AT DAGGERS DRAWN 51 



the marvellous chemical laboratory of the body the grass 

 gathered in the same field is converted into flesh which 

 even in its uncooked state is easily distinguishable. 

 Though for the purposes of this illustration domesticated 

 animals have been used, the same is true of their wild 

 relations. Sportsmen tell us that the various types of 

 Antelopes and the Zebra, which may be seen feeding 

 together, have yet flesh of very different qualities. These 

 qualities are to be attributed neither to " Natural " nor to 

 " Sexual " selection ; they are " accidents." Similarly, 

 their horns are the witness of a horn-producing 

 " diathesis " : the various divergencies in curvature, 

 and in the form of their spirals, or the number of their 

 encircling rings — as in the horns of Antelopes — are to be 

 interpreted in like fashion. These twists and turns vary 

 in the same way that the taste of the flesh varies, and 

 for the same reason ; that is to say, they are not the out- 

 come of " Sexual Selection," nor have they been brought 

 about by " Natural Selection " to serve the purpose of 

 " Recognition marks," as Wallace would have us believe. 



But horns, as horns, apart from their " accidents " 

 of curvature and ornament, must certainly be regarded as 

 the product of Sexual selection, for having once started 

 into being those individuals had the best chance of leaving 

 descendants which were best armed. The possession of 

 horns was not necessary to the maintenance of the species ; 

 but such armature was essential among the males in 

 securing possession of the females. Other things being 

 equal, the male with the biggest horns wins the prize. 

 Since these are also used as weapons of offence, or 

 rather of defence, in warding off the attacks of beasts 

 of prey, it might be contended that they are as much 

 the product of Natural selection as of Sexual selection. 



