836 JOUliNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI J'. 



a darker colour all over the body, not only in the parts exposed. Thus it 

 appears that in this change of colour, which is due to the elongation or 

 contraction of the colour corpuscles, the variations in the form of the cor- 

 puscles is not brought about directly by the presence or absence of light, 

 but through the agency of the nervous system ; the lizards becoming of a 

 lighter or darker colour all over the body and not in parts only. 



III. Emotions. If the animal be strongly irritated, it assumes a darker 

 colour ; but the change does not come about so suddenly as one would 

 expect. The male geckos when fighting for the females have a darker 

 colour than the normal ; also before and after pairing the colour of the 

 animals is much darker than usual. 



The effect of keeping a jar containing one of the lizards near burning 

 gas, was the darkening of the colour ; this change, it appears, was due. tO' 

 the eftect of the smell of the gas on the nervous system. 



From what has been stated above, it is quite clear, that the power of 

 colour change, from light to dark and vice versa, is developed to a fair 

 extent in this common house-lizard. However the changes are not brought 

 about by the environments, but are due to the effects of various stimuli 

 acting on the animal through the agency of the nervous system. 



5. Habits and Food. 



The geckos are nocturnal in their habits, being seldom seen during the 

 day, when they are often found hiding in crevices, or some other retreats, 

 in the evening they begin moving about, and are most active at night. At 

 night they are often attracted by lamp-light, during the rainy season they 

 are often seen greedily devouring the large number of insects that at these 

 times hover round the lamps. The lizards are usually seen moving actively 

 on the walls and ceilings of the houses, the kitchens, bathrooms, storehouses, 

 and such parts are most frequented. They are very shy, and not at all 

 sociable in captivity. Though a great variety of food was tried in the case 

 of some lizards in captivity, yet they refused all food, and became quite 

 emaciated, all the bones were to be seen through the skin, practically 

 no muscles being left. A male specimen lived for 117 days without food ; 

 during the last few days it could scarcely move, and the breathing was very 

 shallow, it died of starvation. The various changes of diet tried in this 

 case were house-flies, mosquitos, various other insects, caterpillars, earth- 

 worms and meat, but with no success. In captivity the lizards pass out 

 small hard whitish pellets as their fseces. 



In nature the food consists of house-flies, mosquitos, other insects 

 and'sj)iders. The stomachs on dissection showed large numbers of house- 

 flies and mosquitos, and the lizards have been considered by Giles (A hand- 

 book of gnats or mosquitos. London, 1902) " as a valuable destroyer of 

 mosquitos in houses." 



6. ECDYSIS AND THE FOEM OF THE PUPIL. 



The process of moulting or ecdysis was observed in the case of a gravid 

 female specimen caught at Panipat on the 9th of March 1916. The animal 

 was in very good health having been taken just after it had copulated. On 

 the morning of the 10th, the moulting began, and went on tiU the morning 

 of the 12th, when the whole skin had been cast off; in all the process was 

 completed within 52 hours. At first the skin over the whole body became 

 loose, and the animal looked as if wrapped up in a coat of milk white, 

 transparent tissue paper.' The animal was very restless and rubbed 

 itself against the sides of the glass-jar in which it was kept. The skin did 

 not come off in one piece, but was shed in pieces or flakes. At first a rent 

 was observed in the mid-dorsal line of the body extending over the tail ; 



