66 



MIMICRY AND HOMOPLASY 



and Platax, which have so little in common 

 otherwise, agree in exhibiting the shape of a 



FiG. I. The Leaf Fish or yearling stage of Platax 

 vespertilio. Original from Spolia Zeylanica. 



simple bifacial leaf, one of the commonest 

 objects, dead or alive, ashore or afloat, in nature. 

 Yet they do not effectively resemble each other 

 except in an abstract manner by conforming to 

 a fundamental pattern, i.e., by convergence. 

 The death feint is a common and very widely 



