fa 



90 THE CHAMELEON. 



very large, globular, and projecting, and the ball is closely covered with a circular lid, through 

 which a little round hole is pierced, much like the wooden snow-spectacles of the Esquimaux. 

 The body is rather compressed, the ears are concealed under the skin, and the toes are sep- 

 arated into two opposable groups, so that the creature can hold very fii-mly upon the boughs. 

 All the Dendrosaura are inhabitants of the Old World. The tail is very long and prehensile, 

 and is almost invariably seen coiled round the Iwugh on which the reptile is standing. 



The most familiar example of the Dendrosaura is the common Chameleon, a reptile which 

 is found both in Africa and Asia. 



This singular reptile has long been famous for its power of changing color, a property, 

 however, which has been greatly exaggerated, as will be presently seen. Nearly all the Lizards 

 are constitutionally torpid, though some of them are gifted with gi-eat rapidity of movement 

 during certain seasons of the year. The Chameleon, however, caiTies this sluggishness to an 

 extreme, its only change being from total immobility to the slightest imaginable degree of 

 activity. No one ever saw a Chameleon even walk, as we understand that word, while running 

 is a feat that no Chameleon ever dreamed of. 



^Vlien it moves along the branch upon which it is clinging, the reptile first raises one foot 

 very slowly indeed, and will sometimes remain foot in air for a considerable time, as if it had 

 gone to sleep in the interim. It then puts the foot as slowly forward, and takes a good grasp 

 of the branch. Having satisfied itself that it is firmly secured, it leisurely unwinds its tail, 

 which has been tightly twisted round the branch, sliifts it a little forward, coils it round 

 again, and then rests for a while. With the same elaborate precaution, each foot is success- 

 ively lifted and advanced, so that the forward movements seem but little faster than the hour- 

 hand of a watch. 



The extreme slowness and general habits of this animal are well depicted in an account of 

 a tame Chameleon, kindly presented to me by Captain Drayson : — 



"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 color. I had been 

 led to believe that if placed on a scarlet, blue, or black ground-work, he would soon assume 

 the same hue ; this I found was a delusion. His usual color 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 



