same time aided by
appeals to the other senses. Movement, especially in the form of dancing,
is the most important of the secondary appeals to vision. This is so well
recognized that it is scarcely necessary to insist upon it here; it may
suffice to refer to a single typical example. The most decent of
Polynesian dances, according to William Ellis, was the _hura_, which was
danced by the daughters of chiefs in the presence of young men of rank
with the hope of gaining a future husband. "The daughters of the chiefs,
who were the dancers on these occasions, at times amounted to five or six,
though occasionally only one exhibited her symmetry of figure and
gracefulness of action. Their dress was singular, but elegant. The head
was ornamented with a fine and beautiful braid of human hair, wound round
the head in the form of a turban. A triple wreath of scarlet, white, and
yellow flowers adorned the head-dress. A loose vest of spotted cloth
covered the lower part of the bosom. The tihi, of fine white stiffened
cloth frequently edged with a scarlet border, gathered like a large frill,
passed under the arms and reached below the waist; while a handsome fine
cloth, fastened round the waist with a band or sash, covered the feet. The
breasts were ornamented with rainbow-colored mother-of-pearl shells, and a
covering of curiously wrought network and feathers. The music of the hura
was the large and small drum and occasionally the flute. The movements
were generally slow, but always easy and natural, and no exertion on the
part of the performers was wanting to render them graceful and
attractive."[168] We see here, in this very typical example, how the
extraneous visual aids of movement, color, and brilliancy are invoked in
conjunction with music to make the appeal of beauty more convincing in the
process of sexual selection.

It may be in place here to mention, in passing, the considerable
place which vision occupies in normal and abnormal methods of
heightening tumescence under circumstances which exclude definite
selection by beauty. The action of mirrors belongs to this group
of phenomena. Mirrors are present in profusion in high-class
brothels--on the walls and also above the beds. Innocent youths
and girls are also often impelled to contemplate themselves in
mirrors and sometimes thus, produce the first traces of sexual
excitement. I have referred to the developed forms of this kind
of