10 The Florida Chameleon. ` (January, 
tremely pretty: a delicate pale translucent blue; and the scale 
markings so minute as to suggest a lace work that is too fine 
for the execution of any loom. But to Anolis all this is “ gauzy 
frippery ” now, and its presence irksome. A few more rubs and 
pushes, and in a ragged condition it is got back to the thighs. 
The persistent creature now succeeds in so flexing its head as to 
get it flat sidewise on its neck, when it seizes the ragged edge of 
the old garment with its teeth. There is some tugging, followed 
by one or two tumbles over, when off comes a large piece of the 
vestment. What then? It is swallowed! Then the head and 
neck and one front limb are denuded. It turns now to the other 
front limb, on the upper part of which is a piece of loose skin 
flaring most prominently. Just then a fly approaches provokingly 
near. With one boot on and one boot off, Anolis makes for that 
dipteran disturber of his private labors. The fly serves as a 
luncheon, which disposed of, the lizard resumes its. work, and the 
sharp nose dips into the old clothes again. Anolis is not long in 
getting off the skin. It is all done piecemeal as just described, 
and every particle is eaten ; even the bits that fall between the 
plants are carefully picked up. There are several sheddings in 
one summer. This lizard, I think, has gone through it four or five 
times this season. Under the microscope a bit of the old cuticle 
is a beautiful object. This exuvia is the exact mold or impres- 
sion of the scaly skin which it has left behind. Of course, then, 
one side of this cast consists of depressions, the other side of ele- 
vations, which correspond precisely. Under a quarter-inch ob- 
jective lens the elevated side is surprisingly like a lot of white 
peaches spread uniformly on a table. Not truly convex, but gib- 
bous is each elevation, being a little longer than broad. Each 
has a dark curved line extending nearly its entire length. This 
line is curiously suggestive of the depression which separates at 
one side the two cheeks of a peach. Each line begins at the base 
end of the scale, which corresponds to the stem end of the fruit. 
Here the line is the widest, when it narrows gently, until it dis- 
appears a little before reaching the opposite end of the cast, or, to 
continue the simile, the flower end of the fruit. At this point 
the peach similitude stops; for the entire gibbous surface is 
closely dotted with polygons or several-sided spots. Although 
not at all regular, yet the sides of these markings are very dis- 
tinct, and quite easily counted, each having four, five, or six 
bounding lines ; or, since M. Martinet insists on the hard words, 
these figures are composed of irregular rectangles or parallelo- 
