NOTES AND QUERIES 329 



ores of the country being green. We must, therefore, assume that assimi- 

 lative colouration, as here understood, signifies a close similarity of colour- 

 ing between an organism and its environment, due to the direct action of 

 the latter upon the organism, either through nerve stimuli or through the 

 direct absorption of the environment into its system, such colouring being 

 essentially uon-significant, any utility it may possess being entirely fortuitous. 



The general proposition that in the earliest ages of the earth's history 

 such assimilative colouration everywhere prevailed is a perfectly legitimate 

 surmise, though a mere surmise it must ever remain. But, on the other 

 hand, while even the most advanced selectionists will doubtless allow that 

 the earliest organic colour, or colours, were probably non-siguificant, they 

 would be quite justified in opposing the hypothesis of assimilation, as above 

 defined, on the ground that there is no reason whatever to suppose that 

 the direct action of any environment upon an organism must necessarily 

 produce in it a colouration identical with that of its environment; and 

 Mr. Distant's own examples might be cited in support of this contention, 

 e. g., that a diet of hemp-seed turns Bullfinches black ; that red and yellow 

 feathers are produced in certain Green Parrots by feeding them on fish ; 

 that the feathers of Cotinga can be transformed from purple to brilliant red 

 by the application of heat, and so forth — in all of which instances there is 

 no colour similarity between the various causes and their effects ;* and still 

 further experimental evidence might be adduced. Indeed, when we con- 

 sider the numerous instances of non-significant colours known to us both in 

 the organic and inorganic worlds, there can be no reasonable objection to 

 the hypothesis that the earliest organisms might have developed, through 

 purely physico-chemical causes, non-significant colours, both brilliant and 

 otherwise, which might, or might not, have corresponded with those of their 

 respective environments ; and thus, when natural selection did become a 

 vera causa, there would already have been a considerable range of colour 

 upon which it might operate. However, with regard to the first appearance 

 of this factor, it seems more reasonable to suppose that this was practically 

 synchronous with the first appearance of organic life, though the struggle 

 for existence at that period would be solely against the physical forces of 

 nature, and thus natural selection would then have little or no effect upon 

 colouration, except perhaps indirectly. 



Supposing, however, that, for the sake of argument, we agree to accept 

 Mr. Distant's general suggestion, we have yet to consider the correctness of 

 his corollary thereto, which is really the essential portion of his paper. Ac- 

 cording to this view : " If the earliest forms of life are to be sought only in 



* These examples were prefaced in the article criticized by the remark : 

 " The view of a direct action caused by a constant food on animal colouration 

 has frequently been remarked." — Ed, 



