58 
CHAMELEON. 
cept under the feet, which continued of the same 
colour, but a little browner; and when, being in 
this state, some of the company handled it, there 
immediately appeared on its shoulders and fore legs 
several very blackish spots about the size of a finger 
nail, and which did not take place when it was 
handled by those who usually took care of it. 
Sometimes it was marked with brown spots, which 
inclined towards green. We afterwards wrapped it 
up in a linen cloth; where having been two or three 
minutes, we took it out whitish ; but not so white 
as that of which Aldrovandus speaks, which was 
not to be distinguished from the linen on which it 
was laid. Ours, which had only changed its ordi- 
nary gray into a pale one, after having kept this 
colour some time, lost it insensibly. This experi- 
ment made us question the truth of the chameleon’s 
taking all colours but white, as Theophrastus and 
Plutarch report; for ours seemed to have such a 
disposition to retain this colour, that it grew pale 
every night ; and when dead, it had more white 
than any other colour : nor did we find that it 
changed colour all over the body, as Aristotle re- 
ports ; for when it takes other colours than gray, 
and disguises itself, to appear in masquerade, as 
Ailian pleasantly says, it covers only certain parts 
of the body with them. Lastly, to conclude the 
experiments relative to the colours which the cha- 
meleon can take, it was laid on substances of va- 
rious colours, and wrapped up therein ; but it took 
not them as it had done the white^, and it took 
