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the spectre insects (Phasmida) it is often | Carabidæ, the Chrysomelida, and the Telethe females alone that so strikingly resemble phori have both sexes equally conspicuous, leaves, while the males show only a rude and seldom differing in colours. The bril approximation. The male Diadema bolina liant Curculios, which are protected by their is a very handsome and conspicuous butter- hardness, are brilliant in both sexes. Lastfly, without a sign of protective or imitatively, the glittering Cetoniada and Bupresticolouring, while the female is entirely un- dæ, which seem to be protected by their like her partner, and is one of the most hard and polished coats, their rapid motions wonderful cases of mimicry on record, re- and peculiar habits, present few sexual sembling most accurately the common differences of colour, while sexual selection Danais chrysippus, in whose company it is has often manifested itself by structural often found. So in several species of South differences, such as horns, spines, or other American Pieris, the males are white and processes. black, of a similar type of colouring to our own cabbage" butterflies, while the females are rich yellow and buff, spotted and marked so as to exactly resemble species of Heliconidæ with which they associate in the forest. In the Malay archipelago Mr. Wallace found a Diadema which had always been considered a male insect on account of its glossy metallic-blue tints, while its companion of sober brown was looked upon as the female. He discovered, however, that the reverse is the case, and that the rich and glossy colours of the female are imitative and protective, since they cause her exactly to resemble the common Euploa midamus of the same reigions, a species which has been already mentioned in this article as mimicked by another butterfly, Papilio paradoxa. In this case, and in that of Diadema bolina, there is no difference in the habits of the two sexes, which fly in similar localities; so that the influence of "external conditions cannot be invoked here as it has been in the case of the South American Pieris pyrrha and allies, where the white males frequent open sunny places, while the Heliconia-like females haunt the shades of the forest.

We may impute to the same general cause (the greater need of protection for the female, owing to her weaker flight, greater exposure to attack, and supreme importance) the fact of the colours of female insects being so very generally duller and less conspicuous than those of the other sex. And that it is chiefly due to this cause rather than to what Mr. Darwin terms "sexual selection" appears to be shown by the otherwise inexplicable fact, that in the groups which have a protection of any kind independent of concealment, sexual differences of colour are either quite wanting or slightly developed. The Heliconidæ and Danaidæ, protected by a disagreeable flavour, have the females as bright and conspicuous as the males, and very rarely differing at all from them. The stinging Hymenoptera have the two sexes equally well coloured. The

The same law manifests itself in Birds. The female while sitting on her eggs requires protection by concealment to a much greater extent than the male; and we accordingly find that in a large majority of the cases in which the male birds are distinguished by unusual brilliancy of plumage, the females are much more obscure, and often remarkably plain coloured. The exceptions are such as eminently to prove the rule, for in most cases we can see a very good reason for them. In particular, there are a few instances among wading and gallinaceous birds in which the female has decidedly more brilliant colours than the male; but it is a most curious and interesting fact that in most if not all these cases the males sit upon the eggs; so that this exception to the usual rule almost demonstrates that it is because the process of incubation is at once very important and very dangerous, that the protection of obscure colouring is developed. The most striking example is that of the sooty phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius, Linn.) In winter plumage the sexes of this bird are alike in colouration, but in summer the female is much the most conspicuous, having a black head, dark wings, and reddish-brown back, while the male is nearly uniform brown, with dusky spots. Mr. Gould in his "Birds of Great Britain" figures the two sexes in both winter and summer plumage, and remarks on the strange peculiarity of the usual colours of the two sexes being reversed, and also on the still more curious fact that the "male alone sits on the eggs," which are deposited on the bare ground. In another British bird, the dotterell, the female is also larger and more brightly-coloured than the male; and it seems to be proved that the males assist in incubation, even if they do not perform it entirely, for Mr. Gould tells us, "that they have been shot with the breast bare of feathers, caused by sitting on the eggs." The small quail-like birds forming the genus Turnix have also generally large and bright-coloured females, and we are

We have now completed a brief, and necessarily very imperfect, survey of the various ways in which the external form and colouring of animals is adapted to be useful to them, either by concealing them from their enemies or from the creatures they prey upon. It has, we hope, been shown that the subject is one of much interest, both as regards a true comprehension of the place each animal fills in the economy of nature, and the means by which it is enabled to maintain that place; and also as teaching us how important a part is played by the minutest details in the structure of animals, and how complicated and delicate is the equilibrium of the organic world.

