142 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
motion. Its food is flies and other insects which it takes by striking them with 
the tongue, to which the prey adheres on account of the glutinous excretion 
with which it is provided. Singular as these several features are, the eyes 
of this animal are yet more curious; they are of prodigious size compared 
with the body, yet 
over the halls is a 
growth of true skin 
very similar to that 
which covers the 
body, in the centre 
of which is a small 
hole opening upon 
the pupil. The two 
eye-balls are entirely 
independent in their 
action, by which the 
animal is enabled to 
look at two objects 
in opposite directions 
at the same time. 
Besides these singu¬ 
larities the chame¬ 
leon is provided with 
hand-like claws and 
prehensile tail, with 
which it can cling 
most tenaciously to 
the limb of a tree, 
defying all efforts to shake it off. Much has been said of the chameleon's 
power to change its color at will, but while this faculty may be exercised to 
some extent, the power is not 
nearly so pronounced as it is in 
many other of both the frog and 
lizard species. This strange ability 
is due to the fact, as Kingsley 
states, that all such creatures are 
provided with two or more layers 
of pigment cells underlying the 
transparent epidermis, a lighter 
and a darker, changeable at the 
will of the animal, or stimulated 
by surrounding objects. 
The Iguana ( Iguana tubercu- 
lata ) comprises several species of 
a lizard peculiar to the West In¬ 
dies and South America. Its appearance is decidedly uncouth, especially the 
tuberculated kind, which is distinguishable by a pyramidal head, high dorsal 
ridge armed with bony spines, and a dewlap, or throat, with long pendant folds, 
and a mouth that presents a hideous grin. The tail being very long, when 
FT/VING GECKO. 
