The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 63. Head of common wild boar, in prime of life (from Brehm).]

The males of some few quadrupeds possess organs or parts developed solely as a means of defence against the attacks of other males. Some kinds of deer use, as we have seen, the upper branches of their horns chiefly or exclusively for defending themselves; and the Oryx antelope, as I am informed by Mr. Bartlett, fences most skilfully with his long, gently curved horns; but these are likewise used as organs of offence.

Rhinoceroses, as the same observer remarks, in fighting parry each other's sidelong blows with their horns, which loudly clatter together, as do the tusks of boars. Although wild boars fight desperately together, they seldom, according to Brehm, receive fatal blows, as these fall on each other's tusks, or on the layer of gristly skin covering the shoulder, which the German hunters call the shield; and here we have a part specially modified for defence. With boars in the prime of life (see fig. 63) the tusks in the lower jaw are used for fighting but they become in old age, as Brehm states, so much curved inwards and upwards, over the snout, that they can no longer be thus used. They may, however, still continue to serve, and even in a still more effective manner, as a means of defence. In compensation for the loss of the lower tusks as weapons of offence, those in the upper jaw, which always project a little laterally, increase so much in length during old age, and curve so much upwards, that they can be used as a means of attack.

Nevertheless an old boar is not so dangerous to man as one at the age of six or seven years.[322]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig 64. Skull of the Babirusa Pig (from Wallace's 'Malay Archipelago')]

In the full-grown male Babirusa pig of Celebes (fig. 64), the lower tusks are formidable weapons, like those of the European boar in the prime of life, whilst the upper tusks are so long and have their points so much curled inwards, sometimes even touching the forehead, that they are utterly useless as weapons of attack. They more nearly resemble horns than teeth, and are so manifestly useless as teeth that the animal was formerly supposed to rest his head by hooking them on to a branch.

Their convex surfaces would, however, if the head were held a little laterally, serve as an excellent guard; and hence, perhaps it is that in old animals they "are generally broken off, as if by fighting."[323]

Here, then, we have the curious case of the upper tusks of the Babirusa regularly a.s.suming during the prime of life, a structure which apparently renders them fitted only for defence; whilst in the European boar the lower and opposite tusks a.s.sume in a less degree and only during old age nearly the same form, and then serve in like manner solely for defence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 65. Head of aethiopian Wart-hog, from 'Proc. Zool.

Soc.' 1869. (I now find that this drawing represents the head of a female, but it serves to shew, on a reduced scale, the characters of the male.)]

In the wart-hog (_Phacochrus aethiopicus_, fig. 65) the tusks in the upper jaw of the male curve upwards during the prime of life, and from being pointed, serve as formidable weapons. The tusks in the lower jaw are sharper than those in the upper, but from their shortness it seems hardly possible that they can be used as weapons of attack. They must, however, greatly strengthen those in the upper jaw, from being ground so as to fit closely against their bases. Neither the upper nor the lower tusks appear to have been specially modified to act as guards, though, no doubt, they are thus used to a certain extent. But the wart-hog is not dest.i.tute of other special means of protection, for there exists, on each side of the face, beneath the eyes, a rather stiff, yet flexible, cartilaginous, oblong pad (fig. 65), which projects two or three inches outwards; and it appeared to Mr. Bartlett and myself, when viewing the living animal, that these pads, when struck from beneath by the tusks of an opponent, would be turned upwards, and would thus protect in an admirable manner the somewhat prominent eyes.

These boars, as I may add on the authority of Mr. Bartlett, when fighting together, stand directly face to face.

Lastly, the African river-hog (_Potamoch.o.e.rus penicillatus_) has a hard cartilaginous k.n.o.b on each side of the face beneath the eyes, which answers to the flexible pad of the wart-hog; it has also two bony prominences on the upper jaw above the nostrils. A boar of this species in the Zoological Gardens recently broke into the cage of the wart-hog.

