100 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
Doubts as to the limits due to variation must check our 
statements touching the geographical distribution of the 
Chamaeleons. We have not, hitherto, been able to reject many 
of the reputed species. Of others the precise range remains to 
be ascertained. Many seem local (confined to restricted areas). 
W e know no good species which does not inhabit Mr. Sclaters 
Ethiopian region.* The common Chamaeleon is found in Southern 
Africa, and is, moreover, the only well-ascertained ultra- 
Ethiopian species. The number of continental is about equal 
to that of insular species. But few species cross the equator, 
though the number of such species will probably be increased 
by the researches of future collectors. Certain it is that south 
of the equator Chamaeleon s are more numerous. 
Southern (extra-tropical) Africa has six species, besides 
C. vulgaris. Four are peculiar, C. ventralis and C. pumilus from 
the Cape, C. namaqaensis from Little Namaqualand, and C. me - 
lanocephalus from Port Natal. Two others, which occur at 
Port Natal, are also tropical, C. dilepis from Gaboon and 
C. nasutus from Madagascar. At least a dozen species, in 
addition to C. dilepis , belong to western tropical Africa. Fer- 
nando Po has two peculiar species (C. Burchellii and C. Owenii) 
and one common to it and Old Calabar. The other western 
species are continental. C . gracilis has the greatest meridional 
range, extending from Senegal to Angola. South of the equator 
we also find C. Capellii from Benguela and C. anchietce from 
Mossamedes. On this side of Africa the species seem more 
numerous north of the equator. The Camaroons yield C. mon- 
tium (PL iii. figs. 4, 5) and Rhampholeon, , the most aberrant of 
all the Chamaeleons. Lastly, C. Brookesii quits western Africa, 
reappearing in Madagascar ! 
From eastern tropical Africa we have four continental species, 
C. Icevigatus from Khartoum, C. affinis from Abyssinia, C. Retersii 
from Mozambique, and C. Melleri. The first is, probably, further 
from the coast than any other tropical species. Of insular 
species, all south of the equator, twenty-one are peculiar, namely, 
from 
Madagascar . 
15 species. 
Madagascar and Bourbon .. 
Madagascar, Bourbon and Mauritius 
The Comoro Islands 
The Seychelles .... 
3 
1 
1 
1 
» 
Madagascar has a total of twenty-one species ; but two of 
these are also continental. According to Bottger, Chamaeleons 
make up one fourth of the saurian fauna of this island, which 
we know to be equally peculiar as to its mammals. Five new 
* Not including Northern (extra-tropical) Africa, which, with part of 
Asia and Southern Europe, belongs to the Mediterranean sub-region. 
