The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-09
MODERN ARMIES ARE OFTEN SAVED
BY C0L0RINC OF THEIR UNIFORMS;
NATIONS TAKE HINTS FROM BIRDS

AT the beginning Of the great wal
good deal of interest was aroused
by the peculiar uniform of the Ger.
man soldiers. Unlike the old colors
formerly employed to give splendo1
and dignity to the marching thous-
ands, their clothes were made of the
most inconspicuous materials and
colors Imaginable.
It is said that on the march out of
Brussels the long columns seemed to
fade into the mists of the landscape,
and to: be indistingufshab1e from it
except for the motion and dust, so
that the eye with difficulty could de-
tach them from their surroundings.
The French on the-other hand, still
wore the brilliant uniform made
glorious by this history, blue coats
and bright red trousers. But as the
more evident, that the French uni
form was a, great disadvantage, was,
in fact, a conspicuous target for the
rifle of the enemy
The Germans had with their usual
thoroughness studied the question of
uniforms beforehand, and had de-
vised dress for the soldier which
should make him as nearly invisible
as possible against his natural back
ground of field and trees.
Many French lives must have paid
for the lesson that has at length been
learned; and how the scarlet trousers
the most conspicuous object imagin-
able against a landscape of green. or
brown, have been replaced by dull
colors which conceal their wearers
from the lurking sniper and the how
ering aeroplane
Nature always teaches US our most
practical lessons; the fish is the pat
tern for the Submarine and the bird
for the aeroplane; indeed, neither in
vention would have been posi- BILE
without the hints given out by ma
ture.
In the same way she has been
showing for ages the value of defen-
sive and offensive coloring. It would
be hard to find an animal or a bird
which does not to some degree owe its
comparative safety among the hostile
creatures to which it is exposed to the
color given it by nature.
The commonest example of defen-
sive coloring is the flounders which
we have all fished for in the DAYS of
our youth. Who has not peered for
whole minutes over the side of a boat
at the mud of the bottom to detect
the presence of this fish, and has
then been startled when seemingly a
whole patch of the bottom darts away
in puff of muddy water?
1t is to this mud color that the
founder owes his safety from the
larger fish, which, if they could see
him, would easily make short work
eff him.
Similarly the color of the toad in
the grass makes his all but indistin-
guishable to the passer-by; and every
boy knows how difficult it is to To-
cate the green frog which has Just
leaped into the marshy sedge at the
of the lake.
Among insects the defensive color
ing is still more striking. There are
butterflies whose wings, when I'M
folded, are of the most brilliant hues
of the rainbow; yet when at rest on
/ the limb or tree, with wings closed
these same creatures can hardly be
distinguished from dead leaf. sc
closely is the shape of it and the
brown-veined texture initiated by ma.
ture.
Birds, also-or at least those OF
them which have slight means OF
fighting their enemies with success
are usually of inconspicuous colorine
and shape.
Among the animals the commonest
means of escaping from enemies lies
in deceptive coloring or shape. 1t is
no accident that the bear of the
SHOWS should be white, nor that he
of the forest should be brown.
But we must notice here that if an
animal is to survive it must do more
than escape from it's enemies; it mus,
be able to waylay, and surprise its
prey. There are few so strong or sc
swift as to be able to rely exclusively
on strength or speed for both offense
and defense.
Even the fleet deer, though safe
enough when once has has fail