Chap. XXI. General Summary. 617 



reptiles, and fish, could have acquired the high taste implied by 

 the beauty of the males, and which generally coincides with our 

 own standard, should reflect that the nerve-cells of the brain in 

 the highest as well as in the lowest members of the Vertebrate 

 series, are derived from those of the common progenitor of this 

 great Kingdom. For we can thus see how it has come to pass 

 that certain mental faculties, in various and widely distinct 

 groups of animals, have been developed in nearly the same 

 manner and to nearly the same degree. 



The reader who has taken the trouble to go through the 

 several chapters devoted to sexual selection, will be able to 

 judge how far the conclusions at which I have arrived are 

 supported by sufficient evidence. If he accepts these conclusions 

 he may, I think, safely extend them to mankind ; but it would 

 be superfluous here to repeat what I have so lately said on the 

 manner in which sexual selection apparently has acted on man, 

 both on the male and female side, causing the two sexes to differ 

 in body and mind, and the several races to differ from each 

 other in various characters, as well as from their ancient and 

 lowly-organised progenitors. 



He who admits the principle of sexual selection will be led 

 to the remarkable conclusion that the nervous system not only 

 regulates most of the existing functions of the body, but has 

 indirectly influenced the progressive development of various 

 bodily structures and of certain mental qualities. Courage, 

 pugnacity, perseverance, strength and size of body, weapons of 

 all kinds, musical organs, both vocal and instrumental, bright 

 colours and ornamental appendages, have all been indirectly 

 gained by the one sex or the other, through the exertion of 

 choice, the influence of love and jealousy, and the appreciation 

 of the beautiful in sound, colour or form ; and these powers of 

 the mind manifestly depend on the development of the brain. 



Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedigree 

 of his horses, cattle, and dogs before he matches them ; but 

 when he comes to his own marriage he rarely, or never, takes 

 any such care. He is impelled by nearly the same motives as 

 the lower animals, when they are left to their own free choice, 

 though he is in so far superior to them that he highly values 

 mental charms and virtues. On the other hand he is strongly 

 attracted by mere wealth or rank. Yet he might by selection do 

 something not only for the bodily constitution and frame of his 

 offspring, but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both 

 sexes ought to refrain from marriage if they are in any marked 

 degree inferior in body or mind ; but such hopes are Utopian and 



