46 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS [Cir 



off from the things which surround him. But the circum- 

 stantial man takes his colour entirely from the present circum- 

 stances. You notice them, but you might pass him unobserved. 

 He cannot be said exactly to have lost his individuality, but 

 he has abandoned all those evidences by which it is usually 

 indicated. He may have his party colours, but he selects those 

 which are so common as to prevent his ever being distinguished 

 by them anywhere. He is like the caterpillar of a moth 

 (Noctua algce) which assumes the colour of the lichens upon 

 which it feeds, being grey when it feeds on a grey one 

 (Parmelia saxatilis), and always yellow when it feeds on a 

 yellow one (Cetraria juniperina). Or like the caterpillar of 

 the coronet moth (Acronycta ligustri), which feeds upon the 

 privet, and is so exactly of the colour of the underside of the 

 leaf, to which it usually clings during the day, that a person 

 may have the leaf in his hand without discovering the cater- 

 pillar. P. 



Accommodation to Circumstances. 



Plants continue closed through the night. Morning brings 

 them recruited vigour, expanding their leaves and flowers to the 

 fullest extent. It has been found, however, that the leguminosae 

 placed in a room from which daylight was rigidly excluded,, and 

 where they were subjected to artificial light at night, have, after 

 a short period of indecision, been brought to conform to this 

 altered condition, and have closed their leaves during the 

 darkened day, and expanded them at night. MAIL 



Independent of Circumstances. 



Nature sometimes creates minds which seem independent of 

 circumstances. She also creates other things which appear to 

 be equally so. Take one example. Owing to their geographical 

 position, the central and western regions of South Africa are 

 almost constantly deprived of rain. They contain no flowing 

 streams, and very little water in the wells. The soil is a soft 

 and light-coloured sand, which reflects the sunlight with a 

 glaring intensity. No fresh breeze cools the air ; no passing 

 cloud veils the scorching sky. We should naturally have sup- 



