44 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
reason for supposing that the creature gains any benefit 
whatever from what is loosely called its ‘‘protective colora¬ 
tion.’’ Giraffes, leopards and zebras, for instance, have 
actually been held up as instances of creatures that are 
“protectingly” colored and are benefited thereby. The 
giraffe is one of the most conspicuous objects in nature, 
and never makes the slightest effort to hide; near by its 
mottled hide is very noticeable, but as a matter of fact, 
under any ordinary circumstances any possible foe trust¬ 
ing to eyesight would discover the giraffe so far away that 
its coloring would seem uniform, that is, would because of 
the distance be indistinguishable from a general tint which 
really might have a slight protective value. In other words 
while it is possible that the giraffe’s beautifully waved color¬ 
ing may under certain circumstances, and in an infinitesi¬ 
mally small number of cases, put it at a slight disadvantage 
in the struggle for life, in the enormous majority of cases— 
a majority so great as to make the remaining cases negligi¬ 
ble—it has no effect whatever, one way or the other; and 
it is safe to say that under no conditions is its coloring of 
the slightest value to it as affording it “protection” from 
foes trusting to their eyesight. So it is with the leopard; 
it is undoubtedly much less conspicuous than if it were 
black—and yet the black leopards, the melanistic individ¬ 
uals, thrive as well as their spotted brothers; while on the 
whole it is probably slightly more conspicuous than if it were 
nearly unicolor, like the American cougar. As compared with 
the cougar’s tawny hide the leopard’s coloration represents a 
very slight disadvantage, and not an advantage, to the beast; 
but its life is led under conditions which make either the 
advantage or the disadvantage so slight as to be negligible; 
