156 THE VIVARIUM. 
show them what serious questions the scientific man has to face, 
and to answer if he can; only the next time they go to the Zoo- 
logical Gardens in London, let them go to the Reptile House, 
and ask the very clever and courteous attendant to show them the 
Sphenodons, or Hatterias as he will probably call them, and then 
look, I hope with kindly interest, at the oldest conservatives they 
ever saw, or are likely to see; gentlemen of most ancient pedigree 
who have remained all but unchanged, while the whole surface of 
the globe has changed around them more than once or twice.” 
Fig. 52 represents the very interesting Reptile of which the 
above quotation speaks. Dr. Gunther, after having dissected a 
specimen or two, placed the Tuateras in the order Rhynchoce, 
phalia, or Beak-headed Lizards, an order of which the Tuateras, 
or Hatterias, are the only living representatives. These Reptiles 
are said to have been first mentioned by Mr. Anderson, a 
companion of Captain Cook during his “‘ Third Voyage.” He 
erroneously described them as beg more than 7ft. in length, 
and possessing a body equalling in circumference that of a 
man. 
Dr. Dieffenbach, however, in 1843 was the first, I believe, to 
give anything like a trustworthy account of this strange creature. 
He said that the natives called it ‘“‘ Tuatera” or “ Narara,”’ and 
that they were afraid of it. Although he searched for the animal 
diligently, and even offered a large price for one, it was only just 
on his departure from the country that he was successful in ob- 
taining a specimen, which ultimately found its way to the British 
Museum. Dr. Dieffenbach also procured the following information 
concerning the Tuatera Lizard, viz., that it used to be very plentiful 
in all the islands, especially on the sand-hills near the coast ; that 
it was hunted by the natives for its flesh; and that, owing to this 
circumstance and to the importation of pigs, which also take 
pleasure in feeding upon it, it had become so scarce that some of 
the oldest inhabitants declared that they had never seen the 
animal. 
In 1867, Dr. Giinther expressed the fear that, within a very 
few years, this interesting creature would be numbered among the 
extinct Reptiles. Since then, however, from time to time, many 
specimens have been brought to this country, and recently, I 
