33^ 



NATURE 



\_Atigiist II, 1 88 1 



the change to be due to the inflation of the body, and we 

 all know that in Gay's fables it is represented as changing 

 from black to green, blue, and whit ;. The truth is the 

 ground colour of the animal may vary froin pale yellow 

 to light or dark green, and so from a bluish to a dark 

 leaden colour. 



It is often of a general pale yellow tint, especially at 

 night, in the durk and when perfectly dormant. The 

 general colour need not be uniform, but in one region of 

 one colour, and of another colour in another region, and 

 yellow and bluish tints may be so mixed as to produce a 

 green appearance. The colours may also be diffei ent on 

 the two sides of the body. Its most ordinary colour re- 

 sembles that of the bark of trees or that of leaves, but 

 very distinct and veiy varied markings may a;>pear as 

 spots or stripes of pale gray, or brown, or black, or yellow, 

 and the stripes or series of spots may e.xtend longitudinally 

 or transversely. Moreover the spots may be either close 

 or distant, a id round or angular. They may be dark on 

 a light ground, or light on a dark ground. All the 

 changes of colour which take place take place gradually, 

 and the spots which appear, disappear, and re-appear, 

 are not reproduced in the same places with the e.xception 

 of markings which radiate from the eye, and others on 

 the tail and limbs. 



My poor friend, the 1 ite Mr. H. N. Turner, jun., 

 remarked ' of a chamieleon kept by him that its general 

 tint varied from brown or olive to bright green and 

 yellow. When brought from the dark into limp-light 

 he found that the side next the light changed sooner than 

 the other. The line of prominent tubercles in the middle 

 of the under surface of the bod\- remains constantly white. 

 Mr. Turner's experiments and those of van der Hoeven 

 seem, as was to be expected, to negative the idea that the 

 animal can assume the colour of surrounding objects. 



This faculty of colour change is not really so excep- 

 tional a phenomenon as many persons suppose. It exists 

 in certain moUusks, and notably in the cuttle-fishes, 

 which rival the charaajleon in their changing tints. It is 

 also found in certain frogs and lizards, especially in the 

 American kind, called Spharops. As to fishes, Dr. 

 Giinther tells us = : "In many bright-shining fishes— as 

 mackerels, mullets— the colours appear to be brightest in 

 the time intervening between the capture of the fish and 

 its death, a phenomenon clearly due to the pressure of the 

 convulsively-contracted muscles on the chromatophores. 

 External irritation readily excites the chromatophores to 

 expand— a fact unconsciously utilised by fishermen, who, 

 by scaling the red mullet immediately before its death, 

 produce the desired intensity of the red colour of the skin, 

 without which the fish would not be saleable. In trout 

 which are kept alive in dark places, the black chroma- 

 tophores are expanded, and consequently such specimens 

 are very dark-coloured ; when removed to the light they 

 become paler almost instantaneously. 



The chamix;leon lays eggs, and its manner of doing so 

 has been described by X^allisnieri, who carefully ob,erved 

 the action, of a female in his possession. She wandered 

 about on the floor of her inclosure till she found a place 

 devoid of dust or sand. There she began to scratch, and 

 continued scratching for two days, till she excavated a 

 depression four inches wide and six inches deep, in which 

 she deposited thirty eggs. She then carefully covered 

 them up, first with earth, and then with dry leaves and 

 twigs and bits of straw. 



There are now fifty known species of chameleon, and 

 twenty-five of them are distinguished by prominences 

 either on the end or sides of the muzzle, or over the eyes, 

 or on the top of the head, or on the occiput. The first 

 twenty-five of the entire list are devoid of such promin- 

 ences. Their names and the loialities whence they come 

 are as follows :-- 



' Proc. Zool. Soc, 1851, p. 203- ^ . 



" See his recent "magnificent work on Fishes, p. 183- 



(i) Chamaleo vuli^aris is found in Southern Spain, 

 Northern and Southern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, 

 Hindostan, and Ceylon. No other kind of chamseleon 

 has nearly so extensive a range. 



(2) The kinds called C. lavigatus and (3) C. affinis both 

 come from Egypt or Eastern Africa. C. Senegalcnsis (4), 

 C. gracilis (5), C. granulosus (6), C. dilepis (7), C. 

 anchieta (8), and C. fasciatiis (9), all come from Western 

 Africa. C. cristatus (10) and C. Burchelli (i i) come from 

 Fernando Po. C. capellis (12), C. vsntralis (13), C. 

 pumilus (14), C. nainaguensis {I'i), C. iiielauocephalits {\6), 

 C. gutturalis (17), and C. tceniabronc/ius (18), all come 

 from Southern Africa. The kind called C. tigris (19) is 

 from the Seychelle Islands ; and the two species, C. 

 cephaloUpis (20) and C. pollenii (2 1 ), are from the Comoro 

 Islands. C. verrucosus (22), with C. balteatiis (23), C. 

 lateralis (24), and C. campani (25), are from the great 

 island called Madagascar. 