They fought all night-long, and were found in the morning much exhausted, but not seriously wounded. It is a significant fact, as shewing the purpose of the above-described projections and excrescences, that these were covered with blood, and were scored and abraded in an extraordinary manner.

The mane of the lion forms a good defence against the one danger to which he is liable, namely the attacks of rival lions: for the males, as Sir. A. Smith informs me, engage in terrible battles, and a young lion dares not approach an old one. In 1857 a tiger at Bromwich broke into the cage of a lion, and a fearful scene ensued; "the lion's mane saved his neck and head from being much injured, but the tiger at last succeeded in ripping up his belly, and in a few minutes he was dead."[324] The broad ruff round the throat and chin of the Canadian lynx (_Felis Canadensis_) is much longer in the male than in the female; but whether it serves as a defence I do not know. Male seals are well known to fight desperately together, and the males of certain kinds (_Otaria jubata_)[325] have great manes, whilst the females have small ones or none. The male baboon of the Cape of Good Hope (_Cynocephalus porcarius_) has a much longer mane and larger canine teeth than the female; and the mane probably serves as a protection, for on asking the keepers in the Zoological Gardens, without giving them any clue to my object, whether any of the monkeys especially attacked each other by the nape of the neck, I was answered that this was not the case, excepting with the above baboon. In the Hamadryas baboon, Ehrenberg compares the mane of the adult male to that of a young lion, whilst in the young of both s.e.xes and in the female the mane is almost absent.

It appeared to me probable that the immense woolly mane of the male American bison, which reaches almost to the ground, and is much more developed in the males than in the females, served as a protection to them in their terrible battles; but an experienced hunter told Judge Caton that he had never observed anything which favoured this belief.

The stallion has a thicker and fuller mane than the mare; and I have made particular inquiries of two great trainers and breeders who have had charge of many entire horses, and am a.s.sured that they "invariably endeavour to seize one another by the neck." It does not, however, follow from the foregoing statements, that when the hair on the neck serves as a defence, that it was originally developed for this purpose, though this is probable in some cases, as in that of the lion. I am informed by Mr. McNeill that the long hairs on the throat of the stag (_Cervus elephas_) serve as a great protection to him when hunted, for the dogs generally endeavour to seize him by the throat; but it is not probable that these hairs were specially developed for this purpose; otherwise the young and the females would, as we may feel a.s.sured, have been equally protected.

_On Preference or Choice in Pairing, as shewn by either s.e.x of Quadrupeds._-Before describing, in the next chapter, the differences between the s.e.xes in voice, odour emitted, and ornamentation, it will be convenient here to consider whether the s.e.xes exert any choice in their unions. Does the female prefer any particular male, either before or after the males may have fought together for supremacy; or does the male, when not a polygamist, select any particular female? The general impression amongst breeders seems to be that the male accepts any female; and this, owing to his eagerness, is, in most cases, probably the truth. Whether the female as a general rule indifferently accepts any male is much more doubtful. In the fourteenth chapter, on Birds, a considerable body of direct and indirect evidence was advanced, shewing that the female selects her partner; and it would be a strange anomaly if female quadrupeds, which stand higher in the scale of organisation and have higher mental powers, did not generally, or at least often, exert some choice. The female could in most cases escape, if wooed by a male that did not please or excite her; and when pursued, as so incessantly occurs, by several males, she would often have the opportunity, whilst they were fighting together, of escaping with, or at least of temporarily pairing with, some one male. This latter contingency has often been observed in Scotland with female red-deer, as I have been informed by Sir Philip Egerton.[326]

It is scarcely possible that much should be known about female quadrupeds exerting in a state of nature any choice in their marriage unions. The following very curious details on the courtship of one of the eared seals, _Callorhinus ursinus_, are given[327] on the authority of Capt. Bryant, who had ample opportunities for observation. He says, "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 rocks to overlook the rookeries, calling out and listening as if for a familiar voice. Then changing to another place they do the same again.... As soon as a female reaches the sh.o.r.e, the nearest male goes down to meet her, making meanwhile a noise like the clucking of a hen to her chickens. He bows to her and coaxes her until he gets between her and the water so that she cannot escape him. Then his manner changes, and with a harsh growl he drives her to a place in his harem. This continues until the lower row of harems is nearly full.

