chamjEleo. 169 



The entire length sometimes exceeds 6 feet. 



The Leathery Turtle is nowhere common. A few ex- 

 amples have occurred in the Mediterranean and in the 

 Atlantic, on the coasts of France and England. It is sup- 

 posed to be a tropical species. 



Order II. SAURIA. 



The skin is covered with scales or scaly granules; 

 the body and tail are elongated ; the majority have four 

 feet, but a few have only a single pair. The jaws are 

 always armed with teeth, and the toes with nails, with 

 very few exceptions. 



Family CHAlNOELEONIDiE. CHAMELEONS. 



The body is compressed, the entire surface chagrined 

 with small granular scales ; the tail rounded and prehen- 

 sile ; there are five toes on each foot, arranged in two 

 groups, three in one, and two in another ; the toes of 

 each group are united together as far as the claws ; the 

 tongue is fleshy, cylindrical, extensile, and of great length. 



Genus CHABLELEO. 



This being the only known genus of the family, most 

 of its characters have been already given. The head is 

 angular, and the occiput rises in a pyramidal form ; the 

 teeth are three-lobed ; each eye has the power of move- 

 ment independently of the other. Chameleons are insecti- 

 vorous reptiles, remarkable for their slow and awkward 

 movements, their extraordinary form, and, above all, for 

 the changes which occur in the colour of their skin. This 



i 



