The Chameleon 
515 
THE CHAMELEON. (Chamoeleo vulgaris.) 
** A lizard's body, lean and long, 
A fish's head, a serpent's tongue ; 
Its foot with triple claw disjoin'd ; 
And what a length of tail behind ! 
How slow its pace ! and then its hue !" 
Merrick. 
The Chameleon is a small animal, about ten inches 
long, and its tail nearly the same length. Its body is 
covered with small compressed scaly granules ; its back 
is edged, and its tail round, long, and tapering. Its 
feet have each five toes, which are situated three one 
way and two another, in order to enable it to lay firm 
hold of the branches : but wherever it happens that 
these are too large for the animal to grasp with its feet, 
it coils round them its long, prehensile^ tail, and fixes its 
claws strongly into the bark. When walking on the 
ground, it steps forward in an extremely cautious man- 
ner, seeming never to lift one foot until it is well assured 
