Chap. VIII. 
SEXUAL SELECTION. 
279 
by exposing them to any great danger. The develop- 
ment, however, of certain structures— of the horns, for 
instance, in certain stags— has been carried to a 
wonderful extreme ; and in some instances to an 
extreme which, as far as the general conditions of life 
are concerned, must be slightly injurious to the male. 
Prom this fact we learn that the advantages which 
favoured males have derived from conquering other 
males in battle or courtship, and thus leaving a 
numerous progeny, have been in the long run greater 
than those derived from rather more perfect adaptation 
to the external conditions of life. We shall further see, 
and this could never have been anticipated, that the 
power to charm the female has been in some few in- 
stances more important than the power to conquer other 
males in battle. 
LAWS OF INHERITANCE. 
In order to understand how sexual selection has 
acted, and in the course of ages has produced conspicuous 
results with many animals of many classes, it is neces- 
sary to bear in mind the laws of inheritance, as far as 
they are known. Two distinct elements are included 
under the term “ inheritance,” namely the transmission 
and the development of characters; but as these 
generally go together, the distinction is often over- 
looked. We see this distinction in those characters 
which are transmitted through the early years of life, 
but are developed only at maturity or during old 
age. We see the same distinction more clearly with 
secondary sexual characters, for these are transmitted 
through both sexes, though developed in one alone. 
That they are present in both sexes, is manifest when 
two species, having strongly-marked sexual characters, 
are crossed, for each transmits the characters proper to 