As to each of the next list a word or two must be said. 

 The form called C. antiinciia ' (26) is furnished with an 

 outgrowth flattened from above downwards, at the end of 

 the muzzle, which is cartilaginous towards its distal end. 

 C. Laboi'di'- (27) has a similar process more prolonged 

 and entirely bony. C. superciliaris^ (28) has a triangular 

 prominence over each eye. C. partialis'^ {2g) has a nose 

 dilated and toothed on each side in front. In C. globifer^ 

 (30) a globular prominence projects anteriorly from each 

 side of the end of the muzzle. C. calyptratus'' (31) and 

 C. calcaratus'' (32) have each the summit of the head 

 conically produced. In C. ciicullattis " (,33) a very pro- 

 minent flap extends out on each side from the occiput. 

 In C.gularis^ (34) there is also a pair of occipital flaps, 

 and the same is the case in C. bievicornis^" (35), with the 

 addition of a process on the end of the snout, covered with 

 smooth scales. C. Malthc'^'^ (36) has a pair of slightly dif- 

 ferent occipital flaps with the addition (in the male) of an 

 obtuse nasal prominence, which is grooved above. C. rhi- 

 noceratus '- (37) has a single central elongated bony nasal 

 prominence, but no occipital flaps. In C. minor'^ (38) the 

 male has two flat, compressed, diverging nasal promin- 

 ences covered with large scutes. In C. bifurcus^^ (39) 

 there is a similar pair of bony processes, and also in C. 

 Parsoni'^^ (40)'. In C. O'Shaiighiiessi^^ (41) there are 

 also two divergent, compressed, scute-covered nasal 

 prominences. In C. gallus " (42) the nose of the male is 

 provided with a single long conical appendage, but it is 

 flexible and covered with short tubercles. It and the pre- 

 ceding twenty species also all come from Madagascar. 

 C. nasutus^^ (43), from Eastern Africa, has a similar 

 flexible protuberance. The snout of C. montimn >" (44) 

 has two prominences which are veritable nasal horns 

 horizontally projecting forwards from above the nostrils. 

 Each is encased in a finely-annulated sheath. It comtis 

 from the Camarooa Mountains. The male of C. Owenii '^ 

 (45) has no less than three such sheathed horns, one 

 projecting from the front of each orbit, and the other 

 from the middle of the nose. It is an inhabitant of the 

 Island of Fernando Po. In C. Melleri =' (46) the male 

 has a single, compressed bony prominence, sharp-edged 

 above. It comes from Eastern Africa. C. moiiachus"' 

 (47) has two large occipital flaps. It is an inhabitant of 



> See Grandidier, Ann. des Sc. Nat, xiv. 187::. ' L.c^ 

 1 ArMv. du AU,s., VI. Pi. XXII. Fi^. 14. " L.c. Fig. ti. 



> GUnlher, P.Z S. 1879. p. 149, PL XIII. 



) Archiv. du Mas , vi. Pi. XXCI. Fig. i. „„,„„, , 



' Peters Monatsber Berlin, 1869, p. 445- * P-Z- S. 1864, p. 746 



' Gunther, /'.Z.5'., 1879, P-I4?. Pl-XII., Fig.B. 

 » L c FiK. A ; and Ann. and Mag. o/Nat. Hist., May, 1881, p. 358_; 



■ P. Z. S, 1879, P 148. PI. XI. '= Gray, P. ZS.. 1804, p. 47S. 



3 Giinther, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., p 240, Pi. XIU. 



4 Arc/, du Mus., vi PI. XXII. Fig. 3- , ^,., ^ ^ '=- F'g- "■ 

 6 Ann. and Mag. 0/ Nat. Hist., p. 357. PI- XIX. 

 ^ Ann ant Mag. Nat. Hist . p. 3r5, PI XVI Fig. B. 



8 Archiv du Mus.. vi. Pi. XXII. Fig. 4. 



9 Gunther, P. Z. S.. ii74. P- 442. ?'■ LVI. 

 o Archiv du lHus., v.. Pi. XXII. Flg^io 



■ Gray, P. Z. S., 1864, p. 478. PI- XXXII. Fig. t 

 •" P. Z S., 1864, p. 470. PI- XXXI. 



