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Andalusia. A few queer genera, with much stunted tail, e.g. Rhampholeon, in tropical Africa and Brookesia in Madagascar are the most aberrant. The common chameleon is the most typical. The See also:

head is raised into a pyramidal See also:

crest far beyond the occiput, there is no See also:

OUTER

outer See also:

EAR (common Teut.; O.E. are, Ger. Ohr, Du. oor, akin to Lat. auris, Gr. ovs)

ear, nor a See also:

DRUM (early forms drome or dromme, a word common to many Teut. languages, cf. Dan. tromme, Ger. Trommel: the word is ultimately the same as " trumpet," and is probably onomatopoeic in origin; it appears late in Eng. about the middle of the 16th century)

drum-cavity. The limbs are very See also:

long and slender, and the digits See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form stout grasping bundles; on the See also:

hand the first three form an inner bundle, opposed to the remaining two; on the See also:

FOOT

foot the inner bundle is formed by the first and second toe, the outer by the other three toes. The tail is prehensile, by being rolled down-wards; it is not brittle and cannot be renewed. The eyeballs are large, but the lids are See also:

UNITED

united into one concentric See also:

FOLD

fold, leaving only the small See also:

PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil visible. The right and See also:

LEFT

left eyes are incessantly moved separately from each other and literally in every direction, up and down, forwards and straight backwards, producing the most terrible squinting.

Chameleons alone of all See also:

REPTILES (Lat. Reptilia, creeping things, from reptilis; ref ere, to creep; Gr. Ep7rety, whence the term " herpetology," for the science dealing with them)

reptiles can See also:

FOCUS (Latin for " hearth " or " fireplace ")

focus their eyes upon one spot, and conformably they alone possess a retinal macula ceniratis, or spot of acutest, See also:

BINOCULAR

binocular See also:

VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision. The See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue has attained an extraordinary development. It is See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club-shaped, covered with a sticky secretion, and based upon a very narrow See also:

root, which is composed of extremely elastic See also:

fibres and telescoped over the much elongated, See also:

style-shaped, copular piece of the hyoid. The whole apparatus is kept in a contracted See also:

state like a See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring in a See also:

TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube. When the spring is released, so to speak, by filling the apparatus with See also:

BLOOD

blood and by the See also:

PLAY

play of the hyoid muscles, the heavy thick end, shoots out upon the See also:

INSECT

insect See also:

PREY (0. Fr. preie, mod. proie, Lat. praeda, booty, from prae and the root hed—seen in prehendere, prendere, to grasp)

prey and is withdrawn by its own See also:

ELASTICITY

elasticity. Left Forefoot of Chamaeleon o'shaughenesii, outer view. The whole See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act is like a flash An See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary chameleon can shoot a See also:

FLY (formed on the root of the supposed original Tent. fleugan, to fly)

fly at the distance of fully 6 in., and it can See also:

MANAGE

manage even a big See also:

SPHINX (Gr. Q¢lyyea', to draw tight, squeeze)

sphinx See also:

MOTH

moth. Another remarkable feature is their changing of See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour. This proverbial See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power is greatly exaggerated. They cannot assume in See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession all the See also:

COLOURS, MILITARY

colours of the See also:

RAINBOW

rainbow, nor are the changes See also:

QUICK

quick. The common chameleon may be said to be greenish See also:

grey, changing to grass-See also:

green or to dull See also:

black, with or without maroon red, or See also:

brown, lateral See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of patches. At See also:

NIGHT

night the same specimen assumes as a See also:

RULE

rule a more or less See also:

UNIFORM

uniform See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale See also:

STRAW

straw-colour.

