Sorry if this is way too obscure, but this is bugging me and I'd love to get some ideas/help.
I'm reading Amin Maalouf's 'The Crusades Through Arab Eyes' and I came across this passage: "Because of their worse-than-primitive health standards and their failure to adapt to the living conditions of the Orient, the Occidentals suffered a very high infant-mortality rate, which according to a well-known natural law affects boys more than girls." (pg. 116, ch 6) what. what the fucking fuck. (excuse my French)
Where did that come from? Is it at all true? Or was it 'folksy wisdom'? Am I missing sarcasm? If it's true, why did it happen? Was it part of their medical science cannon at the time? If that was the case, why?
I've tried looking into it on my own but I can barely find anything on infant mortality rates south of Germany before the 1800s and there is nothing in Maalouf's Notes section about it. :/ Any help is vastly appreciated!
I can't help you on the historical aspect, but infant male mortality rates are higher. In fact, male mortality rates are higher in almost every age group
You might try /r/askscience, as male babies having a higher mortality rate is (sadly) not a historical happening, it's still an observable phenomenon. I assume the author is just referencing this, which is a mildly well-known thing, though I agree with you that it's not a "well-known natural law" by any means.