110 
DAKWINISM. 
advantage, the species may do so, for it is quite possible (and all 
analogy tends to strengthen the idea) that the rationale of the 
insect falling a prey to the plant, is the possession by it of some 
organic imperfection not found in others. 
That which we call beauty in plants and animals, and pro- 
tective resemblance, seems also to come under the action of 
development by natural selection. What do we mean by the 
expression “ Utility of Beauty ” ? and is the possession of beauty 
or adornment of any service to the form of life in which it is- 
fouiid as a means of giving it any advantage over other forms ?' 
The answer which Mr, Darwin and others, including, I believe, 
Messrs. Wallace and Bates, would give to these questions is — ^ 
That beauty in all its forms seems to be of real and essential 
service, and that its possession does really give a certain tangible 
advantage over other forms of life. Thus, according to the views 
of Mr. Darwin and others, the possession of what we call beauty, 
in plant or animal, is not so much an end in itself as a means 
towards an end, which, in so far as the plant or animal is con- 
cerned, is higher and more important than mere beauty, because it 
contributes towards its welfare and preservation in the great 
battle of life, and this is surely of more real importance than that 
the sole or even the chief end of beauty should be to call forth 
the idea in ourselves. We also find that both beauty and 
protective resemblance exist in places and under circumstances 
in which they are hidden from human eyes, and it would seem 
from this that they are rather a natural result of a variation in 
colour, &c., which tends towards the advantage of the form of 
life possessing it, than expressly developed to please our sense of 
beauty. Moreover, though it frequently happens, it is not 
always the case, that these variations in colour or resemblance 
to other forms of life are in themselves what we should call 
beautiful, though they may be of equal advantage, for in those 
cases which strike us most prominently it may perhaps be- 
