and more females are killed than males; but among many fierce and savage peoples it is almost unknown. Thus among the Tuski, Ahts, Western See also:

ESKIMO, ESKIMOS

Eskimo and the See also:

BOTOCUDOS (from Port. botoque, a plug, in allusion to the wooden disks or plugs worn in their lips and ears)

Botocudos new-born See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children are killed now and then, if they are weak and deformed, or for some other See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason (such as the superstition attaching to See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth of twins) but without distinction of See also:

SEX (Lat. sexes; possibly connected with secure, to cut)

sex. Among the Dakota See also:

INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN

Indians and Crees female infanticide is rare. The See also:

BLACKFOOT (Siksika)

Blackfoot Indians believe that a woman guilty of such an See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act will never reach " the Happy See also:

Mountain " after See also:

DEATH

death, but will hover See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of her misdeed with branches of trees tied to her legs.

The Aleutians hold that child-See also:

MURDER

murder brings misfortune on the whole See also:

VILLAGE

village. Among the See also:

ABIPONES

Abipones it is common, but the boys are usually the victims, because it is customary to buy a wife for a son, whereas a grown daughter will always command a See also:

price. In See also:

Africa, where a warm See also:

CLIMATE

climate and abundance of See also:

food simplify the problem of existence, the See also:

CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime is not common. Herr Valdau relates that a Bakundu woman, accused of it, was condemned to death. In See also:

SAMOA

Samoa, in the See also:

Mitchell and See also:

HERVEY, JAMES (1714–1758)

Hervey Islands, and in parts of New See also:

GUINEA

Guinea, it was unheard of; while among the cannibals, the See also:

Solomon Islanders, it occurred rarely. A theory has been advanced by L. Fison (Kamilaroi and Kurnai, 188o) that female .infanticide is far less common among the See also:

LOWER

lower savages than among the more advanced tribes. Among some of the most degraded of human beings, such as the Yahgans of Tierra del Fuego, the crime was unknown, except when committed by the See also:

MOTHER

mother " from See also:

JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy or hatred of her See also:

HUSBAND

husband or because of See also:

DESERTION

desertion and wretchedness." It is said that certain Californian Indians were never guilty of child-murder before the arrival of the whites; while Wm. See also:

Ellis (Polynesian Researches, i. 249) thinks it most probable that the See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom was less prevalent in earlier than later Polynesian history. The See also:

WEIGHT

weight of evidence tends to support See also:

Darwin's theory that during the earliest See also:

period of human development See also:

man did not lose that strong See also:

INSTINCT

instinct, the love of his See also:

young, and consequently did not practice infanticide; that, in See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, the crime is not characteristic of primitive races. Infanticide may be said to arise from four reasons.

It may be I) an act of callous brutality or to satisfy cannibalistic cravings. A Fuegian, Darwin relates, dashed his child's brains out for upsetting a See also:

BASKET

basket of See also:

fish. An Australian, seeing his See also:

INFANT (in early forms enfaunt, enfant, through the Fr. enfant, from Lat. infans, in, not, and fans, the present participle of fari, to speak)

infant son See also:

ill, killed, roasted and See also:

ate him. In some parts of Africa the negroes bait See also:

lion-traps with their own children. Some See also:

South See also:

AMERICAN

American Indians, such as the See also:

MOXOS

Moxos, abandon or kill them without reason; while See also:

AFRICAN

African and Polynesian cannibals eat them without the excuse of the periodic famines which made the Tasmanians regard the birth of a child as a piece of See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

FORTUNE, ROBERT (1813-188o)

fortune. 2. Or infanticide may be the result of the struggle for existence. Thus in See also:

Polynesia, while the climate ensures food in plenty, the relative smallness of the islands imposed the custom on all families without distinction. In the Hawaiian Islands all children, after the third or See also:

FOURTH

fourth, were strangled or buried alive. At See also:

TAHITI

Tahiti fathers had the right (and used it) of killing their newly-born children by suffocation. The chiefs were obliged by custom to kill all their daughters. The society of the Areois, famous in the Society Islands, imposed infanticide upon the See also:

WOMEN

women members by See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath.

