92 THE CHAMELEON. 



" I once owned a Chameleon, which was a very quaint creature. He had been 

 captured by some Kaffir boys, whom I found laughing immoderately at the animal, a 

 practice which I found very common amongst these people whenever they saw one of 

 these reptiles. For a trifle the creature became my property, and I carried him to a 

 little wattle and daub house in which I then resided. Being anxious to watch the 

 private habits of my visitor, I drove a stick into the wall, and placed him upon it. The 

 stick was about four feet in length and half an inch in diameter, so that the locomotion 

 of the Chameleon was rather limited. 



The first peculiarity I remarked about him was the very slow methodical way in 

 which he moved. To turn to the right-about would occupy him several minutes, whilst 

 to move from one end of the stick to the other was a recreation of which he was sparing, 

 a whole day being devoted to this performance. There was something rather antique in 

 his general appearance, both as regards his form and movements ; the long independent- 

 moving, swivel eyes, giving him the characteristics of an Egyptian production, whilst the 

 habit of puffing himself out occasionally, and of hissing, made him seem old-fashioned in 

 the extreme. 



I was disappointed when I found how slight was the variation in his colour. I had 

 been led to believe that if placed on a scarlet, blue, or black groundwork he would soon 

 assume the same hue ; this I found was a delusion. His usual colour was a light 

 yellowish green, and this he could alter to a dark blue or brown-green, and he could 

 make several dark brown spots become very prominent on his skin. 



The method I used to adopt to make him show off, was to rub his side with my 

 finger. He objected to this treatment, and used to puff away pompously, and vary his 

 tints, as it appeared to me, by means of contracting or expanding his muscles under the 

 skin. He looked very lantern-like, as though he were merely skin and ribs, and he was 

 never found guilty of eating anything. Sometimes I saw flies settle upon him, a liberty 

 which he did not resent. He merely turned one of his swivel eyes towards the delinquent 

 and squinted calmly at it. Occasionally I put a fly in his mouth, and forced him to keep 

 it there ; he took the affront very coolly, and the fly was seen no more. So hollow did he 

 appear, that I frequently listened to hear if the flies were buzzing about inside him, but 

 all was quiet. He stayed on the stick during two months. I then gave him a run out 

 of doors, but having left him a few minutes, he took advantage of my absence and 

 levanted, after which I saw him no more." 



The food of the Chameleon consists of insects, mostly flies, but, like many other 

 reptiles, the Chameleon is able to live for some months without taking food at all. This 

 capacity for fasting, together with the singular manner in which the reptile takes its prey, 

 gave rise to the absurd fable that the Chameleon lived only upon air. To judge by 

 external appearance, there never was an animal less fitted than the Chameleon for 

 capturing the winged and active flies. But when we come to examine its structure, we 

 find that it is even better fitted for this purpose than many of the more active insect- 

 eating Lizards. 



The tongue is the instrument by which the fly is captured, being darted out with 

 such singular velocity that it is hardly perceptible, and a fly seems to leap into the 

 mouth of the reptile as if attracted by magnetism. This member is very muscular, and 

 is furnished at the tip with a kind of viscid secretion which causes the fly to adhere to it. 

 A lady who kept a Chameleon for some time, told me that her pet died, and when they 

 came to examine it, they found that its tongue had in some strange way got down its 

 throat, an accident which they took to be the cause of its death. Its mouth is well 

 furnished with teeth, which are set firmly into its jaw, and enable it to bruise the insects 

 after getting them into its mouth by means of the tongue. 



The eyes have a most singular appearance, and are worked quite independently of 

 each other, one rolling backwards while the other is directed forwards or upwards. In 

 connexion with this subject some very curious and valuable remarks will be found 

 on page 94. There is not the least spark of expression in the eye of the Chameleon, 

 which looks about as intellectual as a green pea with a dot of ink upon it. 



