, 
IGUANID &. 113 
useless to attempt to find these Reptiles without dogs, as the resem- 
blance of their colour to that of the trees which they inhabit prevents 
them from being easily seen. Few dogs but those accustomed to the 
sport will touch them, as, in addition to the blows which they inflict 
with the tail, they bite and scratch furiously ; and when once they lay 
hold of anything with their teeth, they can only be made to let go by 
an inducement to bite some more attractive object offered to them. 
They run into holes when chased, if an opportunity offers, and 
when their eyes are hidden from view they fancy that their whole 
body is safely covered. The flesh, particularly of the female, is a 
great delicacy ; it is cooked in various ways, sometimes in a fricassee 
with the eggs whole, sometimes roasted or stewed. The eggs have a 
very glutinous consistence. ‘The flesh is said to disagree with some 
constitutions. 
“Unless when caught young, it is very difficult to induce these 
reptiles to feed in confinement, and particularly when watched. 
Their disposition is sulky and savage, and | have known some of 
them,” continues Lieutenant Tyler, “to die in confinement from 
starvation, rather than feed. This has caused me to try the following 
plan, which I find very successful, of affording them nourishment :— 
I hold them by the lower part of the body with one hand, and with 
the other I irritate them until they open their mouth and attempt to 
bite, when I insert food ; and by annoying them in this way, I have 
not only made them eat their natural food, but I have killed some 
of them by forcing them to eat corn and leaves, which appear to 
have disagreed with them. By some of the natives this Iguana is 
said to eat lizards and insects; but I have opened several, and 
I have never succeeded in finding any but vegetable matter in the 
stomach.” 
Of the habits of a kindred species of Iguana, the Cyclura lophura, 
inhabiting Jamaica, Mr. Gosse has given an elaborate description ; 
and he tells us that the gular pouch in the /euanide “is extensible, 
but not zz%atable,” as is the current cpinion. Holbrook and others 
have remarked the same; and Professor Thomas Bell describes the 
fold of skin as being drawn down by a peculiar arrangement of the 
lingual bone and a singular cartilage fixed to it and attached also to 
the skin. ‘These parts are moved by delicate muscles, so that, when 
the cartilage is drawn down, the skin of course is distended, and 
follows it “in the same way that the silk is stretched over the 
whalebone of an umbrella.” “In fact the skin,” writes Professor 
Holbrook, “ when distended in life by the animal, does not resemble 
the inflated vocal sacs of the Frogs and Toads, which are round, but 