Our exposition of the subject having been necessarily somewhat lengthy and full of details, it will be as well to recapitulate its main points.

told by Mr. Jerdon in his " Birds of India that "the natives report that during the breeding season the females desert their eggs and associate in flocks while the males are employed in hatching the eggs." It is also an ascertained fact that the females are more bold and pugnacious than the males. A further confirmation of this view is to be found in the fact (not hitherto noticed), that in a large majority of the cases in which bright colours exist in both sexes, incubation takes place in a dark hole or in a dome-shaped nest. Female kingfishers are often equally brilliant with the male, and they build in holes in banks. Bee-eaters, trogons, motmots, and toucans, all build in holes, and in none is there any difference in the sexes, although they are, without exception, showy birds. Parrots build in holes in trees, and in the majority of cases they present no marked sexual dif- There is a general harmony in nature beference tending to the concealment of the tween the colours of an animal and those of female. Woodpeckers are in the same cate- its habitation. Arctic animals are white,desert gory, since though the sexes often differ in animals are sand-coloured, dwellers among colour, the female is not generally less con- leaves and grass are green, nocturnal animals spicuous than the male. Wagtails and are dusky. These colours are not universal, but titmice build concealed nests, and the are very general, and are seldom reversed. females are nearly as gay as their mates. Going on a little further, we find birds, repThe female of the pretty Australian bird tiles, and insects tinted and mottled so as Pardalotus punctatus, is very conspicuously exactly to match the rock, or bark, or leaf, spotted on the upper surface, and it builds or flower they are accustomed to rest upon,in a hole in the ground. The gay-coloured and thereby effectually concealed. Anhang-nests (Icterina) and the equally bril- other step in advance, and we have insects liant Tanagers may be well contrasted; which are formed as well as coloured so as for the former, concealed in their covered exactly to resemble particular leaves, or nests, present little or no sexual difference sticks, or mossy twigs, or flowers; and in of colour, while the open-nested Tana- these cases very peculiar habits and instincts gers have the females dull-coloured and come into play to aid in the deception, and sometimes with almost pro ective tints. No render the concealment more natural. We doubt there are many individual exceptions now enter upon a new phase of the phenomena, to the rule here indicated, because many and come to creatures whose colours neither and various causes have combined to de- conceal them nor make them like vegetable termine both the colouration and the habits or mineral substances; on the contrary, they of birds. These have no doubt acted and are conspicuous enough, but they completely re-acted on each other; and then under resemble some other creature of quite a diffchanged conditions it may well have hap- erent group, while they differ much in outpened that one has become modified, ward appearance from those with which all eswhile the other has been continued by sential parts of their organization show them hereditary descent, and exists as an appar- to be really closely allied. They appear ent exception to what otherwise seems like actors or masqueraders dressed up and a very general rule. The facts presented painted for amusement, or like swindlers ento us by the sexual differences of colour in deavouring to pass themselves off for wellbirds and their mode of nesting, are on the known and respectable members of society. whole in perfect harmony with that law of What is the meaning of this strange travestie. protective adaptation of colour and form, Does Nature descend to imposture or maswhich appears to have checked to some ex-querade? We answer, she does not. Her tent the powerful action of sexual selection, and to have materially influenced the colouring of female birds, as it has undoubtedly done that of female insects.

