242 
Correspondence. 
[April, 
EVOLUTIONIST VIEWS OF BEAUTY. 
To the Editor of the Journal of Science. 
Sir, — Your contributor Mr. Ram, in his attempt to account for 
our sense of beauty on Evolutionist (or rather on Natural Selec- 
tionist) principles, remarks — “The love of mountain scenery 
which some men possess records the fadt that their ancestors 
were benefited by such a taste which led them to dwell in local- 
ities least accessible to the foe.” How does the writer, then, 
account for the fadt that the love of mountain scenery is very 
modern in its origin, and is rapidly increasing, whilst if we look 
back even a couple of centuries we find mountainous regions 
pronounced dismal, desolate, and horrid. — I am, &c., 
Doubter. 
Sir W. Thomson’s communication in our next. 
