266 THE FACT OF BEAUTY 



the jellyfish, beyond doubt a decorative masterpiece, because 

 he was once stung; he cannot abide the handsome newt be- 

 cause of its clammy skin ; he does not appreciate the snake's 

 beauty because of the Garden of Eden. There is no use 

 trying to get a fair verdict from a packed jury. In testing 

 our thesis we must exclude cases where our impressions are 

 more or less excusably warped by some unpleasant associa- 

 tion by something which is often at least quite extrinsic 

 to the creature. It is difficult, even for a naturalist, to judge 

 impartially of the artistic merits of parasites, though in 

 some cases, like dodder and mistletoe, the beauty is too 

 strong for our prejudice. In support of the view that Nature 

 is spotted with ugliness, Prof. James Ward refers to crea- 

 tures like the spinose lizard which has been called Moloch 

 horridus. But his examples are unfortunate. They are 

 animals in regard to which a prejudiced association might 

 readily arise; but they are delightful quaint creatures over 

 which the artist is enthusiastic. 



The other saving-clauses are slightly different. To get 

 a clear issue we must exclude domesticated animals such as 

 prize pigs, and cultivated plants such as the buxom cabbage, 

 which are non-viable in a state of nature, and bear too ob- 

 viously the marks of man's fingers. We may exclude also 

 unfinished or embryonic stages, which are often, as a matter 

 of fact, hidden away very carefully in Nature. We may ex- 

 clude also all captive creatures which are distorted or crippled 

 by parasites or by disease, and all the monsters of the terato- 

 logical show which Nature would not have tolerated for a mo- 

 ment. These are ugly, and we shall see, later on, that there 

 are several objective reasons for their being repulsive to us. 

 Our thesis refers to wholesome wild nature. 



Another saving-clause is significant. If we are to appraise 



