126 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
about their walls catching spiders, on which it fed. Schneider has 
shown it was the S¢e//zo of Pliny. Linnzeus mentions three species, 
which he places with his great genus Zacerta. Modern herpetologists, 
following Cuvier and Duméril, class them according to the structure 
under the several genera Ascalabotes, Platydactylus, Hemidactylus, 
Ptyodactylus, Thecadactylus, Stenodactylus, and Gymnodactylus. | 
The Wall Gecko (P. homalocephalus, Fig. 30) is of an ashy grey 
colour, as if powdered on the upper part of the body, and is white 
underneath. It inhabits the islands of the Mediterranean, as well as 
the countries which form the basin of that sea, such as Italy, France, 
Spain, and Africa. They are generally found in old walls; they are, 
however, sometimes seen running on those of modern habitations. 
They feed principally on the dipterous insects and Arachnidans. 
CHAMELEO (Laurentt). 
The genus Chameleo, of which ten species are described in the 
British Museum Catalogue, are natives of Africa and Asia, and 
naturalised in Southern Europe. ‘They live on trees, clinging to the 
branches by their feet and prehensile tails ; they move slowly and 
with great caution, feeding upon insects, which they catch ~ with 
singular dexterity by the rapid elongation of their tongue, which is 
viscid at the tip. | 
Certain groundless metaphors, deeply rooted in the popular mind, 
have singularly distorted the truth in respect to these Reptiles. It is 
commonly believed that the Chameleon often changes its shape, that 
it has no fixed colour, but takes that of objects on which it rests. 
This singular idea has descended from ancient times. According to 
the reports of Theophrastus and Plutarch, the Chameleon takes all 
colours in turn ; according to Aristotle, it changes colour all over the 
body ; but /“lian seems to have had views more in accordance with 
those of modern observers, for he says when it takes other colours 
than grey to disguise itself, it covers only certain parts of the body 
with them. Altogether, the ancients made the Chameleon a very 
wonderful creature; hence, in the familiar comparisons in literature, 
they serve as a type to designate unprincipled persons; to paint 
fawning men, who have neither character nor individuality of their 
own, but who bend themselves to the will and adopt the opinions of 
others. Putting aside the imaginary attributes accorded to the 
Chameleon by the fancies of the ancients, and painting them such as 
they are, we see in them peculiarities most worthy of observation and 
highly interesting to the naturalist, as well on account of the singular 
