CHAPTER II 

 COURTSHIP IN MAN 



IN man courtship follows the same lines as in 

 animals. Thus among human beings there is fight- 

 ing, display, and competition, although they take 

 different forms and become more conscious in their 

 expression. It is only as man becomes more civi- 

 lized that to the physical there is added a spiritual 

 element. Courtship by means of brute force is 

 gradually abandoned, and more refined methods 

 become more and more prevalent; a woman is then 

 often enabled to choose her partner in marriage in- 

 stead of being forced to the union. Display remains 

 a fundamental factor in courtship, but the attempt 

 now is more consciously artistic. Primitive man 

 paints his body, but as paint is not permanent, he 

 substitutes tattooing, which lasts a life-time. He 

 uses also brightly coloured feathers and flowers; and 

 in time, as man learns the use of tools, metals and 

 stones are taken into service and moulded into orna- 

 mental shapes to decorate the body. Odds and ends, 

 worn on any part of the body where they may prove 

 most effective, are gradually replaced, as knowledge 

 and skill increases, by the great elaboration of clothes 

 which we know to-day. 



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