The Descent of Man

SENSE OF BEAUTY.
This sense has been declared to be peculiar to
man. I refer here only to the pleasure given by
certain colours, forms, and sounds, and which
may fairly be called a sense of the beautiful;
with cultivated men such sensations are, however,
intimately associated with complex ideas
and trains of thought. When we behold a male
bird elaborately displaying his graceful plumes
or splendid colours before the female, whilst
other birds, not thus decorated, make no such
display, it is impossible to doubt that she admires
the beauty of her male partner. As
women everywhere deck themselves with these
plumes, the beauty of such ornaments cannot
be disputed. As we shall see later, the nests of
humming-birds, and the playing passages of
bower-birds are tastefully ornamented with
gaily- coloured objects; and this shews that they
must receive some kind of pleasure from the
sight of such things. With the great majority of
animals, however, the taste for the beautiful is