IGUANAS. Lhe 
found swarms of them which he had reason to consider omnivorous, 
feeding voraciously on birds’ eggs and the intestines of birds and 
insects. 
The Common Iguana (J. tudberculata, Fig. 27), which inhabits a 
great part of South America, is one of the best known of this family. 
These Reptiles are easily recognised from the large pouch underneath 
the neck, and the dentated crest which extends from the head to the 
extremity of the tail. The tail, feet, and body are covered with small 
scales. On the upper part their colour is a more or less decided 
green, sometimes becoming blue, at others slate-coloured ; the lower 
part is of a yellowish green. ‘The sides present zigzag, roundish, 
brown scales, edged with yellow; frequently a yellow line is traced 
obliquely in front of the shoulder, and some specimens are sprinkled 
with brown ; others have the limbs spotted with brown on a black 
ground. ‘The tail is surrounded with brownish rays alternating with 
others of green and yellow. When full grown it attains the length of 
four feet, but the more ordinary length of the animal is about thirty 
inches, They are very gentle creatures, and perfectly harmless, 
feeding almost exclusively on vegetables. They are hunted for their 
flesh, which is excellent; and they are most numerous in Surinam 
and Brazil. 
[Of a kindred species, AMe¢opoceros cornutus, which is common in 
the Antilles, an excellent description has been published by Lieu- 
tenant Tyler,* which we must endeavour to condense. ‘This Reptile 
attains a length of five, and sometimes even six feet, the tail being 
about twice and three-quarters the length of the body. When first 
hatched it measures four inches. The mouth is large, and is armed 
with two rows of maxillary and two of palatal teeth, which appear 
simply to be intended to crop grass and to provide the stomach with 
vegetable food. Each maxillary tooth is a little double-edged saw, 
and they are so lapped over each other that the reptile, in closing its 
mouth upon a leaf, cuts through it completely. The tongue is curi- 
ously used by the animal to draw food into the mouth, and to forward 
it down the gullet, or to repel it at will, and the only use of the palatal 
teeth appears to be to secure the food while the tongue moves forward 
to afford fresh assistance in its journey down the throat. ‘The tongue 
is always covered by a glutinous secretion, the gland which secretes 
it being perceptible when the mouth is open. Between the lower jaw 
and the chest is a pouch, which the animal draws in or extends simul- 
taneously with the compression or swelling out of the body when 
: * “« Proceedings of the Zoological Society ” for 1850, p. 106. 
