324 THE WORLD OF LIFE CHAP, xv 



differences of form and colour. This seems to me to be a 

 kind of reductio ad absurdum, and to constitute a disproof of 

 that whole argument as a final cause of the colour-sense. 

 On the other hand, it gives the strongest support to the view 

 that the refined perception and enjoyment of colour we 

 possess has not, and could not have been developed in us by 

 its survival-value in our early struggle for existence, but that 

 these faculties are, as Huxley remarked in regard to his 

 enjoyment of scenery and of music, " gratuitous gifts," and 

 as such are powerful arguments for "a benevolent Author 

 of the Universe." l 



1 See Darwinism (3rd ed. 1901), p. 478, Appendix. 



