iv LOSS OF AROMA IN SOUTHERN FRUITS 99 



the particular habits, the special lurking-places of the different 

 specimens. 



It seems to me, therefore, certain that moisture and eleva- 

 tion promote dark colouring directly and without the aid of 

 adaptation. Adaptation, in my opinion, in the case of our 

 native slugs is out of the question, for they are to be numbered 

 among the animals which, creeping over road and path, 

 expose themselves openly and freely to the view of all the 

 world, as if exposing themselves intentionally in order to 

 proclaim : I am an uneatable, loathsome thing, touch me not. 



But what is it that causes darkness of colour at high 

 levels ? Only two causes, apart from moisture, seem to me 

 possible, either light or decreased atmospheric pressure. 

 Since the latter facilitates the flow of blood to the skin, it 

 might also promote the deposition of dark pigment. 



In any case, elevation and moisture in various animals have 

 determined a permanent change of colour, which serves as one 

 of the characters by which species are distinguished. 1 



A second point to which I wish to refer in connection with 

 Schiibeler's results is the increase in the aromatic flavour of 

 fruits towards the north. Pleasant to the taste as oranges 

 and figs are in Southern Europe, they do not, in my opinion, 

 by any means compensate for the loss in aromatic flavour 

 which our native fruits undergo in the south. The wild 

 strawberries, equally with the cherries and apples, are in 

 South Italy almost absolutely .tasteless. This is certainly 

 a change brought about simply by climate and soil, just 

 as there is no wine in the world which equals good Ehine 

 wine in fine aroma. 



With regard to the acclimatisation of plants transferred to 

 new regions* and the modifications shown by Schiibeler 

 to be caused by the process, similar facts, as I have already 

 mentioned, are known in abundance to every fruit-grower, 



1 Additional proofs of this are given farther on. 



