DRAGONS, FABLED AND REAL. 811 



the acrodont iguanans and by others with the agamians, and of 

 some of which we give representations. 



There live in the forests of India, the Malay Archipelago, and 

 the Philippine Islands, lizards, whose speckled dress and odd 

 forms have long made them objects of interest to collectors. They 

 live exclusively on insects, which they hunt with extreme agility 

 of pursuit along the trunks and among the branches of trees. In 

 whatever spot they may be hiding, their variegated liveries of 

 gray and brown, speckled with black, yellow, or green, mask them 

 effectively and cause them to pass unperceived in the cracks or 

 among the inequalities of the bark. Squatting under this cover, 

 they await the coming of some insect within reach of them ; or 

 they may be seen running rapidly and suddenly covering consid- 

 erable space, by a kind of flight, to place themselves upon another 

 tree or fix themselves near a vine. Nature has been, in fact, 

 pleased to facilitate the movements of these lively and graceful 

 beings by an ingenious artifice. By the aid of their parachute, 

 dragons can execute leaps in the air of considerable length, and 

 pass from one tree to another as if by flying. But it must not be 

 supposed that they can fly after the manner of birds. They can 

 descend rapidly, describing a large parabola, sometimes almost a 

 horizontal, but can not fly upward. 



I have frequently observed these pretty little saurians in Java. 

 The first time I saw one I succeeded in shooting him with a small- 

 bored gun loaded with fine shot. When I picked my victim up 

 I was somewhat surprised to find that I had a dragon ; for its 

 jerky and irregular flight along a large tree had caused me to 

 suppose that it was some kind of a grasshopper or moth, which I 

 could not get in any other way than by shooting. 



The dragons, as Cuvier says, fly by means of their ribs. Their 

 first six pairs of false ribs, instead of being attached to the 

 sternum, are drawn out and prolonged, so as to constitute the 

 framework of a kind of umbrella, the covering of which is 

 formed of a wide membrane making a fold in the skin of the 

 flanks. This membrane is independent of the limbs. When at 

 rest, it is folded up along each flank ; but it can be quickly un- 

 folded and spread out in case of need. The name patagium has 

 been given to it. The head and neck are ornamented with crests 

 and dewlaps, often variegated with brilliantly defined colors ; 

 and a long tail gives them a singular gait which is not without 

 grace. 



The harmless little flying lizards inhabit forests and garden 

 trees ; and nothing is more amusing than to watch their manoeu- 

 vres, when, not aware that they are observed, they execute their 

 gambols in the full flush of freedom. Running swiftly along the 

 trees, stopping instantaneously, snapping up an insect or retiring 



