Accepted Theories Unsatisfactory 



is possible to offer a plausible explanation of a 

 large number of phenomena, which nine out of 

 ten botanists explain in a very different way. 



So satisfied are the majority of naturalists with 

 the " insect theory," that they seem of late years 

 to have paid but little attention to the subject of 

 floral colouration. This affords a striking instance 

 of the pernicious influence which Neo- Darwin ism 

 is exercising on the minds of men to-day. It 

 tends to stifle research instead of stimulating it. 



We have now dealt with the theory of protective 

 colouration, the theory of warning colouration, 

 the theory of mimicry, and the theory of recogni- 

 tion markings. We have shown that although 

 many organisms undoubtedly derive profit from 

 the fact that they are difficult to see in their 

 natural surroundings or from their resemblance 

 to other organisms, the hypothesis that this in- 

 conspicuousness or the mimicry of these animals 

 has been caused by the natural selection of small 

 variations is untenable. 



Warning colours, we have shown, although a 

 disadvantage to their possessors, are sometimes 

 seen in nature because they are accompanied by 

 unpalatability. The theory of recognition mark- 

 ings must, we fear, be laid to rest in the burial 

 ground of exploded hypotheses. 



The extreme popularity of the existing theories 

 regarding animal colouration and their very 



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