mathewson] AN INTERESTING NATURE NOTE 137 



for efficient and useful lives under the conditions which they 

 must meet after leaving school. Other objects to which this 

 course directs special attention are health, motherhood and child 

 welfare, civics, community meetings and extension work. 



An Interesting Nature Note — In the fall of 19 14 I secured 

 a chameleon from a local dealer and placed it in a cage in the 

 laboratory. It was to be used in connection with the lessons on 

 cold-blooded vertebrates. About a week later the animal, which 

 had been a center of attraction because of his beautiful coloring 

 and quick changes of color, escaped. 



In connection with our laboratory there is a small plant room, 

 one use of which is to serve as a storage place for plants that have 

 been attacked by insect parasites. These plants we have custo- 

 marily treated with the usual sprays of poison, etc. English Ivy 

 growing in the plant room had to be treated not less than once 

 a week to keep the ever-increasing Aphids within bounds. 



Owing to a press of work about the time the pet chameleon 

 escaped the plant room was neglected for a time. To our sur- 

 prise, we found later that the insect parasites were not showing 

 their wonted capacity for multiplying when no insecticides were 

 used. At the time we were at a loss to account for this. One 

 day about six weeks after the escape of the chameleon he was seen 

 on a fern by one of the teachers and we then knew why our in- 

 insect pests were on the decline. The chameleon was seen only 

 four times in ten months, but during that entire time none of 

 our usual precautions against insect parasites were taken. 



Meanwhile our little ally kept in good condition and proved 

 himself more than equal to the occasion, going up on shelves 

 eight feet above the floor in his active hunts. During the sum- 

 mer vacation he disappeared for good. 



This year we have obtained from the Zoological Park another 

 chameleon to continue the effective warfare of his predecessor. 

 The results are more thorough than our efforts could bring, 

 and the time saved amounts to a good deal. — Chester A. 

 Mathewson. 



