LIZARDS. 87 



kept together were most peaceably disposed. As observed of other members of the 

 lizard tribe, they were much given to saluting one another en passant, when allowed 

 their liberty, with the momentary tactile protrusion of their respective tongues. One 

 such " Wayside greeting " is fairly well portrayed in the snapshot heading illustration 

 to page 84. 



Considerable difficulty has been experienced by the writer in keeping these 

 singular lizards for any length of time. So long as the weather was warm and the 

 supply of ants plentiful they have thriven well. Exposure to a colder temperature 

 than that of the districts they frequent, however, speedily affects them, and they 

 become lethargic and gradually pine away. In captivity the females frequently deposit, 

 individually, half-a-dozen or more whitish eggs. These are large in proportion to the 

 lizard's size, over half-an-inch in length, and, like those of the majority of lacertilia, 

 invested by a tough leathery integument. Owing probably to their uncongenial 

 surroundings, these eggs never arrived at maturity, but at the end of a few days 

 commenced to shrivel up and decompose. So far as it has been possible to ascertain, 

 the eggs of Moloch are naturally deposited at some little depth in the ground, and it 

 would appear also that the lizards themselves hibernate under similar conditions. No 

 efforts on the part of the writer to obtain very young examples of this species were 

 rewarded with success, the most diminutive specimen received through the assistance 

 of Dr. Williams of Carnarvon, Western Australia, being a little over three inches 

 in length. 



A very singular structural element in Moloch horridus that would appear to be 

 worthy of the investigation of physiologists is the peculiar knapsack-like protuberance 

 that is developed on the back of the neck. It is armed laterally with two large 

 defensive spines, while many smaller ones are interspersed over its remaining super- 

 ficies. The most striking aspect of this remarkable structure is afforded by the back 

 and lateral views photographically reproduced at the bottom of page 84. In 

 the latter of these portraits it might be further suggested that the head contour is 

 grotesquely rhinocerotic. 



Notwithstanding the difficulties attending the conservation of Moloch for a 

 lengthened period, a specimen has been brought to, and was for a short time on 

 view, at the Zoological Society's Gardens so recently as last year, 1895. The 

 living lizard species that bear the strongest resemblance to Moloch horridus are 

 not, as might be anticipated, natives of the Australian Continent, but denizens of 

 California and Mexico, where they are popularly denominated " Horned Toads," 



