PEE FACE. 



rpHIS little book is only a sketch of what its Author desired it to be, 

 and he never saw the completed manuscript. Beginning with the 

 fundamental idea that decoration is based upon structure, he saw that 

 this was due to the fact that in the lower, transparent, animals, colour 

 is applied directly to the organs, and that the decoration of opaque 

 animals is carried out on the same principle- — the primitive idea being 

 maintained. Where function changes the pattern alters, where 

 function is localized colour is concentrated : and thus the law of 

 emphasis was evolved. Symmetry was a necessary consequence, for 

 like parts were decorated alike, and this symmetry was carried out in 

 detail apparently for the sake of beauty, as in the spiracular markings 

 of many larva?. Hence the reason for recognizing the law of 

 repetition. 



With the developing of these ideas the necessity for recognizing 

 some sort of consciousness even in the lowest forms of life was forced 

 upon the Author, until inherited memory formed part of his scientific 

 faith. This he saw dimly years ago, but only clearly when Mr. S. 

 Butler's remarkable " Life and Habit " appeared, and he was gratified 

 and strengthened when he found Mr. Romanes adopting that theory 

 in his " Mental Evolution." 



The opening chapters are designedly elementary ; for the Author had 

 a wise dread of locking intellectual treasures in those unpickable 

 scientific safes of which " the learned " alone hold keys. 



Only a very small portion of the vast array of facts accumulated has 

 been made use of, and the Author was steadily working through the 



