Joicrnaljjf Proceedings. vii 



colour, which was necessary not only for protection of the animals 

 from foes, by causing them to assimilate in colour to the snow which 

 constantly covered their habitats, but also because this colour was best 

 adapted to withstand the severity of an Arctic climate. Mr. Meldola 

 was of opinion that this last cause was of greater influence in giving 

 white coverings to Arctic animals than had hitherto been supposed. 

 It was well known to physicists that white was an extremely bad 

 radiator of heat, so that an animal clad in this colour would lose less 

 heat than if the hair were of any other colour ; and by a true process 

 of natural selection white fur, &c., would in this manner become 

 established in the animals oi the Arctic regions. It is thus probable 

 that the ancestors of many species now inhabiting temperate regions 

 were white during the Glacial period, a form of colouration which has 

 been retained by Arctic species up to the present time, and which 

 appears by reversion occasionally in species having coloured hair when 

 they are exposed to the same conditions as those which originally gave 

 rise to the white covering. The President stated in conclusion that he 

 brought forward these views as they appeared to him to furnish an 

 explanation of the fact recorded by the author of the paper. 



Mr. English said he had received three white specimens of the stoat 

 this winter from High Beach ; last year he had four ; previously he had 

 not seen one for twenty years. Whether these white specimens were 

 due to severe winters or otherwise he could not say. 



Mr. Lockyer asked whether it was possible that the specimens seen 

 were ordinary Albinos?* In the latter case, of course, the eyes would be 

 pink. 



Mr. English said that in his specimens, as far as he could recollect, 

 the eyes were of the normal colour. 



Some observations were made by Mr. Linton Wilson and others on 

 the folly of gamekeepers destroying animals and birds in ignorance of 

 their habits, and the necessity for controlling such destruction in the 

 Forest districts. 



Thanks were voted to the authors of the papers. 



The Rev. W. Linton Wilson explained the method to be pursued in 

 entering notes in the MS. book he had presented to the Club, and 

 stated that he should always be happy to assist in arranging the mate- 

 rials thus collected. 



The President remarked that a mistake appeared to prevail in the 

 minds of many at the last meeting as to the purpose of the*' Tea Fund " 

 then started. He explained that to provide tea and light refreshment 



* Mr. Christy remarks, under date March 25th, that he has no reason to suppose the 

 specimens mentioned by him were Albinos, and that he never heard of an Albino 

 stoat or weasel. He adds :— " Compared with the North of England, it is quite a 

 rare thing here for the stoat to turn white, but I have just received one from as far 

 south as Sussex that is all white except the top of the head and, of course, the tip of 

 the tail." 