Then the males higher up select the time when their more fortunate neighbours are off their guard to steal their wives. This they do by taking them in their mouths and lifting them over the heads of the other females, and carefully placing them in their own harem, carrying them as cats do their kittens. Those still higher up pursue the same method until the whole s.p.a.ce is occupied. Frequently a struggle ensues between two males for the possession of the same female, and both seizing her at once pull her in two or terribly lacerate her with their teeth. When the s.p.a.ce is all filled, the old male walks around complacently reviewing his family, scolding those who crowd or disturb the others, and fiercely driving off all intruders. This surveillance always keeps him actively occupied."

As so little is known about the courtship of animals in a state of nature, I have endeavoured to discover how far our domesticated quadrupeds evince any choice in their unions. Dogs offer the best opportunity for observation, as they are carefully attended to and well understood. Many breeders have expressed a strong opinion on this head.

Thus Mr. Mayhew remarks, "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. b.i.t.c.hes are not always prudent in their loves, but are apt to fling themselves away on curs of low degree. If reared with a companion of vulgar appearance, there often springs up between the pair a devotion which no time can afterwards subdue. The pa.s.sion, for such it really is, becomes of a more than romantic endurance." Mr. Mayhew, who attended chiefly to the smaller breeds, is convinced that the females are strongly attracted by males of large size.[328] The well-known veterinary Blaine states[329] that his own female pug became so attached to a spaniel, and a female setter to a cur, that in neither case would they pair with a dog of their own breed until several weeks had elapsed. Two similar and trustworthy accounts have been given me in regard to a female retriever and a spaniel, both of which became enamoured with terrier-dogs.

Mr. Cupples informs me that he can personally vouch for the accuracy of the following more remarkable case, in which a valuable and wonderfully-intelligent female terrier loved a retriever, belonging to a neighbour, to such a degree that she had often to be dragged away from him. After their permanent separation, although repeatedly shewing milk in her teats, she would never acknowledge the courtship of any other dog, and to the regret of her owner, never bore puppies. Mr. Cupples also states that a female deerhound now (1868) in his kennel has thrice produced puppies, and on each occasion shewed a marked preference for one of the largest and handsomest, but not the most eager, of four deerhounds living with her, all in the prime of life. Mr. Cupples has observed that the female generally favours a dog whom she has a.s.sociated with and knows; her shyness and timidity at first incline her against a strange dog. The male, on the contrary, seems rather inclined towards strange females. It appears to be rare when the male refuses any particular female, but Mr. Wright, of Yeldersley House, a great breeder of dogs, informs me that he has known some instances; he cites the case of one of his own deerhounds, who would not take any notice of a particular female mastiff, so that another deerhound had to be employed. It would be superfluous to give other cases, and I will only add that Mr. Barr, who has carefully bred many blood-hounds, states that in almost every instance particular individuals of the opposite s.e.x shew a decided preference for each other. Finally Mr. Cupples, after attending to this subject for another year, has recently written to me, "I have had full confirmation of my former statement, that dogs in breeding form decided preferences for each other, being often influenced by size, bright colour, and individual character, as well as by the degree of their previous familiarity."

In regard to horses, Mr. Blenkiron, the greatest breeder of race-horses in the world, informs me that stallions are so frequently capricious in their choice, rejecting one mare and without any apparent cause taking to another, that various artifices have to be habitually used. The famous Monarque, for instance, would never consciously look at the dam of Gladiateur, and a trick had to be practised. We can partly see the reason why valuable race-horse stallions, which are in such demand, should be so particular in their choice. Mr. Blenkiron has never known a mare to reject a horse; but this has occurred in Mr. Wright's stable, so that the mare had to be cheated. Prosper Lucas[330] quotes various statements from French authorities, and remarks, "On voit des etalons qui s'eprennent d'une jument, et negligent toutes les autres." He gives, on the authority of Baelen, similar facts in regard to bulls. Hoffberg, in describing the domesticated reindeer of Lapland, says, "Fmina majores et fortiores mares prae caeteris admittunt, ad eos confugiunt, a junioribus agitatae, qui hos in fugam conjiciunt."[331] A clergyman, who has bred many pigs, a.s.sures me that sows often reject one boar and immediately accept another.

