52 SEX 



pairing in the strict sense. The male deposits 

 the sperms in minute packets or spermato- 

 phores which adhere to stones in the water, 

 and the female passes these into her body. 



^ESTHETIC ATTRACTION. The next step is 

 made when to the primary tactile courtship 

 there is added a variety of aesthetic appeal. 

 We may well say variety, for it is a long 

 gamut that includes the song of the nightingale 

 and the trumpeting of the elephant, the 

 croaking of frogs and the instrumental seren- 

 ading of the cicadas, the drumming of the 

 snipe and the tapping of the death-watch on 

 the wainscot. There are displays of other 

 gifts of strength, agility, and beauty, for 

 the blackcocks hold a tournament before their 

 grey hens, the cock-of-the-rock has an excited 

 dance, and the Argus pheasant displays his 

 hundred eyes. Some of the glow-worms 

 attract their mates by flashes of light, some 

 butterflies by their fragrance. In short, to 

 the physical fondness of one sex for another 

 there is added a more or less elaborate aesthetic 

 fringe, and not the least interesting point is 

 this, that there is scarce a thread of this 

 embroidery that has not been caught up and 

 sublimed in the subtly woven cords of human 

 love. 



Let us take the interesting picture that 

 Prof. Emery has given us of the Italian fire- 

 fly (Luciola italica). The females sit among 

 the grass while the males fly about in search 

 of them. When a female catches sight of the 

 flashes of an approaching male, she allows 

 her splendour to shine. He sees the female's 

 signal, and is swiftly beside her, circling round 



