The Descent of Man

In an earlier chapter we have seen that the
mental powers of the higher animals do not
differ in kind, though greatly in degree, from
the corresponding powers of man, especially of
the lower and barbarous races; and it would
appear that even their taste for the beautiful is
not widely different from that of the Quadrumana.
As the negro of Africa raises the flesh on
his face into parallel ridges "or cicatrices, high
above the natural surface, which unsightly deformities
are considered great personal attractions"
(34. Sir S. Baker, 'The Nile Tributaries of
Abyssinia,' 1867.);—as negroes and savages in
many parts of the world paint their faces with
red, blue, white, or black bars,—so the male
mandrill of Africa appears to have acquired his
deeply-furrowed and gaudily-coloured face
from having been thus rendered attractive to
the female. No doubt it is to us a most grotesque
notion that the posterior end of the body
should be coloured for the sake of ornament
even more brilliantly than the face; but this is