i899 S. S. BUCKMAN— HUMAN BABIES 105 



ancestors in order to excite the mate. The male mandril 

 is a particular instance of the carrying of this character to 

 excess, as may be seen from the figure of its head given by 

 Darwin in his " Descent of Man." * 



It may be inferred that in the pre-human ancestors of 

 Homo, cheek lumps, though never elaborated to the same 

 extent as in the mandril, attained to a certain develop- 

 ment, and were always coloured, at times' of excitement 

 vividly so. Of this coloration a relic remains in the 

 habit of blushing, perhaps to a certain extent in a rosy face. 

 Colour at any rate appears as a sexual symptom in many 

 animals, and becomes a sexual excitant.f 



b. Expressio7i of Pain 



The muscular movements which make up what are 

 known as expressions of pain, may be said to have origin- 

 ated in fighting, that being the principal source of injury ; 

 and the receipt of injury prompting an excessive employ- 

 ment of warlike weapons in order to retaliate. So that 



* " When tlie canine teetli are fully developed, immense protuberances of bone are 

 formed in e.-\cli cheek, which are deeply furrowed longitudinally, and the naked skin over 

 them is brilliantly coloured." (Darwin). " As the negro of Africa raises the flesh on his 

 face into parallel ridges or cicatrices high above the natural surface, which are considered 

 great personal attractions, as negroes and savages in many parts of the world paint their 

 faces with red, blue, white, or black bars — so the male mandril appears to have acquired 

 his deeply furrowed and gaudily coloured face from having been thus rendered attractive 

 to the female." (Darwin). And it may, perhaps, be said that savages indulge in these 

 practices because of the instinctive idea, inherited from Simian ancestors, that 

 striking coloration of the face attracted the notice of the female. So what nature had 

 begun they carry further by art. 



t " In the Cercopithectis cynosurus and griseoviridis, one part of the body which is 

 confined to the male sex, is of the most brilliant blue or green, and contrasts strikingly 

 with the naked skin on the hinder part of the body, which is vivid red." " In the adult 

 male mandril, the face becomes of a fine blue, with the ridge and tip of the nose of a most 

 brilliant red." Other parts of the body are brilliantly coloured. " When the animal is 

 excited all the naked parts become much more brilliantly tinted." "In the adult female 

 the nose at certain regular intervals of time becomes tinted with red." (Extracts from 

 Darwin, " Descent of Man," Part II., chap, xviii.) 

 H 



