VOL. LVIII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 558 



project forwards and upwards in an oblique direction over the nasal hole, and are 

 bluntly serrated all round; the surface of the entire face is covered with tubercles 

 and scales, which, by being in a dry state, have lost their protuberance and 

 lustre, which the scales certainly were endowed with while the animal was alive. 



The length of the two mandibles is equal, and is 2 inches and a quarter from 

 the articulation of the lower with the upper jaw, to the apex of each ; both being 

 furnished with a fine set of small pointed teeth ; all of a size, and so set, that 

 on the animal's closing his mouth, the teeth do not meet, but those of the 

 upper fall in with those of the under alternately. There are no molares nor ca- 

 nine teeth. 



The orbits are extremely large and deep, so that this cameleon must have had 

 very great eyes, and very globular ; for they are each more than a third of the 

 whole length of the mandible in diameter. From a close inspection of the skin, 

 which is now contracted and dried close to the skeleton, it appears scaled all 

 over ; the larger scales are on part of the head and on the sides of the neck ; the 

 smaller, under the jaws, on the neck, and over the whole body; but we can form 

 no idea of its proper colour while the animal is alive, yet do not doubt of its 

 having had a very beautiful covering. 



Almost every species of lacerta have 5 fingers on each extremity; all the came- 

 leons have them, but they differ in the disposition of the fingers ; this before us 

 has the tarsal, metatarsal, and 3 bones to each finger, as it is in human hands: 

 in this cameleon the fingers are very long, and terminated with pointed nails 

 bending downwards; 3 of the fingers of each anterior extremity are inwards in 

 the place of the thumb, and the other two are outwards; whereas in the poste- 

 rior extremities, 3 are outwards, and the other two inwards, having between 

 them such a large space or division, as is between the thumb and fingers of men. 

 But this distribution of the fingers he saw in one of the triangular- headed came- 

 leons: other species have the 5 fingers together, and very short like stumps; but 

 that described by Pitfield, from the dissections of the Royal Academy, has its 

 fingers disposed in the same manner with this, and is one of those with a trian- 

 gular head and crest. 



The vertical edge of the spine is scolloped all along from the neck to the ex- 

 tremity of the tail, and has on each side a row of knobs, or processes, as far as 

 the articulation of the thigh with the bone that runs up towards the spine; but 

 from thence, where the tail begins, there is a second lateral row of knobs, which 

 continue all along the tail. There does not appear any passage into the head for 

 hearing, nor any other but the mouth and nasal holes; which is also taken notice 

 of by the Royal Academy in their observations on that mentioned above. This 

 made Bellonius imagine, that these nasal holes serve cameleons for hearing as 



VOL, XII. 4 B 



