18661872] SEXUAL SELECTION 77 



yet why has not the protective beauty of the female been Letter 442 

 transferred by inheritance to the male ? The beauty would 

 be a gain to the male, as far as we can see, as a protection ; 

 and I cannot believe that it would be repulsive to the 

 female as she became beautiful. But we shall never convince 

 each other. I sometimes marvel how truth progresses, so 

 difficult is it for one man to convince another, unless his 

 mind is vacant. Nevertheless, I myself to a certain extent 

 contradict my own remark, for I believe far more in the 

 importance of protection than I did before reading your 

 articles. 



I do not think you lay nearly stress enough in your 

 articles on what you admit in your letters : viz., " there 

 seems to be some production of vividness ... of colour in 

 the male independent of protection." This I am making a 

 chief point ; and have come to your conclusion so far that 

 I believe that intense colouring in the female sex is often 

 checked by being dangerous. 



That is an excellent remark of yours about no known 

 case of male alone assuming protective colours ; but in the 

 cases in which protection has been gained by dull colours, 

 I presume that sexual selection would interfere with the 

 male losing his beauty. If the male alone had acquired 

 beauty as a protection, it would be most readily overlooked, 

 as males are so often more beautiful than their females. 

 Moreover, I grant that the life of the male is somewhat 

 less precious, and thus there would be less rigorous selection 

 with the male, so he would be less likely to be made beautiful 

 through Natural Selection for protection. 1 But it seems to 

 me a good argument, and very good if it could be 

 thoroughly established. I do not know whether you will 

 care to read this scrawl. 



To A. R. Wallace. Letter 443 



Down, May 5th [1868?]. 



I am afraid I have caused you a great deal of trouble in 

 writing to me at such length. I am glad to say that I agree 

 almost entirely with your summary, except that I should 



1 This does not apply to sexual selection, for the greater the excess 

 of males, and the less precious their lives, so much the better for sexual 

 selection. [Note in original.] 



