Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-09-01

~ "ra--.
WAY the little anim,i changes IL color
50 often can no. tel. Dat ,i-r,.c' that
il i :,r the ,I;rpo-, of .;elf-prntcc,ion-
by aS,umi - til. l!lr oi he 90 PC, upon
which il i. l,@;,'e,. It lands \ better
.htnce of escaping tie % 'c+va.l"n Gifts
enemies: wiica, . wing ~ thc fact that
il i, Whpilv iuuiftn>;Ec, j. A matter OF
great ilnDort;;rce to il.
IN laar;h the American chameleon,
whtn iUiv Town, maa-ureo about six
inciir; /; ,u lio %! nose ~ tip Of tail. |
have seeh specimens some lon~o" ,
though six in"hr, Any ba taken Is about
tn. areraC: .3nEtE. over ha'f Of this
ieaeth i, taken up by tail, the greater
portion of which i 30 slim Is 10 appear
aS mere thread. The body is very
lender ipr thai ri u Hard, while the
h,.:d i, fl Il aa,i Somcw;,l. laIcc-shanci.
Tin. eve, are bright and Sparniing.wi'la
til teeth are fine and vc"y pretty, re-
lnindin~ one somewhat OF the teeth il q
jewelers. saw Of iha finest number. Il
mas four;egI like other liz ir,tS. of course;
The hinderno>t pair are lengthy and 80
ARRANGED a t. render it CAPABLE vi
l.'1ning \ distance of several feet. The
feel are large, with toes widely spread
ing.
Oar little chameleon tancs readily
AMI makes II very intcrcstin pct, living
,bout the hou-e and taking llc, from
;ha fingers without the slightest show IT
fear. Ii is entirely harmless, though it
hn, way of swelling oft a blubie-like
pouch under the ''chin" when ssiSploaI"d
that looks threatening and causes some
nervous pelple to hesitate about ham
ding it. Whe' her or not this IS Intended
u, Il threat l. more than | can tell. Ii
threat. it Is only put ont Tor q make
believe, a. the chameleon never bites.
The ynun~ folks on nv place usually
have quite Il number of them ~ pets,
calling them by familiar names, as
George, Billy. Jenny, and so on, and
looking after them with IS much interest
rs ii they were the most valuable live
~iocl eytart.
"Hut, dear mel" says one of my
Young readers up North. with sliud-
Ter, ''they are liztr,is!" 50 they are,
bu; nothing c,ukl he more harmless or
more beautiful. "i;ut they are snakey."
No. there's nothing about them to even
remind one of Il snake-nothing like 50
much As there is aboit Il fish. l have
already minated that have one Is Il
pc. myself. a few months ago had
Two. My little daughter named them,
respectively, Mark Twain and Josh Bill
lir"S. My writing-table sits by VIM
dow, and in fly time l could always tell
when y large fly was buzning against
the glass. without either seeing or hear-
iny ii, By the actions of Mark and Josh.
They, ut the first appearance of the fly,
came racing across the table toward my
hands, expecting me to take it down for
them, which always did. But have
only Josh Billings with mo now. Some
time back, when was closing the door
to 90 to dirner, felt Sigh. resistance
and heard something crush. 1t was
Mark Twain. He had taken 4 foolish
fancy to sit in the groove of the facing
Immediately behind the shutter, and
when closed the door, not having OBJ
served him, Mark Twain was mashed
'as flat as Il frittar"
The American chameleon feeds ex-
clusive!y upon insects, and is therefore
the special friend of the farmer and
gardener. 1t will go up a tree and look
through the foliage by the hour, COB
bling down every insec. that happens to
come whiting the range of its keen Wis
ion. 1t is very quick in its movements;
| have not unfrequently seen it leap near
two feet in the air and take an insect on
the wing.
l know of but one bad trait in the
character of the American chameleon
he is not exactly the fellow who ought
to be encouraged to reside in the apiary.
He appears too small and delicate and
modest to disturb bees, but, my word for
1t, the bee-ownor had bo,t not risk him.
| can not say that he has any special
relish for bees, but have seen enough
to know that it will not do for bees to
rub themselves against him.-Professor
Steele, IN Louisville Courier journal.