ORDER CHELONIA. 37 



some time, to see the result of this confinement. On opening 

 the box, however, whether from horror at the sight of these 

 deformed creatures, heaped together, and fixing with fury their 

 huge eyes upon him — or overcome by the fetid odour which 

 they exhaled, he turned pale, and fainted ; while the reptiles, 

 having escaped, were found croaking and jumping around 

 him. The people who witnessed this spectacle, immediately 

 conceived the man to be surrounded by demons, in the shape 

 of these reptiles, punishing him for his sorceries and wicked^ 

 ness. Toads have been seen as large and inflated as pump- 

 kins, covered with sanious pustules, and opening, in their 

 obscure hole, their large projecting eyes and wide mouth. It 

 is not wonderful that dogs should tremble to attack an hideous 

 enemy of this kind, especially as the acrid humour exuding 

 from the skin is highly corrosive to the mouth of the animal 

 that is adventurous enough to bite one of these creatures. 



Many species of oviparous quadrupeds are endowed with 

 the singular property of changing colour, through certain 

 moral affections. The case of the cameleon is known to every 

 body, which does not, however, as has been pretended, assume 

 the tints of the objects which surround it, but which changes 

 the shade of its colours, through fear, anger, love, cold, heat, 

 &c., as we shall more fully enlarge upon hereafter in the 

 proper place. The common frog, and its kindred species, 

 also change colour, and become more grey or brown when 

 terrified. The green lizard, the green iguana, and many 

 other reptiles, are liable to the same changes of colour. All 

 the animals of this class, like most others, exhibit more lively 

 and brilliant tints in the season of their amours than at any 

 other period. 



The skin of the majority of reptiles is armed with 

 polished and shining scales, embellislied with metallic re- 

 flexions, like those of brass or steel, relieved with gold and 



