Animal life in the sea and on the land . ng proved useful tothe parents, is handed down to their offspring, thus in-creasing little by little, and producing at last very curiousand interesting results. 6. The Chameleon.—Many lizards have the singularpower of changing their color, which gives them anoth-er advantage inconcealing them-selves. The cha-meleon, especial-ly, is celebratedfor its suddenchanges of color(Fig. 151). Itlives only in thewarm parts of theOld World. Itis extremely dulland sluggish, showing no spirit for anything but catchinginsects,- and at this favorite sport it is quick e
Animal life in the sea and on the land . ng proved useful tothe parents, is handed down to their offspring, thus in-creasing little by little, and producing at last very curiousand interesting results. 6. The Chameleon.—Many lizards have the singularpower of changing their color, which gives them anoth-er advantage inconcealing them-selves. The cha-meleon, especial-ly, is celebratedfor its suddenchanges of color(Fig. 151). Itlives only in thewarm parts of theOld World. Itis extremely dulland sluggish, showing no spirit for anything but catchinginsects,- and at this favorite sport it is quick it remains for hours in one position, makingno movements except as some insect goes buzzing past,when the sticky tongue is instantly darted out to catchit. This tongue, so destructive to insect life, is coveredwith sticky saliva, and looks as if it were swollen at theend. It is fastened at the front of the lower jaw, and isusually coiled up in the mouth, but when thrown out itmay be extended for a length of six mV 151.—The Chameleon. LIZARDS. 233 7. As chameleons pass their time in the trees, they needto hold on to the branches, and for this purpose their toesare arranged in two groups, like a parrots, three toes onone side of the foot, and two on the other. This arrange-ment enables them to grasp the twigs with their toes, andat the same time they twist their tails around the branch,as you see in the picture. Any part of an animal whichis fitted to seizing or grasping objects in this way is saidto be prehensile. Thus, we speak of the prehensile tailof the chameleon. With this definition, what do you thinkwe might now say of the tail of the boa ?
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1887