From these facts there can be no doubt that with most of our domesticated quadrupeds strong individual antipathies and preferences are frequently exhibited, and much more commonly by the female than by the male. This being the case, 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; but what these characters are, we can seldom or never discover with certainty.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SECONDARY s.e.xUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS-_continued_.

Voice-Remarkable s.e.xual peculiarities in seals-Odour-Development of the hair-Colour of the hair and skin-Anomalous case of the female being more ornamented than the male-Colour and ornaments due to s.e.xual selection-Colour acquired for the sake of protection-Colour, though common to both s.e.xes, often due to s.e.xual selection-On the disappearance of spots and stripes in adult quadrupeds-On the colours and ornaments of the Quadrumana-Summary.

Quadrupeds use their voices for various purposes, as a signal of danger, as a call from one member of a troop to another, or from the mother to her lost offspring, or from the latter for protection to their mother; but such uses need not here be considered. We are concerned only with the difference between the voices of the two s.e.xes, for instance between that of the lion and lioness, or of the bull and cow. Almost all male animals use their voices much more during the rutting-season than at any other time; and some, as the giraffe and porcupine,[332] are said to be completely mute excepting at this season. As the throats (i.e. the larynx and thyroid bodies[333]) of stags become periodically enlarged at the commencement of the breeding-season, it might be thought that their powerful voices must be then in some way of high importance to them; but this is very doubtful. From information given to me by two experienced observers, Mr. McNeill and Sir P. Egerton, it seems that young stags under three years old do not roar or bellow; and that the old ones begin bellowing at the commencement of the breeding-season, at first only occasionally and moderately, whilst they restlessly wander about in search of the females. Their battles are prefaced by loud and prolonged bellowing, but during the actual conflict they are silent. Animals of all kinds which habitually use their voices, utter various noises under any strong emotion, as when enraged and preparing to fight; but this may merely be the result of their nervous excitement, which leads to the spasmodic contraction of almost all the muscles of the body, as when a man grinds his teeth and clenches his hands in rage or agony. No doubt stags challenge each other to mortal combat by bellowing; but it is not likely that this habit could have led through s.e.xual selection, that is by the loudest-voiced males having been the most successful in their conflicts, to the periodical enlargement of the vocal organs; for the stags with the most powerful voices, unless at the same time the strongest, best-armed, and most courageous, would not have gained any advantage over their rivals with weaker voices. The stags, moreover, which had weaker voices, though not so well able to challenge other stags, would have been drawn to the place of combat as certainly as those with stronger voices.

It is possible that the roaring of the lion may be of some actual service to him in striking terror into his adversary; for when enraged he likewise erects his mane and thus instinctively tries to make himself appear as terrible as possible. But it can hardly be supposed that the bellowing of the stag, even if it be of any service to him in this way, can have been important enough to have led to the periodical enlargement of the throat. Some writers suggest that the bellowing serves as a call to the female; but the experienced observers above quoted inform me that female deer do not search for the male, though the males search eagerly for the females, as indeed might be expected from what we know of the habits of other male quadrupeds. The voice of the female, on the other hand, quickly brings to her one or more stags,[334] as is well known to the hunters who in wild countries imitate her cry. If we could believe that the male had the power to excite or allure the female by his voice, the periodical enlargement of his vocal organs would be intelligible on the principle of s.e.xual selection, together with inheritance limited to the same s.e.x and season of the year; but we have no evidence in favour of this view. As the case stands, the loud voice of the stag during the breeding season does not seem to be of any special service to him, either during his courtship or battles, or in any other way. But may we not believe that the frequent use of the voice, under the strong excitement of love, jealousy, and rage, continued during many generations, may at last have produced an inherited effect on the vocal organs of the stag, as well as of other male animals? This appears to me, with our present state of knowledge, the most probable view.

