284 THE FACT OF BEAUTY 



In our aesthetic emotion there is a physiological factor of sensory 

 thrill. Pleasant eurhythmic processes are set up within us, — a 

 bodily resonance. But it is a thoroughly mind-and-body or organ- 

 israal feeling. There is a psychological factor or perceptual re- 

 sponse. We project ourselves into the object whose ^ f orm ' (in 

 the widest sense) is significant for us and embodies our feeling. 

 We cannot, except abstractly, separate off * mere sensation ' or 

 ' pure perception ' — it is the whole organism's concern — and it 

 seems very difficult to dissociate from our agsthetic delight the in- 

 fluence of certain concepts. Thus the physiologist, Sir John Bur- 

 don Sanderson, maintained that an appreciation of adaptiveness 

 bulks largely in our aesthetic enjoyment of animal form and struc- 

 ture. Similarly, symbolism may contnbute its inextricable influence; 

 or we may discern the touch of the Divine Artist. 



The elements that make up the impression we call visual beauty 

 are arrangements and combinations of lines and colours, and a 

 pre-condition of the beautiful is some quality of satisfactoriness in 

 this pattern. In the case of animals, and somewhat apart, pleasing 

 movements may be added to the presentation. But the big fact 

 is that the stamp or halo of beauty is on every free individuality, 

 and if the straight lines and the curves, the patterns, the colours, 

 and the apportionment of the colours be expressions of normal vital 

 processes, and so with rhythmic movements, it becomes easier to 

 understand why they should appeal in a pleasant way to whole- 

 some sensoria with the requisite freedom of response. 



The question inevitably arises whether these combinations of 

 lines and colours — which mean so much to us — mean anything to 

 their possessors. 



(a) There is no doubt that the * beauty ' has in some cases direct 

 utility to the organism. For beauty of pattern often spells stable 

 architecture, beauty of line is often the expression of strength and 

 agility, and beauty of colouring often means a life-saving garment 

 of invisibility. And there are other uses. 



(b) In many cases the * beauty' has vital significance though 

 it cannot be called in itself useful. Thus a pleasing succession 

 of concentric lines may represent the ripple-marks of orderly rhyth- 

 mic growth. 



(c) In many cases, however, the beautiful seems to be accessory, 

 without utility either direct or indirect. The lines and colours are 

 harmonious, probably because they are the expressions of unified 

 viable individualities which have stood the test of time. The 



