10 



main sometimes for an hour with his tongue on the 

 ground, and when a sufficient quantity of insects has 

 settled upon it, they are all drawn in and devoured. 

 I have seen this animal dart at a fly settled upon a 

 small piece of paper : the fly escaped, but the paper 

 was drawn to the mouth by the cohesive liquid just 

 referred to, and which I have several times particularly 

 examined. The chameleon possesses the quality, 

 generally attributed to him of a power of long 

 fasting." We are indebted to P. Neill, Esquire, for 

 the following memoranda on the chameleon, made by 

 his gardener, A. Scott : " When the chameleon was 

 in good health, and moving from plant to plant, or 

 catching its prey, it was nearly of a uniform colour, 

 with slight variations of shades of green : when with- 

 in a few inches of the glass, in warm sunshine, it 

 generally assumed its most remarkable colour, though 

 sometimes mottled with dark green or brown spots, 

 when not particularly situated : when near the glass 

 at the top of the house, the colour appeared to be 

 the same, whether viewed from beneath within, or 

 from above through the glass, without, and seen in a 

 direction parallel to the solar rays; whatever was 

 the angle, in fact, or position, there was no differ- 

 ence : when one window-sash was lowered over the 

 other, the animal sometimes crept between them ; on 

 different occasions, the glass had to be broken, in 

 order to remove it safely ; and on such occasions it 

 was easy to survey the animal in the positions men- 

 tioned. Though attentively observed, whether the ad- 

 joining and surrounding objects contributed to the 

 changes, nothing could be distinctly ascertained be- 

 yond what might reasonably be supposed accidental ; 

 though change of place, while the chameleon was as- 

 suming any particular shade, soon produced a change of 