The male gorilla has a tremendous voice, and when adult is furnished with a laryngeal sack, as is likewise the adult male orang.[335] The gibbons rank amongst the noisiest of monkeys, and the Sumatra species (_Hylobates syndactylus_) is also furnished with a laryngeal sack; but Mr. Blyth, who has had opportunities for observation, does not believe that the male is more noisy than the female. Hence, these latter monkeys probably use their voices as a mutual call; and this is certainly the case with some quadrupeds, for instance with the beaver.[336] Another gibbon, the _H. agilis_, is highly remarkable, from having the power of emitting a complete and correct octave of musical notes,[337] which we may reasonably suspect serves as a s.e.xual charm; but I shall have to recur to this subject in the next chapter. The vocal organs of the American _Mycetes caraya_ are one-third larger in the male than in the female, and are wonderfully powerful. These monkeys, when the weather is warm, make the forests resound during the morning and evening with their overwhelming voices. The males begin the dreadful concert, in which the females, with their less powerful voices, sometimes join, and which is often continued during many hours. An excellent observer, Rengger,[338]

could not perceive that they were excited to begin their concert by any special cause; he thinks that like many birds, they delight in their own music, and try to excel each other. Whether most of the foregoing monkeys have acquired their powerful voices in order to beat their rivals and to charm the females-or whether the vocal organs have been strengthened and enlarged through the inherited effects of long-continued use without any particular good being gained-I will not pretend to say; but the former view, at least in the case of the _Hylobates agilis_, seems the most probable.

I may here mention two very curious s.e.xual peculiarities occurring in seals, because they have been supposed by some writers to affect the voice. The nose of the male sea-elephant (_Macrorhinus proboscideus_), when about three years old, is greatly elongated during the breeding-season, and can then be erected. In this state it is sometimes a foot in length. The female at no period of life is thus provided, and her voice is different. That of the male consists of a wild, hoa.r.s.e, gurgling noise, which is audible at a great distance, and is believed to be strengthened by the proboscis. Lesson compares the erection of the proboscis, to the swelling of the wattles of male gallinaceous birds, whilst they court the females. In another allied kind of seal, namely, the bladder-nose (_Cystophora cristata_), the head is covered by a great hood or bladder. This is internally supported by the septum of the nose, which is produced far backwards and rises into a crest seven inches in height. The hood is clothed with short hair, and is muscular; it can be inflated until it more than equals the whole head in size! The males when rutting fight furiously on the ice, and their roaring "is said to be sometimes so loud as to be heard four miles off." When attacked by man they likewise roar or bellow; and whenever irritated the bladder is inflated. Some naturalists believe that the voice is thus strengthened, but various other uses have been a.s.signed to this extraordinary structure. Mr. R. Brown thinks that it serves as a protection against accidents of all kinds. This latter view is not probable, if what the sealers have long maintained is correct, namely, that the hood or bladder is very poorly developed in the females and in the males whilst young.[339]

_Odour._-With some animals, as with the notorious skunk of America, the overwhelming odour which they emit appears to serve exclusively as a means of defence. With shrew-mice (Sorex) both s.e.xes possess abdominal scent-glands, and there can be little doubt, from the manner in which their bodies are rejected by birds and beasts of prey, that their odour is protective; nevertheless the glands become enlarged in the males during the breeding-season. In many quadrupeds the glands are of the same size in both s.e.xes;[340] but their use is not known. In other species the glands are confined to the males, or are more developed in them than in the females; and they almost always become more active during the rutting-season. At this period the glands on the sides of the face of the male elephant enlarge and emit a secretion having a strong musky odour.

