Beaunis, Sensations Internes, ch. v, "Besoins Sexuels," 1889. It may be noted that many years earlier Burdach (in his Physiologie als Erfahrungswissenschaft, 1826) had recognized that the activity of the male favored procreation, and that mental and physical excitement seemed to have the same effect in the female also.
It is scarcely necessary to point out that this is too extreme a position. As J. G. Millais remarks of ducks (Natural History of British Ducks, p. 45), in courtship "success in winning the admiration of the female is rather a matter of persistent and active attention than physical force," though the males occasionally fight over the female. The ruff (Machetes pugnax) is a pugnacious bird, as his name indicates. Yet, the reeve, the female of this species, is, as E. Selous shows ("Sexual Selection in Birds," Zoölogist, Feb. and May, 1907), completely mistress of the situation. "She seems the plain and unconcerned little mistress of a numerous and handsome seraglio, each member of which, however he flounce and bounce, can only wait to be chosen." Any fighting among the males is only incidental and is not a factor in selection. Moreover, as R. Müller points out (loc. cit., p. 290), fighting would not usually attain the end desired, for if the males expend their time and strength in a serious combat they merely afford a third less pugnacious male a better opportunity of running off with the prize.
L. Tillier, L'Instinct Sexuel, 1889, pp. 74, 118, 119, 124 et seq., 289.