236 CAMELEONT. SCALY LIZARD. 



objects of terror, disgust, or suspicion ; but it does not 

 appear that any of them are really noxious farther than 

 their mere bite, which may be easily cured like any other 

 wound. 



That species of the salamander which is best known in 

 Europe, is from eight to eleven inches thick, usually 

 black, spotted with yellow ; and when taken in the hand 

 feels cold to a high degree. When thrown into the fire, 

 in which it has been supposed capable of existing, it bursts 

 and ejects its fluids, which may serve indeed to quench 

 the flames partially, but the animal loses its life at the 

 very instant. Salamanders are all amphibious, are capable 

 of enduring great abstinence, and bring forth their young 

 alive. 



THE CAMELEON. 



This animal has a crooked cylindrical tail ; and in- 

 cluding this appendage, measures about a foot in length. 

 Its thickness varies at different seasons, as it possesses 

 the faculty of contracting or expanding itself at pleasure. 

 The skin is very unequal, but soft. When the creature 

 is at rest, the eminences on its surface appear of a 

 bluish grey, and the spaces between them of a pale red 

 and yellow : but viewed in different lights, it assumes 

 every tint of colouring, and no two individuals can agree 

 as to the exact shades it presents to the eye ; hence it has 

 been in all ages alluded to as the emblem of a fickle un- 

 settled mind, which varies with every turn of opinion., 

 and is constant in nothing but perpetual change. 



THE SCALY LIZARD. 



So numerous is the family of lizards, and at the same 

 time so uninteresting, that this species will be a sufficient 

 specimen of the rest. Its length, including the tail, is 

 about seven inches. A black list runs along the back, 

 and a brown one on each side : the belly is yellow ; and 

 the scales, which are large and even, are varied with 



