74 EDIBLE FRUITS. COLOURS. [CHAP. 



dense, sometimes almost stony, covering, so that it 

 escapes digestion, while its germination is perhaps 

 hastened by the heat of the animal's body. It may 

 be said that the skin of apple and pear pips is com- 

 paratively soft ; but then they are embedded in a 

 stringy core, which is seldom eaten. 



These coloured fruits form a considerable part of the 

 food of monkeys in the tropical regions of the earth, 

 and we can, I think, hardly doubt that these animals 

 are guided by the colours, just as we are, in selecting 

 the ripe fruit. This has a curious bearing on an 

 interesting question as to the power of distinguishing 

 colour possessed by our ancestors in bygone times. 

 Magnus and Geiger, relying on the well-known fact 

 that the ancient languages are poor in words for 

 colour, and that in the oldest books as, for instance, 

 in the Vedas, the Zendavesta, the Old Testament, 

 and the writings of Homer and Hesiod though 

 the heavens are referred to over and over again, 

 its blue colour is never dwelt on, have argued that 

 the ancients were very deficient in the power of 

 distinguishing colours, and especially blue. In our 

 own country Mr. Gladstone has lent the weight of his 

 great authority to the same conclusion. For my part 

 I cannot accept this view. There are, it seems to me, 

 very strong reasons against it, into which I cannot, 

 of course, now enter ; and though I should rely 

 mainly on other considerations, the colours of fruits 

 are not, I think, without significance. If monkeys 

 and apes could distinguish them, surely we may infer 

 that even the most savage of men could do so too. 

 Zeuxis would never have deceived the birds if he had 

 not had a fair perception of colour. 



