COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4°^ 



cies is, in Egypt, vulgarly called the father of 

 leprosy. 



The eleventh genus in the present systematica] 

 arrangement of the saurians is composed of the 

 chameleons. These reptiles are celebrated from 

 the facility with which they can change their 

 colour. It was long believed that they could 

 receive and transmit the colour of the object they 

 stood nearest to ; but it is now well ascertained, 

 that they owe this faculty to the capacity of their 

 lungs; and that according to the quantity of air 

 they take in, their blood acquires a more or less 

 vivid hue, by which their transparency is aug- 

 mented or lessened. This phenomenon takes 

 place by the simple act of breathing, but is more 

 striking in the pairing season. The chamaeleons 

 have a very extraordinary appearance, if w e con- 

 sider their flat body, angular and sharp on the 

 back ; the pyramidal helmet on their head ; their 

 long prehensile tail ; their fingers, five in number, 

 but separated, three on one side, and two on the 

 other ; and the mobility of their eyes, which they 

 can move in all directions, and keep open or 

 shut the one independent of the other. Their 

 tongue, which they can stretch and move with 

 vivacity, has a glutinous covering, by means of 

 which they catch insects. These animals keep 

 constantly on the trees. Fourteen species of 



