CHAMELEON. 
57 
curious and particular account they have given of 
the fact, will be best detailed in the following trans- 
lation of their own words : 
“ The colour of all the eminences of our chame- 
leon when it was at rest, in the shade, and had con- 
tinued a long time undisturbed, was a blueish gray, 
except under the feet, where it was white inclining 
to yellow ; and the intervals of the granules of the 
skin were of a pale and yellowish red. This gray, 
which coloured all the parts exposed to the light, 
changed when in the sun; and all the places of 
its body which were illuminated, instead of their 
blueish colour, became of a brownish gray, in- 
clining to minime. The rest of the skin which was 
not illuminated by the sun, changed its gray into 
several brisk and shining colours, forming spots 
about half a finger’s breadth, reaching from the 
crest of the spine to the middle of the back : others 
appeared on the ribs, fore legs, and tail. All these 
spots were of an Isabella colour, through the mix- 
ture of a pale yellow with which the granules were 
tinged, and of a bright red, which is the colour of 
the bottom of the skin which is visible between the 
granules: the rest of the skin not enlightened by 
the sun, and which was of a paler gray than ordi- 
nary, resembled a cloth made of mixed wool ; some 
of the granules being greenish, others of a minime - 
gray, and others of the usual blueish gray, the 
ground remaining as before. When the sun did 
not shine, the first gray appeared again by little 
and little, and spread itself all over the body, ex- 
