90 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



but for its size and blunt snout, it bears a striking resem- 

 blance. Unlike the North African species, it requires only 

 a moderate amount of heat, living for many years in 

 confinement, and in this respect is one of the most satis- 

 factory of all reptiles ; a recently defunct specimen in the 

 Zoological Gardens lived for just over thirteen years in 

 quite a small cage. It is both carnivorous and herbivorous, 

 w^ith usually a preference for bananas and earthworms. 



The Stump-tailed Lizard, Trachysaurus rugosus, yet 

 another native of Australia, may be easily recognized by its 

 elongate, thick body, covered with enormous rough scales, 

 suggestive of the cone of a fir-tree, and by its short, stumpy 

 tail, superficially resembling the animal's massive head. 

 The colour above is black, mottled with yellow, entirely 

 yellow below. It feeds on fruit, meat, worms, lizards, 

 and snakes, its great partiality for the latter resulting in 

 its being held with a certain amount of respect by the 

 Australian colonist. The animal, which frequents dry, 

 sandy localities, and is often met with on sandy roadways, 

 is exceedingly sluggish in its movements, refusing even to 

 get out of the way of passing vehicles, merely opening its 

 mouth widely as these approach, and its capture, in conse- 

 quence, is a matter of the greatest ease. Although usually 

 doing well in captivity, this lizard, which at first is 

 inclined to bite, but soon becomes amenable, is subject to 

 a peculiar wasting disease, from which it seldom recovers, 

 the symptoms taking the form of running at the eyes 

 and slight foaming at the mouth ; the disease seems to 

 be highly infectious, and in the event of several specimens 

 sharing a cage, the isolation of the patient is an absolute 

 necessity, for otherwise its companions would all become 