In other islands all girl-children were spared, but only two boys in each See also:

FAMILY

family were reared. The difficulties of suckling partly explain the custom of killing twins. For the same reason the Eskimo and Red Indians used to See also:

bury theinfant with the mother who died in child-birth. Among See also:

WARRIOR

warrior and See also:

hunter tribes, where women could not act as beasts of See also:

BURDEN, or BURTHEN

burden as in agricultural communities, and where a large number of girls were likely to attract the hostile attentions of neighbouring tribesmen, girl-babies were murdered. See also:

ARABS

Arabs, in ancient times, buried alive the See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of female children. In many lands infanticide was regarded as a meritorious act on the See also:

PART

part of a See also:

PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent, done, as a precaution against See also:

FAMINE (Lat. fames, hunger)

famine, in the interests of the tribe. In other parts of the See also:

WORLD

world, infanticide results from customs which impose heavy burdens on child-rearing. Of these artificial hardships the best example is afforded by See also:

India. There the practice, though forbidden by both the Vedas and the See also:

KORAN

Koran, prevailed among the Rajputs and certain aboriginal tribes. Among the aristocratic Rajputs, it was thought dishonourable that a girl should remain unmarried. Moreover, a girl may not marry below her See also:

CASTE (through the Fr. from Span. and Port. casta, lineage, Lat. cast us, pure)

caste; she ought to marry her See also:

SUPERIOR

superior, or at least her equal. This reasoning was most powerful with the highest castes, in which the disproportion of the sexes was painfully apparent.

But, assuming See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage to be possible, it was ruinously expensive to the See also:

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

bride's See also:

FATHER

father, the cost in the See also:

case of some rajahs having been known to exceed £See also:

Ioo,000. To avoid all this, the See also:

RAJPUT

Rajput killed a proportion of his daughters—sometimes. in a very singular way. A pill of See also:

TOBACCO

tobacco and See also:

BHANG

bhang might be given to the new-born child; or it was drowned in See also:

MILK (0. Eng. meoluc; from a common Indo-European root, cf. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ?t dXyetv)

milk;1 or the mother's See also:

BREAST (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. the Ger. Brust, possibly connected with an O. Sax. brustian, to bud)

breast was smeared with See also:

OPIUM (Gr. amov, dim. from Orbs, juice)

opium or the juice of the poisonous datura. A common method was to See also:

COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover the child's mouth with a See also:

PLASTER

plaster of cow-dung, before it See also:

drew breath. Infanticide was also practised to a small extent by some sects of the aboriginal See also:

KHONDS, or KANDHS

Khonds and by the poorer See also:

hill-tribes of the Himalayas. Where infanticide occurs in India, though it really rests on the economic facts stated, there is usually some poetical tradition of its origin. Infanticide from motives of prudence was common among some American See also:

INDIAN

Indian tribes of the northwest, with whom the " See also:

POTLATCH

potlatch " was an essential part of their daughter's marriage ceremonies. 3. Or infanticide may be in the nature of a religious observance. The gods must be appeased with See also:

BLOOD

blood, and it is believed that no See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice can be so pleasing to them as the child of the worshipper. Such were the motives impelling parents to the burning of children in the See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship of See also:

MOLOCH, or MOLECH (in Hebrew, with the doubtful exception of i Kings xi. 7, always " the Molech ")

Moloch. In India children were thrown into the sacred See also:

RIVER

river See also:

GANGES (GANGA)

Ganges, and See also:

ADORATION (Lat. ad, to, and os, mouth; i.e. " carrying to one's mouth ")

adoration paid to the alligators who fed on them.

