296 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to the male offspring at the corresponding period of manhood. . . . 

 These faculties will have been developed in man partly through sexual 

 selection, that is, through the contests of rival males, and partly- 

 through natural selection, that is, from success in the general struggle 

 for life. . . . 



" Thus," continues Darwin, " man has ultimately become superior 

 to woman." We will say, rather, thus have men and women come to 

 differ mentally as well as physically. We will take further testimony, 

 and inquire what sexual selection has been accomplishing for women 

 during these long periods of man's physical and mental development, 

 before accepting the unmodified dictum of superiority. 



The authority so frequently quoted tells us that "the equal trans- 

 mission of characters to both sexes is the commonest form of inheri- 

 tance," and that "this form has commonly prevailed throughout the 

 whole class of mammals." Hence the advantages primarily gained by 

 man have been bestowed upon his descendants of both sexes, though 

 as has been shown, in a somewhat less degree upon the female. Let 

 us now glance at the converse of these vivid pictures of the advan- 

 tages accruing to man through habits and conditions arising from pri- 

 mary sexual characters, and endeavor to learn whether the habits and 

 conditions necessarily attaching to the female have been the source of 

 any gain either to herself or to the race as a whole. 



The less degree of hardship and exposure to Which she has been 

 subjected have doubtless tended to develop in her the physical beauty 

 in which she is generally acknowledged to be man's superior; while 

 the fact that women have long been selected and prized for their 

 beauty will have tended, on the principle of sexual selection, to in- 

 crease the differences originally acquired through natural selection. 



The "sweet low voice" which has so Ions; been accounted "an ex- 

 cellent thing in woman," has undoubtedly been gained in a similar 

 manner. In the pursuit of her more quiet avocations there would be 

 less likelihood of the development of large and powerful vocal organs, 

 as it is during the excitements of battle and the chase that the fiercest 

 yells and wildest shouts are produced. The perception of musical 

 cadences, and a sensitiveness to the influence of rhythm, manifested 

 even by many of the lower animals, naturally associating themselves 

 with the rhythm of motion, would tend to early development, on the 

 part of the female, in the care and nursing of her young; while sexual 

 selection has probably played a still more important part in the origin 

 of music. 



" Although," says Darwin, " the sounds emitted by animals of all 

 kinds serve many purposes, a strong case can be made out that the 

 vocal organs were primarily used and perfected in relation to the propa- 

 gation of the species." 



Many of the lower animals are mute except during the breeding- 

 season, and the calls, melodious or frightful, of most animals have 



