1876.] The Florida Chameleon. 5 
seats. With a singular aspect of quizzical timidity it was peer- 
ing innocently at me out of its pretty, beaming eyes. Now these 
little things, so purely innocent, are in their movements as quick 
as light. Something must be done, and very soon, or I and my 
pet were both undone. If seen by one of these garrulous women, 
the resulting commotion will be of a sort to defy all sober imag- 
inings, for the little innocent will loom up into the presence of a 
rattlesnake with four legs, seeking whom he may destroy.. I 
stooped slowly and cautiously. How fortunate! I covered its 
escape with the first movement of my hand. How the tiny thing 
did squirm! I took it quietly back to the box, put its nose at the 
hole whence it had escaped, and so had it once more secure. All 
these tactics were gone through without attracting the notice of 
any one; and so, greatly relieved, I resumed my seat as if noth- 
ing had happened. 
Soon a small fern case was improvised. The sides were glass, 
and for the sake of giving air, the top was covered with a piece 
of lace. The bottom was spread with Sphagnum, moderately 
moist. Into this were set some very small ferns, two species of 
Drosera or sundew, and in one corner a small specimen of Sar- 
racenia, or pitcher-plant; this was so elegantly marked that it 
seemed like those antique carnelian cups which one reads about. 
Gracefully trailing over this mossy bed was the dark, bright- 
leaved Mitchella. To imitate a contiguous lake or pond, at one 
corner a shallow vessel of water was sunken in the moss.. In 
this pretty garden our three pets were placed. The design was a 
mimicry of their own sub-tropical surroundings, with the hope 
of getting them to feel sufficiently at home to exhibit some of 
their peculiar traits. ; 
As our little strangers are now snugly domiciled in their new 
home, some account may be attempted of their family relation 
and individual habits. 
This little reptile is found as far north as South Carolina, 
hence it is known in the books as the green Carolina lizard. 
Visitors to Florida seem by almost common consent to have 
named it the Florida chameleon. While structurally there is in 
the reptile thus indicated a very wide difference from its name- 
sale, yet there are relationships between them, one of which is 
notably suggested in the faculty of changing the color of the 
skin. Indeed, naturalists have regarded this little thing as the 
representative or analogue in the New World of the chameleon in 
the Old, Our Florida lizard is a member of the Anolis group, 
