466 Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the Peninsula of India. [No. 5. 



Earn. CHAM^ELEONDm 



Gen. CHAM^ELEO, Laurenti. 



Feet thin with 5 fingers joined to the nails into two lobes, one of 

 two, the other of three fingers. Skin granular. Eyes large, covered 

 by the scales of the eyelid except one small round aperture. No 

 visible tympanum. 



Cham^leo zeyloetctts — Laur. 



Dorsal crest short; abdominal crest with the spines long and 

 somewhat distant. Colour green. 



Syn. C. vulgaris, var. B, Dum. and Bibr. — C. zebra, Bory de 

 St. Vine. — C. calcaratus, Merr. 



I have no hesitation in considering this Chameleon distinct from 

 the African one, as well on account of the slight but permanent 

 structural distinctions (the abdominal ridge being in the African 

 one composed of very short and closely set spines), as the difference 

 of locality, and the great difference in the change of colour of the 

 two. In our Indian one, the only change produced is from one 

 shade of green to another. In a state of quiescence, it is usually 

 very pale green, sometimes dark blackish green ; but when excited it 

 is mottled or zebra' ed very prettily with dark transverse blotches on 

 a pale ground. I never saw any pure yellow, or red in any state.* 

 It is found in all the wooded districts of India. It is used in medi- 

 cine by some of the native doctors, and many generally be procured 

 in the Madras market. 



Length of one 10 inches, of which the tail is more than half. 

 Cham^leo ptjmilus — Latreille. 



Head tuberculated ; dorsal crest continued over the tail. Some 

 large circular scales mingled with the small and unequal granu- 

 lose ones. 



I possess a specimen of this small Chameleon in spirit, which 

 was said to have been taken near Coonoor on the Nilgherries. 



Length 5| inches, of which the tail is nearly 2. 



Earn. GECKONIDiE— Bonaparte. 



Gen. HEMIDACTYLUS, Cuvier, Cantor, 1. c. p. 628. 

 Hemidactyltjs triedbtjs — Daud. 



* A very fine one which we long kept, assumed a tolerably pure yellow ground- 

 tint occasionally, with black markings. — Cur. As. Soc. 



