COURTSHIP AND SEX 205 



species the discharge of the sexual function must be rendered 

 difficult, since the impulse to it is so powerful that without 

 some such arrest it might easily become prejudicial to that 

 end. This very strength of impulse is itself necessary to 

 the preservation of the species ; but, on the other hand, 

 dams must be opposed to the impetuous stream, lest the 

 impulse expend itself before it is made effectual, or the 

 mothers of the race be robbed of their strength, to the detri- 

 ment of their offspring. . . . The most important factor in 

 maintaining this necessary check is the coyness of the female ; 

 coquetry is the conflict between natural impulse and coyness, 

 and the male's part is to overcome the latter " {pp. cit. 



P- 243)- 



It is very desirable that there should be a fresh study 



of courtship ceremonies and a reconsideration of Darwin's 

 theory of Sexual Selections in the light of comparative 

 psychology. We have already referred to Julian Huxley's 

 study of the Great Crested Grebe where the elaborate, even 

 self-exhausting, ritual does not directly lead on to coition. 

 We venture to quote again Huxley's general conclusion : 

 " Birds have obviously got to a pitch where their psycho- 

 logical states play an important part in their lives. Thus, if 

 a method is to be devised for keeping two birds together, 

 provision will have to be made for an interplay of conscious- 

 ness, or emotion between them." The courtship is justified 

 by the strength of the emotional bond it establishes. 



The establishment of sexual reproduction and sex 

 dimorphism had many more or less immediate rewards : 

 it meant more economical means of continuing the race ; it 

 was a device for securing the persistence of a successful 

 genetic constitution and for screening the offspring from dis- 

 advantageous modifications of the parent's body ; it implied 

 more opportunities for re-arrangements of the hereditary 

 items at the beginning of each new life. The separation of 

 sperm-producers (or males) and egg-producers (or females), 

 differing deeply in constitution, would also tend to increase 

 the possible range of cross-fertilisation, which is often 

 advantageous, and would permit of a profitable division of 



