Here we can have no question of _use_ to the coloured object,
and almost as little perhaps in the vivid red of blood, in the brilliant
colours of red snow and other low algae and fungi, or even in the
universal mantle of green which clothes so large a portion of the
earth's surface. The presence of some colour, or even of many brilliant
colours, in animals and plants would require no other explanation than
does that of the sky or the ocean, of the ruby or the emerald--that is,
it would require a purely physical explanation only. It is the wonderful
individuality of the colours of animals and plants that attracts our
attention--the fact that the colours are localised in definite patterns,
sometimes in accordance with structural characters, sometimes altogether
independent of them; while often differing in the most striking and
fantastic manner in allied species. We are thus compelled to look upon
colour not merely as a physical but also as a biological characteristic,
which has been differentiated and specialised by natural selection, and
must, therefore, find its explanation in the principle of adaptation or
utility.
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