DARWINISM ATTACKED. 119 



the individuals that reach maturity breed, and that all of 

 these are chosen on account of the special development of 

 their secondary sexual characters, seems preposterous. 

 Furthermore, if it is assumed that the high development of 

 the new character appears in a large number of individuals, 

 then it is not improbable that its continued appearance might 

 be accounted for without bringing in, at all, the hypothesis 

 of sexual selection/' 



Again, Morgan well points out that "the development, or 

 the presence, of the aesthetic feeling in the selecting sex is not 

 accounted for on the theory. There is just as much need to 

 explain why the females are gifted with an appreciation of the 

 beautiful as why the beautiful colours develop in the males. 

 Shall we assume that still another process of selection is go- 

 ing on, as a result of which those females are selected by the 

 males that appreciate their unusual beauty, or that those 

 females whose taste has soared a little higher than that of the 

 average (a variation of this sort having appeared) select 

 males to correspond, and thus the two continue heaping 

 up the ornaments on one side and the appreciation of these 

 ornaments on the other? No doubt an interesting fiction 

 could be built up along these lines, but would any one be- 

 lieve it, and if he did, could he prove it? 



"Darwin assumes that the appreciation on the part of 

 the female is always present, and he thus simplifies, in 

 appearance, the problem, but he leaves half of it un- 

 explained. 



"There is another side to the question," also says Morgan, 

 "the importance of which is so great, that it is surprising 

 that Darwin has not taken any notice of it. If, in order to 

 bring about, or even maintain, the results of sexual selection, 

 such a tremendous elimination of individuals must take 

 place, it is surprising that natural selection would not 

 counteract this by destroying those species in which a 

 process, so useless for the welfare of the species, is going 



