556 Mr. A. H. Thayer on 
border), many of which even bear a representation of six 
stamens (counting their two antenne), and, what is very 
common in butterflies, a wonderfully perfect shading on 
that part of the wings next the body, grading toward it 
in a way that makes it appear like the bottom of a con- 
cavity. My photographs of Limenitis (Basilarchia) arthemis 
show the flower-form, the appearance of the rim of its 
cup being carried across the butterfly, as in the species of 
Precis which wear a large, bright semicircular bar, cutting 
them as the skunk’s white cuts him. 
I should have placed at the beginning this axiom: 
Only unshiny, bright monochrome 1s intrinsically a revealing 
coloration. As soon as patterns begin, obliteration of the 
wearer begins, as shown in the case of the skunk. Nature 
does not blunder, and Natural Selection would evolve the 
monochrome, instead of a patterned surface, were simple 
conspicuousness her aim. Also, she would, if she used 
patterns mainly as badges for identification of the wearer, 
have omitted the delicate subtilties that go to make up 
the patterns of most butterflies. Let us apply the skunk- 
lesson to the many dark butterflies which wear more or 
less bright, clean-cut patterns. As they rest on flowers, 
their dark matches very closely the shadow-depths between 
the flowers, especially when seen from above or outside the 
flower-mass; and, in fact, the delicate general gradation 
and faint detail existing even in these parts, appear to 
an artist to represent the near vistas under the flowers; 
while the bright pattern is likely to echo the notes of the 
flowers themselves. Only artists understand this colour- 
echoing. The artist’s sight is conscious, as it ranges over 
a scene, of every recurrence of each colour-note. This 
colour-note, wherever seen, seeks, as it were, ifs own, in 
his brain,—just as a violin-string rings when its note is 
sung. In a book we are writing on protective coloration, 
my son and I shall show larve that resemble things 
(already well known), larve that disappear, larve that 
appear to be extensions of leaves; and larve with many 
other startling and dissimilar concealment-schemes. What 
wonder if in butterflies there prove to be as many different 
forms of concealment? It is impossible to lay too much 
stress on the fact that all patterns which look so striking 
and bizarre, when off duty, are, when on duty, up to the 
moment of detection, precisely the workers of the magical 
illusion that conceals. It is inconceivable that birds should 
