"MANKIND IN THE MAKING" 31 



the women indicate the lines of male choice. There is, 

 however, no evidence to show that in the past — for these 

 characters are as old as man himself — woman had any 

 choice whatever in the choice of her mate, save under 

 exceptional circumstances. He was led to this conclusion 

 by one or two striking instances apparently demonstrating 

 this choice, and on these he seems to have based his version 

 of the influence of sexual selection in man. The first 

 of them is furnished by the Hottentots wherein, in both 

 sexes, there is a marked " Steatopygy," or accumula- 

 tion of fat on the buttocks. In the female this is exces- 

 sively developed, and it is said that such females are 

 highly prized by the males. Darwin cites an instance of a 

 woman in which this accumulation was so enormous, that 

 she could only rise with the greatest difficulty from a 

 sitting position. But there is no evidence to show that 

 less favoured females remained unmarried. 



In other tribes the breasts attain excessive proportions, 

 so much so that they can be slung over the shoulder 

 to feed the infant strapped to her back. These may 

 have been increased by sexual selection, the preference 

 of the males for such mates as possessed this feature in the 

 most marked degree ; but there is good reason to believe 

 that such characters, which, it must be remembered, are 

 the outward manifestation of germinal variations, once 

 having appeared, would of themselves, of their own in- 

 herent vitality, have gone on developing. They won 

 favour from long familiarity, which has imparted a 

 semblance of increment from choice. These increments 

 of growth in any given generation would be imperceptible, 

 but variations in excess of the average would be con- 

 spicuous, and excite admiration from their very strange- 

 ness, V 



