their figure is peculiarly graceful, and their actions are quick and alert: many are aquatic, swimming with ease and celerity.

These reptiles are covered with distinct, oval, granular scales, which are not imbricated; that is, they do not overlay each other, like tiles on a roof; but are placed closely side by side, and so arranged, as to form circular lines, or rings. The body is elongated, and rounded; the limbs are strong; the toes are distinct, very long, and armed with robust claws. The tail is more or less compressed, and at least twice as long as the body. There are no femoral pores. The head is pointed; the nostrils are lateral, but vary in distance from the muzzle. The eyes are large, and bright; the orifices leading to the internal organs of hearing, are very apparent, and seated low down on the skull, near the angles of the mouth; the tongue is fleshy, and very extensible, being, when fully protruded, twice as long as the head; it is of a slender figure, and deeply forked at the tip, like the tongue of a snake.

In the terrestrial Varans, the tail is nearly conical; but in the aquatic species, it is compressed laterally, and surmounted by a ridge, formed by two series of flattened scales. In these latter animals, the tail is a most important organ of progression in the water; they lash it rapidly and powerfully from side to side, and thus propel themselves along with great celerity, cleaving the water like an arrow. The body, in consequence of the air with which the lungs are filled, floats on the surface, and is directed by this powerful organ, at once a rudder and an oar.

On the ground, the Varans are active and quick: the toes are large and strong, and armed with sharp claws; and they are able, if not to climb trees, at least to scramble up rocks, and craggy precipices. The usual places of abode, of one section, are desert plains; of the other, the borders of rivers. They run with facility; but owing to the length of the tail, and the manner in which

N

they work it from side to side, pressing, at the same time, against the ground, their movements are sinuous, and resemble those of a serpent; and they are capable of springing upon their prey.

Although the pupil is circular, many are said to be nocturnal in their habits, pursuing their prey during the darkness of the night; others, however, are undoubtedly diurnal.

The food of these reptiles consists of the larger kinds of insects, as beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, etc., birds, eggs, and small mammalia. They often devour the eggs of Crocodiles, as well as those of aquatic birds; and Lizards, Tortoises, and fishes, fall victims to their ferocity. M. Dumeril, on the authority of M. Leschenault de Latour, confirms the accounts of travellers, who report, that they combine in attacking large animals. The latter naturalist states, that they unite themselves into packs, on the borders of lakes, or rivers, in order to seize upon such quadrupeds as unsuspectingly approach to quench their thirst. He has seen them hunt down a young deer, which was attempting to swim across a river, and succeed in drowning it; and, on one occasion, he found the bone of the thigh of a sheep in the stomach of an individual, which he dissected. It does not appear, that they ever attempt to injure man, unless previously molested by him.

The Varans are widely distributed; none, however, are natives of Europe, and one only, (Heloderma horridum,) is found in America, where it is a native of Mexico. The rest, or the True Varans, are respectively natives of Africa, India, the islands of the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, the Moluccas, Timor, etc., and of New Holland.

Of the terrestrial Varans, two species only are known; one peculiar to the island of Timor, (V. Timoriensis ;) the other to Egypt.

The DESERT VARAN OF EGYPT, (V. arenarius, Bibr.,)

or Ouaran-el-hard of the Arabs, is about three feet in total length; it frequents the dry and sandy deserts, and feeds on insects and small animals. It is less active and savage than the aquatic species, and especially than that inhabiting the Nile; for, when kept in captivity, so far is it from darting on its prey with avidity, like the latter, that it refuses nourishment; and hence, in order to keep it alive, the food must be put by force into its mouth, and the animal must be constrained to swallow it.

The Desert Varan was known to the ancients, and is enumerated by Herodotus, among the animals of Lybia, who terms it, "a species of Crocodile, living on the land; not more than three cubits in length, and much like a Lizard." He gives, however, no particulars respecting it.

The head of this species is pointed at the muzzle; the orifices of the nostrils are oblique, and placed at a little distance before each eye. The teeth are moderate in size, sharp, and slightly compressed. The top of the head is covered with a mosaic work of flat scales, with several angles. The claws are very long, and compressed; the tail is nearly rounded for a considerable distance from its base; and towards its extremity, becomes slightly compressed at the sides. The colour varies in different individuals: some are of a pale brown, with dusky green spots, or bands; others are of a general yellowish tint. The claws are yellow.

Of the aquatic Varans, we may select the VARAN OF THE NILE, (V. Niloticus,) as an example. (See engraving.) This species attains to the length of five or six feet, and is very common in the Nile. It is also found in the Senegal, and in the Galbar, near Sierra Leone. This species, or one closely allied to it, is common in the rivers of Southern Africa; where it was seen by Levaillant and Sparrmann. The latter traveller terms it, Lacerta Capensis. "One of this species," he "of says, the middle size, which, together with its two young

ones, I brought home with me, from Agter Bruntjeshoogte, was about two feet long in the body, and three in the tail. Having caught her by the neck, so that she could not bite me, and finding that it required some strength to hold her fast, I got a large worsted needle, and gave her several punctures with it, not only in the heart, but in every part of the cranium which was in contact with the brain. This, however, was far from answering my purpose, which was to kill her in the most speedy and least painful manner, without mangling or mutilating her, that she seemed still to have life enough left to be able to run away. After this, my host undertook to put an end to her; and having given her several hard squeezes about the chest, and tied her feet together, hung her up by the neck in a noose, which he drew as tight as he possibly could. From this situation she was found, in the space of forty-eight hours, to have extricated herself, though she still remained near the farm; appearing, at the same time, to be almost entirely exhausted. Upon this, we tied her feet close behind her, so that with her long and sharp claws, of which she had five upon each foot, she could not damage the serpents and other animals, which I kept in a cask of brandy, and among which I put her with my own hands, holding her a long time under the surface of the liquor. Yet she was so far from being suffocated immediately, that she flounced about, and even a quarter of an hour afterwards, convinced us by her motions, that she had still some life remaining in her.

"This species of Lizard I found to be amphibious, living in water as well as on land, and likewise, that it grew to a still greater size; consequently, it appears to be an extremely long-lived animal; and, as well on account of this property, as of that of not being killed without great difficulty, to have an important office assigned it, in the general economy of nature. It was supposed, and not without foundation, by the people with whom I resided, that this creature might easily be made tame, and that