The Law of Battle 
stronger male wins, and thus emerges that par- 
ticular form of sexual selection which Darwin 
termed ‘the law of battle.” 
“There are,” writes Darwin, on page 324 of 
The Descent of Man, “many other structures and 
instincts which must have developed through 
sexual selection—such as the weapons of offence 
and the means of defence of the males for 
fighting with and driving away their rivals— 
their courage and pugnacity—their various orna- 
ments—their contrivances for producing vocal 
or instrumental music—and their glands for 
emitting odours.” The former characters have, 
according to Darwin, been developed by the law 
of battle, and the latter, since they serve only 
to allure or excite the female, by the preference 
of the female. 
“Tt is clear,’ continues Darwin, ‘that these 
characters are the result of sexual and not of 
ordinary selection, since unarmed, unornamented, 
or unattractive males would succeed equally well 
in the battle for life and in leaving a numerous 
progeny, but for the presence of better-endowed 
males. We may infer that this would be the 
case, because the females, which are unarmed and 
unornamented, are able to survive and procreate 
their kind. . . . Just as man can improve the 
breed of his game-cocks by the selection of those 
birds which are victorious in the cockpit, so it 
appears that the strongest and most vigorous 
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