THE DRAMA OF LIFE 



29 



strongly resembles a dead 

 and dry leaf still attached 

 to the stem. Mr. Charles 

 Nicholson writes : — 



' The front legs are 

 stretched out straight in 

 front of the head at a right 

 angle to the axis of the 

 body, the second pair of legs 

 being pressed close to the 

 body, while the last pair 

 just hold to the support, 

 almost, or quite, covered 

 by the tips of the fore 

 wings which just touch 

 beyond the body, the ^^°- 9-— Kece of Figwort, Scro- 



. , phularia nodosoa, with pupa- 



moth appearmg to be cases (c) of a. beetle, Gionus 



chnging to its support by scrophularim, with a marked 



,. . , , - . superficial resemblance to the 



the front legs and wings fmita (f). 



only. It faUs to the 



ground when touched.' 



The value of the protective coloration may be enhanced 

 when it is associated with a power of colour-change, when 

 the animal, within certain limits, can adjust itself to the 

 particular hue or even pattern of its surroundings. This 

 is extraordinarily well illustrated by many of the flat-fishes, 

 of the plaice, flounder, sole series, which can adjust the 

 shade and the pattern of their upturned surface so that 

 they become practically part and parcel of the sand or 

 gravel on which they are resting. It appears that the 

 colour of the surroundings first affects the eye, then the 

 brain, then the sympathetic nervous system, then the 



