INTRODUCTION. 



Colour. 



In treating of colour, the first prominent fact we 

 observe is the increase of pigment as approach is made 

 towards the Equator, and the corresponding decrease 

 towards the Poles. For instance, the Skunk, Eacoon, 

 European Lynx, Bengal Tiger, and Ermine, are all of a 

 darker hue the nearer they are to the Equator. There 

 are, however, one or two exceptions, one being the 

 Beaver, which attains its greatest depth of colour in a 

 certain district in the Dominion of Canada, and is 

 lighter in the Southern States of America. But this 

 may be owing to the greater altitude in which it lives in 

 the latter district. Another exception is the Alaska 

 Pied Fox. This is also demonstrated in the case of 

 plants and birds, and even in the human race. The 

 negroes, Hindoos, etc., whose dark skins seem to have 

 been produced by exposure to the sun's rays, after many 

 years' stay in a colder climate lose a great deal of their 

 colour, becoming a yellow or dusky-brown hue. When 

 it is past the season of mid- winter, the skins become 

 lighter, and it is therefore l^est to trap fur-bearing 

 animals at this time. 



The new growth is always deeper in colour than the 

 old coat. 



In forests and woods the colour is generally deeper. 



