68 



" It produces one at a time. I had the good fortune to procure a 

 female \vithout knowing her to be with young : one morning I was 

 agreeably surprised to find she had brought forth. The young ap- 

 peared to be rather weak, but a perfect resemblance to its parent : 

 the eyes were open and covered -H'ith hair ; it soon gathered strength, 

 and was constantly sucking betwixt its parent's legs, and so well 

 covered by its mother, that I seldom could see anything of it but its 

 taU : on the second day it began to creep about the cage with apparent 

 strength, and even climb up to the top by the rods of .which the cage 

 was composed. Upon persons wishing to see the young one when 

 covered over by the mother, \ve had to disturb her, upon -vvhich the 

 dam would take the young one in its mouth, in the šame manner as a 

 cat, and carry it about for some time ; several times I sawher -vvhen not 

 disturbedtryingto getoutof the cage, ■with the young one in her mouth 

 as before. It continued to live and increase in size for three weeks, 

 •when unfortunately some person trod upon the tail of the old one, 

 ■vvhich was protruded through the cage, a circumstance \vhich caused 

 its death in a iew days : the young one died a few hours after, which I 

 put into spirits. The skin, with its tail crushed, is in the box \vith the 

 other animals. I should recommend its being placed in the attitude of 

 springing, \vith the body a little bent forward ; ear erect and round ; 

 eyes very full of light ; chestnut colour ; pupil black and small ; the 

 iiails or claws two in number, erect, such as they are at all times. 



Jagna, Isle of Bohol, August 1837. 



Among the coUection sent by Mr. Cuming to the Society ■were 

 specimens of two species of Saurian Reptiles, upon vvhich, at the 

 reąuest of the Chairman, Mr. Martin oiFered some remarks. 



The first species to which he adverted was the Istiurus Amboi- 

 nensis of Cuvier : two specimens of this rare reptile, both malęs, \vere 

 procured by Mr. Cuming in the Island of Negros. The Istiurus 

 Amboinensis, from the circumstance of the malė being f urnished -vvith 

 an elevated crest or fan, supported by the spinous processes of the 

 base of the tail, in vvhich respect it agrees with the Basilisk, was 

 placed by Daudin in the šame genus with this latter reptile, and 

 characterized as the Basiliscus Amboinensis, and in this arrangement 

 Daudin vvas follovved by most succeeding writers. So little allied, 

 hovvever, in reality, are these two reptiles (though possibly they 

 may be the representatives of each other in diiferent quarters of the 

 globė), that they belong to two different sections of the Sauria, of 

 ■vvhich one has the Old World, the other the Ne'vv World, for 

 its range. The Basilisk (Basiliscus mitratus, Daud.), ■vvith aU 

 the American genera of the Iguanian group or Eunotes of Dumeril 

 and Bibron, belong to the section of that group termed Pleuro- 

 donta, distinguished by the situation of the teeth, •vvhich rise from 

 a furro^vvr along the internal aspect of each ja-vv; •vvhereas the 

 Istiurus, ■vvith all the Old World genera of the Iguanian group, 

 (the genus Brachylophus, of which there is only one species, alone 

 excepted,) belong to the section termed Acrodonta, distinguished 



