496 Zoological Society. 



like that of worsted-work. Tlie colour of the eye is dark brown, the 

 pupil being surrounded by a golden rim. 



Every part of this curious reptile is covered with scales, and these 

 are of every variety of shape and size. Those on the top of the head 

 are large, smooth, and unequal ; between them and the mouth runs 

 a row of smaller scales, while the mouth itself is surrounded, both in 

 the upper and lower jaw, by large scales terminated at the extremity 

 between the nostrils, by one large brownish and softer scale in the 

 upper jaw, and a similar though smaller scale meeting it in the lower 

 jaw. From this latter, and below those immediately surrounding the 

 mouth, is a range of scales or rather plates, each larger than its pre- 

 decessor, terminated on either side by a very large plate under the 

 auricle. Below this row of scales is the gular pouch (Fanon) covered 

 by small, smooth scales. The eye is protected above by small, smooth, 

 unequal scales, which also form part of the covering of the top of the 

 head. The scales of the lower eyelid are peculiarly small and deli- 

 cate ; and a row of semispherical scales, resembling somewhat a string 

 of small pearls on each lid, surrounds the eye. At the back of the 

 head the scales become tuberculous, and a few on each side of the 

 neck assume a pyramidal or rather a conical form. The scales of 

 the neck and back are almost circular, but nearer the tail they become 

 rhomboidal and carinated, their posterior points elongating, and their 

 centres projecting more and more, both above and below, as they reach 

 the extremity of the tail, so as to give it the form of a many-edged 

 saw, the most severe edge being that presented by the caudal crest. 

 The scales above the fore-legs are equal, carinated, and imbricated, 

 assuming, at the foot and along the toes, a convex and smooth ap- 

 pearance. Under the fore-legs they are smaller, and peculiarly so at 

 the joints and under the feet ; the most delicate, however, are those 

 under the leg, and connecting it with the body. The hind-legs are 

 similarly clothed to the fore-legs, excepting that they are provided 

 with a single row of femoral pores, fourteen or fifteen in number, and 

 which increase in size with the growth of the reptile. These pores 

 are large and fully developed in the male, but small and sometimes 

 even hardly perceptible in the female. 



The scales of the belly are very different from those of the back, 

 being larger, equal, and carinated, although generally worn almost 

 smooth in the old indi\'iduals. They are divided by a distinct line 

 from the termination of the dewlap to the vent. 



The Iguanas live principally in trees, and near the windward coast 

 of the island. They are not much seen excepting in the months of 

 February, March, and April, when they quit their hiding-places, and 

 repair to the sea-shore or other sandy places to lay their eggs in the 

 sand. The older females lay a great number of eggs ; I have known 

 an instance of one in confinement laying five in one day ; and thirty- 

 two, within the space of ten minutes, five days afterwards, making 

 thirty-seven in all. I have taken the eggs from the bellies of small 

 females in less numbers, such as eight, fourteen, and seventeen. They 

 are not found in successive stages of advancement as in the hen, the 

 tortoise, and many other animals, but all of the same size, and arrived 



