opportunity to transmit his character, in the higher degree in which he possesses it, to his descendants. In this way it was supposed by Darwin that a large proportion of the ornamental characters of living creatures were produced: the tail of the peacock, the mane of the lion, and even the gorgeous coloring of many insects and butterflies. In the early years of Darwinism, the theory of sexual selection was pushed to what now seems an unjustifiable extent. Experiment has often failed to demonstrate any sexual selection, in species where speculation supposed it to exist. And even if sexual selection, conscious or unconscious, could be demonstrated in the lower animals, yet the small percentage of unmated individuals indicates that its importance in evolution could not be very great.2
