96 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



ess, resulting in a new tail. The new member is com- 

 pleted in a few months. It is seldom as long as the 

 original one, nor covered with a normal scalation. 



Changes of Color: Decided, though involuntary 

 changes of the body hues may be observed among sev- 

 eral of the families. The process is influenced by light, 

 temperature, excitement and the health of the indi- 

 vidual. It is a mistake to imagine the color changes to 

 be strictly in line of protection to the lizard in imme- 

 diately conforming to the colors of surfaces on which 

 the animal rests. A specimen capable of exhibiting 

 all phases of coloration between a dull brown to an 

 emerald green may for some time rest upon a dark 

 tree trunk and be clad in a suit of conspicuous steel- 

 gray; from this hue it may transform into a livid 

 green; a few minutes later it may jump among the 

 leaves and shrubbery, where it takes on an almost black- 

 ish hue. In fiction, theory is an excellent stand-by. 

 Who can blame certain romantic authors for elaborat- 

 ing upon such an admirable point as the "power" dis- 

 played by a dull brown lizard to jump upon a leaf and 

 transform into a leafy green, thence upon a tree trunk 

 where it immediately turns brown again, and from 

 there, possibly, upon a gorgeous flower where the 

 reptile assumes a hue to match the richly-colored petals ? 

 The writer once observed an experiment made by a 

 student who digested a great amount of theoretical 

 natural history. The young man placed a number of 

 American "chameleons" (Anolis) , in a glass-topped box 

 lined with large patches of green, gray, brown and black 

 paper — then watched for results. The latter were 

 decidedly, repeatedly and humorously negative. The 

 most conspicuous examples of lizards that vary; in hues 



y 



