126 ANIMAL COLOKATION. 



betray its whereabouts even to the least observant ; if the 

 observer were stimulated by hunger or by fear, the conspicuous- 

 ness would not be lessened. It is not necessary to apologise 

 here for viewing these matters' from the human standpoint; it 

 would be, perhaps, if those who have advanced the theories 

 of protective coloration had been able to take up a line of 

 argument a little different from the one which they have taken. 



Besides the internecine warfare which is continually going 

 on amongst the smaller surface organisms, they are devoured 

 wholesale by the larger pelagic fish and by whales and other 

 Cetacea. A whale, rushing through the water with open 

 mouth and gulping down all before him, is not in the least 

 inconvenienced by the invisibility of the organisms devoured 

 in such enormous quantities; nor do a solid phalanx of herring 

 or mackerel stop to look carefully for their food : they take 

 what comes in their way, and get plenty in spite of " pro- 

 tective absence of coloration." 



If the transparency of the pelagic organisms be due entirely 

 to natural selection, it is remarkable that there is so little 

 modification in this direction among the species inhabiting the 

 bottom at such depths as are accessible to the sun's rays : 

 the advantage gained by this transparency and consequent 

 invisibility would be equally great. And yet this is not the case : 

 the bulk of the bottom fauna of the coasts are brilliantly 

 coloured animals, and those that show any protective coloration 

 at all appear to be coloured so as to resemble stones or sea- 

 weeds. 



Protective Resemblances due to Causes other than Natural 



Selection. 



The currently received opinion about these resemblances 

 between animals and their usual surroundings is that thev 



C? tr 



