CAM 
itioft tv/o inches long, and from tlience to the be- 
ginning of the tail four and a halfj the tail is five 
inches long; and the feet two and a half. The 
thicknefs of the body is various at different times; 
for fometimes, from the back to the belly, it is two 
inches, and fometimes but one, it being pofTeffed 
of a power of inflating and contrafting itfelf at 
pleafure ; and this inflation and contraflion not only 
extends to the back and belly, but alfo to the legs 
and tail. Thefe tumefiftions, however, do not 
proceed from adilatation of thebreaft inbreathing, 
which riles and falls by turns, but are very irregu- 
lar, and feem merely adopted from caprice. The 
Cameleon often appears blown up, as it were, for 
two hours together; after which it infenfibly grows 
lefs and lefs, the expanfion being always quicker 
and more perceptible than the contraction. ' In 
the contracted ftate, the animal appears extremely 
lean ; the fpine of the back feems lliarp ; all the ribs 
may be numbered; and the tendons of the arms 
znd legs may be feen very diflrinClly. This me- 
thod of inflating itfelf is fimilar to that in pigeons, 
■whole crops are fometimes greatly diftended with 
air. The Cameleon pofieffes the faculty of driv- 
ing the air it breathes over every part of it's body ; 
but it only gets between the fkin and the mufcles, 
for the latter are never fwollen. The {\dn is very 
cold to the touch; and though the animal appears 
to be very lean, it is impofifible to feel the pulfations 
of the heart. The furface of the flcin is unequal, 
and has a grain not unlike fliagreen, but very loft, 
each eminence being as fmooth as if poliflied. 
Some of thefe protuberances on the arms, legs, 
belly, and tail, are as large as the head of a pin : 
but, on the fhoulders and head, they are of an oval 
figure, and fomewhat larger; and thofe under the 
throat are ranged, in the form of a chaplet, from 
the lower lip to the breafl. When the Cameleon 
is at red" in a fliady place, the colour of all thefe 
eminences is a blueilli grey, and the fpaces be- 
tween them are of a pale red and yellow. 
But the mofc aftonifhing circumfl;ance relative 
to the hifiory of this animal takes place when it is 
expofed to the beams of the fun. At firft, it ap- 
pears to fufl-er no change of coloui', it's greyifli 
fpots ftill continuing the fame; but the whole fur- 
face foon appears to imbibe the rays of light ; and 
the fimple colouring of the body changes into a 
variety of beautiful hues. Wherever the light 
falls on tlie body, it is of a tawny brown ; but that 
part of the fl-cin on v/hich the fun does not fliine 
changes into feveral brigWiter colours, fuch as pale 
yellow, or vivid crimfon, which form fpots of half 
the fize of a finger, fome of them defcending from 
the fpine half way down the back, and others ap- 
pearing on the fldes, arms, and tail. When the 
llin ceafes to fhine, the original grey colour returns 
by degrees, and covers all the body. Sometimes 
the animal becomes all over fpotted with brov/n 
of a greenifli caft; and, when wrapped up in a white 
linen cloth for two or three minutes, the natural 
colour becomes much lighter, but not entirely, 
white, as has been pretended by fome naturalifl:s : 
however, f-om hence we miuft not conclude that 
the Cameleon affumes the colours of the objcfts 
it approaches; this being an error winch proba- 
bly originated from the continual changes it appears 
to undergo. 
An ample defcription of the Cameleon is given 
by Le Eruyn in his Voyage to the Levant. Dur- 
ing his abode at Smyrna, he bought feveral of 
them; and, in order to tiy hov/ long they would 
CAM 
live, kept four of them in a cage, permitting them 
at times to range the houfe. The frefh fea-breeze 
feemed to give them great fpirit and vivacity, and 
they opened their mouths to admit it; but he never 
faw any of them eat, except now and then a fly, 
in fwallowingof which the creature emploved not lefi 
than half an hour. He obfervcd that their colour 
changed three or four times fuccclTively, but with- 
out being able to afllgn any caufe for fuch alterati- 
on : their common hue he found to be grey, or ra- 
ther apale moufe ; but it's moft frequent change was 
into a beautiful green fpotted with yellow. Some- 
times alfo the animals were marked all over with 
dark brown ; and this bften clfanged into a lighter 
hue : fome colours, however, they never alfumed, 
and that of red he found to be among the number. 
Notwithflianding his iitmofl: ca:re, our traveller was 
unable to preferve any one of thefe animals alive 
above five months, and fome of them died in 
four. 
When the Cameleon changes it's place, and at- 
tempts to defcend from an eminence, it moves with 
the utmofl: precaution, advancing one leg very de- 
liberately before the other, but ft;ill fecuring itfelf 
by holding whatever it can grafp by means of 
it's tail. It leldom opens it's mouth, except for 
frefh air; and, when that is fupplied, itdifcovers 
great fatisfaftion by it's motions, and the frequent 
changes of it's colour. The tongue, which is as 
long as the whole body, is fometimes darted out 
after flies, tlie creature's ufual food. The eyes, 
though they projeft from the head, are remarkably 
fmall ; and they have afingle eye-lid, like a cap, with 
a hole in the middle, through which the fight ap- 
pears, of a fhining brown colour, and round it there 
is a little circle of a golden hue. But the moil: ex- 
traordinary circumftance in the conformation of the 
eyes is, that the animal often moves the one, while 
the other is entirely at reft; nay, fometimes one eye 
will feem to look direftly forward while the other 
looks fideways ; and one will look upwards v/hile 
the other regards the earth. 
Naturalifls are not agreed either as to the man- 
ner or reafon of the Cameleon's change of colour. 
Seneca, and fome others, aflert, that it is effedtcd by 
fuifufion; Salinus and others, by reflection ; and 
the Cartefians, by the different difpofition of the 
parts com.pofing tlie flcin, which give a different 
modification to the rays of light. Kircher afcribes 
the change of colour in the Camieleon to the power 
of imagination in the animal, becaufe it lofes it 
v/hen dead. Others, and particularly Dr. God- 
dard, afcribe the change to the p-rains of the fl<in; 
which, in their various poftures, he thinks may ex- 
hibit feveral colours ; and, when the creature is in 
full vigour, may have, as he terms it, rationem fpe- 
culi; that is, the efixCt of mirrors; and refleCt the 
colours of adjacent bodies. 
As the Cameleon pofiefTes the faculty of filling 
it's fkin more or lefs, it is not only capable of 
altering the tone and texture of the fibres, on 
which the refleCtive quality in a great meafure de - 
pends, but alfo of bringing parts into view which 
before lay concealed, or of concealing fuch as be- 
fore lay open: and it is highly probable that the 
parts which are in general covered, are of a fome- 
what different colour from thofe conftantly expofed 
to the aCtion of the air. 
On the above principles, perhaps, all the pheno- 
mena in the Camieleon's colour may be folved. 
The animal, it is evident, poffefl^s the power of 
reflecting different- coloured rays from the fame 
parts ; 
