Darwin's Theory of Sexual Selection 2 1 1 



females, which appears in some races to be practised to an 

 astonishing degree ; third, early betrothals ; fourth, the hold- 

 ing of women as slaves. 



When we recall that selection to be effective can only 

 be carried out under very exacting conditions, we cannot 

 but be appalled at the demands made here on our credulity. 

 The choice of the women has produced the beard of man, 

 the choice of man the absence of a beard in women ; the 

 competition of the males with each other is leading at the 

 same time to the development of at least half a dozen 

 qualities that are supposed to be male specialities, and 

 while all this is going on the results are being checked 

 sometimes by one means, sometimes by another. Moreover, 

 even this is not all that we are asked to accept, for there 

 are several other qualities of the male that are put down as 

 secondary sexual characters. For example, let us examine 

 what Darwin has to say in regard to the development of 

 the voice, and of singing in man. 



In man the vocal cords are about a third longer than in 

 woman and his voice deeper. Emasculation arrests the de- 

 velopment of the vocal apparatus, and the voice remains like 

 that of a woman. This difference between the sexes, Dar- 

 win thinks, is due probably to long-continued use by the 

 male " under the excitement of love, rage, and jealousy." 

 In other words, an appeal is again made to the Lamarckian 

 theory, and in this case to explain the origin of an organ that 

 conforms to all the requirements of the secondary sexual 

 characters. 



" The capacity and love for singing, or music, though not a 

 sexual character in man," in the sense of being confined to 

 one sex, yet is supposed to have arisen through sexual selec- 

 tion in the following way : " Human song is generally 

 admitted to be the basis or origin of instrumental music. 

 As neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of producing 

 musical notes are faculties of the least use to man in refer- 



