190 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore 



less larger creatures; for it is a harmless and rather 

 feeble swimmer, subsisting only on small mollusks, 

 worms, and crustaceans, and its sole means of protec- 

 tion is by escaping observation. Notwithstanding its 

 apparent immunity, it has several harassing enemies 

 which make its existence anything but serene. Pres- 

 ently we shall have occasion to see one type of these 

 killers at work. 



The whole of the question of camouflage among 

 animals is as yet imperfectly understood. It is known, 

 certainly, that deceptive resemblance confers an enor- 

 mous degree of protection to those forms so distin- 

 guished and which are too weak to resist their superiors. 

 But what is the answer in regard to those which are 

 equally defenseless and which by no stretch of the 

 imagination can be considered inconspicuous? After 

 eliminating those instances where inedibility, unusual 

 prolificacy, agility, and kindred conditions may be fac- 

 tors, there yet remain cases in which the species seem 

 to thrive without the apparent protection afforded the 

 majority. These matters, doubtless, will some day be 

 cleared up when our general knowledge of the con- 

 ditions of life is more complete. 



There has been much nonsense written on this sub- 

 ject. It has been seriously suggested that deceptive 

 resemblance i3 an exercise of the will on the pari: of 

 the animal; although it is only fair to add that no com- 

 petent naturalist nowadays holds this to be the case. 

 Nor should the learner who perchance has read some 

 of the older overenthusiastic literature entertain this 

 belief. In what way, for instance, the flatfish has come 

 to acquire and exercise its remarkable property of de- 



