Contrasts differ from contraries in this, that contraries act but in one single point, and contrasts in their general combination. An object has but one contrary, but may have many contrasts. White is the contrary of black; but it contrasts with blue, green, red, and various other colours.
Nature, to distinguish the harmonies, consonances, and progressions of bodies, makes them exhibit contrasts. This law is the less observed, being common. Naturalists consider
Nature has not satisfied herself with establishing particular harmonies in every species of beings to characterize them, but, that they might not be confounded among themselves, she exhibits them in contrasts. In general, she has made herbs green, to detach them from the earth, and has given the colour of earth to animals which live on herbage, to distinguish them from the ground on which they stray. This general contrast may be remarked in domestic animals, the yellow beasts of the forests, and all the granivorous birds which live among herbage or the foliage of trees, as the hen, partridge, quail, lark, sparrow, and many others of earthy colours, because they live among verdure. But those who live on dingy grounds are clad in brilliant colours, as the bluish tomtit and the woodpecker, which scramble along the rind of trees in pursuit of insects, and many others.
Nature universally opposes the colour of the animal to that of the ground on which it is destined to live; and this most admirable law admits not a single exception. Flat fishes, but indifferent swimmers, and destined to live at the bottom of the sea, have the colour of the sands where they find their nourishment, being spotted, like the beach, with gray, yellow, black, red, and brown. They are thus speckled, I admit, only on one side; but they are so sensible of this resemblance,
Nature has bestowed at once, in the colours of innoxious animals, contrasts with the ground on which they live, and consonances with that which is adjacent, and has superadded the instinct of employing these alternately, as good or bad fortune prompts. These wonderful accommodations may be remarked in most of our small birds, whose flight is feeble and of short duration. The gray lark subsists among the grass of the plains: if terrified, she glides away, and takes her station between two little clods of earth, where she becomes invisible, and remains in perfect tranquillity.
The same thing is true of the partridge. I have no doubt that these defenceless birds have a sense of those contrasts and correspondences of colour, for I have remarked it even in insects; it is also conspicuous even in the cameleon, endowed with the incomprehensible faculty of assuming at pleasure the colour of the ground over which he moves.
But in the age of weakness and inexperience Nature confounds the colour of harmless animals with that of the ground on which they inhabit, without committing to them the power of choice. The young of pigeons, and of most granivorous fowls, are clothed with a greenish shaggy coat, resembling the mosses of their nests. Caterpillars are blind, and have the complexion of the foliage and of the barks which they devour. Nay, young fruits, before they are armed with prickles, or enclosed in cases, in bitter pulps, in hard shells, to protect their seeds, are, during the season of their expansion, green as the leaves which surround them. Some embryos, it is true, as those of certain pears, are ruddy and brown, but they are then of the colour of the bark of the tree to which they belong. When those fruits have enclosed their seeds in kernels, or nuts, so as to be in no farther danger,
The insects, in like manner, having deposited their robes of infancy, and now committed to their own experience, spread about over the world, to multiply the harmonies of it with the attire and instincts which Nature has conferred upon them. Clouds of butterflies, which in their caterpillar state were confounded with the verdure of plants, now oppose the colours and forms of their wings to those of flowers.
Nature doe snot employ those agreeable correspondences and contrasts in the decoration of noxious animals, nor even of dangerous vegetables. Carnivorous or venomous animals form, at every age, and wherever they are, oppositions harsh and disgusting; but the useful bee is of the complexion of the stamina and calices of the flowers, where she reaps her innocent harvests.
Poisonous plants also present disgusting contrasts, from the livid colours of their flowers, which are in harsh oppositions with the tender shades; from their nauseous and virulent smells; from their prickly foliage, of a dark-green hue, and clashing with white on the under side, as the aconite tribes.
Such of the brute creation as are intended to live on two different grounds, are impressed with a double contrast in their colours. Thus, for example, the kingfisher, which skims along rivers, is at once musk-coloured and glazed over with azure; so as to be detached from the dusky shores by his azure colour, and from the azure of the waters by his musk colour. The duck, which dabbles on the same shores, has the body tinged of an ash colour, while the head and neck are of an emerald-green, so that he is perfectly distinguishable by the gray colour of his body, from the verdure of the aquatic plants among which he waddles, and by the verdure of his head and neck, from the dark-coloured mud where he finds part of his food, and in which, by another most astonishing contrast, he never soils his plumage.
