I 7 o ANIMAL LIFE 



produced its full effect if it permanently arrests the 

 mind and holds it at gaze. 



The prawn in its motley is but one of a thousand 

 instances of colour sympathy, and leads us to inquire 

 and experiment upon the mode and material that 

 effect such adaptation, and to judge of its value as 

 a contribution to the enjoyment or more material 

 needs of the animal's life. 



It is not only as a symphony which can transport 

 us, without our distinguishing the orchestral elements 

 or the art ruling the composition, that we can view 

 the triumphs of animal life. An artistic mind is, 

 indeed, essential to receive the effect, distinguish its 

 causes, or perceive its relations to other and humbler 

 displays. But biology is essentially human. Of its 

 stuff we are made. That which has gone to make its 

 triumphs both soldiers and generalship has gone to 

 make ours. To view them is to see no merely pleasur- 

 able spectacle, on which the mind can rest without 

 moving to its analysis. Our curiosity, once set work- 

 ing, discovers that what we at first see is but one view 

 of a kaleidoscopic drama, and finds a new sense of 

 camaraderie in similarity of forces and tactics that 

 have won positions for animals and for us. 



Viewed in this light, the manner and meaning of 

 harmonious motley possess a wider significance than 

 we at first attribute to it. 



All the colours of which the ^Esop prawn is capable 

 are due to three pigments red, yellow, and blue. 

 By mixture or suppression of these three the varied 



