1912 J Allen, The Concealing Coloration Question. 491 



but no man of science who is not also a painter has the habit of 

 mind that keeps him constantly on the watch for effects of color, 

 pattern, and light and shade. How many ornithologists are in 

 the same class with Mr. Thayer? Mr. Fuertes, perhaps, who 

 agrees with Thayer in the main, but certainly not Dr. Barbour, 

 nor Dr. Phillips, nor Colonel Roosevelt. Mr. Thayer of course 

 cannot as an artist claim exclusive right to weigh the facts and 

 render judgment. That is the office of the scientific men. But he 

 has a right to testify to the facts and to be accorded a respectful 

 hearing. Scientific men will not reject the artist's testimony 

 because he may have the 'artistic temperament,' though it is 

 proper to take that into consideration in determining the admissi- 

 bility of the evidence. I venture to express the opinion that Mr. 

 Thayer knows more about the coloration of animals in its relation 

 to the concealment of those animals than any other man in this 

 country. Perhaps he knows a few things that ' ain't so,' — per- 

 sonally I think that some of his knowledge does belong to that 

 category, — but it will not do to deny him the credit of a really 

 vast knowledge of this subject. His opinions, therefore, are en- 

 titled to respect, much more respect than they have received at 

 the hands of some of his critics. 



Mr. Thayer was the first to call attention to the function of 

 counter-shading in the concealment of animals. I think most 

 naturalists admit its importance. We owe Mr. Thayer a debt 

 of gratitude for pointing out this interesting fact. It was because 

 he was an artist that he discovered it, — because he had formed 

 the habit of seeing things as they looked rather than as he knew or 

 suspected them to be. Scientific men had been at work on the 

 problems of coloration for many years without discovering this 

 thing that now seems so obvious. We see it now, and we admit it. 

 Perhaps some others of Thayer's discoveries — to use his own word 

 — are less obvious, but that does not make them necessarily any 

 the less truly discoveries. We ought to hesitate to reject them 

 without considering very carefully whether in these other cases 

 the expert in colors and appearances may not be in the right. 

 And again I respectfully suggest that common sense cannot settle 

 the question. Common sense has made up its mind. Open- 

 minded science must settle scientific problems. 



