130 Beauty in the Eyes of an Evolutionist . [March, 
of use to some far-off ancestors, another reason may have 
existed for its being subsequently discarded. The powers of 
an animal’s mind depend greatly upon the degree in which 
it can fix its attention upon one subject at a time. The 
value of performing monkeys depends very much upon the 
degree in which this faculty is possessed. And indeed a 
prolonged fixity of attention upon one point is essential to 
all great mental results. Hence the fixity of gaze of the 
genius, as compared with “ the eyes of the fool, which run 
to and fro in the earth.” Therefore we may suppose that 
the distracting effeCt of a sound-colleCtor might have been 
injurious to man’s advance in intellect. 
Bernstein, in his “ Five Senses of Man,” asserts, with 
reference to the angle (40°) which would be best adapted to 
the purpose of collecting sound into the human auditorium, 
that some persons might object to such an angle “ on 
aesthetic grounds.” But it is certain that if such an angle, 
or any enlargement whatever of the human ear, had been 
advantageous in the struggle for existence in the past, such 
an altered structure would have been highly approved “ on 
aesthetic grounds.” For, if a maximum ability of collecting 
sounds had been most advantageous, those who were con- 
tented with the appearance of a structure deficient in this 
way would have had fewer descendants (to carry on their 
erroneous taste) than those who saw beauty in the greatest 
spread of cartilage that could be beneficial. 
So difficult is it to “ find the mind’s construction in the 
face ” that little pro or con my theory can be brought from 
the expressions of the human countenance. But it may be 
said that the soft smile which gives an additional charm to 
a maiden’s face, by promising placidity of temper, also pro- 
mises a man that his infant will not be injured during the 
period of laCtation by the acidity of the mother’s mind being 
conveyed, as is often the case, to the mammalian food. 
The sentiment expressed in the French proverb “ II faut 
souffrir pour etre belle,” though at first sight apparently ad- 
verse to the theory maintained above, in reality supports 
it. Past suffering may give an additional charm to a beau- 
tiful face, because it is evidence of strong vitality, the 
sufferer being seen to have passed through adversity without 
dying under it. Strong vitality promises many descendants ; 
therefore those who admire any possible visible indication of 
such trait will have always had a correspondingly good 
chance of having such sesthetic taste inherited. 
I will not dwell, in further detail, upon other special 
points of beauty which — being correlative to excellences of 
