314 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



the other minutely examines the ground, or while one of 

 them rolls in its orbit, the other remains fixed ; nay, their 

 mobility is so great, that without even moving its stiff head, 

 this wonderful lizard, like Janus, the double-faced god of 

 ancient Eome, can see at the same time all that goes on before 

 and behind it. When an insect comes flying along, the 

 Chameleon, perched on a branch, and half concealed between the 

 foliage, follows it in all its movements by means of his power- 

 ful telescopes, until the proper moment for action appears. 

 Then, quick as thought, he darts forth, even to a distance of 

 five or six inches, his long fleshy glutinous tongue, which is 

 moreover furnished with a dilated and somewhat tubular tip, 

 and drawing it back with the same lightning-like velocity, 

 engulphs his prey. This independence of the eyes is owing to 

 the imperfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobes 

 of the brain and the two sets of nerves which ramify through- 

 out the opposite sides of its frame. Hence also one side of 

 the body may be asleep while the other is vigilant, one may be 

 green while the other is ash-blue, and it is even said that the 

 Chameleon is utterly unable to swim, because the muscles of 

 both sides are incapable of acting in concert. 



Destined for an arboreal life, he is provided with organs 

 beautifully adapted for supporting himself on the flexible 

 branches ; for, besides the cylindrical tail nearly as long as his 

 body which he coils round the boughs, his five toes are 'united 

 two and three by a common skin, so as to form, as it were, a 

 pair of pincers or a kind of hand, admirably suited for a hold- 

 fast. 



Among the Iguanas, a huge lizard tribe, characterised by a 

 carinated back and tail, and a large denticulated gular pouch, 



the common or Grreat American 

 Guana (^Iguana tuherculata) de- 

 serves particular notice, as its white 

 flesh is considered a great delicacy 

 in Brazil and the West Indies. 

 Notwithstanding its large size, for 

 it not seldom attains a length of 

 four or five feet, and the formidable appearance of its serrated 

 back, it is in reality by no means of a warlike disposition, and 

 so stupid that, instead of endeavouring to save itself by a 



