308 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



notice of the fact, and is bound to put additional leaves to the 

 heap. Whoever omits to do so will certainly die in the course 

 of the following seven years. The native name is Ok'-u-be'. 



With respect to the changes of colour that I have wit- 

 nessed, my attention was first attracted to the creature 

 while going along the road. Seeing what seemed to me to 

 be a leaf (because it was of the same colour as the leaves 

 lying all around it), moving slowly along on its edge, my 

 attention was arrested, and I stooped down to observe more 

 closely what I thought was a strange freak for a leaf, and 

 what was the motive power. I soon saw it was altogether a 

 living creature, and in an instant more that it was a chame- 

 leon. I had never seen one at large before, and was de- 

 lighted, as you may imagine, with such an introduction to it. 

 By this time, finding that it was being very closely noticed, 

 it changed its hues gradually but steadily from one tint to 

 another, keeping at the same time its little round eye firmly 

 fixed on me. It readily fastened itself on my walking-stick, 

 and I took it home. Happening to have a small wooden 

 cage at hand, I put it in, and put small bits of meat there, 

 hoping to attract flies, on which it would be enabled to sup- 

 port itself, but no flies came. In three weeks the beautiful 

 round orbits had very sensibly shrunk, and became much 

 too small for their sockets, and altogether the whole body of 

 the poor little creature had become very pitiably emaciated. 

 All our efforts to make it eat proved unavailing. There, 



like , ' it pined, with a green and yellow melancholy,' 



and so to put an end to its misery, I put it in spirits, and 

 brought it to you. 



" Of its change of colour ; during the time it remained 

 in the cage I had constant opportunities of witnessing ] 

 this. The colours into which it would put itself, and 

 which were uniform over its body, were green, chocolate 

 brown (the colour of the leaf on which I first saw it), a dull 

 dark approaching to black, and a pale ash or drab colour. But 1 

 generally it assumed a mottled appearance, blending several 

 colours — yellow, red, green, and black, &c, so far as I can 

 recollect. Both sides were not always similarly coloured. 

 I have seen it quite dark on one side, and pale drab on the 

 other at the same moment, as well as other diversities." 



