324 LESSONS FROM NATURE. [CHAP. X. 



preserve its own ideal standard of beauty, we require the 

 trutli of the hypothesis, that &quot; certain tastes may in the 

 course of time become inherited ;&quot; and yet Mr. Darwin 

 candidly admits (vol. ii. p. 353), &quot; I know of no evidence in 

 favour of this belief.&quot; On the other hand, he says (p. 370), 

 As soon as tribes exposed to different conditions came to 

 vary, &quot; each isolated tribe would form for itself a slightly 

 different standard of beauty,&quot; which &quot; would gradually and 

 inevitably be increased to a greater and greater degree.&quot; But 

 why have not the numerous tribes of North American 

 Indians diverged from each other more conspicuously, in 

 habiting, as they do, such different climates, and surrounded 

 by such diverse conditions ? 



Again, far from each race being bound in the trammels of 

 its own features, all cultivated Europeans, whether Celts, 

 Teutons, or Slaves, agree in admiring the Hellenic ideal as 

 the highest type of human earthly beauty. Nevertheless, 

 this appreciation does not appear to result in such action 

 as is needful to support Mr. Darwin s vievv that beauty has 

 been developed by the agency of female selection. Mr. 

 Darwin (p. 374) says women would generally choose &quot;the 

 handsomer men, according to their standard of taste.&quot; But 

 experience shows us (however much men, judging a priori 

 by their own sentiments, may naturally be disposed to think 

 the contrary) that beauty is a very small matter in women s 

 eyes, as in the well-known cases of Wilkes and Mirabeau. 



Mr. Darwin says (p. 399) : &quot; It seems to me almost certain 

 that if the individuals of one sex were during a long series 

 of generations to prefer pairing with certain individuals of 

 the other sex, characterized in some peculiar manner, the 

 offspring would slowly but surely become modified in this 

 same manner.&quot; There can be little doubt of this ; but there 

 is &quot; wonderful virtue in an if.&quot; 



Moreover, Mr. Darwin tells us that (vol. ii. pp. 350, 351) 

 &quot; Captain Burton, a most experienced observer, believes that 

 a woman whom we consider beautiful is admired throughout 

 the world ;&quot; and &quot; Mr. Winwood Reade,&quot; whose opportunities 



