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356
The Descent of Man.
Part II.

and in a third species (C. Stoddartii, fig. 34) the whole appendage is converted into a horn, which is usually of a white colour, but assumes a purplish tint when the animal is excited. In the adult male of this latter species the horn is half an inch in length, but it is of quite minute size in the female and in the young. These appendages, as Dr. Günther has remarked to me, may be compared with the combs of gallinaceous birds, and apparently serve as ornaments.

Fig. 35. Chamæleon bifurcus. Upper figure, male; lower figure, female.

In the genus Chamæleon we come to the acme of difference between the sexes. The upper part of the skull of the male C. bifurcus (fig. 35), an inhabitant of Madagascar, is produced into two great, solid, bony projections, covered with scales like the rest of the head; and of this wonderful modification of structure the female exhibits only a rudiment. Again, in