1015 



CHLAMYDOSAURUS. 



CHLAMYPHORUS. 



1018 



As regards the form of these insects, the body is generally more or 

 less oval, and very slightly convex : the thorax is almost always con- 

 siderably narrower than the elytra, broad towards the anterior part, 

 and diminishing in width towards the posterior. The head is rather 

 long, the eyes project considerably, and are rather remote from the 

 base of the head ; the portion of the head before the eyes is rather 

 pointed. 



The species are found under stones, weeds, and almost any rubbish 

 which will afford them shelter ; sometimes under the loose bark of 

 old trees near the root, but they must be sought after in the vicinity 

 of water. 



Of the genus Cklcmius M. Le Comte Dejean enumerates 115 species, 

 a great portion of which are European ; many are from Africa, the 

 East Indies, and North America, but South America and Australia 

 appear to be almost destitute of these insects. 



Several species have been discovered in England. Of these however 

 two only have been found in any abundance. Chljeniu vat it at 

 (Carab-ut marginatux. Linn.) is very common in the south of England, 

 and is found under stones by the edges of ponds where gravel abounds. 

 It is nearly half an inch in length, black beneath, and of a rich green 

 colour above : the elytra are distinctly striated, very finely punctured, 

 and covered with a delicate pubescence of a golden hue : their outer 

 margin is of a pale yellow colour : this tint is confined to a narrow 

 line towards the base of the elytra, but forms a broad patch at the 

 apex ; the head and thorax are rather glossy ; the latter is finely 

 punctured throughout, and has the margin slightly tinted with 

 yellow ; the legs, antennae, and palpi are yellowish-white when the 

 insect is alive. 



Of the genus Epomi M. Dejean enumerates six species, oue of which 

 has been found in England. It is about three-quarters of an inch hi 

 length ; the head and thorax are of an obscure brassy-green colour 

 and slightly punctured ; the elytra ore black, with the outer margin 

 pal.- yellow; the legs and antennae are also yellow. This species is 

 not uncommon in France and Italy. 



The genus Dinode* only embraces four species. D. rufipe* is about 

 half an inch in length, of a rich blue colour above, and finely punc- 

 tured throughout : the legs and base of the antenna; are of a reddish- 

 yellow colour. 



The thorax in this genus (taking D. rufipet as the type) is broader 

 and more rounded than in the genera Chlamiut and Epomit. The 

 species described is found in France and Italy. 



CHLAMYDOSAURUS, a genus of Saurian Reptiles, founded by 

 Dr. J. E. Gray upon a specimen brought home by Captain Phillip 

 Parker King, K.N., F.R.S., &c., on his return from hie survey of the 

 intertropical and western coasts of Australia, performed between the 

 years 1818 and 1822. The following is Dr. Gray's description : 



Animal scaly ; the head depressed ; the nostrils placed on the side, 

 midway between the eyes and the end of the head ; the drum of the 

 ear naked; the front teeth conical, awl-shaped (eight in the upper and 

 four in the lower jaw), the hinder ones longest ; the side or cheek 

 teeth compressed, short, forming a single ridge, gradually longer 

 behind ; tongue short, fleshy, with an oval smooth disc at each side 

 of the lower part of its front part ; neck rather long, furnished on 

 each side with a large plaited frill, supported above by a crescent- 

 shaped cartilage, arising from the upper hinder part of the ear, and 

 in the middle by an elongation of the side fork of the bone of the 

 tongue ; body compressed ; legs rather long, especially the hinder 

 ones; destitute of femoral pores; feet four, with five toes, the first 

 having two, the second three, the third four, the fourth five, and the 

 littlu finger and toe three joints; claws compressed, hooked; tail 

 1MK, nearly round, scaly. 



I 'UmnfaeMtunm Klinjii. Colour yellowish-brown, variegated with 

 black. Head depressed, with the sides erect, leaving a blunt ridge on 

 the upper part wherein the eyes are placed. The ridge over the eyes 

 is covered with larger scales than those over the head. The eyes are 

 rather small, with a fleshy ridge above them, and the eyelids are covered 

 with minute scales, and surrounded by a delicate serrated ridge of 

 small upright ones. The lips are surrounded by a row of oblong 

 4-sided scales, arranged lengthways, the front scale of the upper 

 lip being the largest. The chin is covered with narrow mid-ribbed 

 scales, with a 5-sided one in the centre, and several of larger size just 

 over the front of the fork of the lower jaw. The nostrils are sur- 

 rounded by a rather large orbicular scale, situated nearly midway be- 

 tween the eye and the end of the upper-jaw, the tubes pointing forwards. 

