I THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT 13 



the black and white face of the gemsbuck ; the pure 

 white face and rump of the bontebok, combined 

 with the beautiful dark brown neck and sides and 

 lilac tinted back ; or the juxtaposition of the black 

 and white in Thomson's gazelle — only to mention 

 a few of the most noteworthy examples. 



To me it seems that the influence of environ- 

 ment might very well be deemed sufficient of itself 

 to cause all animals that have lived for long ages 

 in treeless deserts under constant strong sunlight 

 to assume the dull brown coloration which they 

 undoubtedly possess ; whilst Arctic conditions might 

 be expected to cause the whitening of an animal's 

 hair in the winter, or the play of the sun's light 

 through the leaves and branches of trees and bushes 

 to be responsible for a spotted or striped coat. In 

 the case of a combination of black and white — the 

 two most conspicuous colours in nature — such as 

 may be seen in the adult cock ostrich or male sable 

 antelope, why should it not be supposed that the 

 law of sexual selection has come into play, as it 

 probably has done in the production of the lion's 

 mane and the exaggerated size of the horns in the 

 male koodoo. 



Having spent many years of my life in the 

 constant pursuit of African game, I have certainly 

 been afforded opportunities such as have been 

 enjoyed by but few civilised men of becoming 

 intimately acquainted with the habits and life-history 

 of many species of animals living in that continent, 

 and all that I have learnt during my long experience 

 as a hunter compels me to doubt the correctness 

 of the now very generally accepted theories that 

 all the wonderfully diversified colours of mammals 

 — the stripes of the zebra, the blotched coat of the 

 giraffe, the spots of the bushbuck, the white face 

 and rump of the bontebok, to mention only a few 

 — have been evolved either as a means of protection 



