THE METHOD 83 



seiously take up with the conqueror, or as has been said 

 in case of the bee, when the female makes the choice, 

 there is little difference between natural and sexual 

 selection. It is always a natural impulse, according to 

 a law of nature, which determines the parentage in 

 such instances. 



As said by Mr. Darwin. "In most cases of this kind 

 it is impossible to distinguish between the effects of 

 natural and sexual selection." If there occur, in the 

 brain of a bird, for instance, a variation of structure 

 making it a lover of the beautiful, as is the case of the 

 bower bird; while that fact may not seem to us to 

 materially aid the bird in its struggle for mere exis- 

 tence, yet it undoubtedly does so, in the maintenance 

 of the correspondence of its aestheticism, with a similar 

 aesthetic environment. 



Certain humming birds decorate their nests with 

 great taste. But the bower-bird in Australia, exhibits 

 the most decided love for the beautiful in the construc- 

 tion of its bower. ' ' The satin bower bird collects gaily 

 colored articles, such as the blue tail feathers of the 

 parrakeets, bleached bones and shells, which it sticks 

 between the twigs or arranges at the entrance. * * * 

 These objects are continually, carried about or re- 

 arranged, by the birds while at play. ' ' (Darwin) . 



The beautiful plumage of some male birds, and the 

 fine forms of larger size, characteristic of males, gen- 

 erally, throughout the animal kingdom, are an aesthe- 

 tic, as well as a physical contribution to the perpetu- 

 ation of the strong in biological evolution. The love of 

 the beautiful is shown in all animals, where sexual 

 selection is apparent. This applies to mammals, birds, 

 reptiles, fishes, insects and crustaceans. It is thus 

 shown that the perpetuation of the races is largely in- 



