THE ORDEK LACERTILIA 13 



eggs just as the embryos are at full time, that is, 

 they are ovo-viviparous ; while still others bring forth 

 their young alive, that is, are viviparous. 



As regards their distribution the Lacertilia are 

 almost universally found, or at least some of them. 

 The Lacertidae, to which most of the British species 

 belong, are confined to the old world, but are absent 

 from Madagascar. The Anguidse, the family of the 

 slow- worm, occur " in North and South America, in 

 Europe and the Mediterranean parts of North Africa, 

 and in Trans-Gangetic India," The detailed dis- 

 tribution of the several British species will be referred 

 to later. 



With this brief description we must leave the 

 Lacertilia as a whole, and consider the structure of 

 one of them in some detail. 