The rank effluvium of the male goat is well known, and that of certain male deer is wonderfully strong and persistent. On the banks of the Plata I have perceived the whole air tainted with the odour of the male _Cervus campestris_, at the distance of half a mile to leeward of a herd; and a silk handkerchief, in which I carried home a skin, though repeatedly used and washed, retained, when first unfolded, traces of the odour for one year and seven months. This animal does not emit its strong odour until more than a year old, and if castrated whilst young never emits it.[341] Besides the general odour, with which the whole body of certain ruminants seems to be permeated during the breeding-season, many deer, antelopes, sheep, and goats, possess odoriferous glands in various situations, more especially on their faces. The so-called tear-sacks or suborbital pits come under this head.

These glands secrete a semi-fluid fetid matter, which is sometimes so copious as to stain the whole face, as I have seen in the case of an antelope. They are "usually larger in the male than in the female, and their development is checked by castration."[342] According to Desmarest they are altogether absent in the female of _Antilope subgutturosa_.

Hence, there can be no doubt that they stand in some close relation with the reproductive functions. They are also sometimes present, and sometimes absent, in nearly-allied forms. In the adult male musk-deer (_Moschus moschiferus_), a naked s.p.a.ce round the tail is bedewed with an odoriferous fluid, whilst in the adult female, and in the male, until two years old, this s.p.a.ce is covered with hair and is not odoriferous.

The proper musk-sack, from its position, is necessarily confined to the male, and forms an additional scent-organ. It is a singular fact that the matter secreted by this latter gland does not, according to Pallas, change in consistence, or increase in quant.i.ty, during the rutting-season; nevertheless this naturalist admits that its presence is in some way connected with the act of reproduction. He gives, however, only a conjectural and unsatisfactory explanation of its use.[343]

In most cases, when during the breeding-season the male alone emits a strong odour, this probably serves to excite or allure the female. We must not judge on this head by our own taste, for it is well known that rats are enticed by certain essential oils, and cats by valerian, substances which are far from agreeable to us; and that dogs, though they will not eat carrion, sniff and roll in it. From the reasons given when discussing the voice of the stag, we may reject the idea that the odour serves to bring the females from a distance to the males. Active and long-continued use cannot here have come into play, as in the case of the vocal organs. The odour emitted must be of considerable importance to the male, inasmuch as large and complex glands, furnished with muscles for everting the sack, and for closing or opening the orifice, have in some cases been developed. The development of these organs is intelligible through s.e.xual selection, if the more odoriferous males are the most successful in winning the females, and in leaving offspring to inherit their gradually-perfected glands and odours.

_Development of the Hair._-We have seen that male quadrupeds often have the hair on their necks and shoulders much more developed than in the females; and many additional instances could be given. This sometimes serves as a defence to the male during his battles; but whether the hair in most cases has been specially developed for this purpose is very doubtful. We may feel almost certain that this is not the case, when a thin and narrow crest runs along the whole length of the back; for a crest of this kind would afford scarcely any protection, and the ridge of the back is not a likely place to be injured; nevertheless such crests are sometimes confined to the males, or are much more developed in them than in the females. Two antelopes, the _Tragelaphus scriptus_[344] (see fig. 68, p. 300) and _Portax picta_, may be given as instances. The crests of certain stags and of the male wild goat stand erect, when these animals are enraged or terrified;[345] but it can hardly be supposed that they have been acquired for the sake of exciting fear in their enemies. One of the above-named antelopes, the _Portax picta_, has a large well-defined brush of black hair on the throat, and this is much larger in the male than in the female. In the _Ammotragus tragelaphus_ of North Africa, a member of the sheep-family, the front-legs are almost concealed by an extraordinary growth of hair, which depends from the neck and upper halves of the legs; but Mr.

Bartlett does not believe that this mantle is of the least use to the male, in whom it is much more developed than in the female.

Male quadrupeds of many kinds differ from the females in having more hair, or hair of a different character, on certain parts of their faces.

