THE CHAMELEON. 
213 
satisfies the appetites of the epicure, this is rather the feast of 
the philosopher. Like the crocodile, this little animal pro- 
ceeds from an egg ; and it also nearly resembles that for- 
midable creature in form. 
The head of a large chameleon is almost two inches long • 
and thence to the beginning of the tail, four and a half; 
the tail is five inches long, and the feet two and a half; 
the thickness of the body is different at diflerent times ; 
sometimes, from the back to the belly, it is two inches; and 
sometimes but one; for it can blow itself up, and contract 
itself at pleasure. This swelling and contraction is not only 
of the back and belly, but of the legs and tail. 
The chameleon has the power of driving the air it breathes 
over every part of the body : however, it only gets between 
the skin and the muscles ; for the muscles themselves are 
never swollen. The skin is very cold to the touch ; and 
though the animal seems so lean, there is no feeling the 
beating of the heart. The surface of the skin is unequal, 
and has a grain not unlike shagreen, but very soft, because 
each eminence is as smooth as if it were polished. The 
colour of all these eminences, when the chameleon is at regt 
in a shady place, is of a bluish grey : and the space be- 
tween is of a pale red and yellow. 
But when the animal is removed into the sun, then comes 
the wonderful part of its history. At first, it appears to 
suffer no change of colour, its greyish spots still continuing 
the same : but the whole surface soon seems to imbibe the 
rays of light ; and the simple colouring of the body changes 
into a variety of beautiful hues. Wherever the light comes 
npon the body, it is of a tawny brown ; but that part of 
the skin on which the sun does not shine, changes into se- 
veral brighter colours, pale yellow, or vivid crimson; which 
form spots of the size of half one’s finger : some of these 
descend from the spine half way down the back; and others 
appear on the sides, arms, and tail. Sometimes the animal 
becomes all over spotted with brown spots, of a greenish 
east. When it is wrapped up in a white linen cloth for 
two or three minutes, the natural colour becomes much 
lighter; but not quite white, as some authors have pre- 
tended : however, it must not hence be concluded that the 
c hameleon assumes the colour of the objects which it ap- 
proaches ; this is entirely an error, and probably has taken 
lts rise from the continual changes it appears to undergo. 
When the chameleon changes place, and attempts to des- 
cend from an eminence, it moves with the utmost precaution, 
a dvancing one leg very deliberately before the other, still 
