THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS. 159 



ful and most varied hues. Flowers, insects and birds, 

 are the organisms most generally ornamented in this 

 way; and their symmetry of form, their variety of 

 structure, and the lavish abundance with which they 

 clothe and enliven the earth, cause them to be objects 

 of universal admiration. The relation of this wealth of 

 colour to our mental and moral nature is indisputable. 

 The child and the savage alike admire the gay tints of 

 flower, bird, and insect ; while to many of us their con- 

 templation brings a solace and enjoyment which is both 

 intellectually and morally beneficial. It can then hardly 

 excite surprise that this relation was long thought to 

 afford a sufficient explanation of the phenomena of 

 colour in nature ; and although the fact that 



" Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its sweetness on the desert air " 



might seem to throw some doubt on the sufficiency of 

 the explanation, the answer was easy, that in the pro- 

 gress of discovery, man would, sooner or later, find out 

 and enjoy every beauty that the hidden recesses of the 

 earth have in store for him. This theory received great 

 support, from the difficulty of conceiving any other use 

 or meaning in the colours with which so many natural 

 objects are adorned. Why should the homely gorse be 

 clothed in golden raiment, and the prickly cactus be 

 adorned with crimson bells ? Why should our fields be 

 gay with buttercups, and the heather-clad mountains be 

 clad in purple robes ? Why should every land produce 

 its own peculiar floral gems, and the alpine rocks glow 

 with beauty, if not for the contemplation and enjoyment 

 of man ? What could be the use to the butterfly of its 



