56 MAN [CHAP. VIII 



II. SEXUAL SELECTION, 1866-72. 

 Letter 425 To James Shaw. 



Down, Feb. nth [1866]. 



I am much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me 

 an abstract of your paper 1 on beauty. In my opinion you 

 take quite a correct view of the subject. It is clear that 

 Dr. Dickson has either never seen my book, or overlooked 

 the discussion on sexual selection. If you have any precise 

 facts on birds' " courtesy towards their own image in mirror 

 or picture," I should very much like to hear them. Butterflies 

 offer an excellent instance of beauty being displayed in 

 conspicuous parts ; for those kinds which habitually display 

 the underside of the wing have this side gaudily coloured, and 

 this is not so in the reverse case. I daresay you will know 

 that the males of many foreign butterflies are much more 

 brilliantly coloured than the females, as in the case of birds. 

 I can adduce good evidence from two large classes of facts 

 (too large to specify) that flowers have become beautiful to 

 make them conspicuous to insects. 2 



Mr. Darwin wrote again to Mr. Shaw in April, 1866 : 



I am much obliged for your kind letter and all the great 

 trouble which you have taken in sending on all the various 

 and interesting facts on birds admiring themselves. I am 

 very glad to hear of these facts. I have just finished writing 

 and adding to a new edition of the Origin, and in this I 

 have given, without going into details (so that I shall not 

 be able to use your facts), some remarks on the subject 

 of beauty. 



1 A newspaper report of a communication to the Dumfries Anti- 

 quarian and Natural History Society. 



2 This letter is published in A Country Schoolmaster ; James Shaw. 

 Edited by Robert Wallace, Edinburgh, 1899. 



