332 NATURAL SCIENCE. Nov., 1895. 



than the males. Where, then, should male selection end and female 

 selection begin ? 



I also venture to doubt whether the jet-blackness of the negro's 

 skin (pp. 195 and 604) that is acquired by the young of both sexes at 

 a comparatively early age can have other than a purely physical 

 origin. 



So much for our progenitors. Darwin hardly touches upon the 

 question of sexual selection of the present generation, though he 

 testifies to the gravity of the problem. But it requires no great 

 reflection upon the conditions of modern life to convince oneself that 

 the female members of the human race are not, as a rule, in a position 

 to gratify their fancies in this matter. And if we take the example 

 of an exceptionally situated individual, we find that her choice among 

 a number of suitors is determined, at the last moment, by the most 

 unexpected circumstances, and that she selects, after the decease of 

 her elected partner, another one, different in every single respect. 

 The same applies, mutatis mutandis, to the male section of the 

 community.^ 



I am not concerned with the ethical aspects of this fact. For 

 the anthropologist it is sufficient, but essential, to note that even in 

 our own species the possession of " Hkes and dislikes " imphes any- 

 thing but that of a permanent ideal. If this be so, it becomes 

 difficult to conceive how any definite style of ornamentation^ could 

 have been perpetuated through aesthetic preferences on the part of 

 either sex. 



Having cleared the way by a consideration of some miscellaneous 

 objections, I shall proceed, in the second half of this article, to discuss 

 the problem as exempHfied in a single species, Lacerta mtiralis. 



G. Norman Douglass. 



[To be continued.) 



1 No doubt our prognathous ancestors were less distracted by social con- 

 siderations, but there is no reason for crediting them with more constancy of taste 

 as regards personal appearances. It stands to reason, also, that human nature will 

 have been prejudiced at all times against actual disfigurement or semblance of ill- 

 health, but this is irrelevant to the question of choice between physically sound 

 individuals. 



2 I have avoided making any distinction between natural and artificial orna- 

 mentation, as none is made in the chapters before me. 