Nature opposes, then, the colours of every animal to those of the respective ground on which it is to be placed; and what confirms the truth of this law is, that the greatest part of birds which live on one ground only have but a single colour, and that one strongly contrasted with the colour of
There are others, which, to form a contrast with those last mentioned, detach themselves from the skies and waters by their black or dusky colours: as the crow, which is perceptible at so great a distance in the heavens, on the white ground of the clouds. Hence it may be inferred, that when an animal is invested with but one single tint, he is intended but for one situation; and when he combines in himself the contrast of two opposite tints, that he lives on two grounds, the colours themselves of which are determined by that of the plumage, or hair, of the animal. We must, however, guard against an unlimited generalization of this law, and consider it as harmonizing with the exceptions which wise Nature has established, for the preservation of animals; such as the whitening of them, to the north, in winter, as a remedy against cold, and imbrowning them to the south, during the ardours of summer, to shelter them from the effects of burning. What evidently demonstrates that these great effects of harmony are not mechanical results, is, that among the infinite number of birds which live in the higher regions of the air, or on the surface of the azure seas, there are none of the colour of blue; and that many birds which live between the tropics, in the bosom of black rocks, or under the shade of sullen forests, are azure-coloured.
These harmonies are contrived for the use of man; and as a farther consequence of these correspondences with him, Nature has given to the birds which live remote from him, cries shrill, hoarse, and piercing, which render them perceptible at a distance, amidst their wild retreats. She has bestowed sweet notes and melodious voices on the little birds of our groves, domesticated in our habitations, to heighten our delight, as well by their warbling as by the beauty of their colours.
All the kingdoms of Nature present themselves to man with the same correspondences, the abysses of the ocean not excepted. The fishes which live on animal substances, as the whole class of the cartilaginous do, have disgusting forms
Among the black rocks of the seas of the Tropics, the fish known by the name of captain is caught, whose colours vary with the latitude. This beautiful fish, says Francis Cauche, which takes pleasure in the rocks, is streaked in form of lozenges; his scales are of a pale gold colour, and his back coloured and glazed over with laca, inclining toward vermillion. His dorsal fin and tail are waved with azure, fading away into green toward the extremities. Here likewise is found the magnificent fish called the sardin, which is adorned with scales of at once a gold and silver hue, crossed from head to tail by black lines, which admirably heighten their lustre.
Wherever you see a brilliant fish, be assured his habitation is near the shore, and that he lives in the open ocean if he is of a dark colour. This truth we may ascertain in the channels and on the banks of our own rivers. The silver smelt and the bray, whose scales are employed in the formation of mock pearls, play on the strand of the Seine; whereas the eel, of the gloomy colour of slate, takes pleasure to dabble at the bottom of the stream. We must not, however, pretend to generalize these laws, to the exclusion of exceptions. Nature subjects all to the mutual adaptation of beings, and to the enjoyment of man; for though the fishes on the shores have, in general, shining colours, there are several species of them invariably of a dark colour.
The saxatile fishes, which can easily ensure their safety among the rocks, by agility in swimming, or by the facility of finding a retreat in their cavernous receptacles, or of there defending themselves against their enemies, by the armour which Nature has bestowed, have all of them lively and shining colours, the cartilaginous excepted. All shell-fish which walk and migrate, and, consequently, have the power of choosing their asylum, are those, in their kind, which have
It is impossible to ascribe, as in the shell-fish of India, colours so charming to the action of the sun on those shells, covered as they are with tartars and rough coats; we may venture to affirm, that Nature has veiled their beauty, only to preserve it for the enjoyment of man, and placed them only on the verge of the shores, where the sea purifies, by tossing them about, to put them within his reach. Thus she places the most brilliant shells in regions the most exposed to the ravages of the elements; and presents to the poor Patagonians spoons and cups, the lustre of which far surpasses the richest plate of polished nations.
