338 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

the common variety being otherwise found in central Asia
and Ceylon. ‘There are several genera and numerous species.
They live on insects and possess tongues of unusual length,
furnished with a sticky mucus, which they protrude and re-
tract with such rapidity and certainty of aim that insects
are caught and conveyed to the mouth with a speed the
eye cannot follow. The characteristic for which they are
most famous is that of changing their colour, a power which
has doubtless been much exaggerated, but which no less
surely exists. Mrs. Bowdich describes some she had in her
possession ; she says, ‘‘ Mine became green and yellow, as-
sumed lighter and brighter lines, but I could not see the
bright blue or red substances on which I put them reflected in
their skins.’’ According to M. D’Obsonville, who is quoted
by Mrs. Bowdich, the original colour is green, the shades of
which vary according to circumstances. When at liberty,
and in health, it assumes gradations of brown, red, or light
grey ; when well-fed and in the open air, if provoked, it
becomes a blue-green ; but when feeble, or deprived of free -
air, the prevailing tint is yellow-green. If surrounded and
teased or if one of its own species comes near, it exhibits all
three tints of green. If dying, especially of hunger, yellow
first predominates ; and when dead, it is the colour of dead
leaves.
TheIguana. The Common Iguana, which sometimes attains
to a length of five feet, belongs to South America. It isa
singular-looking animal, but is much esteemed as an article
of food, its flesh resembling that of chickens. When taken
young it may be tamed by kindness, but otherwise it is fierce
when attacked, and its bite is very severe. It is said that the
natives of the Bahama Islands, who subsist largely on the
Iguana, sew up their mouths to prevent their biting when they
wish to keep them alive for a time.
TheCommon Lhe Common Lizard and the Sand Lizard are
lizard. the varieties found in England. The Common