The Making of Species 
that, where other things are equal, it is of 
advantage to all creatures which hunt or which 
are preyed upon to be inconspicuous. If difficult 
to distinguish amid their natural surroundings, 
the former are likely to secure their prey readily, 
and the latter have a chance of escaping from 
their enemies. Our quarrel is with the theory of 
cryptic colouring as it is enunciated by many 
Neo-Darwinians, with the theory that every hue, 
every marking, every device displayed by an 
organism is of utility to the organism and has 
been directly developed by natural selection. 
‘The extreme advocates of the theory of cryptic 
colouring have greatly exaggerated the degree 
in which animals are assimilated to their natural 
environment. 
We grant that a great many creatures, which 
when seen in a menagerie appear very con- 
spicuous, are the reverse of conspicuous when 
standing motionless amid their natural surround- 
ings. As Beddard has pointed out, it is often 
not easy to find a sixpenny piece which has been 
dropped on the carpet, but the reason for this is, 
not that the coin is protectively coloured, but 
that any small object, no matter how coloured, 
is difficult to distinguish amid a_ variegated 
environment. The assumption of a_ white 
winter coat by many organisms that live in 
northern latitudes has been cited, again and 
again, as showing how important it is for an 
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