principles are too severe. There is a use in every detail of her handiwork. The resemblance of one animal to another is of exactly the same essential nature as the re

have all been shown to be beset with difficulties, and the two latter to be directly contradicted by some of the most constant and most remarkable of the facts to be accounted for..

semblance to a leaf, or to bark, or to desert | tions of existence" for some of the cases, sand, and answers exactly the same purpose. and of the laws of " hereditary descent and In the one case, the enemy will not attack the reversion to ancestral forms " for others, the leaf or the bark, and so the disguise is a safeguard; in the other case it is found that for various reasons the creature resembled is passed over and not attacked by the usual enemies of its order, and thus the creature that resembles it has an equally effectual safeguard. We are plainly shown that the disguise is of the same nature in the two cases, by the occurrence in the same group of one species resembling a vegetable substance, while another resembles a living animal of another group; and we know that the creatures resembled possess an immunity from attack, by their being always very abundant, by their being conspicuous and not concealing themselves, and by their having generally no visible means of escape from their enemies; while, at the same time, the particular quality that makes them disliked is often very clear, such as a nasty taste or an indigestible hardness. Further examination reveals the fact that, in several cases of both kinds of disguise, it is the female only that is thus disguised; and as it can be shown that the female needs protection much more than the male, and that her preservation for a much longer period is absolutely necessary for the continuance of the race, we have an additional indication that the resemblance is in all cases subservient to a great purpose the preservation of the species.

In endeavoring to explain these phenomena as having been brought about by variation and natural selection, we start with the fact that white varieties frequently occur, and when protected from enemies show no incapacity for continued existence and increase. We know, further, that varieties of many other tints occasionally orcur; and as "the survival of the fittest must inevitably weed out those whose colours are prejudicial, and preserve those whose colours are a safeguard, we require no other mode of accounting for the protective tints of arctic and desert animals. But this being granted, there is such a perfectly continuous and graduated series of examples of every kind of protective imitation, up to the most wonderful cases of what is termed "mimiery," that we can find no place at which to draw the line, and say, "so far variation and natural selection will account for the phenomena, but for all the rest we require a more potent cause." The counter theories that have been proposed, that of the "special creation" of each imitative form, that of the action of "similar condi

The important part that "protective resemblance " has played in determining the colours and markings of many groups of animals will enable us to understand the meaning of one of the most striking facts in nature, the unformity in the colours of the vegetable as compared with the wonderful diversity of the animal world. There appears no good reason why trees and shrubs should not have been adorned with as many varied hues and as strikingly designed patterns as birds and butterflies, since the gay colours of flowers show that there is no incapacity in vegetable tissues to exhibit them. But even flowers themselves present us with none of those wonderful designs, those complicated arrangements of stripes and dots and patches of colours, that harmonious blending of hues in lines and bands and shaded spots, which are so general a feature in insects. It is the opinion of Mr. Darwin that we owe all the beauty of flowers to the necessity of attracting insects to aid in their fertilization, and that much of the development of colour in the animal world is due to "sexual selection," colour being universally attractive, and thus leading to propagation and increase; but while fully admitting this, it will be evident, from the facts and arguments here brought forward, that very much of the variety both of colour and markings among animals is due to the supreme importance of concealment; and thus the various tints of minerals and vegetables have been directly reproduced in the animal kingdom, and again and again modified as special protection became necessary. shall thus have two causes for the development of colour in the animal world, and shall be better enabled to understand how, by their combined and separate action, the immense variety we now behold has been produced. Both causes, however, will come under the general law of " Utility," the advocacy of which, in its broadest sense, we owe almost entirely to Mr. Darwin.* A more accurate knowledge of the varied phenomena connected with this sub

more

We

* Mr. Darwin has recognised the fact, that the colouring of female birds has been influenced by "Origin of Species,” 4th Ed., p 241. the need of protection during incubation. See

