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I do not know whether the Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) 
has ever been found in a wild state in this county. 
The viviparous or common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) is 
plentiful, being especially abundant, together with other 
wholly terrestrial reptiles, along the southern and western 
slopes of the Inferior Oolite, and is less frequently seen in the 
valley of the Severn. 
In length it is usually six inches; the largest specimen I 
have seen was six and a half inches long, and was a female. 
The length of this reptile is to a great extent dependent upon 
the length of its tail, which is variable in old Lizards, in con- 
sequence of their liability to an accidental loss of that member, 
and its partial reproduction. The tail is less likely to be broken 
in cold weather than on a hot day, because the Lizard is 
then less vigorous. This remarkable feature in reptile life is 
not peculiar to the common Lizard. At the Cape of Good 
Hope, on moving a travelling trunk, I found the broken tail 
of a Lizard wriggling upon the floor. The Blind-worm also 
possesses this means of eluding the grasp of other creatures. 
In all cases in which the fracture occurs the broken tail inva- 
riably twitches and writhes, continuing these movements during 
several minutes. In the common Lizard the tail is partially 
re-produced within a full year after its loss. In the Blind- 
worm the tail is not re-produced, but the wound heals over, 
and the tail gradually becomes pointed as if no fracture had 
occurred. Lizards with tails partially reproduced are of fre- 
quent occurrence, but I have never seen more than one Lizard 
which had sustained an accident to any other member. This 
Lizard had lost a fore claw. 
Many persons imagine that the cold, clammy little animals 
sometimes found in cellars are Lizards. Lizards are never 
found in cellars (at least in England). They are always clean, 
and, although cold to the touch, they are dry, and, except in 
their form, are totally unlike Newts, the occasional inhabitants 
of damp cellars. The skin of the Lizard is apparently covered 
with scales, but these are only minute excrescences on the 
skin; they become polished by continual contact with grasses 
