Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/677

Rh lappets of the gallinaceous birds; the beaks of toucans, hornbills, and cassowaries; the wonderful marking of the peacock and the Argus pheasant. Any one who wishes really to understand the immense variety of ornamentation which has thus resulted should pay a visit to the ornithological rooms in the British Museum, and observe the innumerable devices for attracting attention which exist in almost every order of birds. Perhaps the familiar lyre-bird offers the very finest example of all, so far as beauty of form and symmetry of arrangement are concerned. It is specially noticeable, however, that in almost every case the decorations are lavished on the very same parts on which they would have been bestowed by human taste.

If, then, we put together all the scattered indications thus afforded us, if we consider the taste for sweet food and delicate perfumes, the song of the nightingale and the graceful movements of the swan, the metallic colors of the flower-feeders, the exquisite hues of the fruit eaters, the varied plumage of the birds-of-paradise, the beautiful nests and bowers, the habit of abstracting brilliant objects, the universal loveliness of shape or tint throughout the whole class—we can hardly doubt that birds, as a whole, possess aesthetic endowments of a very high order. Let us proceed to consider the general bearings of these views upon the question of sexual selection.

Mr. Herbert Spencer, in a very remarkable essay upon personal beauty, has shown that in the human race we regard as beautiful, on the whole, just those personal peculiarities which are, roughly speaking, the external marks of fitness for the conditions of human life. More especially do we admire those points which bespeak a physique adapted for the duties of paternity and maternity. We dislike excessive leanness or excessive fat; a sallow or a bloated complexion; deformity or extreme departure from the normal type. On the other hand, we like in man robust and muscular limbs, an erect carriage, an open chest, a virile development of beard and whiskers, with all the other outward signs of health and strength. We like in woman a womanly and tender face, a fine and well-developed figure, and all the other outward signs of health, and more especially of healthy maternal capacities. We like in both sexes an abundant crop of hair, clear and bright eyes, white and well-set teeth, red lips, and cheeks which show a good and sound circulation; we like an expression which betokens good humor, moral qualities, and refinement; lastly, we like a face which indicates intellectual power and ability to succeed in the highly complex struggle for life in the midst of which our lot is cast. One or other of these points we may occasionally waive in consideration of other special claims; but if anybody asks in the abstract whether we prefer a stunted physique to well-grown limbs and muscles; a flat-chested woman to one with a finely-proportioned bust—unhealthy and sallow skin to a clear complexion; a sour-looking, mean, or brutal face to a bright, joyous, open, and honest countenance; silly