NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 343 



were illuminated altered from their bluish colour to a 

 brownish gTay inclining to tawny. The rest of the skin, 

 which was not illuminated by the sun, changed from gray 

 into several lively shining colours, forming spots about 

 half a finger's breadth, reaching from the crest of the 

 spine to the middle of the back ; and others appeared on 

 the ribs, forelegs, and tail. All the spots were of an Isa- 

 bella colour, through the mixture of a pale yellow, with 

 which the gTanules were tinged, and of a bright red, 

 which was the colour of the skin that was visible between 

 the granules; the rest of the skin not in the sun's light, 

 and which was of a paler gray than ordinary, resembled 

 a cloth made of mixed wool, some of the granules being 

 greenish, others of a tawny gray, and others of the usual 

 bluish gray, the ground remaining as before. When the 

 sun ceased to shine, the original gray appeared again by 

 degrees, and spread itself all over the body, except under 

 the feet, which continued nearly of the same colour, but 

 rather browner. When, in this state of colour, it was 

 handled by strangers, several blackish spots about the size 

 of a finger-nail appeared, a change which did not take 

 place when it was handled by those who usually took care 

 of it. Sometimes it was marked with brown spots, which 

 inclined towards green. It was wrapped in a linen cloth, 

 and, after two or three minutes, was taken out whitish, 

 but not so white as that which the vir nohilissimiis 

 above alluded to subjected to a similar experiment. 

 Theirs, which had only changed its ordinary gray into a 

 paler gray, after having retained that colour some time, 

 lost it gradually. This experiment made them question 

 the truth of the allegation that the chameleon takes all 

 colours but white, as Theophrastus and Plutarch report; 

 for theirs seemed to have such a disposition to retain this 

 colour that it grew pale every night, and when dead it 

 showed more white than any other colour. Nor did they 

 find that it changed colour all over the body, as Aristotle 



