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a case somewhat similar to that offered in botany by the Cedar 
of Lebanon, with its western and eastern outliers, the Atlantic 
Cedar and the Deodara ? Again, Dr. Gray cites no localities 
intermediate between Asia Minor and Hindostan. The Chamae- 
leon of our childhood, from ( Arabia’s wilds/ as narrated in 
Merrick’s poem, is not, according to Dr. Gray, the common 
form but a distinct species, C. auratus. Such questions should 
not he undecided. 
The Chamaeleon is often mentioned hut little cared for by 
the vulgar, who regard the creature with the misplaced wonder 
of contented ignorance rather than with the intelligent curiosity 
which it deserves. It can hardly be called a favourite, though 
among the cold-blooded vertebrates there is no other animal so 
well fitted to be made a household pet. Our knowledge of its 
structure and actions is still far from complete, yet very many 
naturalists have studied it. A long list of essays specially 
devoted to its elucidation might easily be cited ; and many 
allusions are made to it in more general works, with titles 
which would scarcely lead us to expect such references. Two 
lines of inquiry need to he followed up, that we may trace what 
remains to be ascertained of the Chamaeleon’s nature and history. 
First, its several parts, the eye only excepted, have not hitherto 
been minutely analysed with those modern aids to research 
which are now so accessible. In the second place, the functions 
of its muscular and nervous systems have never been duly 
investigated by competent physiologists, availing themselves of 
the resources of experimental methods.* Much might be learned 
in this way, even though we should curtail our studies from 
an unwillingness to subject the living animal to pain. There- 
fore, the life of the Chamaeleon, as contemplated by men of 
science, still remains in many respects a mystery. 
The Chamaeleon may from time to time be bought and kept 
in captivity. Care should be taken to supply it with plenty of 
flies, crickets or such other insects as can be had. (A fly-trap 
of honey or syrup may be used to save trouble.) It should be 
lodged in a properly ventilated glass case, some thirty inches in 
length breadth and height, furnished with a suitably branched 
shrub or fragment of a tree. A warm temperature should be 
maintained about it. Lastly, it should be allowed to relieve 
its thirst. The necessity of so doing is well shown by Brehm, f 
who carefully studied Chamaeleons when residing in Alexandria. 
He procured during the summer a large number of healthy 
specimens, more than a third of whom died after a fortnight’s 
captivity. The remainder were very languid, of a dull uniform 
* Some use, it is true, has been made of these methods in the study of 
the Chamaeleon’s changes of colour. 
t See his Thierleben, seventh volume of second edition, 1878. 
