334 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



Finally, I must mention the notes on the colouration of the Cat tribe. 

 After referring to Darwin's remarks on the stripes occurring on young 

 Lions, and also to Steedman's observation that these markings are likewise 

 fcetal (p. 462), Mr. Distant proceeds to say : " It seems more in consonance 

 with present knowledge and opinion to consider that spots, though primitive, 

 were not original, and succeeded , not preceded, unicolorous ornamentation, 

 which has survived only where it has been more or less in unison with the 

 creature's environment, and so afforded aggressive protection, as in the case 

 of the Lion " (p. 464). Seeing that the foetal markings distinctly prove that, 

 at least, the immediate ancestors of the Lion were striped animals, and that 

 therefore its present unicolorous coat must have been subsequently acquired, 

 it is certainly difficnlt to understand how this animal can be adduced as a 

 survival of a supposed primitive assimilative colouration ! * 



In conclusion, I can only regret that my notes on Mr. Distant's paper 

 have been perforce entirely critical. Although I, as a selectionist, cannot 

 regard as sound the suggestions which he puts forward, I can still 

 appreciate their value in drawing attention to these interesting topics. 

 And I trust that some reader of the ' Zoologist,' more competent to discuss 

 these matters than myself, will in turn point out any errors that may exist 

 in my own arguments and contentions ; for it is only by healthy discussion, 

 followed by more careful observation and experiment, that we can hope to 

 attain a true insight into those large biological problems, the solution of 

 which is the ultimate aim of all natural science. — Guy A. K. Marshall 

 (Salisbury, Mashonaland). 



* On page 462, the writer of these suggestions, which Mr. Marshall is 

 criticizing, actually states: "A fact, however, which very strongly stands 

 against the view of original assimilative colouration here assumed, is found 

 in the markings of the young of all the unicolorous Cats — Lion, Puma, &c. — 

 which are more or less indistinctly spotted or striped ; and as many allied 

 species, both young and old, are similarly marked, Darwin has observed that 

 ' no believer in evolution will doubt that the progenitor of the Lion and Puma 

 was a striped animal, and that the young have retained vestiges of the 

 stripes, like the kittens of black Cats, which are not in the least striped when 

 grown up.' .... Taking the cases of the Lion, Puma, and Cheetah, we see 

 that the two first, unicolorous in their adult stage, apparently show by their 

 spotted young a derivation from a similarly coloured ancestor, whilst the 

 spotted Cheetah, from the apparent evidence of its unicolorous young, would 

 point to a totally different conclusion" (p. 463). — Ed. 



