CREATION BY LAW. 283 
spangles of the emerald is no better in the battle of 
life than a frill ending in spangles of the ruby. A tail 
is not affected for the purposes of flight, whether its 
marginal or its central feathers are decorated with 
white. . . Mere beauty and mere variety, for their 
own sake, are objects which we ourselves seek when 
we can make the Forces of Nature subordinate to the 
attainment of them. There seems to be no conceivable 
reason why we should doubt or question, that these 
are ends and aims also in the forms given to living 
organisms” (“ Reign of Law,” p. 248). 
Here the statement that ‘‘no connection can be con- 
ceived between the splendour of the humming birds 
and any function essential to their life,” is met by 
the fact, that Mr. Darwin has not only conceived 
but has shown, both by observation and reasoning, 
how beauty of colour and form may have a direct 
influence on the most important of all the functions 
of life, that of reproduction. In the variations to 
which birds are subject, any more brilliant colour 
than usual would be attractive to the females, and 
would lead to the individuals so adorned leaving more 
than the average number of offspring. Experiment 
and observation have shown, that this kind of sexual 
selection does actually take place; and the laws of 
inheritance would necessarily lead to the further de- 
velopment of any individual peculiarity that was at- 
tractive, and thus the splendour of the humming birds 
is directly connected with their very existence. lt is 
true that “a crest of topaz may be no better than a 
