122 



SAURIA. — LACERTAD^. 



variations of form or relative position in these 

 plates, generic distinctions often rest, and hence, 

 for the sake of perspicuity in description, these 

 have received names, which we here enumerate, 

 copying the accompanying illustration from 

 Professor Bell's beautiful work on British Rep- 

 tiles. 



The plate marked 1 is termed the rostral ; 2, the 



nasal ; 3, internasal ; 4, 

 fronto-nasal ; 5, frontal ; 6, 

 anterior palpebral ; 7, pos- 

 terior palpebral ; 8, fronto- 

 parietal ; 9, inter-parietal ; 

 10, parietal; 11, occipi- 

 tal. 



The scales of the tail, 

 which are arranged in dis- 

 tinct rings or transverse 

 bands, are long and narrow, 

 especially towards the tip 

 of this organ. The lower 

 parts of the body are 

 clothed wdth broad plate 

 arranged lengthwise in several rows ; not over- 

 lapping, but in contact at their margins. 



The femoral pores, which we have before men- 

 tioned, either as present or absent, in other Sau- 

 rian groups, are always found in the Lacertadce. 

 " They consist, probably," observes Professor 

 Bell, "of very small follicular glands, each placed 

 in a scale, the middle of which is pierced by the 

 opening of the follicle. In some, the scale is 

 very little larger than the pore, and appears 

 almost like a minute tube ; in others, the scale 

 is larger and triangular. The use of these pores 



HEAD OF LIZARD. 



