CHAPTER IV; 



AT DAGGERS DRAWN 



The Birth of Weapons — All Flesh is Grass — Utility and Ornament 

 — The Fever of Love — The " Challenge " of the Deer — What 

 it means — More about " Hormones " — " Hummel " Stags — 

 The Age of Deer — The " Courtship " of the Moose — Types of 

 Antlers — Antlered Females — Fighting Topi — The Lance of the 

 Oryx in the Lion's Flanks — Happiness and Hartebeestes — 

 Odoriferous Suitors — The Bloody Sweat of the Hippopotamus 

 — The Elephant in Love — Concerning Tusks — Polygamy. 



From Apes to Antelopes is a far cry, but contrasts are 

 always helpful. Antelopes and Deer, Zebras and Ele- 

 phants, Rhinoceroses and Swine, are types, taken at 

 random, of that great and important group of animals 

 known as the " Ungulates," or " Hoofed " animals. These 

 illustrate in a very striking manner what is meant by 

 the term " Secondary Sexual Characters." They demon- 

 strate no less forcibly what is meant by the term " Sexual 

 Selection." They are valuable in this connection, because 

 of the often formidable weapons, in the shape of horns 

 and tusks, which so many species have developed during 

 the struggle for mates. 



But " Sexual Selection " will not explain their origin, 

 and it is difficult, in the present state of our knowledge, 

 to discover any clues which will reveal this. In seeking 

 these there are certain broad aspects of the problem which 



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