were covered by them; and the colours of which they consisted made a very extraordinary appearance, glittering under the sun in which they lay basking and sleeping. The description thus given is no less applicable to similar places throughout the warmest latitudes than it is to the Temple of the Sun. In most of the lizards the body is so remarkable for its length and cylindrical figure, that, as Aristotle observed, "they resemble snakes, with the addition of limbs." The skin is protected either by horny plates, by scales of various sizes and figures, or by granulations. Generally, the limbs are four, and the toes are armed with claws, but the body always terminates in a tail, which is frequently The elongated and heavy trunk of the lizards is not supported by the limbs without effort. Generally they walk with constraint, and slowly; for the arms and thighs are short, slender, but slightly muscular, and directed outwardly; while the elbows and knees are too angular to support with ease the superincumbent weight. They are capable, however, of executing a great variety of movements, all bearing on progression. The form of the tail, the length of the body, the conformation of the toes, and the shape of the claws, determine their character, and always harmonise with the peculiar habits of the animal. One family is very extensive, which Wagler thus characterises: "A very large, thin dewlap under the neck; cephalic plates, polygonal, unequal in diameter, flat, or carinated; a double row of small palatal teeth; maxillary teeth, with their edges firmly dentilated; a crest on the back and tail; toes long and unequal; a single row of femoral pores; tail very long, slender, compressed-covered with small, equal, imbricated, carinated scales." THE RED-THROATED LIZARD.+ THIS beautiful reptile is a native of the West India Islands. Its colour is green, more or less tinged with blue. There is no dorsal crest; the tail is large, strong, and slightly depressed at its base-its remainder being slender, and slightly compressed; a minute dentated ridge runs along its upper surface. The scales on the back and sides are very small, somewhat oval and granular, and of equal size; they are not imbricated. Those on the under parts are smooth, and overlay each other. When irritated, the throat swells, and becomes as red as a cherry. "Some years since," says Mr. Bell, "I had two living specimens of the beautiful little green Anolis of the West Indies. I was in the habit of feeding them with flies, and other insects; and having one day placed in the cage with them a very large garden spider, one of the lizards darted at it, but only seized it by the leg. The spider instantly ran round the creature's mouth, weaving a very thick web round both the jaws, and then gave it a severe bite on the lip, just as this spider usually does with any large insect which it has taken. The lizard was greatly distressed, and I removed the spider, and rubbed off the web, the confinement of which appeared to give it great annoyance; but in a few days it died, though previously in as perfect health as its companion, which lived for a long time afterwards," THE AMBLYRHYNCHUS CRISTATUS. "THIS lizard," says Mr. Darwin, "is extremely common in all the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. It lives exclusively on the rocky beaches, and is never found-at least, I never saw one-even ten yards on shore. It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid and sluggish in its movements. The usual length of a full-grown one is about a yard, but there are some even four feet long. I have seen a large one which weighed twenty pounds. "On the island of Albemarle they seem to grow to a greater size than on any other. These lizards were occasionally seen some hundred yards from the shore, swimming about; and Captain Collnett, in his 'Voyage,' says they go out to sea in shoals to fish. With respect to the object, I believe he is mistaken; but the fact, stated on such good authority, cannot be doubted. "When in the water, the animal swims with perfect ease and quickness, by a serpentine movement of its body, and flattened tail; the legs, during this time, being motionless, and closely collapsed on its sides. A seaman on board sank one, with a heavy weight attached to it, thinking thus to kill it directly; but when, an hour afterwards, he drew up the line, the lizard was quite active. Their limbs and strong claws are admirably adapted for crawling over the rugged and fissured masses of lava, which everywhere form the coast. In such situations a group of six or seven of these hideous reptiles may oftentimes be seen on the black rocks, a few feet above the surf, basking in the sun, with outstretched legs. * Iguanidæ. Anolis chloro-cyanus: Bibron. +Epeira diadema. THE AMBLYRHYNCHUS CRISTATUS. 335 "I opened the stomach of several, and in each case found it largely distended with minced seaweed, of that kind which grows in thin foliaceous expansions, of a bright green or dull red colour. I have not observed this sea-weed in any quantity on the tidal rocks, and I have reason to believe it grows at the bottom of the sea, at some little distance from the coast. If such is the case, the object of these animals going out to sea is explained. The stomach contained nothing but the seaweed. Mr. Bynoe, however, found a piece of a crab in one; but this might have got in accidentally, in the same manner as I have seen a caterpillar, in the midst of some lichen, in the paunch of a tortoise. The intestines were large, as in other herbivorous animals. "The nature of this lizard's food, as well as the structure of its tail, and the certain fact of its having been seen voluntarily swimming out at sea, absolutely prove its aquatic habits; yet there is, in this respect, one strange anomaly, that, when frightened, it will not enter the water. "From this cause it is easy to drive these lizards down to any little point overhanging the sea, where they will