294 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



side of natural history. Should some additional deductions and in- 

 terpretations be brought out, it is hoped that they will not be found 

 either forced or imaginary. 



In order to a clear understanding of the line of reasoning em- 

 ployed, we must distinguish between the terms " natural selection" 

 and " sexual selection," as used by Darwin. The traits resulting 

 from these two processes are under a different law of heredity those 

 arising through natural selection being transmitted alike to the young 

 of both sexes, while the results of sexual selection are inherited mainly 

 by the adults of the corresponding sex. It will be seen that these are 

 important laws, and that they furnish a key to our inquiry into the 

 conditions and influences which have resulted in the woman of to-day. 

 Under the operation of this second law (quoting from the " Descent of 

 Man "), " it is the male which, with rare exceptions, has been chiefly 

 modified the female remaining more like the young of her own spe- 

 cies, and more like the other members of the same group. The cause 

 of this seems to lie in the males of almost all animals having stronger 

 passions than the females. Hence it is that the males fight together, 

 and sedulously display their charms before the females ; and those 

 which are victorious transmit their superiority to their male offspring." 

 The question naturally arises, How have the males of the lower ani- 

 mals acquired this greater strength of passion ? Says Darwin : " It 

 would be no advantage, and some loss of power, if both sexes were 

 mutually to search for each other ; but why should the male almost 

 always be the seeker?" Reasoning from the lower forms of life, he 

 points out the fact that the ovules, developed in the female organs of 

 plants, must be nourished for a time after fertilization ; hence the 

 pollen is necessarily brought to them being conveyed to the stigma 

 by insects, by winds, or by the spontaneous movements of the stamens 

 themselves, upon which the pollen grows. "With lowly-organized 

 animals permanently affixed to the same spot, and having their sexes 

 separate, the male element is invariably brought to the female ; and 

 we can see the reason ; for the ova, even if detached before being fer- 

 tilized, and not requiring subsequent nourishment or protection, would 

 be, from their larger relative size, less easily transported than the male 

 element. . . . In case of animals having little power of locomotion, the 

 fertilizing element must be trusted to the risk of at least a short tran- 

 sit through the waters of the sea. It, would, therefore be a great ad- 

 vantage to such animals, as their organization became perfected, if 

 the males, when ready to emit the fertilizing element, were to acquire 

 the habit of approaching the female. The males of various lowly- 

 organized animals having thus aboriginally acquired the habit of seek- 

 ing the females, the same habit would naturally be transmitted to their 

 more highly-developed male descendants ; and, in order that they 

 should become efficient seekers, they would have to be endowed with 

 strong passions. The acquirement of such passions would naturally 



