Note 1613 — XVII THE EVOLUTION OF PHYSICAL CHARACTERS
Reading edition
There has been much discussion as to the effect upon the population of France owing to the Napoleonic wars. The facts have been summed up by Havelock Ellis (Essays in War Time, pp. 33 ff.), and it appears that without any question the average physical constitution of the French was lowered; most kinds of infirmities, for instance, became more frequent.