APPARENT EXCEPTIONS. 203 



into long plumes, which the bird can erect and 

 spread out like a fan, as a Peacock spreads his 

 train. These feathers are decorated with a series 

 of conspicuous spots or " eyes," which are so 

 coloured as to imitate the effect of balls. The 

 shadows and the "high light" are placed exactly 

 where an artist would place them in order to re- 

 present a sphere.* The " eyes " of the Peacock's 

 train are wonderful examples of ornament ; but 

 they do not represent anything except their own 

 harmonies of colour. The " eyes " of the Argus 

 Pheasant are like the " ball and socket " ornament, 

 which is common in the decorations of human art. 

 It is no answer to this argument in respect to 

 beauty, that we are constantly discovering the use 

 of beautiful structures in which the beauty only, 

 and not the usefulness, had been hitherto perceived. 

 The harmonies on which all beauty probably de- 

 pends are so minutely connected in Nature that 

 " use " and ornament may often both arise out of 

 the same conditions. Thus, some of the most 

 beautiful lines on the surface of shells, are simply 



* I owe the observation of this curious fact to my friend Mr 

 James Nasmyth, so well known as the inventor of the Steam 

 Hammer and as a distinguished astronomer. 



