Skip to main content
Log in

Abbott thayer and the protective coloration debate

  • Published:
Journal of the History of Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. F. E.Beddard, Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories (London: Swan, Sonnenschein, 1892), p. 94.

    Google Scholar 

  2. F. E.Beddard, Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories (London: Swan, Sonnenschein, 1892), p. 54.

    Google Scholar 

  3. J. A. Allen, “The Influence of Physical Conditions in the Genesis of Species,” Smithsonian Inst. Ann. Rept. (Washington, 1906), pp. 375–402.

  4. Hans Gadow, “Birds and Their Colours,” Quart. Rev., 213 (1910), 143 ff.

  5. Allen, “Physical Conditions,” p. 393.

  6. F. E.Beddard, Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories (London: Swan, Sonnenschein, 1892), p. 148 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Batesian mimicry is the resemblance of a palatable species to an unpalatable one. Müllerian mimicry is the close resemblance of two unpalatable species.

  8. A. R.Wallace, Darwinism 3rd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1901), p. 217.

    Google Scholar 

  9. F. E.Beddard, Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories (London: Swan, Sonnenschein, 1892), p. 263 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  10. A. R.Wallace, Darwinism, 3rd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1901), pp. 199, 220,

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. R.Wallace, Darwinism, 3rd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1901), p. 220.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), p. 80.

    Google Scholar 

  13. F. E.Beddard, Animal Coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories (London: Swan, Sonnenschein, 1892), p. 115.

    Google Scholar 

  14. A. H.Thayer, “The Law Which Underlies Protective Coloration,” Auk, 13 (1896), 124–219; 2nd pt., pp. 318–320.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ibid., p. 318.

  16. F. M.Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird-Lover (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1933), p. 79.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Wallace added a brief description of Thayer's discoveries to the 3rd edition of Darwinism (1901), pp. 231–232.

  18. E. B. Poulton, “Notes upon Lepidopterous Larvae &c.,” Trans. Ent. Soc. London (1888), p. 596.

  19. A. H. Thayer to William Brewster, Archives of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (henceforth abbreviated M.C.Z.), bBr 650.10.1 (1–15), Oct. 15, 1899. (Quoted by permission, M.C.Z., Cambridge, Mass.)

  20. A. H. Thayer to Florence Holt (wife of publisher Henry Holt), Abbott Handerson Thayer Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Nelson C. White, microfilm roll D201 (hereafter abbreviated Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201), Oct. 16, 1907.

  21. A. H. Thayer to F. A. Lucas (Director of American Museum of Natural History, New York), Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, June 12, 1908. See also A. H. Thayer, “Arguments against the Banner-Mark Theory,” Auk, 17 (1900), 108–13.

  22. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern.: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), pp. 77 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  23. A. H. Thayer, “Protective Coloration in Its Relation to Mimicry, Common Warning Colours, and Sexual Selection,” Trans. Ent. Soc. London (1903), pp. 553–569. See also A. H. Thayer, “An Arraignment of the Theories of Mimicry and Warning Colors,” Pop. Sci. Mon., 75 (1909), 550–570.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), pp. 24–25.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), pp. 124–125.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), p. 99.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gerald H.Thayer, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909) p. 105.

    Google Scholar 

  28. J. A.Allen, Auk 27 (1910), pp. 222–225.

    Google Scholar 

  29. E. B.Poulton, “The Meaning of the White Under Sides of Animlls,” Nature, 65, (1902), 596.

    Google Scholar 

  30. E. B. Poulton, “A Brief Discussion of A. H. Thayer's Suggestions as to the Meaning of Colour and Pattern in Insect Bionomics,” Trans. Ent. Soc. London (1903), pt. IV, pp. 570–575.

  31. Gerald H.Thayer, Cocealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom; An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Disclosures (New York: Macmillan, 1909), pp. 154–155.

    Google Scholar 

  32. L. A.Fuertes, Science, n.s., 32 (1910), 466–469.

    Google Scholar 

  33. T.Roosevelt, African Game Trails (New York: Scribner's, 1910), Appendix E, p. 552.

    Google Scholar 

  34. T.Roosevelt, “Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals,” Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 30 (1911), 218.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Ibid.

  36. Ibid., p. 217.

  37. Ibid., p. 137.

  38. A. H.Thayer, “Concealing-Coloration: A Demand for Investigation of My Tests of the Effacive Power of Patterns,” Auk, 28 (1911), 463.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Roosevelt, “Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals” p. 131.

  40. A. H.Thayer, “Concealing Coloration,” Pop. Sci. Mon., 79 (1911), 32.

    Google Scholar 

  41. A. H.Thayer, “Concealing-Coloration: A Demand for Investigation of My Tests of the Effacive Power of Patterns,” Auk, 28 (1911), pp. 3–12.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Roosevelt, “Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals,” p. 167.

  43. T.Barbour and J. C.Phillips, “Concealing Coloration Again,” Auk, 28 (1911), 179–188.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Ibid., p. 181.

