132 JOURNAL OF THE TRINIDAD 



warring on insects obnoxious to man, with a zeal which deserves 

 a better recognition than a broken back, or life crushed out 

 by an unsympathetic heel. The Greeks called the Gecko, " Stel- 

 lio" and Aristotle tells us that the Stellio lives in vaults and 

 graves, creeps on walls and ceilings, falls into the food, creeps 

 up the nostrils of donkeys, causes them to refuse their food 

 and finally kills them by its bite. Pliny assures us that a 

 most dangerous compound is obtained by drowning a gecko in wine 

 or stifling it in pomatum. The wine or pomatum so treated 

 causes freckles and he says " Many give this gecko treated wine 

 or pomatum to pretty girls with the wicked intention of spoiling 

 their beauty." He also gives the remedy to be applied in the 

 case of the unlucky fair one, who is thus the object of 

 jealousy, and the antidote is the yellow of an egg mixed with 

 honey and saltpetre ! Geckos are credited with producing skin 

 eruption if they run over one with their " soft flabby viscous 

 little toes." They are supposed to poison food by their touch and 

 the country people in Trinidad tell you that when they see you 

 approaching they first " take your colour" and then jump upon 

 you and stick to you until death releases you twenty-four hours 

 after this extraordinary performance. Hence the name. Now, 

 the next time you see a gecko, you may take my word for it that 

 he will not jump on you and if you can master your emotions 

 sufficiently, try to quietly watch him or catch him in a pocket 

 handkerchief and put him in a wide-mouthed bottle and you will 

 then be able to examine the wonderful construction of those 

 same " flabby viscous little toes " which enable him to climb 

 so cleverly up a pane of glass and on smooth walls and ceilings. 

 The toes are divided into a number of lobes or fleshy pads. 

 Each lobe has a row of small bristles on its ridge which cause 

 it to resemble the sucking disk of a leech. When the gecko 

 presses his foot on a smooth pane of glass or on a wall the 

 air between the foot and the glass or wall is driven out and 

 when the presure is removed the inner surface of the foot is 

 raised by the elasticity and rigidity of the bristles, special 

 muscles also come into play and thus a vacuum is created and 

 atmospherical pressure secures the foot-hold. It is absurd, 

 however, to suppose that the gecko can stick to an object with 

 such force as to prevent its removal without the aid of a 

 hot iron, which is the correct thing to use on such occasions 

 according to popular belief. Geckos feed largely on cock- 

 roaches—the smaller kinds — and other insects. These are more 

 plentifully met in old houses and Master Gecko, who has an 

 admirable appetite, naturally finds himself in these localities 

 too. Now, Master Gecko as he runs hither and thither about his 

 work, like many other creatures, in the fulness of his heart 

 sings. But then his range of voice is not a large one being 



