The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-10-11

something startles him and he scurries
off to the nerest tree trunk, his skin
promptly assumes the hue of the DARK,
and YOU will have trouble to follow his
movements even with the most attentive
scrutiny.
Let him come out of the retirement
again to hunt flies on a sunlit vine, and
Immediately ne turns to the most bril-
liant emerald. fitting his hue to that OF
the leaf he rests on. Only his beady little
eyes. alert for the presence of the insects
on which he feeds. refuse to change color
with the rest OF his Kaleidoscope ex-
terror.
other animals have something of this
talent 1t is a provision OF nature to
save them from the attacks Of the larger
creatures which prey on them. But the
chameleon has it in greater perfection,
so that when men want to describe the
property of changing color to suit diverse
conditions they use the chemeleon's name.
Now Mile. Cerbus, though she changes
color with marvellous versatility and in
that respect behaves just like the tiny
lizard. does not do it under precisely the
same conditions. With her it is an in
nomenon and not desire to merge her
self into the hues of the objects around
her.
In both the case of the reptilye and that
of the young girl there is displayed the
same power of the skin to assume very
pronounced colors for a definite period
of time.
Aside from this chameleon the girl is
perfectly normal and goes through the
round of daily life just as any one of
million other young women do every day
in the year. That is. she attends to her
own daily interests as far as the doctors
and scientists and nerve specialists will
let her, for they are constantly interrupt
ing the routine OF her existence to get
her TO make exhibitions Of her peculiar
trait They study her case in a hundred
phases, and every time that the chame-
leon power is tested in some new way
to prove some new theory, 1t leaves them
ali more mystified than ever
By the color Of her skin, Mile. Cerbus
reflects the emotion that is dominant in
her mind at the moment. Each emotion
or passion has a distinct manifestation.
In anger the girl turns dark as a ne
gress.
Happiness shows itself by a beautiful
pink tint which suffuses the whole body
Fear causes her to assume violent
rue.
Anxiety turns her skin almost green.
These changes come about almost in
stantIy, and. according 10 the intensity
of the emotion, is the depth and regul-
! larity Of the hue on the skin. 1t is not
an unpleasant phenomenon to look at, for
the shading is so perfect and thu colors
so clear that one forgets the morbid char
acter of the affection IN Its strange pic
turesqueness.
The effect is much the same as when
| a strong lime light is turned suddenly
upon a performer on the stage of a
theatre 10 add artistic glamour to the
| scene.
To the girl herself. however, the cheme-
! leon faculty causes untold annoyance and
! chaerin. She feels that she is constantly
on view before the public. Her soul is
laid bear as it were, to the inspection
of any inquistive person who may chance
to be within eye shot of her, anu she can
not enjoy the benefit Of keeping her feel
! ings to herself
No matter how essential it may be that
! she shall not betray her anger when talk
| ing to some one who has made rema rk
that hurt her pride, she cannot restrain
that dark shade which mantles her cheek
and gradually descends to make her hands
| look like those of an African.
If the person with whom she is con-
versing knows the nature of her curious
| trait. as many Parisians now do the fact
/ that she is angry betrays itself at once.
| And it is the same when something that
! is said makes her anxious for the future
or apprehensive of a present injury The
story is written on her face III the pale
/ green tint that chases away the natural
shade of her rather pleasing complexion.
+ Under normal circumstances this girl has
a dark olive tinted skin. She is a Rou-
mainian by birth and has the olive COM
/ pleXion and dark eyes and languid grace
of the daughters of the southland.
/ As for the scientific explanations of
/ Mile. Cerbus' case they are as various as
are the different schools whose disciples
! have investigated the problem.
one interesting fact is the connection
/ between Mile. Cerbus' popularity and the
phenomenon of color in hypnotism. 1t has
+ for some time been known that a subject
/ in the hypnotic sleep will respond TO the
exhibition of certain hues and tints, al
/ though they may not even see the colored
objects In such cases ii is customary for
the investigator to hold up before his sub
ject a glass vial containing fuid-red,
blue or green.
When green is displayed the response
is an expression of anxiety on. the fea-
lures of the subject. lust as Mile Ger
bus turns pink with the emotion of Joy
so the hypnotized person will assume an
/ expression of joy when the color pink
* held up before him. There Is the same
relation between certain colors and def
mite emotions in other instances. Black
causes ;rlger; violet gives rise to look
of intense fear and apprehension.
Yet this strange relationship is far from
explaining the present matter, fo; il is not
necessary 10 put Nile Cerbus under a
hypnotic influence to cause her to show
the chameleon phenomenon. They appear
naturally in the course Of her daily exper-
Ieuce Ever since she received great
fright in boating accident several years
ago she has changed color to suit the
emotions that prevail
Indeed the only times when some mani
festation of the remarkable trait is not
visible Is when sire sleeps. Then, all q -
tulbing IDEAS and feelings being at rsst,
the skin returns TO It's natural tint.
PREVENTS SERIOUS PANIC.
Kaiser Has His Wits About Him ir