CHAPTER LXIV 
ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—COURTSHIP AND MATING 
It is well known that among a number of savage tribes well- 
developed thews and sinews are an invaluable possession to a 
young man inclined towards matrimony; he has, in short, to fight 
for a wife. Among civilized human communities good looks play 
no unimportant part in the matter, though financial considerations 
are sometimes said to be paramount. We have, in fact, the Law 
of Battle and the Law of Beauty, both very clearly enunciated 
by Darwin in the case of animals, and illustrated by a wealth of 
fact. The former law is admitted by all to have great influence 
in many cases in deciding which individuals shall mate together, 
but Wallace, whose opinion in all zoological matters is entitled 
to the greatest respect, does not think that ornamental males are 
preferred as partners by those of the opposite sex. The part of 
his argument, so far as the human species is concerned, is thus 
expressed (in Darwinism):—‘A young man, when courting, 
brushes or curls his hair, and has his moustache, beard, or whiskers 
in perfect order, and no doubt his sweetheart admires them; but 
this does not prove that she marries him on account of these 
ornaments, still less that hair, beard, whiskers, and moustache 
were developed by the continued preferences of the female sex. 
So, a girl likes to see her lover well and fashionably dressed, and 
he always dresses as well as he can when he visits her; but we 
cannot conclude from this that the whole series of male costumes, 
from the brilliantly-coloured, puffed, and slashed doublet and hose 
of the Elizabethan period, through the gorgeous coats, long waist- 
coats, and pigtails of the early Georgian era, down to the funereal 
dress-suit of the present day, are the direct result of female 
preference.” One is inclined to believe, however, that an average 
girl does prefer a good-looking young man, and that female 
preference has had a directive influence on the evolution of male 
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