Camouflage 191 



ceptlon Is even now not agreed on by naturalists, but 

 not one of them asserts volition or Intent to be a factor. 

 That animals may adopt certain habits, and that these 

 habits may tend to bring about actions in long-contin- 

 ued circumstances which accentuate or reenforce those 

 deceptive features of form and color, Is patent to any 

 one who has a mind to study the matter; but that this 

 Is the result of reason, it does not at all follow. Rather, 

 it is Instinctive or reflex ; and these inherent qualities are 

 the result of slow and gradual growths through a long 

 line of ancestors. And here too, by the way, is a broad 

 hint regarding the colors of those creatures which do 

 not seemingly find them useful. It is not Improbable 

 that the color markings of many present-day marine 

 animals exist solely as the result of heredity; they were 

 handed down by ancestors who, living under different 

 conditions, found them directly and decidedly beneficial. 

 The objections that may be urged against volition In 

 the case of color resemblance cannot be maintained In 

 regard to that method of camouflage known as mask- 

 ing, except, perhaps, only insofar as instinct is con- 

 cerned. Strangely, the most celebrated instance of this 

 form of disguise is not, as one would expect, among the 

 fishes, but Is among the crustaceans, a group far less 

 advanced In general intelligence. The crustaceans thus 

 eminently distinguished are the long-legged spider 

 crabs, a tribe of creatures so resourceful that they 

 have often been honored with a place at the head of 

 the entire group. When collecting seaweeds In my 

 pool, I have several times come across the natives 

 of this vicinity {e.g. Ltbinia diibia, L. emarginata) 

 in a most unexpected manner. These animals hav: 



