180 LECTURES ON BIOLOGY 



far from bestowing any advantage on their possessors actually 

 constitutes a distinct impediment in the struggle for existence. 

 Origination by natural selection appears in such cases precluded. 

 Darwin thought that selection was here affected by an intelligent 

 factor : that the females would always select the best and 

 strongest males. This assumption seemed intelligible because 

 in many instances occurring among fishes, amphibians, reptiles, 

 etc., these ornamental colours, the so-called nuptial dress, appear 

 only at pairing time. 



It is also well known that numerous birds, among them 

 bustards capercaillie, grouse, and pheasants, perform during 

 courtship before the hens a regular dance, during which they 

 seek to display their beauty as much as possible. But if we look 

 at the wonderful symmetry and design of the wings of a butterfly 

 or of the peacock's tail, would it not be a gross exaggeration of 

 the intelligence of these animals were we to ascribe the origin 

 of such works of art to their critical selection '? Moreover, 

 we have no right to assume that that which we regard as 

 beautiful is equally so regarded by animals. The fact is that 

 so far observation has supplied no proofs that the more beauti- 

 ful males are really on that ground selected by the females. 

 As with so many phenomena in Nature, we must here again 

 admit that no satisfactory explanation of this phenomenon exists, 



What happens to every eminent man who comes forward 

 with new, fruitful ideas happened to Darwin : he gained enthu- 

 siastic supporters who extended his doctrine but also frequently 

 misunderstood him and fell into gross exaggerations. His 

 method was thought to be the Philosopher's Stone which 

 would reveal all the mysteries of life. The struggle foi 

 existence became a phrase ; the deep meaning which Darwir 

 had given to it became gradually obscured ; competition became 

 a real sanguinary battle ; Hobbes' ' bellum omnium contra 

 omnes ' was accepted as the ' leitmotiv ' of the whole of organic 

 Nature : and in this sanguinary strife was to be found the driving 

 force of all development and progress. Even Huxley said in ar 

 article on the struggle for existence and its importance to man thai 

 from the standpoint of the moralist the animal world presentee 

 a picture resembling that of a battle among gladiators the 

 fighters were first well fed and then incited to merciless slaughtei 



