Random Readings.

Waipa Post, Volume VIII, Issue 378, 29 December 1914, Page 5

Random Readings.

COULD MAN ONCE CHANGE HIS COLOUR? That man might have once possessed tiio power to instantly change tho colour of liis skin, after the manner of a chameleon, is a possibility, according to Dr. J. Hirscli, an. investigator, who believes tin; habit we have to-day of turning cold through fear may be all that is left of a trait we possessed away back in the dim ages when man went about wild and unclothed. When wo turn cold through fear we also turn palo. It may be, says Dr. Hirscli, that when wo become suddenly frightened we involuntarily send a more liberal supply of blood to the, brain to enable us to think and act more quickly, and, therefore, the supply is lessened on the surface. This makes us both pale and cold, as the blood, of course, is our warmth. “A person is said to be -cold when tho amount, of blood circulating in tho skin is less than normal,” declares Dr. Hirscli, “and the surface, therefore, is lowered in temperature. Certain emotions, such as anxiety and fear, cause a contraction of tho tiny blood vessels in the skin, forcing the blood away, and this may he a survival of some remote age when mail was in the habit of escaping from his enemies by voluntarily changing his colour by means of altering, lessening or increasing the circulation of blood in his skin, as the chameleon does at the present day.” Whether man ever possessed this power is an interesting question. Evolution works wonders, and if man could have evolved from something “scaled and tailed and drab ns a dead man’s hand,” as Langdon Smith wrote in his remarkable poem, “Evolution,” ho could also have evolved into a being with the. colour-changing power of tho chameleon.

If a wild beast pursued him through the fronded palms of some prehistoric jungle, man might have possessed the ability to leap into tho midst of a flowering bush and turn as white as the flowers themselves, therefore hiding himself in safety, just as the chameleon can change colours to match a twig or flower or anything he chances to be on, and just as some fishes possess tho power to do to-day. In the days when man went unclothed along with the beasts of tho plains and jungles, he certainly needed more defence from danger than tho mere rocks and sticks could afford, and so, if this theory is right, nature gavo him cunning. With the advance of civilisation man learned to make weapons and so protect himself, and the changing of colour for hiding was not needed. Not being needed or used, it was soon lost, just as to-day we lose the use of any of our faculties if they are not used. Perhaps the blush of the maiden of to-day is all there is loft of the days when tho prehistoric maid, chased by prehistoric man seeking a mate, leaped into a bower of crimson flowers and turned a rosy red from tip to toe, thereby secreting herself after the manner of a chameleon. At any rate, Dr. Hirsch’s idea is a novel one, and poets may find something new to write about in tlm suggestion of the prehistoric maiden who “blushed all over” and hid in a bower of roses.