52 THE SWAN AND HER CREW. 



breeze. Dick was sprawling on the roof of the cabin basking 

 in the sun. Frank was fishing for roach in the clear slow 

 stream, and Jimmy was perusing the newspaper in which the 

 provisions had been wrapped. It was a still, lovely morning. 

 White clouds sailed quickly across the blue sky, but there was 

 no breeze to move the marsh grasses and reeds, or to ripple the 

 placid stream. A lark sang merrily far above them, filling the 

 air with melody. Small birds chirped in the sedges, and the 

 water-hens and white-headed coots sailed busily to and fro. 



Jimmy looked up from his paper just as Frank pulled in a 

 good sized roach, and said, 



ROACH. 



f( Do either of you know how the chameleon changes its 

 colour ? " 



Upon receiving an answer in the negative he read as follows 

 from the paper in his hand : 



" M. Paul Bert has laid before the French Academy a resume 

 of the observations of himself and others on the colour-changes 

 of the chameleon. They appear to be due to change of 

 place of certain coloured corpuscles. When they bury them- 

 selves under the skin, they form an opaque background to the 

 cerulescent layer, and when they distribute themselves in super- 

 ficial ramifications, they either leave the skin to show its 

 yellow hue, or give it green and black tints. The movements 



