&3G NATURAL HISTORY 
lows beneath their banks, till it is awakened from its 
slumber by the return of spring 
Chameleon. (pi. 54.) Chameleons are found in va- 
rious sizes, but are seldom above fourteen inches long, 
of which the tail is seven; and the length of the legs, in- 
cluding the toes, is about three inches. It is found in all 
the warm countries, both of the old and new worlds, in 
Mexico, in Africa, at the Cape of Good Hope, in Cey- 
lon, Amboyna, &c. The whole skin of the chameleon 
is strewed over with little knobs, like shagreen; these 
are extremely smooth, and more remarkable on the head, 
(which is particularly flat on the top and both sides) and 
are surrounded with minute, and almost imperceptible 
grains. The nostrils are placed at the tip of the muzzle, 
which is somewhat rounded. The mouth is wide and 
the bones of the jaws denticulated, so as to represent 
small teeth. The tongue is of a very extraordinary form; 
being composed of white solid flesh, about ten inches 
long, and three broad, round, a little flattish towards the 
end, hollow, and open, somewhat like the end of an ele- 
phant’s trunk. And with this instrument it seizes in- 
sects, on which it subsists, with wonderful quickness. 
Whether climbing slowly along the branches of trees, 
or concealing itself below the leaves in expectation of in- 
sects, or walking deliberately on the ground, the chame- 
leon is always extremely ugly in its appearance, having 
neither agreeable proportions, nor beauty of form, nor 
elegant movements, to please the eye of the observer, so 
that no one can attempt to catch, or even to touch it, 
without disgust. Of the changes of colour we must now 
speak more particularly. 
When at rest and in the shade for some time, the 
grains or little eminences on the skin are sometimes pale 
red, and the soles of the feet are white, slightly tinged 
with yellow. This colour changes, when exposed to the 
light of the sun: that part of the skin on which the rays 
of the sun fall, is frequently of a brownish gray, while 
the unilluminated part is of a beautiful fawn colour, pro- 
duced by the mixture of pale yellow, which the granular 
eminences assume, joined with a clear red, that then ap* 
