viii THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS 



Variable Protective Eesemblance in insects is 

 treated in considerable detail, for the reasons given 

 above, and because much of the work is so recent 

 that no complete account can be found outside the 

 original memoirs. 



My chief object has been to demonstrate the 

 utility of colour and marking in animals. In many 

 cases I have attempted to prove that Natural Selection 

 has sufficed to accouDt for the results achieved ; and 

 I fully believe that further knowledge will prove that 

 this principle explains the origin of all appearances 

 except those which are due to the subordinate prin- 

 ciple of Sexual Selection, and a few comparatively 

 unimportant instances which are due to Isolation or 

 to Correlation of Growth. 



In support of these views I have endeavoured to 

 bring together a large amount of experimental evi- 

 dence in favour of the theories as to the various uses of 

 colour. 'Further experiments are still greatly needed. 



In the chapters on ' Sexual Selection ' I have 

 argued in favour of Darwin's views, and have 

 attempted to defend them against recently published 

 attacks. 



At the conclusion of the volume I have brought 

 forward a detailed classification of the various uses 

 of colour, in which new, and, I believe, more con- 

 venient terms are suggested. Definitions and exam- 

 ples are also given in the classification, which is, in 

 fact, a brief abstract of the whole book. 



