SEXUAL SELECTION 317 



occurring in the yoang males would almost certainly be 

 eliminated through natural selection. With the adult and 

 experienced males, on the other hand, the advantages de- 

 rived from the acquisition of such characters would more 

 than counterbalance some exposure to danger, and some 

 loss of vital force. 



As variations which give to the male a better chance of 

 conquering other males, or of finding, securing, or charming 

 the opposite sex, would, if they happened to arise in the 

 female, be of no service to her, they would not be preserved 

 in her through sexual selection. We have also good evi- 

 dence with domesticated animals that variations of all kinds 

 are, if not carefully selected, soon lost through intercrossing 

 and accidental deaths. Consequently, in a state of nature, 

 if variations of the above kind chanced to arise in the female 

 line, and to be transmitted exclusively in this line, they 

 would be extremely liable to be lost. If, however, the 

 females varied and transmitted their newly acquired char- 

 acters to their offspring of both sexes, the characters which 

 were advantageous to the males would be preserved by them 

 through sexual selection, and the two sexes would in conse- 

 quence be modified in the same manner, although such 

 characters were of no use to the females; but I shall here- 

 after have to recur to these more intricate contingencies. 

 Lastly, the females may acquire, and apparently have often 

 acquired by transference, characters from the male sex. 



As variations occurring late in life, and transmitted to 

 one sex alone, have incessantly been taken advantage of 

 and accumulated through sexual selection in relation to 

 the reproduction of the species; therefore it appears, at first 

 sight, an unaccountable fact that similar variations have 

 not frequently been accumulated through natural selec- 

 tion, in relation to the ordinary habits of life. If this had 

 occurred, the two sexes would often have been differently 

 modified, for the sake, for instance, of capturing prey or 

 of escaping from danger. Differences of this kind between 

 the two sexes do occasionally occur, especially in the lower 



