The Sexes in Science and History. Eliza Burt Gamble
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the perfecting, but not for the origin, of these characters.”
It is useless, however, to rehearse the opinions of the various writers who have dealt with this subject. It is perhaps sufficient to state that the great beauty of males has usually been accepted as evidence of their superiority over the females.
In his chapter, “The Male generally more Modified than the Female,” Mr. Darwin remarks: “Appearances would indicate that not the male which is most attractive to the female is chosen, but the one which is least distasteful.” He says that the aversion of female birds for certain males renders the season of courtship one of great anxiety and discomfiture, not only to many of the more poorly endowed aspirants, but to those also which are more magnificently attired—that the pairing ground becomes a field of battle, upon which, while parading their charms to the best advantage, is sacrificed much of the gorgeous plumage of the contestants. On the wooing ground are displayed for the admiration and approval of the females, all the physical attractions of the males, as well as the mental characters correlated with them, namely, courage, and pugnacity or perseverance. According to Mr. Darwin, with the exception of vanity, no other quality is in any considerable degree manifested by male birds, but to such an extent has love of display been developed in many of them, notably the pea-fowl, that, “in the absence of females of his own species, he will show off his finery before poultry and even pigs.” We are assured that the higher we ascend in the animal kingdom the more frequent and more violent become two desires in the male: “the desire of appearing beautiful, and that of driving away rivals.” According to Mr. Darwin’s theory of development, because of the indifference of the female among the lower orders of life to the processes of courtship, it has been necessary for the male to expend much energy or vital force in searching for her—in contending with his rivals for possession of her person, and in performing various acts to please her and secure her favours. While excessive eagerness in courtship is the one all-absorbing character of male fishes, birds, and mammals, we are assured that with the females, pairing is not only a matter of indifference, but that courtship is actually distasteful to them, and, therefore, that the former must resort to the various means referred to in order to induce the latter to submit to their advances.
We are informed that the female is sometimes charmed through the power of song; that at other times she is captivated by the diversified means which have been acquired by male insects and birds for producing various sounds resembling those proceeding from certain kinds of musical instruments; and not unfrequently she is won by means of antics or love dances performed on the ground or in the air. On the pairing-ground, combs, wattles, elongated plumes, top-knots, and fancy-coloured feathers are paraded for the admiration and approval of the females. Led by the all-absorbing instinct of desire,
the males display their charms with elaborate care and to the best effect; and this is done in the presence of the females. … To suppose that the females do not appreciate the beauty of the males, is to admit that their splendid decorations, and all their pomp and display, are useless; and this is incredible.8
Topknots, gaudy feathers, elongated plumes among birds, huge tusks, horns, etc., among mammals, the mane of the lion, and the beard of man, may be noticed among the many characters which have been acquired through Sexual Selection.
Although the immense teeth, tusks, horns, and various other weapons or appendages which ornament the males of many species of mammals, have all been developed through Sexual Selection for contending with their rivals for the favours of the females, it is observed that the “most pugnacious and best armed males seldom depend for success on their ability to drive away or kill their rivals,” but that their special aim is to “charm the female.” Mr. Darwin quotes from a “good observer,” who believes that the battles of male birds “are all a sham, performed to show themselves to the greatest advantage before the admiring females who assemble around.”9
In The Descent of Man is quoted the following from Mr. Belt, who, after describing the beauty of the Florisuga mellivora, says:
I have seen the female sitting on a branch, and two males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot up like a rocket, then suddenly expanding the snow-white tail, like an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually to show off back and front. … The expanded white tail covered more space than all the rest of the bird, and was evidently the grand feature in the performance. Whilst one male was descending, the other would shoot up and come slowly down expanded. The entertainment would end in a fight between the two performers; but whether the most beautiful or the most pugnacious was the accepted suitor, I know not.10
Audubon, who spent a long life in observing birds, has no doubt that the female deliberately chooses her mate. Of the woodpecker he says the hen is followed by half a dozen suitors, who continue performing strange antics “until a marked preference is shown for one.” Of the red-winged starling it is said that she is pursued by several males “until, becoming fatigued, she alights, receives their addresses, and soon makes a choice.”11 Mr. Darwin quotes further from Audubon, who says that among the Virginia goat-suckers, no sooner has the female “made her choice than her approved gives chase to all intruders, and drives them beyond his dominions.”
It is said that among mammals the male depends almost entirely upon his strength and courage to “charm the female.” With reference to the struggles between animals for the possession of the females, Mr. Darwin says:
This fact is so notorious that it would be superfluous to give instances. Hence the females have the opportunity of selecting one out of several males, on the supposition that their mental capacity suffices for the exertion of a choice.12
We are assured that among nearly all the lower orders of life the female exhibits a marked preference for certain individuals, and that an equal degree of repugnance is manifested towards others, but that the male, whose predominant character is desire, “is ready to pair with any female.” On this subject Mr. Darwin remarks: “The general impression seems to be that the male accepts any female.” He says it frequently occurs that while two males are fighting together to win the favours of a female, she goes away with a third for whom she has a preference. Mr. Darwin quotes from Captain Bryant, who says of a certain species of seals:
Many of the females on their arrival at the island where they breed, appear desirous of returning to some particular male, and frequently climb the outlying rock to overlook the rookeries, calling out and listening as if for a familiar voice. Then changing to another place they do the same again.13
Little seems to be known of the courtship of animals in a state of nature. Among domesticated species, however, many observations have been made by breeders going to prove that the female exerts a choice in pairing. Concerning dogs, Mr. Darwin quotes from Mr. Mayhew, who says: “The females are able to bestow their affections; and tender recollections are as potent over them as they are known to be in other cases where higher animals are concerned.” Of the affection of female dogs for certain males the same writer says it “becomes of more than romantic endurance,” that they manifest a “devotion which no time can afterwards subdue.”
On concluding his chapter on choice in pairing among quadrupeds, Mr. Darwin remarks:
It is improbable that the unions of quadrupeds in a state of nature should be left to mere chance. It is much more probable that the females are allured or excited by particular males, who possess certain characters in a higher degree than other males.14
As the female among birds selects her partner, he thinks it would be a strange anomaly if among quadrupeds, which stand higher in the scale and have higher mental powers, she did not also exert a choice.15
Because of the indifference of the female to the attentions of the male, in order to carry on the processes of reproduction, it was necessary among the lower orders that the male become eager in his pursuit of her, and as a result of this eagerness excessive passion was developed in him. As the most eager would be the most successful in propagating, they would leave the greatest number of offspring to inherit their characters—namely, in males, passion and pugnacity correlated with the physical qualities acquired through Sexual