  45. A. H.Thayer, “Concealing Coloration,” Pop. Sci. Mon., 79 (1911), pp. 26–28.

    Google Scholar 

  46. A. H.Thayer, “Concealing Coloration,” Pop. Sci. Mon., 79 (1911), pp. 34–35.

    Google Scholar 

  47. A. H. Thayer to F. A. Lucas, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, July 2, 1911.

  48. T. Roosevelt to A. H. Thayer, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, Aug. 29, 1911. (Quoted permission of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, Oyster Bay, New York.)

  49. A. H. Thayer to William Brewster, Archives of M.C.Z., bBr 650.10.1(35), June 4, 1911. (Quoted by permission of M.C.Z.)

  50. G. H. Thayer to W. Brewster, Archives of M.C.Z., bBr 651.10, June 17, 1911. (Quoted by permission of M.C.Z.)

  51. Thayer, “Concealing Coloration” (Pop. Sci. Mon.), p. 34.

  52. Thayer, “Concealing-Coloration: A Demand,” p. 148.

  53. T. Roosevelt to A. H. Thayer, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, Mar. 19, 1912. (Quoted by permission of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.)

  54. Thayer, “Concealing-Coloration: A Demand,” p. 463.

  55. Thayer, “Concealing Coloration” (Pop. Sci. Mon.), p. 20.

  56. T.Roosevelt, “Reply to Criticisms of A. H. Thayer in ‘Popular Science Monthly’ for July, 1911,” Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 30 (1911), 223.

    Google Scholar 

  57. F. M.Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird-Lover (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1933), p. 80.

    Google Scholar 

  58. J. A.Allen, “Roosevelt's ‘Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals,’” Auk, 28 (1911), 472–480.

    Google Scholar 

  59. F. H.Allen, “Remarks on the Case of Roosevelt vs. Thayer, with a Few Independent Suggestions on the Concealing Coloration Question,” Auk, 29 (1912), 489–507.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Ibid., p. 490.

  61. T.Barbour, “A Different Aspect of the Case of Roosevelt vs. Thayer,” Auk, 30 (1913), 81–91.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Ibid., p. 84.

  63. R.Pearl, “Data on the Relative Conspicuousness of Barred and Self-Colored Fowls,” Amer. Nat., 45 (1911), 107–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. T. Barbour, “Different Aspect of the Case of Roosevelt vs. Thayer,” p. 88.

  65. Auk, 30 (1913), 146–147 (following a letter from Ruthven Deane).

  66. F. H.Allen, Auk, 30 (1913), 311–317.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Ibid., p. 317.

  68. Nelson C.White, Abbott H. Thayer (Peterborough, N.H.: W. L. Bauhan, 1951), section quoted from Everett Warner, p. 135. White describes Thayer's wartime efforts in detail.

    Google Scholar 

  69. A. H. Thayer to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, Nov. 25, 1914.

  70. Ibid.

  71. A. H. Thayer to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, July 26, 1917.

  72. Thayer to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thayer Papers, Arch. Am. Art, mf D201, Sept. 3, 1917.

  73. Nelson C.White, Abbott H. Thayer (Peterborough, N.H.: W. L. Bauhan, 1951), p. 134.

    Google Scholar 

  74. Nelson C.White, Abbott H. Thayer (Peterborough, N.H.: W. L. Bauhan, 1951), pp. 158 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  75. Nelson C.White, Abbott H. Thayer (Peterborough, N.H.: W. L. Bauhan, 1951), p. 133.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Ibid.

  77. AugustWeismann, Studies in the Theory of Descent, trans. R. Meldola (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882), pp. 289 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  78. F. B.Sumner, “The Adjustment of Flatfishes to Various Backgrounds: A Study of Adaptive Color Change,” J. Exp. Zool., 10 (1911), 472.

    Google Scholar 

  79. W. H.Longley, “Studies upon the Biological Significance of Animal Coloration,” J. Exp. Zool., 23 (1917), 533–599. Roosevelt wrote an attack on Longley's work in “Common Sense and Animal Coloration,” Amer. Mus. J., 18 (1918), 211–218.

    Google Scholar 

  80. Thayer, Auk, 30 (1913), 618.

    Google Scholar 

  81. G. H.Thayer, “Nature Camouflage and Museum Groups,” Mus. Work, 4 (1922), 163–164.

    Google Scholar 

  82. G. M.Allen, Birds and Their Attributes (Boston: Marshall Jones, 1925), pp. 63–77.

    Google Scholar 

  83. For a sympathetic treatment of Thayer, see W. P.Pyecraft, Camouflage in Nature, 2nd ed. (London: Hutchinson, 1925), p. 2. More inclined to support Roosevelt was H. B. Cott, Adaptive Coloration in Animals (London: Methuen, 1940), pp. 36–37, 172–173.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kingsland, S. Abbott thayer and the protective coloration debate. Journal of the History of Biology 11, 223–244 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00389300

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00389300

Keywords

Navigation