TIIK AXNALS 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



[SEVENTH SERIES.] 

 No. 39. MARCH 1901. 



XXIX. — The Coloration of Marine. Animah. B7 W. C. 

 AI'Intosh, Professor of Natural History in the University 

 of St. Andrews*. 



The coloration of marine animals has long formed the theme 

 of many a de.scriptive text and ancient figure — in which sea- 

 tlower.s, sun-stars, purple urchins, gorgeously iridescent 

 annelids, blue and red crabs, the very varied and beautiful 

 tints of slicllfishcs and cuttlefishes, and the endless hues and 

 resplendent lustre of fishes were each in turn portrayed. 

 Some of the old authors even went into the origin and 

 meaning of such tints. On the present occasion, however, it 

 is not so much the abstract beauty everywhere so prevalent in 

 the coloiation of marine animah (and these chieHy Britisli) 

 which will form the subject of our attention, but rather the 

 application of certain recent theories to the explanation of the 

 tints so characteristic of many marine animals. 



As indicated, the older naturali.sts in many cases clcarlv 

 recognized the connexion between the tints of an animal and 

 its surroundings. It was reserved for the illustrious Charles 

 Darwin and other distinguished naturalists, such as Mr. Wal- 

 lace, and many of the younger zoologists who follow in their 

 footsteps, to endeavour to explain the production and modifi- 

 calion of the tints of land-animals (the term being used in its 



• The Introductory I/t'Cturo for Session 1900-1901. 

 Ann.ii: Xhuj. N. Hist. Ser. 7. IW. vii. 16 



