266 THE FACT OF BEAUTY 



the jellyfish, beyond doubt a decorative masterpiece, because 

 he was once stung; he cannot abide the handsome newt be- 

 cause of its clammy skin ; he does not appreciate the snake's 

 beauty because of the Garden of Eden. There is no use 

 trying to get a fair verdict from a packed jury. In testing 

 our thesis we must exclude cases where our impressions are 

 more or less excusably warped by some unpleasant associa- 

 tion — by something which is often at least quite extrinsic 

 to the creature. It is difficult, even for a naturalist, to judge 

 impartially of the artistic merits of parasites, though in 

 some cases, like dodder and mistletoe, the beauty is too 

 strong for our prejudice. In support of the view that l^ature 

 is spotted with ugliness, Prof. James Ward refers to crea- 

 tures like the spinose lizard which has been called Moloch 

 horridus. But his examples are unfortunate. They are 

 animals in regard to which a prejudiced association might 

 readily arise; but they are delightful quaint creatures over 

 which the artist is enthusiastic. 



The other saving-clauses are slightly different. To get 

 a clear issue we must exclude domesticated animals such as 

 prize pigs, and cultivated plants such as the buxom cabbage, 

 which are non-viable in a state of nature, and bear too ob- 

 viously the marks of man's fingers. We may exclude also 

 unfinished or embryonic stages, which are often, as a matter 

 of fact, hidden away very carefully in Nature. We may ex- 

 clude also all captive creatures which are distorted or crippled 

 by parasites or by disease, and all the monsters of the terato- 

 logical show which Nature would not have tolerated for a mo- 

 ment. These are ugly, and we shall see, later on, that there 

 are several objective reasons for their being repulsive to us. 

 Our thesis refers to wholesome wild nature. 



Another saving-clause is significant. If we are to appraise 



