184 



The Naturalist. 



that exists entirely beyond tlie scope of his theories, and to enquire 

 the meaning of its presence. 



It is remarkable how man finds everywhere where his hand has not 

 marred Nature's fair work, numberless objects which appeal to his 

 sense of beauty infinitely more completely than the greatest triumphs 

 of human art ; and even when his ruthless hand has for a while 

 destroyed this beauty, if he leaves her undisturbed to work, with 

 invisible fingers she will restore it again. Everywhere around us it is 

 found. Beneath our feet is spread a gay carpet of green, above we are 

 encircled with a firmament filled with ever-changing glows. Now it 

 glows a brilliant mass of richest blue, and again it is filled with 

 fantastic clouds ; they grow darker and darker, and as night closes 

 upon us the lightning plays amidst their frowning forms, and yet again 

 the clouds are gone, the sound of the trumpet is hushed, and we stand 

 beneath the sparkling splendour of the stars. Alike where meadow on 

 meadow stretches out as far as the eye reaches, decked with fair trees, 

 and filled with dancing corn, and where amidst barren mountains and 

 grim peaks, that seem the thunder's home, the cataract holds carnival, 

 there is something that fills man's soul with inexpressible delight. 

 Thus we see that even the part of nature that is independent of any 

 theory of selection teems with beauty, and it is found in many 

 instances amongst living organisms under circumstances which entirely 

 exclude any such theory as an explanation. The rich colour of the 

 blood, as Darwin himself points out, is a good exemplary case ; and 

 though the bright colours of flowers seem to have been developed by 

 sexual seleclion, the lovely green of chlorophyll, the splendid tints of 

 the dying leaves in autumn (another of Darwin's own instances), and 

 the graceful forms of trees and other plants, cannot have been thus 

 developed. What, then, is the meaning of the existence of all this 

 beauty 1 Why should we admire Nature's works more than the 

 products of our own art, and indeed esteem him the greatest artist 

 who best interprets her Much of his own work man axlmits to be 

 positively repulsive to his own aesthetic taste. He has to search far 

 and wide to find such an object in nature. As a rule, when natural 

 objects are repulsive they are so from unpleasant associations, and not 

 from any inherent ugliness. I am of course always assuming that they 

 are viewed in their ordinary place in nature, 'i'he caged lion's roar is 

 deafening and profoundly unpleasant ; in its native wilds it is said to 

 be imposing in the extreme. 



Our natural repugnance to rats, beetles, and spiders probably arises 

 from their frequent intrusion in our habitations and amongst our food 