 The side of the face has a very obscure ridge extending from the 

 angle of the mouth to the under part of the ear. The neck is covered 

 with small scales. The frill arises from the hinder part of the head, 

 just over the front of the ears, is attached to the sides of the neck, 

 and extends down to the front part of the chest, supported above by 

 a lunate cartilage arising from the hinder dorsal part of the ear, and 

 in the centre by a bone which extends about half its length. Each 

 frill has four plaits which converge on the under part of the chin, and 

 fold it up on the side, and a fifth where the two are united in the 

 centre of the lower part of the neck. The front part of its upper 

 edge is elegantly serrated, but the hinder or lower part is quite entire : 

 the outer surface is covered with cariuated scales, those in the centre 

 being the largest The inner surface is quite smooth. The scales of 

 the back are oval, and nearly smooth ; those of the lower part of the 



body and upper part of the legs have a short mid-rib, and those of 

 the sides and joints of the limbs are minute. The tail is twice as 

 long as the body, roundish, covered with scales which have each a 

 sharp mid-rib, and towards the termination, which is blunt, form six 

 rows, so as to render that organ obscurely hexagonal. The toes are 

 long, very unequal, compressed, and scaly. The claws are hooked, 

 and horn-coloured. 



Dimensions. Length of the tail 12 inches ; of the body 5 inches ; of 

 the head 5^ inches. Breadth of the head over the eyes one inch. 

 Length of the thigh !-, inch; of the foot and sole 2t inches ; of the 

 outer edge of the frill 10 inches. 



Locality and Habits. We owe the discovery of this extraordinary 

 Saurian to Mr. Allan Cunningham, who accompanied Captain King's 

 expedition as his Majesty's botanical collector for Kew Gardens, and 

 to whom naturalists in general are so much indebted for the zeal dis- 

 played by him in the pursuit of natural history, and for the liberality 

 with which he has communicated the results of his labours. He 

 found the specimen from which the description was taken on the 

 branch of a tree in Careening Bay, at the bottom of Port Nelson, and 

 sent it to Sir Everard Home, by whom it was deposited in the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The following is the 

 account of the capture in Mr. Cunningham's Journal : "I secured a 

 lizard of extraordinary appearance, which had perched itself upon the 

 stem of a small decayed tree ; it had a curious crenated membrane, 

 like a ruff or tippet round its neck, covering its shoulders, and when 

 expanded, which it was enabled to do by means of transverse slender 

 cartilages, it spreads 5 inches in the form of an open umbrella. I 

 regret that my eagerness to secure so interesting an animal did not 

 admit of sufficient time to allow the lizard by its alarm or irritability 

 to show how far it depended upon, or what use it made uf, this extra- 

 ordinary membrane when its life was threatened. Its head was rather 

 large, and eyes, whilst living, rather prominent ; its tongue, although 

 bifid, was short and thick, and appeared to be tubular." According 

 to Captain King, the colour of the tongue and inside of the mouth was 

 yellow. Dr. J. E. Gray arranges this genus under the family 

 Ayamidce. [AoAliA.] 



Cfilatnytlnsatmis Kingii. 



fl, the animal in the Museum of the College of Surgeons ; b, representation 

 of the living head, from the ' Appendix ' to Captain King's * Voyage.' 



CHLAMY'PHORUS (Harlan), a genus of Mammalia belonging to 

 the order Edentata. It was first described by Dr. Harlan in the 

 'Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History,' vol. i., from a 

 specimen presented to the Philadelphia Museum. It is the Pichiciago 

 of the Indians in Meudoza (its native place), on the east of the Cordil- 

 leras, in lat 33 25', and long. 69 47'. It had been obtained on the 

 spot in a living state, but lived in confinement only a few days.; The 

 viscera and the greater portion of the skeleton had been removed 

 before the animal came into Dr. Harlan's possession. In March 1828 

 the council of the Zoological Society of London placed in the hands of 

 Mr. Yarrell a specimen of this rare and new animal, and to his dissec- 

 tion we are chiefly indebted for our knowledge of its structure. The 

 following account is an abstract of Mr. Yarrell's paper in the 

 ' Zoological Journal.' 



