SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS 113 



Allen suggests that if the word conspicuousness is sub- 

 stituted for the word beauty, the objection may to some 

 extent be met. The more conspicuous male would be 

 more likely to attract attention and be selected. 



It has been pointed out that there is more than a 

 suspicion that the contests of the males for the females 

 are sham affairs. They are like certain duels. There 

 is seldom any one hurt. There are very few records of 

 injured males, but many accounts of tremendous 

 battles. And he who fights and runs away will live 

 to mate another day. 



It is clear, I think, that the case against the theory 

 must rest its claims on actual evidence rather than on ar- 

 guments or poetry pro or con. Darwin admitted that 

 the evidence was meager. Since his time something 

 more has been done. Let us consider some of this new 

 evidence. 



It will be conceded, I think, that Alfred Wallace, 

 through his wide experience with animals in their 

 native haunts, is in a position to give weighty evidence 

 concerning the behavior of animals. He was with 

 Darwin a co-discoverer of the theory of Natural Se- 

 lection and cannot be supposed to be prejudiced against 

 the selection principle. Yet Wallace has from the 

 beginning strongly opposed the theory of sexual se- 

 lection. Let me quote him : 



Referring to Darwin's theory of Sexual Selection — 



"I have long held this portion of Darwin's theory to 

 be erroneous — and have held that the primary cause 

 of sexual diversity of color was the need of protection, 

 repressing in the female those bright colors which are 

 normally produced in both sexes by general laws." 



