VARANIDZ, 107 
muzzle, or nearer to one or to the other; and according to this and 
some other differences, Dr. Gray divides the Varanide into as many 
as seven genera, Dr. Giinther into two. When the tail of these 
lizards is mutilated, the lost portion is never renewed ; whereas in 
the preceding families of the Zonuride, Lacertide, and Tede a new 
tail or portion of one is produced—but this renewed portion contains 
no bony vertebre, and remains smooth externally; when the fracture 
is cleft, as sometimes happens, two new tails are put forth. Another 
family of lizards in which the tail is thus commonly renewed is that 
of the Geckos; but never in the /evanide, the Agamide, and the 
Chameleonide, any more than in the Varanide. The species of this 
family defend themselves vigorously, when attacked, by lashing with 
the tail, as do also the Crocodiles and the larger /yuanzde. 
In the genus Varanus, the nasal apertures form an oblique slit, 
in, or nearly in, the middle, between the eye and the tip of the snout. 
The scales are elliptic and small; those on the back and on the sides 
are not imbricate, each of them being surrounded bya small, circular, 
granular fold. The tail possesses a low crest, formed by two or 
four series-of strongly keeled scales. The throat has a transverse 
fold. The V. dracena, very common in India and Ceylon, grows to 
a length of five feet, the tail being longer than the body. These 
reptiles live in holes, and in midday they come forth to seek their 
food, which consists chiefly of the smaller reptiles and insects. In 
many parts of India, and in Ceylon, their flesh is eaten by the natives. 
The late Dr. Kelaart states that soup made from it tastes like that 
from hare. At Trincomali, he tells us, they are hunted down by 
dogs, and sold in the market for sixpence each. ‘This species climbs 
walls, and holds on so firmly with its strong claws, that it is actually 
used by housebreakers in India to surmount obstacles: the robber 
retaining hold of the creature’s tail, while in its endeavour to escape 
it draws him upwards. It lays twenty or thirty eggs, which in texture 
and appearance resemble those of many snakes, being similarly 
agglutinated together by a viscid mucus. Sir J. E. Tennent remarks 
that ‘‘one of the earliest, if not the first, remarkable animal to startle 
a stranger on arriving at Ceylon, whilst wending his way from Point de 
Galle to Colombo, is this large lizard, which may be seen at noonday 
searching for ants and other insects in the midst of the highway and 
along the fences. When disturbed, but by no means alarmed, by the 
approach of man, it moves off to a safe distance; and, the intrusion 
being at an end, it returns again to the occupation in which it had 
been interrupted. It lives in any convenient hollow, such as a hole 
in the ground, or the deserted nests of the termites; and some 
