192 Evolution and Adaptation 



A few cases are cited in which it has been observed that 

 the males appear to exhibit themselves before the females, as 

 in the following case of the Chinese M acropus : — 



" The males are most beautifully colored, more so than the 

 females. During the breeding season they contend for the 

 possession of the females ; and, in the act of courtship, ex- 

 pand their fins, which are spotted and ornamented with 

 brightly colored rays, in the same manner, according to M. 

 Carbonnier, as the peacock. They then also bound about 

 the females with much vivacity, and appear by Tetalage de 

 leurs vives couleurs chercher a attirer l'attention des femelles, 

 lesquelles ne paraissaient indifferentes a ce manege, elles 

 nageaient avec une molle lenteur vers les males et semblaient 

 se complaire dans leur voisinage.' " 



In this connection Darwin makes the following general 

 statement : — 



" The males sedulously court the females, and in one case, 

 as we have seen, take pains in displaying their beauty before 

 them. Can it be believed that they would thus act to no 

 purpose during their courtship ? And this would be the case, 

 unless the females exert some choice and select those males 

 which please or excite them most. If the female exerts such 

 choice, all the above facts on the ornamentation of the males 

 become at once intelligible by the aid of sexual selection." 



While it may readily be granted that display of the male 

 may have for its purpose the excitement of the female, it is 

 another question as to whether she will be more excited by 

 the more beautiful suitor. The attentions of the male may 

 be supposed to have a purpose, even if the female does not 

 choose the more beautiful of her suitors. It is this last prop- 

 osition, so necessary for the theory of sexual selection, that 

 seems improbable. But even if it were probable, there are, 

 as we shall see, other difficulties to be overcome before we 

 should be justified in accepting Darwin's statement quoted 

 above, concerning the results of sexual selection. 