Hence it may be inferred, that fishes in general, and shell-fish in particular, which have two opposite colours, live on two different grounds, as we have observed in the case of birds, and that those which have only one colour frequently only one grounds.
It must not be concluded, on the other hand, that such shell-fish are indebted for their colours to the rocks on which they adhere by suction; for it would thence follow, that the rocks of Magellan's strait, which produce muscles and limpets so rich in colouring, should be themselves inlaid with mother-of-pearl, opal, and amethyst; besides, every rock maintains shell-fish of very different colours. Many of those marine harmonies have escaped me, for I then considered them as merely the effect of chance. I looked at and admired them, but I observed them not: I suspected, however, even then, that the pleasure which their harmonic combination inspired, must be referable to some with which I am unacquainted.
Enough has been said to demonstrate how much naturalists have mutilated the finest portion of natural history, by retailing isolated descriptions of animals and plants, without noticing the season when, and the place where, they are to be found. By this negligence they strip them of all their beauty, for there is not an animal or plant existing, whose harmonic point is not fixed to a certain situation, to a certain hour of
I am so thoroughly persuaded of the existence of all those harmonies, that I doubt not, on seeing the colour of an animal, one might determine nearly that of the ground it inhabits; and by following up those indications, a road might be paved to curious discoveries.
We meet with those contrasts even in the brute soils of the earth. If a uniform and mechanical cause had produced the globe of the earth, it must have been universally of the same matter and colour: the hills, mountains, rocks, and sands, must have been amalgams, or the rubbish, of each other; but this is not found to be the case in any one district, however small. In the same canton may be found red mountains, black rocks, white plains, and yellow sands; with substances as much varied as their colour. I shall for the present only recommend to naturalists to study Nature, as the great painters do, by uniting the harmonies of the three kingdoms. Every one who observes in this manner, will find a new light diffused over the perusal of voyages and of natural history, though their authors scarcely ever speak of those contrasts. But every man will be himself in a condition to discover their delightful effects, in what is called brute Nature, I mean that with which man has not intermeddled. As often as a natural object presents to you a sentiment of pleasure, you may rest assured it exhibits some harmonic concert.
Beyond doubt, animals and plans of the same climate have not received from the sun, nor the elements, liveries so varied, and so characteristic. Many new observations may be made upon their contrasts. He who has not seen them in their natural place, has not yet become acquainted with their beauty or deformity. Not only are they in opposition to the grounds of their respective habitations, but also between themselves, as to genus and genus; and it is worthy of remark, that when these contrasts are established, they exist in all the parts of the two individuals. We shall speak of those plants in the following Study, by simply glancing at that delightful and inexhaustible subject.
Those of animals are still farther extended; they are opposed in forms, gestures, and instincts; and with differences so decidedly marked, they love to associate with each other,
Finally, contrasts exist not only in the works of Nature in general, but in each individual in particular, and constitute, as well as consonances, the organization of bodies. If you examine one of those bodies, of whatever species, you will remark in it forms absolutely opposite, and, nevertheless, consonant. It is thus that, in animals, the excretory organs contrast with those of nutrition. the long tails of horses and bulls are opposed to the large side of their heads and necks, and come in as a supplement to the motions of these anterior parts, too unwieldy to drive away the insects that infest them. On the contrary, the broad tail of the peacock forms a contrast with the length of the neck, and smallness of the head, of that magnificent bird. The proportions of other animals present oppositions no less harmonic, nor less happily adapted to the necessities of each species.
Harmonies, consonances, progressions, and contrasts, must, therefore, be reckoned among the first elements of Nature. To those we are indebted for the sentiments of order, beauty, pleasure, which spring up in the mind at sight of her works; and from her absence arise the uneasy feelings of disorder, ugliness, languor, and disgust. They extend equally to all the kingdoms; and though I have limited myself to an examination of their effects in the vegetable kingdom only, it is impossible to deny myself the pleasure of indicating them, at least, in the human figure. Here Nature has combined all the harmonic expressions in their highest degree of excellency. All I can do is to trace a feeble sketch of it. Neither have I leisure to arrange more than a part of my observations on this vast and interesting subject. But the little which I am going to advance will be sufficient to overturn