After it has been watched for several months, when all its possibilities seem exhausted, it will probably surprise us by a totally new See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination, for instance, a black garb with many small yellow specks, or green with many black specks. Pure red and See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue are not in the See also:

AFRICAN

African dwarf chameleon. The changes are partly under See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the will, partly complicated reflex actions, intentionally adaptive to the See also:

PHYSICAL

physical and psychical surroundings. The mechanism is as follows. The cutis contains several kinds of specialized cells in many layers, each filled with See also:

minute granules of guanine. The upper cells are the smallest, most densely filled with crystals, and cause the See also:

white colour by See also:

DIFFUSION (from the Lat. diffundere; dis-, asunder, and fundere, to pour out)

diffusion of See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

LIGHT

light; near the Malpighian layer the cells are charged with yellow oil drops; the deeper cells are the largest, tinged light brown, and acting as a turbid See also:

MEDIUM

medium they cause a blue colour, which, owing to the superimposed yellow drops, reaches our See also:

eye as green; provided always that there is an effective See also:

SCREEN (usually, but very doubtfully, connected with Lat. scrinium, a box for holding books, from scribere, to write; a connexion with Ger. Schranke, barrier, has been suggested)

screen at the back, and this is formed by large chromatophores which See also:

lie at the bottom and send their black pigment halfway up, or on to the See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of the layers of guanine and oil containing cells. When all the pigment is shifted towards the See also:

SURFACE

surface, as near the epidermis as possible, the creature looks black; when the black pigment is withdrawn into the basal portions of the chromatophores the skin appears yellow. The lungs are very capacious, and end in several narrow See also:

BLIND, MATHILDE (1841—1896)

blind sacs which extend far down into the See also:

BODY

body cavity, so that not only the See also:

CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest but the whole body can be blown up. This happens when the animals hiss and fight, as they often do. But when they know themselves discovered, they make themselves as thin as possible by compressing the chest and belly vertically by means of their peculiarly elongated ribs. The whole body is then put into such a position that it presents only its narrow edge to the enemy, and with the See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of the See also:

tree or See also:

SHRUB

shrub interposed. They are absolutely arboreal, but they hibernate in the ground.

The usual mode of See also:

PROPAGATION

propagation is by eggs, which are See also:

OVAL (Lat. ovum, egg)

oval, numerous, provided with a calcareous See also:

shell, and buried in humus, whence they are hatched about four months later. But a few species, e.g. the dwarf chameleon, are viviparous. Chameleons are insectivorous. They prefer locusts, grass-hoppers and See also:

LEPIDOPTERA (Gr. ?emir, a scale or husk, and 7rrepov, a wing)

lepidoptera, but are also fond of flies and mealwolms. They are notoriously difficult to keep in See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

HEALTH

health. They want not only warmth, but See also:

SUNSHINE

sunshine, and they must have See also:

WATER

water, which they lick up in drops from the edges of wet leaves whenever they have a See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance. The silliness of the See also:

FABLE (Fr. fable, Lat. fabula)

fable that they live on See also:

air is shown by the fact that they usually See also:

die in an absolutely emaciated and parched See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition after three or four months' See also:

STARVATION

starvation. (H. F. G.) In See also:

ASTRONOMY (from Gr. &arpov, a star, and v ,usiv, to classify or arrange)

astronomy, " Chamaeleon " is a See also:

CONSTELLATION (from the Lat. constellatus, studded with stars; co'n, with, and Stella, a star)

constellation situated near the south See also:

pole and surrounded by the constellations of Octans, See also:

MENSA

Mensa, Piscis volans, Carina (Nauta), Musca and Apus. In See also:

chemistry, " chameleon See also:

MINERAL

mineral " is a name applied to the green See also:

mass which is obtained when pyrolusite (See also:

MANGANESE (symbol Mn; atomic weight, 54.93 (0=16)], a metallic chemical element. Its dioxide (pyrolusite)

manganese dioxide) is fused with See also:

NITRE

nitre, since a See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution in water assumes a See also:

PURPLE

purple tint on exposure to the air; this See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change is due to the oxidation of the manganate, which is first formed, to a permanganate.

End of Article: CHAMELEON

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