﻿CAMOUFLAGE 
  — 
  FRIEDMANN 
  261 
  

  

  kinds, 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  effective 
  concealment 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  resolve 
  itself 
  

   more 
  into 
  concealment 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  or 
  from 
  a 
  height 
  than 
  from 
  nearby. 
  

   It 
  is 
  probably 
  no 
  exaggeration 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  military 
  camouflage 
  has 
  

   a 
  greater 
  and 
  more 
  vital 
  importance 
  now 
  than 
  it 
  did 
  in 
  previous 
  

   wars. 
  Coincident 
  with 
  this 
  increase 
  in 
  its 
  use 
  in 
  warfare, 
  there 
  has 
  

   been 
  a 
  growth 
  of 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  subject 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  public 
  in 
  

   general. 
  Military 
  camouflage, 
  particularly 
  with 
  respect 
  to 
  its 
  new 
  

   developments 
  and 
  discoveries 
  and 
  applications, 
  is 
  necessarily 
  a 
  secret 
  

   of 
  the 
  armed 
  forces. 
  But 
  the 
  natural-history 
  basis 
  of 
  all 
  this 
  work 
  may 
  

   be 
  here 
  outlined 
  for 
  the 
  interested 
  reader. 
  

  

  The 
  modern 
  study 
  of 
  concealment 
  and 
  disguise 
  in 
  nature 
  may 
  be 
  

   said 
  to 
  date 
  from 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  artist-naturalist, 
  Abbott 
  

   H. 
  Thayer. 
  His 
  first 
  paper, 
  originally 
  published 
  in 
  an 
  ornithological 
  

   journal, 
  The 
  Auk, 
  in 
  1896, 
  was 
  given 
  wide 
  distribution 
  to 
  scientific 
  

   circles 
  generally 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  annual 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  

   Smithsonian 
  Institution. 
  First 
  among 
  our 
  scientific 
  institutions 
  to 
  

   recognize 
  the 
  theoretical 
  and 
  potential 
  significance 
  of 
  this 
  work, 
  the 
  

   Smithsonian 
  has 
  ever 
  since 
  followed 
  with 
  critical 
  interest 
  the 
  unfolding 
  

   of 
  the 
  subject. 
  In 
  1909 
  Thayer 
  brought 
  together 
  in 
  definitive 
  form 
  

   his 
  discoveries, 
  ideas, 
  and 
  observations 
  in 
  a 
  stimulating 
  book 
  entitled, 
  

   "Concealing 
  Coloration 
  in 
  the 
  Animal 
  Kingdom," 
  which 
  has 
  served 
  

   as 
  a 
  basis 
  for 
  all 
  subsequent 
  work 
  and 
  which 
  is 
  still 
  useful 
  and 
  interest- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  subsequent 
  data. 
  Parts 
  of 
  it 
  have 
  been 
  modified 
  or 
  even 
  

   negatived 
  by 
  more 
  recent 
  studies, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  it 
  still 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  

   good 
  introduction 
  to 
  the 
  subject. 
  The 
  most 
  recent 
  comprehensive 
  

   book 
  on 
  the 
  topic 
  is 
  Cott's 
  "Adaptive 
  Coloration 
  in 
  Animals," 
  published 
  

   in 
  1940. 
  This 
  book 
  has 
  very 
  extensive 
  literature 
  references 
  and 
  may 
  

   be 
  consulted 
  by 
  the 
  reader 
  interested 
  in 
  details 
  beyond 
  the 
  scope 
  of 
  a 
  

   general 
  paper 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  present 
  one. 
  

  

  As 
  Thayer 
  first 
  pointed 
  out, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  discuss 
  intelligently 
  the 
  im- 
  

   portance 
  of 
  distinguishability 
  (i. 
  e., 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  possibility 
  of 
  being 
  

   seen) 
  in 
  the 
  lives 
  of 
  animals, 
  we 
  must 
  remember 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  at 
  the 
  crucial 
  

   moments, 
  when 
  they 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  verge 
  of 
  catching 
  or 
  of 
  being 
  caught, 
  

   that 
  sight 
  is 
  commonly 
  the 
  indispensable 
  sense. 
  Smell 
  and 
  hearing 
  

   may 
  lead 
  an 
  animal 
  toward 
  its 
  prey 
  or 
  away 
  from 
  its 
  enemy, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  

   last 
  all-important 
  seconds, 
  sight 
  is 
  relied 
  on 
  almost 
  entirely 
  in 
  many 
  

   animals. 
  It 
  is 
  for 
  these 
  moments 
  that 
  animals 
  have 
  most 
  need 
  of 
  

   concealing 
  coloration, 
  and 
  for 
  which, 
  on 
  the 
  whole, 
  their 
  coloration 
  is 
  

   often 
  best 
  adapted, 
  and 
  when 
  looked 
  at 
  from 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  

   potential 
  victim 
  or 
  the 
  potential 
  enemy, 
  as 
  the 
  case 
  may 
  be, 
  often 
  proves 
  

   to 
  be 
  what 
  Thayer 
  terms 
  "obliterative." 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  stressed 
  at 
  the 
  

   outset 
  that 
  not 
  all 
  animals 
  are 
  concealingly 
  colored, 
  but 
  this 
  does 
  not 
  

   affect 
  the 
  interest 
  in, 
  and 
  suggestive 
  value 
  of, 
  those 
  cases 
  where 
  they 
  are. 
  

   Overzealous 
  students 
  of 
  animal 
  coloration, 
  especially 
  the 
  pioneers, 
  have 
  

  

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