Where the custom prevails as a sacrifice the male child is usually the victim. 4. Or, finally, infanticide may have a social or See also:

POLITICAL

political reason. Thus at See also:

SPARTA (Gr. Eirapril or AaKe5atycav)

Sparta (and in other places in See also:

early See also:

Greek and See also:

ROMAN

Roman history) weakly or deformed children were killed by See also:

order of the See also:

state, a custom approved in the ideal systems of See also:

Aristotle and See also:

PLATO

Plato, and still observed among the Eskimo and the Kamchadales. See also:

Law.—The crime of infanticide among civilized nations is still frequent. It is however due in most cases to abnormal causes, such as a sudden See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access of See also:

INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

insanity, privation, unreasoning dislike to the child, &c. It is most closely connected with See also:

ILLEGITIMACY (from " illegitimate," Lat. illegitimus, not in accordance with law, hence born out of lawful wedlock)

illegitimacy in the class of See also:

FARM

farm and domestic servants, the more common See also:

MOTIVE (from Lat. movere, to move)

motive being the terror of the mother of incurring the disgrace with which society visits the more venial offence. Often, however, it is inspired by no better motive than the wish to See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape the burden of the child's support. The granting of See also:

AFFILIATION (from Lat. ad filiare, to adopt as a son)

affiliation orders thus tends to See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save the lives of many children, though it provides a motive for the paramour sometimes to See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share in the crime. The See also:

LAWS

laws of the See also:

EUROPEAN

European states differ widely on this subject—some of them treating infanticide as a See also:

SPECIAL

special crime, others regarding it merely as a case of murder In See also:

BALUCHISTAN

Baluchistan, where children are often drowned in milk, there is a euphemistic See also:

PROVERB (Lat. proverbium, from pro, forth, publicly, verbum, word; the Greek equivalent is irapolµia, from 7rapa, alongside, and oiµos, way, road, i.e. a wayside saying; Ger. Sprichwort)

proverb: " The See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady's daughter died drinking milk." of unusually difficult See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof. In the law of See also:

England infanticide is murder or See also:

MANSLAUGHTER (0. Eng., mannslaeht, from mann, man, and slaeht, act of slaying, sledn, to slay, properly to smite; cf. Ger. schlagen, Schlacht, battle)

manslaughter according to the presence or See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of deliberation. The infant must be a human being in the legal sense; and " a child becomes a human being when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the See also:

BODY

body of its mother, whether it has breathed or not, and whether it has an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent circulation or not, and whether the See also:

NAVEL (O. Eng. nafela, a word common to Teutonic languages; of. Ger. Nobel, Swed. nafvel; the Sanskrit is nabhila; the English root is also seen in " nave," the hub of a wheel)

navel-See also:

STRING

string is severed or not; and the killing of such a child is See also:

HOMICIDE (Lat. homicidium)

homicide when it See also:

DIES, CHRISTOPH ALBERT (1755-1822)

dies after birth in consequence of injuries received before, during or after birth." A child in the womb or in the act of birth, though it may have breathed, is therefore not a human being, the killing of which amounts to homicide.

The older law of child murder under a See also:

STATUTE

statute of See also:

James I. consisted of cruel presumptions against the mother, and it was not till 1803 that trials for that offence were placed under the See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary rules of evidence. The See also:

CROWN

crown now takes upon itself the onus of proving in every case that the child has been alive. This is often a See also:

MATTER

matter of difficulty, and hence a frequent alternative See also:

charge is that of concealment of birth (see BIRTH), or concealment of pregnancy in See also:

Scotland. It is the See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion of the most eminent of See also:

BRITISH

British medical jurists that this presumption has tended to increase infanticide. Apart from this, the technical See also:

DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition of human See also:

LIFE

life has excited a good See also:

DEAL

deal of comment and some indignation. The definition allows many wicked acts to go unpunished. The experience of assizes in England shows that many children are killed when it is impossible to prove that they were wholly born. The distinction taken by the law was probably comprehended by the minds of the class to which most of the unhappy mothers belong. Partly to meet this complaint it was suggested to the Royal See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

Commission of 1866 that killing during birth, or within seven days thereafter, should be an offence punishable with penal See also:

SERVITUDE (Lat. servitus, from service, to serve)

servitude. The second complaint is of an opposite See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character—partly that infanticide by mothers is not a See also:

fit subject for See also:

capital See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment, and partly that, whatever be the See also:

INTRINSIC (through Fr. intrinsique, from Lat. intrinsecus, inwardly; inter, within, secus, following, from root of sequi, to follow)

intrinsic character of the act, juries will not convict or the executive will not carry out the See also:

SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

sentence. See also:

EARL

Earl See also:

Russell gave expression to this feeling when he proposed that no capital sentence should be pronounced upon mothers for the killing of children within six months after birth. When there has been a See also:

VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict of murder, sentence of death must be passed, but the practice of the See also:

Home See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office, as laid down in 1908, is invariably to commute the death sentence to penal servitude for life.

