CHAPTER XII 



BEAUTY AND THE ELECTIVE AFFINITIES 



In view of the great diversity existing among indi- 

 viduals of the human species, Nature has wisely pro- 

 vided us with a clue to the better types. Every man 

 and woman prefers, more or less consciously, certain 

 individuals of the opposite sex to certain others. 

 Tastes may differ upon minor points of physique and 

 character, but there are broad lines of preference 

 common to entire races, and by this means a standard 

 of beauty is arrived at. Here of course we touch 

 upon the very keystone of the Darwinian theory, for 

 beauty, practically considered, is nothing but fitness. 

 That man or woman is beautiful who is best fitted for 

 the conditions of life in which he or she is cast, and 

 the preferences implanted in us are merely a device 

 of Nature's for furthering the interests of the species 

 by the elimination of the worst types and the repro- 

 duction of the best. 



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