92 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



peared but one, and that turned up some five or six 

 months after, alive and luminous, in some odd 

 corner, very mucli to the surprise of the iumates. 

 How it had kept itself alive no one could tell. — 

 /. B. S. C. 



Chameleons. — These reptiles, being the natives 

 of very warm climates, require a vast amount of 

 care when brought over 1o England, and it is but 

 rarely that we hear of a pet chameleon living for 

 any length of time in confinement, simply because 

 their quarters are not sufiiciently heated. The tem- 

 perature of an ordinary gieen-house would most 

 decidedly be too cold : a sfovehouse would be 

 better. A friend of mine made pets of two chame- 

 leons soon after her arrival in Ceylon, and she 

 described them as most pugnacious in their conduct 

 to each other, though perfectly harmless and gentle 

 as indoor residents. They used to fight, and when 

 engaged in battle, the ludicrous way in which they 

 slowly opened and shut their jaws invariably made 

 her aunt, an old lady, "yawn." They were both 

 male reptiles, so she gave one of them his liberty, 

 put him up a tree, and procured from a native ser- 

 vant a lady chameleon, who, in a short time, laid 

 some eggs in a little heap of sand at the bottom of 

 the large wire inclosure, which Miss E. had confined 

 tliem in. The eggs never hatched, the heat of the 

 sun not being sufficiently powerful on that spot ; for 

 in a wild state chameleons always deposit their 

 eggs, and leave them to be matured by the warmth 

 of the sun. If your correspondent Miss Eyfe were 

 to write to ''Mr. Prank Bnckland," she would 

 probably obtain from that gentleman full informa- 

 tion as to how they are treated in the Zoological 

 Gardens. 1 have been told that they give them 

 meal-worms, a food much relished by them, and 

 that they sprinkle the plants in their case with 

 water daily, because chameleons never drink water 

 from any vessel, and therefore it, is found requi- 

 site to supply them Mith liquid in a like way to 

 what they obtain it in thrir native forests. — Helen 

 E. Watney. 



The Chameleon.— Many of your readers will 

 doubtless be interested in hearing that one of these 

 curious animals has recently been found at Maid- 

 stone. My authority, after speaking of a poetical 

 allusion to its "triple claw," snys:— "The triple 

 claw is correct enough ; it appears to be but triple. 

 "When the claw, however, is distended, no fewer 

 than five extremely minute talons, like those of a 

 kitten, are developed, and by these a firm hold 

 of even a considerable-sized branch is obtained. 

 By placing the two wrists together as a man docs 

 when he is manacled, then throwing both hands 

 open as widely as possible, you see the shape of 

 each foot; and, by imagining the talons spoken of 

 to be at the ends of tiie fingers, an idea may be 

 formed of the great holding-on power the Chame- 

 leon possesses. The eye is extremely difficult to 

 describe fully. It is sunk in a conical tube or 

 leceptacle, evidently to protect it: this tube 

 revolves in any direction with the ball of the eye, 

 so that, although the latter is remote, no obstacle 

 is prescn!ed to the vision. The eye is very small, 

 but brilliant in the extreme, somcMhat like that of 

 a toad, but not a quarter of the size. A 'hood,' 

 apparently, but which is not movable, covers the 

 neck. The back is arched, and very thin all along 

 the top. The inside of the mouth is a bright red. 

 AVhen inhaling the atmosphere, and viewed through 

 a glass, the whole body of the animal appears 



rugged like the bark of a tree, and s^e/Mike to the 

 touch. The length of the body is about six or 

 seven inches." The animal was very slow in its 

 movements. Its colour was invariably black or 

 dark at night ; it appeared white on one occasion, 

 but green or yellow seemed to be its favourite 

 colour. It slept suspended by its tail, and was 

 capable of elongating its body at pleasure. It 

 lived about a mouth after its capture, and died 

 during the cold weather. My authority considers 

 that it was imported from Spain among some 

 Esparto grass, an article frequently deposited on a 

 wharf adjoining a garden in which the chameleon 

 I M'as found. — /. S., Jun. 



\ What does Gkyllus viridissiml's eat ?— Eor 

 the information of " K. A. M.," I might state that it 

 is strongly suspected, tlumgh not absolutely proved, 

 that this species is occasionally carnivorous ; and 

 should this be so, its food would probably be 

 aphides, and other small fry of that cliaracter. 

 From the apple supplied to the specimen watched 

 by ''E. A. M." small insects or other living creatures 

 may have been got. Buds of different trees and 

 plants are doubtless resorted to for food by this 

 " most green " and very lively gentleman, whom it is 

 much easier to hear than to see or catch. The 

 eggs are deposited in the ground during the summer 

 or autumn, but the femnles are said to select for 

 the purpose a sandy or friable soil, and the captive 

 insect was probably dissatisfied v.ith the earth 

 which was within its reach ; or its reluctance to 

 oviposit may have arisen from the circumstance 

 that it was not impregnated. — /. R. S. C. 



Ichthyosaurus. —In your February number you 

 refer to a notice in the Standarcl as to an ielithyo- 

 saurus said to have been recently found at Char- 

 mouth, with foetal young in situ. Do you know if 

 this specimen has been examined by any competent 

 authority — if so, by whom ? Further, would you 

 kindly say where specimens with foetus in situ, upon 

 which you found your closing remarks, may be seen ? 

 Your reply to these queries will, I am sure,be of in- 

 terest to many of your readers. — G. Potter. 



\_ We do not know if the identical specimen re- 

 ferred to has been examined. But specimens arc 

 not rare showing the position of the foetal young. 

 For proofs as to the viviparous nature of the 

 Ichthjoumri, see Owen's " Palaeontology," Page's 

 " Handbook," &c.— Ed. S.-G.] 



Piiyllactidium ruLciiELLUM {ante, p. 47 ; 

 Science-Gossip, IS67, p. 178).— I found many 

 specimens of this phint in 1870 on leaves o'f 

 Anaeharis taken out of a small stream near Win- 

 chester.- i\ /. Warner. 



Stag Beetle. — If G. Guyon had used his finger 

 instead of a stick, he might perhaps have felt the 

 etfccts of a pinch from the long mandibles of the 

 Stag Beetle. If, when they are flying, they should be 

 stopped, or if they are irritated in any other way, 

 they will generally grasp anything which is placed 

 near them. I know a m:in who allow'cd one to take 

 held of his finger, which caused it to bleed con- 

 siderably. — A. E. 



Poisoning Dried Plants.-;- Your correspondent 

 J. T. Mott asks whether it is necessary to wash 

 plants with corrosive sublimate to preserve them 

 trom insects. 1 am of opinion that it is necessary, 

 as I have seen specimens not done so, completely 

 eaten into holes. 1 have a considerable number of 



