630 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



from them by a more slender form of body, by their extremely long thin tail, and a 

 large neck-pouch, which dilates under the influence of excitement. These small and 

 nimble creatures, the largest species seldom exceeding eight inches in length, are as 

 touchy as fighting cocks. On approaching them, they instantly blow up their pouch, 

 open widely their diminutive jaws, and spring upon the aggressor, striving to bite him 

 with their teeth, which, however, are too small to do much harm. Among each other 

 they live in a perpetual state of warfare. As soon as one Anolis sees another, he 

 makes a rapid advance, while his adversary awaits him with all the courage of a gal- 

 lant knight. Before beginning the conflict, they make all sorts of menacing gestures, 

 convulsively nodding their heads, puffing up their pouches, until finally they close in 

 desperate struggle. If they are of equal strength, the battle remains for some time 

 undecided. At length the vanquished Anolis turns and runs away, but he may think 

 himself fortunate if he escapes with the loss of his tail. Many of them are thus 

 deprived of this ornamental appendage, which they voluntarily leave behind to avoid 

 a still greater disaster, and then they become timid, melancholy, and fond of retire- 

 ment, as if ashamed of being seen, only regaining their spirits when, by a wonderful 

 power of reproduction, the amputated tail has been replaced by another. 



Like many other lizards, the Anolis possesses the faculty of changing color when 

 under the influence of excitement; but of all animals, whether terrestrial or marine, 

 none is more famous or remarkable in this respect than the Chameleon. It frequently 

 happens that man, not satisfied with the wonders which nature everywhere exposes to 

 his view, adds to their marvels others of his own invention, and thus many a fable has 

 been told about the Chameleon. It has been said, for instance, that it could emulate 

 all the colors of the rainbow ; but the more accurate observations of modern natural- 

 ists have shown that the whole change, which takes place most frequently when the 

 Chameleon is exposed to full sunshine or under the influence of emotion, consists in its 

 ordinary bluish-ash color turning to a green or yellowish hue, with irregular spots of a 

 dull red. Like many other reptiles, the Chameleon has the power of inflating its 

 lungs and retaining the air for a long time, so as one moment to appear as fat and 

 well fed as an alderman, and the next as lean and bony as a hungry disciple of the 

 muses. These alternating expansions and collapses seem to have a great influence on 

 the change of color; which, however, according to Milne Edwards, is principally 

 owing to the skin of the animal consisting of two differently colored layers, placed 

 one above the other, and changing their relative positions under the inifluence of 

 excitement. 



In our northern regions the captive Chameleon cuts but a sorry figure ; but in his 

 own sunny regions, which extends from southern Spain and Sicily to the Cape, and 

 eastwards from Arabia and Hindostan to Australia, it is said to be by no means 

 deficient in beauty, in spite of its strangely-formed keel-like head, its enormously pro- 

 jecting eyes, and its granulated skin. Its manner of hunting for the little winged 

 insects that form its principal food is very peculiar. Although the movements of its 

 head are very limited, on account of the shortness of its neck, this deficiency is amply 

 supplied by the wide range of its vision, each eye being able to move about in all 

 directions independently of the other. Thus, while one of them attentively gazes 

 upon the heavens, the other minutely examines the ground, or while one of them rolls 

 in its orbit, the other remains fixed ; nay, their mobility is so great, that without even 



