 Section 1 of The Descent of Men, Part 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Avayee in November 2010 The Descent of Men, Part 2 by Charles Darwin Chapter 8 Principles of Sexual Selection, Part 1 Secondary sexual characters, sexual selection, manner of action, excess of males, polygamy. The male alone generally modified through sexual selection. Eagerness of the male, variability of the male, choice exerted by the female. Sexual compared with natural selection. Inheritance at corresponding periods of life, at corresponding seasons of the year and as limited by sex. Relations between the several forms of inheritance. Causes why one sex and the young are not modified through sexual selection. Supplement on the proportional numbers of the two sexes throughout the animal kingdom. The proportion of the sexes in relation to natural selection. With animals which have their sexes separated, the males necessarily differ from the females in their organs of reproduction. And these are the primary sexual characters. But the sexes often differ in what Hunter has called secondary sexual characters. Which are not directly connected with the act of reproduction. For instance, the male possesses certain organs of sense or locomotion of which the female is quite destitute or has the more highly developed in order that he may readily find or reach her. Or again, the male has special organs of prehension for holding her securely. These latter organs of infinitely diversified kinds, graduate into those which are commonly ranked as primary and in some cases can hardly be distinguished from them. We see instances of this in the complex appendages at the apex of the abdomen in male insects. Unless indeed we can't find the term primary to the reproductive glands, it is scarcely possible to decide which ought to be called primary and which secondary. The female often differs from the male in having organs for the nourishment or protection of her young, such as the mammary glands of mammals and the abdominal sex of the marsupials. In some few cases, also the male possesses similar organs, which are wanting in the female, such as the receptacles for the o- Sample complete. Ready to continue?