for the purpose of visiting Ararat. We accordingly made our way to Erivan, the capital of the district in which it stands, and residence of a Russian Governor. Either from policy or courtesy we had been provided with a Cossack escort, and so our arrival in a city rarely visited by strangers produced some sensation among its quiet inhabitants. Ere we entered, however, we paused upon the slopes above it to catch the last glories of the sun falling upon Mount Ararat. It seemed to stand on the far stretching plain before us, the world's great barrier-pyramid. Gracefully it rises to 17,500 feet, without any mountain-form to break the solitude of its reign. The lesser cone on its side alone varies the graceful outline of the whole. Its summit crowned with everlasting snows was now sparkling in dazzling brilliancy, and flooded with the golden light of heaven. Around its breast light vapory mists of softest hues hung floating; while below, along the almost boundless plain, the baser mists of earth were gathering fast, brooding over the storied Araxes, whose silver line disported in bold sweeps hither and thither over the broad level which forms the mountain's base. It

ject may not improbably give us some information both as to the senses and the mental faculties of the lower animals. For it is evident that if colours which please us also attract them, and if the various disguises which have been here enumerated are equally deceptive to them as to our selves, then both their powers of vision and their faculties of perception and emotion must be essentially of the same nature as our own- a fact of high philosophical importance in the study of our own nature, and our true relations to the lower animals. Although such a variety of interesting facts have been already accumulated, the subject we have been discussing is one of which comparatively little is really known. The natural history of the tropics has never yet been studied on the spot with a full appreciation of "what to observe" in this matter. The varied ways in which the colouring and form of animals serves for their protection, their strange disguises as vegetable or mineral substances, their wonderful mimicry of other beings, offer an almost unworked and inexhaustible field of discovery for the zoologist, and will assuredly throw much light on the laws and conditions which have resulted in the wonder- is one of the most sublime and solemn spots ful variety of colour, shade, and marking which constitutes one of the most pleasing characteristics of the animal world, but the immediate causes of which it has hitherto been most difficult to explain.

If we have succeeded in showing that in this wide and picturesque domain of nature, results which have hitherto been supposed to depend either upon those incalculable combinations of laws which we term chance or upon the direct volition of the Creator, are really due to the action of comparatively well-known and simple causes, we shall have attained our present purpose, which has been to extend the interest, so generally felt in the more striking facts of natural history to a large class of curious but much neglected details; and to further, in however slight a degree, the subjection of the phenomena of life to the "Reign of Law."

From the Sunday Magazine.

AN ATTEMPT TO ASCEND MOUNT ARARAT.

TOWARDS the close of the year, wearied with fertile solitudes and the barbarous Cossack, we determined to leave Russia, and make our way into the ancient kingdom of Persia. We deviated from the usual route

I have visited in this fair creation of God. The mountain, the river, the plain, all open before you in a solitude so profound as to sober you into sadness, and make you feel, especially towards eventide, the spirit of the scene. Beyond the river's sparkling curve, and the mountain piercing into heaven, you see nothing in the far distance but the last stronghold of the Muscovite a few checkered lines of cantonments, where he bides his time, ready to spring upon the expiring lion of Persia. As we stood gazing entranced, while lights and shades of every hue flitted in ceaseless play over the face of the lovely mountain, suddenly all was changed. Of all that was dazzling beauty before, nothing now remained but the cold ashy outline of the mountain against the sobered sky. The sun sunk to rest, and Death flung his twilight-shadows, darkening all around. As these deepened over the silent landscape, with a true feeling of the Eastern insecurity we hastened down into the city for shelter.