The circumstances of the case and the disposition and See also:

general progress of the prisoners under discipline in a convict See also:

PRISON (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. prehensio, seizure)

prison are then determining factors in the length of subsequent detention, which rarely exceeds three years. After See also:

RELEASE (O.Fr. reles, variant of relais, from relaisser, to release, let go, Lat. relaxare)

release, the prisoner's further progress is carefully watched, and if it is seen to be to her See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage the conditions of her release are cancelled and she is restored to See also:

COMPLETE

complete freedom. In India See also:

MEASURES

measures against the practice were begun towards the end of the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century by See also:

Jonathan See also:

Duncan and See also:

Major See also:

Walker. They were continued by a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of able and See also:

EARNEST (probably a corruption of the obsolete arles or erles, adapted from Lat. equivalent arrha, due to a confusion with the adjective " earnest," serious, O. Eng. eornust, cognate with Ger. ernst)

earnest See also:

OFFICERS

officers during the 19th century. One of its See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief events, representing many See also:

minor occurrences, was the See also:

AMRITSAR, or UMRITSAR

Amritsar See also:

DURBAR

durbar of 1853, which was arranged by See also:

Lord See also:

Lawrence. At that See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting the chiefs residing in the See also:

PUNJAB

Punjab and the trans-See also:

SUTLEJ

Sutlej states signed an agreement engaging to expel from caste every one who committed infanticide, to adopt fixed and moderate rates of marriage expenses, and to exclude from these ceremonies the minstrels and beggars who had so greatly swollen the expense. According to the See also:

PRESENT

present law, if the female children fall below a certain percentage in any See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract or among any tribe in See also:

NORTHERN

northern India where infanticide formerly prevailed, the suspected village is placed under See also:

POLICE (Fr. police, government, civil administration, a police force, Gr. sroXumeia, constitution, condition of a state, roars, city, state)

police supervision, the cost being charged to the locality. By these measures, together with a strictly enforced See also:

SYSTEM

system of See also:

REPORTING

reporting births and deaths, infanticide has been almost trampled out; although some of the Rajput clans keep their female offspring suspiciously See also:

close to the lowest See also:

AVERAGE

average which secures them from surveillance. It is difficult to say to what extent infanticide prevails in the See also:

UNITED

United See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom. At one See also:

time a large number of children were murdered in England for the purpose of obtaining theburial See also:

MONEY

money from a benefit See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club,l but See also:

PROTECTION

protection against this See also:

RISK

risk has been provided for by the Friendly See also:

SOCIETIES, LEARNED

Societies Act 1896, and the See also:

COLLECTING

Collecting Societies Act 1896. The neglect or killing of See also:

NURSE (a shortened form of the earlier " nourice," adapted through the French from Lat. nutrix, nu/rite, to nourish)

nurse-children is treated under BABY-FARMING, and CHILDREN, LAW See also:

RELATING

RELATING TO. In the United States, the elements of this offence are practically the same as in England.

The wilful killing of an unborn child is not manslaughter unless made so by statute. To constitute manslaughter under Laws N.Y. 1869, ch. 631, by attempts to produce See also:

MISCARRIAGE

miscarriage, the " quickening " of the child must be averred and proved (See also:

Evans v. See also:

PEOPLE

People, 49 New See also:

York See also:

REP, REPP, or REPS

Rep. 86; see also See also:

Wallace v. State, 7 See also:

TEXAS

Texas app. 570).

End of Article: INFANTICIDE

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