The Descent of Man 1 1 



Yet, after all, Mr. Darwin concedes in principle the very 

 point in dispute, and yields all for which his opponents need 

 argue, when he allows that beautiful and harmonious varia- 

 tions may occur spontaneously and at once, as in the dark 

 or spangled bars on the feathers of Hamburg fowls (Descent 

 of Man, Yol. i. p. 281). For what difference is there, other 

 than mere difference of degree, between the spontaneous 

 appearance of a few beautiful new feathers with harmonious 

 markings, and the spontaneous appearance of a whole 

 beautiful clothing hke that of the Tragopans ? 



Again, on Mr. Darwin's own showing, it is manifest that 

 male sexual characters, such as he would fain attribute to 

 sexual selection, may arise without any such action whatever. 

 Thus he tells us, ' There are breeds of the sheep and goat in 

 which the horns of the male differ greatly in shape from 

 those of the female ' ; and ' with tortoise-shell cats, the 

 females alone, as a general rule, are thus coloured, the males 

 being rusty-red' (vol. i. p. 283). Now, if these cats were 

 only known in a wild state, Mr. Darwin would certainly bring 

 them forward amongst his other instances of alleged sexual 

 selection, though we now know the phenomenon is not due 

 to any such cause. A more striking instance, however, is 

 the following: — 'With the pigeon, the sexes of the parent 

 species do not differ in any external character ; nevertheless, 

 in certain domesticated breeds the male is differently 

 coloured from the female. The wattle in the English carrier- 

 pigeon and the crop in the pouter are more highly developed 

 in the male than in the female ' ; and ' this has arisen, not 

 from, but rather in opposition to, the wishes of the breeder ' ; 

 which amounts to a positive demonstration that sexual 

 characters may arise spontaneously, and, be it noted, in the 

 class of birds ! 



The uncertainty which besets these speculations of Mr. 

 Darwin is evident at every turn. What at first could be 