Our approach lay through dusty lanes, between mud walls, whose frequent gaps revealed to us neglected gardens behind, where, amid a tangled wilderness of weeds and flowers, peach and almond trees were flourishing, whose luxuriant branches continually wantoned over the walls into the road, incommoding our passage. We fol

lowed a stream, now murmuring over peb-|ceives you on your arrival, who is at once bles, and now furrowing the soil into pools, the guardian of the station, and your genthrough which our beasts toiled heavily. eral servant. His first reception of you is Tawny half-starved dogs kept pace with "Si chasse! Si chasse!" which is the travus, barking from the top of the walls an un- eller's principal persecuting genius throughgracious welcome. Low barred doorways out all the Russias. It should signify imappeared at intervals, carefully closed mediately, but really means any remote inagainst approach. One or two that chanced dolent period your humble bowing attendto be open revealed a singular scene of ant may determine. Be your wants ever domestic dirt and confusion within. so reasonable or urgent, it matters not, you Amidst rank rubbish-heaps you might see must wait his will, unless indeed you are a donkeys and horses, men, women, and general officer, then "si chasse" becomes children, sharing the common right of home an actuality, accompained by the most obin kindred and contented fellowship. You sequious consideration. In any other case were sure, on suddenly looking back, to sur- your soldier-attendant is generally too stuprise a woman's head, curiously peering pid to understand your wants, or the enround by the doorpost after the stranger, deavours of your servant to save him labour. while to save her modesty from his unhal- But if you chance to be a foreigner, alas for lowed gaze, she covered her lips with her you! for then he has understanding enough hand, or drew the protecting yasmah (veil) to be too patriotic to care for you or them. across her mouth. His own room is the gathering point for all the gossips of the place, and here in the kitchen he beguiles, under their surmises of the traveller's object, rank and destination, his languid preparations for your meal.

One welcome exception there is to all the dirt and dilatoriness proper to a Russian station, and that is in the ever ready presence of the Somavah. The stranger has scarcely entered his chamber, before a bright tea-urn hissing its welcome is placed before him, and a little porcelain teapot crowning its summit furnishes him with a beverage scarcely surpassed anywhere in tea-loving England. No one, not experienced in the fatigues of Russian travel, and the sluggish service of Russian attendants, can form an idea of the welcome of heart and eye with which I had been wont to greet the entrance of my country's domes tic divinity. Well, we made our way to this harbour of refuge at Erivan. We were just listening to a cold refusal to our request for admission, under the scrutiny of a score of inquisitive eyes, which crowded at once to the door, when the chef de police came up, and said that he could find no better shelter for us than under his own roof. Here a large room was assigned to us, without, however, the blessing of privacy, for as the chef's house in Eastern lands is the common rendezvous of all idlers, and a traveller-guest is an especial object of curiosity, wondering eyes followed our every movement faithful as our own shadow.

At length we emerged into a large square, two sides of which were occupied by the Governor's residence and the public offices, the others by a bazaar, and the Russian fortress, through which you pass into the country beyond. An English garden occupies the area of the square, where shrubs of various climes, and flowers amid rude parterres, are kept in languid existence by occasional streams of water poured around their thirsty roots. In the centre of this fragrant scene, overlooked by some grim pieces of ordnance, rises a pavilion for musie breathed from harmonious Italy. For the anomalous Russ not only places his iron hand upon the Eastern world, but has taxed the science of Europe for his sway, and its richest melodies to charm his vacant hours. Passing through this square, where, as night was coming on, were few loungers, we made our way to the "station," a building provided everywhere at certain intervals in countries recently subjugated to Russia for the convenience of government official travellers. They are our Indian Dâk bungalows Russianized, or the French Algerian caravanserais. Supposing the stranger on his arrival to be admitted, he has a room assigned to him, where he finds a fire-place, a plain square table, a wooden bedstead, a couple of rude chairs, occasionally a small square looking-glass over the chimney, and, as the German says, "weiter nichts." I had nearly forgotten, however, one further indispensable and never-failing piece of fur- The walls of our room were covered with niture, namely; a small picture of the Vir- Greek paintings of the favourite Muscovite gin, or of the great Russian Saint Nicholas, divinities - the Virgin, the Russian Saint perched high up in the corner of the room, Nicolas, and our notable St. George in full with a lamp or candle ready before it for tilt against the redoubtable dragon, belchyour inferred devotion. An old soldier re-ing forth volumes of sulphurous flames.