[651] DARWIN, _op. cit._, chap. xiii, 367; chap. viii, 214 (prolonged courtship of animals). _Cf._ WESTERMARCK, _op. cit._, 159.
[652] DARWIN, _op. cit._, chap. xxi, 614.
[653] _Ibid._, chap. viii, 211; _cf. ibid._, 496, 554.
[655] DARWIN, _op. cit._, chap. xvi, 496.
[656] WALLACE, _Darwinism_, 268-300; also his _Tropical Nature_, 221-48.
[657] Accepting TYLOR'S results in _Coloration of Animals and Plants_ (London, 1886).
[658] WESTERMARCK, _op. cit._, 252, 249. WALLACE has also noted the use of colors as a means of recognition: _Darwinism_, 217 ff.; and admits that the sexual colors may become _pleasing_ to the females, though they may be devoid of an æsthetic sense. This alleged inconsistency is criticised by POULTON, _Colours of Animals_, 286.
[659] WESTERMARCK, _op. cit._, 240-52, especially 241, 244, 251, 252.
For a comparison of the different theories of sexual selection see GEDDES AND THOMPSON, _Evolution of Sex_, 3-30, who think the truth lies between the views of Darwin and Wallace; POULTON, _op. cit._, 284-335, who sustains Darwin's view; and FINCK, _Primitive Love_, 229 ff., who attempts "to demolish the theory of sexual selection in reference to the lower races of man as Wallace demolished it in reference to animals." _Cf._ ESPINAS, _Des sociétés animales_, 290 ff.; BROOKS, _Law of Heredity_ (1883), 166-241; GROOS, _Die Spiele der Thiere_, 230 ff., 267 ff., who takes a medial position between Darwin and Wallace; WEISMANN, _Studies in the Theory of Descent_ (London, 1882), I, 161 ff.; EIMER, _Die Entstehung der Arten_ (1888); and GEDDES, articles "Reproduction," "Sex," "Variation and Selection," in _Encycl. Brit._
Turning now to the human race, we find that the same law prevails. Savage and barbarous men are passionately fond of self-decoration and display. "There are peoples," says Westermarck, "destitute of almost everything which we regard as necessaries of life, but there is no people so rude as not to take pleasure in ornaments;" and he quotes Spencer's remark that, great as is the vanity of the civilized, it is exceeded by the vanity of the uncivilized.[660] Every sort of decoration is in use. Attention is paid especially to the arrangement of the hair. The body is disfigured or transformed in a variety of ways. The ears, nose, or cheeks are pierced or bored, and rings or other ornaments inserted. The teeth are colored or otherwise mutilated; and the body is scarred, painted, or tattooed.[661] Now it is demonstrated by wide observation that the primary purpose of self-decoration is the stimulation of sexual passion. In all parts of the world the desire for it "is strongest at the beginning of the age of puberty," all such customs "being practiced most zealously at that period of life."[662] The "common notion that women are by nature vainer and more addicted to dressing and decorating themselves than men" does not hold good, at any rate for savage and barbarous peoples. The females are, of course, often fond of adornment, in this way trying to please or attract their lovers. In some cases tattooing is practiced "exclusively or predominately" by the women, and "the men sometimes wear fewer ornaments;" but as a general rule it is the man who shows the greater desire to beautify himself as a means of gaining the favor of the opposite sex.[663] The woman requires to be wooed, for she is more fastidious than man in the choice of a mate. "A Maori proverb says, 'Let a man be ever so good-looking, he will not be much sought after; but let a woman be ever so plain, men will still eagerly seek after her.'"[664] Besides, it is remarked that "very generally among the lower races, the females are even more unattractive in aspect than the males."[665] But both sexes co-operate in the process of selection; and as social institutions are developed man shares in it more and more. In this way are transmitted the distinctive mental and physical characteristics of each race which are necessary to its survival, and upon which its standard of beauty depends.[666]