The bull alone has curled hair on the forehead.[346] In three closely-allied sub-genera of the goat family, the males alone possess beards, sometimes of large size; in two other sub-genera both s.e.xes have a beard, but this disappears in some of the domestic breeds of the common goat; and neither s.e.x of the Hemitragus has a beard. In the ibex the beard is not developed during the summer, and is so small at other seasons that it may be called rudimentary.[347] With some monkeys the beard is confined to the male, as in the Orang, or is much larger in the male than in the female, as in the _Mycetes caraya_ and _Pithecia satanas_ (fig. 66). So it is with the whiskers of some species of Macacus,[348] and, as we have seen, with the manes of some species of baboons. But with most kinds of monkeys the various tufts of hair about the face and head are alike in both s.e.xes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 66. Pithecia Satanas, male (from Brehm).]

The males of various members of the Ox family (Bovidae), and of certain antelopes, are furnished with a dewlap, or great fold of skin on the neck, which is much less developed in the female.

Now, what must we conclude with respect to such s.e.xual differences as these? No one will pretend that the beards of certain male-goats, or the dewlap of the bull, or the crests of hair along the backs of certain male antelopes, are of any direct or ordinary use to them. It is possible that the immense beard of the male Pithecia, and the large beard of the male Orang, may protect their throats when fighting; for the keepers in the Zoological Gardens inform me that many monkeys attack each other by the throat: but it is not probable that the beard has been developed for a distinct purpose from that which the whiskers, moustache, and other tufts of hair on the face serve; and no one will suppose that these are useful as a protection. Must we attribute to mere purposeless variability in the male all these appendages of hair or skin? It cannot be denied that this is possible; for with many domesticated quadrupeds, certain characters, apparently not derived through reversion from any wild parent-form, have appeared in, and are confined to, the males, or are more largely developed in them than in the females,-for instance the hump in the male zebu-cattle of India, the tail in fat-tailed rams, the arched outline of the forehead in the males of several breeds of sheep, the mane in the ram of an African breed, and, lastly, the mane, long hairs on the hinder legs, and the dewlap in the male alone of the Berbura goat.[349] The mane which occurs in the rams alone of the above-mentioned African breed of sheep, is a true secondary s.e.xual character, for it is not developed, as I hear from Mr. Winwood Reade, if the animal be castrated. Although we ought to be extremely cautious, as shewn in my work on 'Variation under Domestication,' in concluding that any character, even with animals kept by semi-civilised people, has not been subjected to selection by man, and thus augmented; yet in the cases just specified this is improbable, more especially as the characters are confined to the males, or are more strongly developed in them than in the females. If it were positively known that the African ram with a mane was descended from the same primitive stock with the other breeds of sheep, or the Berbura male-goat with his mane, dewlap, &c., from the same stock with other goats; and if selection has not been applied to these characters, then they must be due to simple variability, together with s.e.xually-limited inheritance.

In this case it would appear reasonable to extend the same view to the many a.n.a.logous characters occurring in animals under a state of nature.

Nevertheless I cannot persuade myself that this view is applicable in many cases, as in that of the extraordinary development of hair on the throat and forelegs of the male Ammotragus, or of the immense beard of the male Pithecia. With those antelopes in which the male when adult is more strongly-coloured than the female, and with those monkeys in which this is likewise the case, and in which the hair on the face is of a different colour from that on the rest of the head, being arranged in the most diversified and elegant manner, it seems probable that the crests and tufts of hair have been acquired as ornaments; and this I know is the opinion of some naturalists. If this view be correct, there can be little doubt that they have been acquired, or at least modified, through s.e.xual selection.

