1/0 SAURIA. 



phenomenon, the cause of which has long been a subject of 

 difference among naturalists, has nothing to do with the 

 hue of the objects by which they are surrounded, but 

 bears relation to the degree of light or darkness to which 

 they are exposed, and to the state of their own feehngs 

 of fear or anger. 



* Chamaeleo vulgaris. 



Cham(sleo vulgaris, Dum. et Bib. vol. iii. p. 204. 

 Chamceleo Africamis, Guerin. 



Desceiption. — The occipital crest or hood is pointed, and 

 raised into a ridge in front ; there is a ridge along the 

 back, which is toothed in its anterior portion ; and beneath 

 the body, from the chin to the tail, runs another ridge, 

 toothed in like manner. In the female the hood is smaller, 

 and the dentations of the ridge less strongly marked. The 

 round or ovate granules with which the body is covered 

 are closely pressed together when the animal is not swelled 

 up, but when it thus extends its skin, they appear to be 

 arranged in groups of five or six. Its colour changes from 

 almost white to nearly black ; sometimes these shades are 

 so arranged as to give it a striped appearance ; some- 

 times the skin is grey or yellow, with spots or marks of 

 orange. 



The female is generally rather larger than the male ; a 

 large individual of the former sex measuring about 14 inches 

 in its entire length. 



The Chameleon lives habitually in bushes or trees, grasp- 

 ing the branches firmly with its claws and tail. The female 

 lays about thirty eggs in a hollow in the ground, and covers 

 them over with loose earth. 



In Europe it is found only in the South of Spain, and 

 is common around the Bay of Cadiz. Its geographical 

 range extends along the entii'e of the African shores of the 



