122 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ever was offered him, or some of both, and instead of 

 pouncing on his meat, seizing it and shaking it well 

 and rubbing his jaws first on one side and then on the 

 other, as if he had something alive with wings or 

 legs to rub off, he would pick it up piece by piece 

 quite quietly, demurely, and so prettily. : 



My pets shed their skin once a month, excepting 

 on occasions of their being very weak, when a longer 

 time would intervene between the process, which 

 process, I inferred, must have been somewhat painful 

 to them, as at that time they always refused food and 

 would not allow themselves to be touched. 



It always began round the mouth, neck and legs, 

 and lasted a few days, but skinning the tail was a 

 prolonged affair, sometimes lasting weeks. It came 

 off in rings of about two rows of imbricated scales, 

 which were in shape like pointed teeth, whereas the 

 scales of the body were more the shape of imbricated 

 diamonds, and the skin came off in a large piece, the 

 whole length of the body. On one occasion Tommy 

 shed his skin entire. 



Their four strange, rag-doll, powerless-looking 

 limbs, with scarcely anything worth calling feet, 

 -each of which had five long toes, were all scaled with 

 exquisite precision. Their toes were free and furnished 

 with claws which were delicately formed, curved and 

 very sharp. The top of the head and temples were 

 covered with plates or scuta. A minute plate or bone 

 protected the orbits above their eyes. 



Scales may appear a strange covering, but fur, or 

 any kind of warmth - retaining covering is not 

 necessary for a cold-blooded animal like a lizard, 

 which has its circulation so arranged that the heart 

 (with but three cavities) at each contraction, sends 

 into the lungs only a small portion of the blood 

 received from the various parts of the body ; so that 

 the bulk of the circulating fluid returns to the system 

 without having passed through the lungs, and under- 

 gone the process of respiration. It is this process of 

 respiration that communicates to the blood its heat 

 and to the muscles their irritability. 



The lizard being cold-blooded, precludes it from 

 hatching its eggs by sitting on them, and they have 

 to depend entirely for hatching upon the sun, or the 

 soil in which they are deposited ; the latter is the 

 case as regards the eggs of the sand lizard {Lacerta 

 agilis) and the former as regards the eggs of the 

 common brown lizard (Z. vivipara) which are 

 hatched within the body of the parent. This lizard 

 is therefore not only viviparous but ovoviviparous, 

 hence the reason that the female of this lizard is so 

 often to be found during the month of June basking 

 on a sunny sand-bank for the sake of the vivifying 

 heat, as necessary for the exclusion of the young from 

 the egg, the membrane covering whichis very thin, 

 and the young (which number four or five) issue forth 

 in a permanent form, and at once lead an independent 

 life. 



It being cold-blooded also causes its digestion to be 



slow, and to remain in a dormant or torpid state 

 without taking any kind of aliment for a considerable 

 time. Where there is but little wear, but little 

 repair is needed. 



The little common brown species is found in 

 Ireland, and some authors say in France, Italy, 

 Germany, Switzerland and Russia. In France, it is 

 not so common as the sand-lizard, whilst in England 

 it is the contrary. 



Shady orchards, thickets, sunny banks and heaths 

 are the favourite habitats of this beautiful, perfectly 

 harmless, and really useful little reptile, to which I 

 accord so large a share of admiration and partiality, 

 that I am called enthusiastic, but I feel confident that 

 the most prejudiced person could not accuse it of 

 having anything repulsive in its appearance or 

 manners, or that it is physically unsuited to the 

 duties it has to perform. On the contrary, that it is 

 admirably adapted to fulfil them. 



Barton House, Caiiterbury. 



ON THE FORMATION OF AN INSEC- 

 TORIUM OR INSECT VIVARIUM FOR 

 THE EXHIBITION AND STUDY OF 

 LIVING TROPICAL INSECTS. 



By George S. Parkinson. 



[Continued from p. in.] 



THIS paper is intended simply as the record of a 

 few thoughts on the subject of the formation of 

 an " Insectorium," and, to confine it entirely to a 

 popular aspect, all scientific matters, excepting a 

 few hard names, are excluded, as becomes the 

 position of one whose claim to speak upon the 

 subject is that of a lover of Nature, and not that of a 

 student of Entomology. 



We now proceed to a selection of " those her 

 valued miniatures to which Nature has given her 

 most delicate touch and the highest finish of her 

 pencil," and merely touching up, as we proceed, 

 with a free pen what would otherwise be a limited 

 catalogue of orders, tribes, and names. 



No. I. Caterpillars. — Feed upon the leaves of plants. 

 — Conceive an insect six or eight inches in length, and 

 thick in proportion ; beautiful beyond description in 

 the variety of its colours ; decked with all the living 

 splendour of Nature's own handiwork : stars, bands, 

 stripes, mosaic in patterns inconceivable, and you have 

 a caterpillar of the tropics — a veritable harlequin 

 appearing for a season on its leafy stage and in 

 readiness for the most wonderful of transformation 

 scenes possible to witness. 



No. 2. Butterflies. — Lepidoptera Order. — Pa- 

 pilionidce tribe. — Feed upon the nectar of flowers. — 

 Veritable fairies — buoyant through space, with wings 