_Colour of the Hair and of the Naked Skin._-I will first give briefly all the cases known to me, of male quadrupeds differing in colour from the females. With Marsupials, as I am informed by Mr. Gould, the s.e.xes rarely differ in this respect; but the great red kangaroo offers a striking exception, "delicate blue being the prevailing tint in those parts of the female, which in the male are red."[350] In the _Didelphis opossum_ of Cayenne the female is said to be a little more red than the male. With Rodents Dr. Gray remarks: "African squirrels, especially those found in the tropical regions, have the fur much brighter and more vivid at some seasons of the year than at others, and the fur of the male is generally brighter than that of the female."[351] Dr. Gray informs me that he specified the African squirrels, because, from their unusually bright colours, they best exhibit this difference. The female of the _Mus minutus_ of Russia is of a paler and dirtier tint than the male. In some few bats the fur of the male is lighter and brighter than in the female.[352]

The terrestrial Carnivora and Insectivora rarely exhibit s.e.xual differences of any kind, and their colours are almost always exactly the same in both s.e.xes. The ocelot (_Felis pardalis_), however, offers an exception, for the colours of the female, compared with those of the male, are "moins apparentes, le fauve etant plus terne, le blanc moins pur, les raies ayant moins de largeur et les taches moins de diametre."[353] The s.e.xes of the allied _Felis mitis_ also differ, but even in a less degree, the general hues of the female being rather paler than in the male, with the spots less black. The marine Carnivora or Seals, on the other hand, sometimes differ considerably in colour, and they present, as we have already seen, other remarkable s.e.xual differences. Thus the male of the _Otaria nigrescens_ of the southern hemisphere is of a rich brown shade above; whilst the female, who acquires her adult tints earlier in life than the male, is dark-grey above, the young of both s.e.xes being of a very deep chocolate colour.

The male of the northern _Phoca groenlandica_ is tawny grey, with a curious saddle-shaped dark mark on the back; the female is much smaller, and has a very different appearance, being "dull white or yellowish straw-colour, with a tawny hue on the back;" the young at first are pure white, and can "hardly be distinguished among the icy hummocks and snow, their colour thus acting as a protection."[354]

With Ruminants s.e.xual differences of colour occur more commonly than in any other order. A difference of this kind is general with the Strepsicerene antelopes; thus the male nilghau (_Portax picta_) is bluish-grey and much darker than the female, with the square white patch on the throat, the white marks on the fetlocks, and the black spots on the ears, all much more distinct. We have seen that in this species the crests and tufts of hair are likewise more developed in the male than in the hornless female. The male, as I am informed by Mr. Blyth, without shedding his hair, periodically becomes darker during the breeding-season. Young males cannot be distinguished from young females until above twelve months old; and if the male is emasculated before this period, he never, according to the same authority, changes colour.

The importance of this latter fact, as distinctive of s.e.xual colouring, becomes obvious, when we hear[355] that neither the red summer-coat nor the blue winter-coat of the Virginian deer is at all affected by emasculation. With most or all of the highly-ornamented species of Tragelaphus the males are darker than the hornless females, and their crests of hair are more fully developed. In the male of that magnificent antelope, the _Derbyan Eland_, the body is redder, the whole neck much blacker, and the white band which separates these colours, broader, than in the female. In the Cape Eland also, the male is slightly darker than the female.[356]

In the Indian Black-buck (_A. bezoartica_), which belongs to another tribe of antelopes, the male is very dark, almost black; whilst the hornless female is fawn-coloured. We have in this species, as Mr. Blyth informs me, an exactly parallel series of facts, as with the _Portax picta_, namely in the male periodically changing colour during the breeding season, in the effects of emasculation on this change, and in the young of both s.e.xes being undistinguishable from each other. In the _Antilope niger_ the male is black, the female as well as the young being brown; in _A. sing-sing_ the male is much brighter coloured than the hornless female, and his chest and belly are blacker; in the male _A. caama_, the marks and lines which occur on various parts of the body are black instead of as in the female brown; in the brindled gnu (_A.

gorgon_) "the colours of the male are nearly the same as those of the female, only deeper and of a brighter hue."[357] Other a.n.a.logous cases could be added.

The Banteng bull (_Bos sondaicus_) of the Malayan archipelago is almost black, with white legs and b.u.t.tocks; the cow is of a bright dun, as are the young males until about the age of three years, when they rapidly change colour. The emasculated bull reverts to the colour of the female.