DIFFICULTIES OF THE THEORY 277 



like progenitor of the whole class. It is scarcely possi- 

 ble to decide how much allowance ought to be made for 

 such causes of change as the definite action of external 

 conditions, so-called spontaneous variations, and the com- 

 plex laws of growth; but with these important excep- 

 tions, we may conclude that the structure of every liv- 

 ing creature either now is, or was formerly, of some 

 direct or indirect use to its possessor. 



With respect to the belief that organic beings have 

 been created beautiful for the delight of man — a belief 

 which it has been pronounced is subversive of my whole 

 theory — I may first remark that the sense of beauty ob- 

 viously depends on the nature of the mind, irrespective 

 of any real quality in the admired object; and that the 

 idea of what is beautiful is not innate or unalterable. 

 We see this, for instance, in the men of different races 

 admiring an entirely different standard of beauty in their 

 women. If beautiful objects had been created solely for 

 man's gratification, it ought to be shown that before man 

 appeared there was less beauty on the face of the earth 

 than since he came on the stage. Were the beautiful 

 volute and cone shells of the Eocene epoch, and the 

 gracefully sculptured ammonites of the Secondary period, 

 created that man might ages afterward admire them in 

 his cabinet? Few objects are more beautiful than the 

 minute siliceous cases of the diatomacese: were these cre- 

 ated that they might be examined and admired under the 

 higher powers of the microscope? The beauty in this 

 latter case, and in many others, is apparently wholly 

 due to symmetry of growth. Flowers rank among the 

 most beautiful productions of nature; but they have been 

 rendered conspicuous in contrast with the green leaves, 



