Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-06-09
For the Freeman.
A ChaI with Farmers.
BY AGRICOLA.
ABOUT uIBERNATING ANIMALS.


The chameleon is q saurian reptile living
| in the warmest parts of Africa and India
1t is the only genus Of the family, but it
contains some eighteen known species, the
most singular of all the lizard race.
This small animal is characterized by
the situation of its teeth on the upper edge
of its jaws, by the grouping of its toes, by
its prehensle tail, and by its compressed
and scaly body. 1t has cylindrical
tongue, in large mouth capable of an
elongation of six or seven inches, large
eyes which are nearly covered by the skim
and spacious lungs. It's legs are long and
slender, and are armed with five toes, each
Of which is divided into two opposite
bundles suited to grasping. By means of
these and its prehensile tail, the chame leon
can easily climb trees, as it does in search
of insects which constitute its food.
This reptile is very sluggish in all its
! movements, and much of the time it
remains apparently motonless. But its
tongue is not sluggish when its eyes dis
| cover an insect within reach. Its motion
is so rapid that it can with difficulty be de-
tected in It's process of taking food, and
hence the ancients supposed the chameleon
| lived on air alone; and this is the popular
| belief, to a certain extent, even now. And
another delusion in regard to this animal
was that it had the power of changing its
color to correspond with the objects that
| surround it. 1t is true that the chameleon
changes its colors with great rapidity, but
not TO accommodate itself to its surround
ings Its natural color is green tingcd
| with brown and white. These vary and
assume various shades Of gray. blush
green, yellow and black, the coors appear
ing the brightest in the warmest and sun
| niest weather.
This reptile has the power to initiate its
| body, even to its feet and tail but it is Il
harmless animal and is everywhere so re.
garded. Sometimes the natives of the
countries where it is found get it into
their dwellings and keep it as II pet on
account of its habit of destroying the in
sects that annoy them.
The female deposits dozen eggs in the
sand, and leaves them 10 he Matched by
the heat of the sun. The chameleon is SO
inoflensive and SO easily overcome and
destroyed by its enemies that the race
would soon be annihlated were it not for
its great fecunditv.
| The iguana is another saurian consti-
tuting type of the lizard family. Its
body is covered with horny scales, with a
crest along the back or the tail. There
are two families, each with numerous
genera and more numerous species
including the dragon and stelio.
The common iguana measures from foul
to five feet, o.thirds of which is tail II
is found in tropical South America and
the West Indies. 1t is armed with fifty
teeth on each jaw, and some fifty.live hard
scales. 1t lives upon trees, but come'
down often to swim in the water. AnC
we may here take note of another species
of reptiles, the iguanodon, and II monster
in its way. This race is now extinct, anC
found only in fossil remains. Still, the
"remains of one found in Great Britain
in 1922 enabled Dr. Mantel to measure
the size and mark the peculiarities of thi'
race with much accuracy. This was the
skeleton of a gigantic lizard. 1t probably
measured fifty feet in length and was
proporionally large in other directions
1t must have lived in torrid zone, anC
yet it lived in England. Hence England
must have had, at that period, Il torriC
The nature of the animal, as indicated
by its form and structure, showed that it!
home was not in the water. but on land
The form, size and condition of its teetl
prove that it lived upon the tough vcgeta
bles which were found buried with th'
bones. 1t could not have climbed tree
like other lizards. for no tree could hav,
borne its enormous weight. 1t stooc
higher on the legs than any existing sauri
an, and the worn condition Off its teeth in
dicated that it was an herbivorous animal
and had performed the process of masti
cation DR.. Mantell was of the opinion
that this animal had n nasal horn.
The whole class of saurians, living ant
dead, have been ranked among hiber
mating animals, and it would seem to u
mortals that it would have been no loss Il
this world if they had slept to wake NJ
more.