NOTES ON ANIMAL COLOURATION. 5 



was an injury to the nerves controlling the nutrition of the pigment 

 cells upon one side of the body, as there remain signs of an old 

 wound penetrating a little to one side of the median line right 

 through the body. 



The other case is one quoted by Dr. Lawrence Hamilton in 

 " Natural Science " for Sept., 1893, to the effect that the Chameleon 

 has been observed to be red on one side while of a green hue upon 

 the other. The explanation has been hazarded that one side of the 

 animal was asleep while the other was awake ! 



II. An Albino Lobster. 



Before me as I write is a very unusual case of abnormal 

 colouration, in the form of an all but white Lobster. Six weeks 

 ago some fishermen brought it in, in good health. They told with 

 much exultation how pleased they had been to find so curious a 

 beast in one of their pots set in St. Aubin's Bay, on the south coast 

 of Jersey. Never before had they taken or heard of such a curiosity, 

 and experience and enquiry bear out the rare occurrence of such 

 colouration, or rather want of colouration. 



In size, this strange Lobster is fully adult, 14 inches long from 

 rostrum to telsou. When living in one of the large Aquarium tanks 

 along Avith normal deep blue-black kindred, the contrast was wonder- 

 fully well marked. The one in question gave a definite impression 

 of white, albeit rather soiled. Close and minute inspection showed 

 this soiled appearance to be due to a very faint development of 

 bluish pigment. On the . carapace and limbs it was a pale and 

 diffused hue that in no way could be said to mask the limy whiteness 

 of the shell. On the abdominal parts the hue was somewhat better 

 marked, the pigment blotches showing faintly but still traceably. 



With its companions, it held its own. Appetite was good and 

 apparently it was in perfect health. Whatever the cause of the 

 colour may be, one fact was self-evident, its light hue rendered it 

 extremely conspicuous. When its dark blue relatives were at rest 

 in their nooks of retreat, they were difficult to discern. Their colour 

 was not out of harmony with their surroundings, but the white one 

 was so, most markedly. 



If not pathological, this paleness of colouring is probably an 

 instance of partial reversion in hue to that of some lighter coloured 

 ancestor of different habit. The blue-black colour of normal Lobsters 

 is certainly acquired. No other British crustacean boasts the Same 

 hue. Reds and browns predominate among the larger, while among 

 the smaller Decapods, absence of pigment is very general. The 

 swimming prawns (Palwmon) for instance, are marked by a nearly 