sooner allow a person to catch hold of their tail than jump into the water. They do not seem to have any notion of biting; but when much frightened, they squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. "One day I carried one to a deep pool left by the retiring tide, and threw it in several times, as far as I was able. It invariably returned in a direct line to where I stood. It swam near the bottom, with a very graceful and rapid movement, and occasionally aided itself, over the uneven ground, with its feet. As soon as it arrived near the margin, it either tried to conceal itself in the tufts of sea-weed, or entered some crevice. As soon as it thought the danger was past, it crawled out on the dry rocks, and shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times caught this same lizard, by driving it down to a point; and though possessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing would induce it to enter the water; and, as often as I threw it in, it returned in the manner above described. "Perhaps this singular piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by this circumstance, that this reptile has no enemy whatever on shore; whereas, at sea, it must often fall a prey to the numerous sharks. Hence, probably, urged by a fixed and hereditary instinct that the shore is its place of safety, whatever the emergency may be, it there takes refuge. "During our visit in October, I saw extremely few small individuals of this species, and none, I should think, under a year old. From this circumstance, it seems probable that the breeling season had not commenced. I asked several of the inhabitants if they knew where it laid its eggs; they said that though well acquainted with the eggs of the other kind (namely, of the following species) they had not the least knowledge on this part of the history of this aquatic kind-a fact, considering how common an animal this lizard is, not a little extraordinary." AMBLYRHYNCHUS SUBCRISTATUS. THIS species, unlike the last, is a land lizard. Mr. Darwin says: "It is confined to the central islands of the archipelago-namely, to Albemarle, Barrington, and Indefatigable. To the southward, in Charles', Hood, and Chatham Islands, and to the northward, in Tower's, Bindloe's, and Abington, I neither saw nor heard of any. "In the central islands, they inhabit both the higher and damp, as well as the lower and sterile parts; but in the latter, they are much the most numerous. I cannot give a more forcible proof of their numbers than by stating that when we were left at James's Island, we could not, for some time, find a spot free from their burrows on which to pitch our tent. "These lizards, like their brothers, the sea kind, are ugly animals; and from their low, facial angle, have a singularly stupid appearance. In size, perhaps, they are a little inferior to the latter, but several of them weighed between ten and fifteen pounds each. The colour of their belly, front legs, and head, excepting the crown, which is nearly white, is a dirty yellowish orange. The back is brownish red, which in the younger specimens is darker. "In their movements, they are lazy and half torpid. along, with their tails and bellies dragging on the ground. with closed eyes and hind legs spread out on the parched soil. When not frightened, they slowly crawl "They inhabit burrows, which they sometimes excavate between fragments of lava, but more generally on level patches of the soft volcanic sandstone. The holes do not appear to be very deep, and they enter the ground at a small angle; so that, when walking over these lizard warrens, the soil is constantly giving way, much to the annoyance of the tired walker. "The animal, when excavating its burrow, alternately works the opposite sides of its body. One front leg, for a short time, scratches up the soil, and throws it towards the hind foot, which is well placed, so as to heave it beyond the mouth of the hole. This side of the body being tired, the other takes up the task; and so on alternately. I watched one for a long time, till half its body was buried; I then walked up, and pulled it by the tail; at this, it was greatly astonished, and soon shuffled up to see what was the matter, and then stared me in the face, as much as to say, 'What made you pull my tail?' "They feed by day, and do not wander far from their burrows; and if frightened, they rush to them with a most awkward gait. Except when running down hill, they cannot move very fast; which appears chiefly owing to the lateral position of their legs. "They are not at all timorous: when attentively watching any one, they curl their tails; and, raising themselves on their front legs, nod their heads vertically with a quick movement, and try to look very fierce; but, in reality, they are not at all so if one just stamps the ground, down go their tails, and off they shuffle, as quickly as they can. I have frequently observed small muscivorous (fly-eating) lizards, when watching anything, nod their heads precisely in the same manner; but I do not at all know for what purpose. * If this Amblyrhynchus is held, and plagued with a stick, it will bite very severely; but I caught many by the tail, and they never tried to bite me. If two are placed on the ground, and held together, they will fight and bite each other till blood is drawn. "The individuals (and they are the greater number) which inhabit the lower country can scarcely taste a drop of water throughout the year; but they consume much of the succulent cactus, the branches of which are occasionally broken off by the wind. I have sometimes thrown a piece to two or three together, and it was amusing enough to see each trying to seize and carry it away in its * A lizard common in Egypt (a species of Stellio) dips its head in the same way; and the Mohammedans pursue and kill t, because they say it mocks them, by this action, when they are engaged in their devotions. Such is the folly of superstition. |