2 REPTILES. 



their organization, the varied instincts and habits 

 with which they are endowed, their means of 

 offence and defence, and the great diversity of form 

 and structui'e which they exhibit, as rich a feast 

 of intellectual gratification to the philosophic 

 student of Nature, as any other of the wonderful 

 works of God. 



In this last respect the Class of Reptiles is 

 eminently worthy of attention. " In Mammalogy 

 and Ornithology, we find that the animals which 

 are treated of under those branches are respec- 

 tively formed according to one leading type, 

 which, however modified, may be traced through- 

 out the whole chain of beings with which those 

 branches of Zoology are conversant. From an 

 Elephant to a Mouse, from a Whale to a Por- 

 poise, the same uniform principle of construction 

 may be recognised. The same principle of orga- 

 nization governs the conformation of an Ostrich 

 and a Humming-bird. But in Herpetology, we 

 have various types or principles of structure. 

 Not to dwell upon the more obvious difierences 

 in the organization of a Tortoise and a com- 

 mon Snake, we shall find in more cognate crea- 

 tures, the Saurians for example, a striking varia- 

 tion in structure. The skeleton of a Crocodile 

 difiers widely from that of a Chameleon ; . . . and 

 how widely are these again separated from the 

 Frogs and Toads ! " * 



* Penny Cyclop, xix. 403. 



