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striped, the lynx is spotted, the lion-cub is spotted : but these marks 

 disappear. They are of no use and simply persist as an ancestral land- 

 mark in each generation. In some striped creatures, the zebra, tiger 

 and leopard, these external marks have proved of use and have persisted. 

 Passing from ancestral coloration, Professor Prince referred to colours due 

 to food, instancing the green oyster and the cochineal insect. Other 

 colours may be called physiological, like the red or green colour of worms 

 due to the hue of the blood. We have also emotional (cuttlefish) ; 

 aesthetic (sex colours of birds, etc.,) and seasonal coloration. The stoat 

 and hare turning white in winter illustrate the last. Parasitism furnishes 

 strange instances, the green sloth owes its colour to minute algae which 

 clothe the coarse grey hairs of that animal. Environment is most potent 

 in causing animals to assume the colours of their surroundings. Insects 

 afford striking cases. Strikingly tinted creatures such as the skunk, 

 amongst quadrupeds, and the wasp among insects, exhibit warning 

 colours. Mimicry is of great interest and there are many types, the most 

 interesting being that of harmless insects mimicking poisonous or dis- 

 agreeable kinds. Lastly, many colours appear, in our present state of 

 knowledge, to have no useful purpose, and must be classed as indifferent. 

 Interior organs and membranes are coloured in various ways for which 

 no explanation is at hand. Why should the chimpanzee possess a palate 

 of a bright rose colour, and the interior of the orang's mouth be black as 

 ink ? Much still remains to be done in this subject, and few subjects 

 present more facts curious and interesting in themselves but also of far- 

 reaching significance. 



On conclusion a vote of thanks was moved by His Excellency the 

 Governor General, who congratulated the Chairman upon having been 

 able to secure the services of such an able man as the lecturer to dis- 

 charge the duties which had been assigned to him by the Department 

 of Marine and Fisheries. The motion was seconded by Sir James Grant, 

 carried unanimously, and very suitably acknowledged by the lecturer, 

 who then moved a very hearty vote of thanks to the Chairman, which 

 was seconded by Dr. Sweetland. 



