CHAPTER III 



COLOURS AND COLORATION 



That there can be any particular meaning in the coloration 

 of young mammals, that the pattern of the coat of the 

 newly dropped fawn could afiord material for more than 

 passing comment, is a possibility that, to some at any 

 rate, may present an air of novelty. Nevertheless a 

 careful survey of all the facts bearing on this theme will 

 reveal a story of quite surprising interest : holding its 

 own proper place in that wonderful mosaic which we call 

 the " life-history," a part of which we have already 

 discussed. 



But at the very outset, it must be remarked, the task 

 of translating this story of coloration is one of uncommon 

 difficulty. Yet, in a rough sort of way, we might convey 

 at any rate a summary thereof, a sort of adumbration of 

 the truth, in the paraphrase " the skins of the fathers are 

 thrust upon the children, even unto the third and fourth 

 generation," and that is why the liveries of young mammals 

 often differ conspicuously in coloration from those of 

 their parents. Indeed, there is good reason for assuming, 

 in the first place, that these infantile mantles present, 

 in their coloration, the hues which tinted their remote 

 forbears ; and in the second, that they furnish the still 

 defenceless young with a mantle of invisibility against 

 predatory animals during such time as they must needs 

 be left unguarded by their parents. 



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