30 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



State of torpor while casting their skins. 



In the beginning of May the female deposits 

 her eggs, which are nearly spherical, and about 

 five lines in diameter, in some warm situation ; 

 as, for instance, at the foot of a wall fronting the 

 south : here they are hatched by the heat of the 

 sun. Previously to laying the eggs, both male 

 and female change their skins, which they again 

 do about the beginning of winter. They pass 

 that season in a state of torpor, more or less 

 complete, according to the rigor of the season, 

 either in holes of trees, or walls, or subterraneous 

 places. They quit these retreats on the first 

 appearance of spring. In the southern countries 

 of Europe they revive very early in the spring 

 from the torpid state in which they had passed 

 the cold weather of the winter ; and, recovering 

 their activity, begin their sportive evolutions, 

 which increase in agility in proportion to the 

 beat of the atmosphere. 



THE CAMELEON. 



THE head of a cameleon is almost like that 

 of a fish, it being joined to the breast by a very 

 short neck, covered on each side with cartila- 

 ginous membranes resembling the gills of fish. 

 There is a crest directly on the top of the head, 

 and two others on each side above the eyes, and 

 between these there are two cavitie^ near the 

 top of the head j the muzzle is blunt, and not 



5 



