170 



THE DESERT 



Centipedes 



and 



scorpions. 



Lizards 

 and swifts. 



The hydro- 

 phobia 

 skunk. 



and has a ferocious bite. It makes an ugly 

 wound and is deadly enough to small animals. 

 The scorpion has the reputation of being very 

 venomous ; but his sting on the hand amounts 

 to little more than that of an ordinary wasp. 

 Nor is the long-bodied, many-legged, rather 

 graceful centipede so great a poison-carrier as 

 has been alleged. They are all of them poi- 

 sonous, but in varying degrees. Doubtless the 

 (to us) harmless horned toads and the swifts 

 have for their enemies some venom in store. 



The lizards are many in variety, and their 

 colors are often very beautiful in grays, yellows, 

 reds, blues, and indigoes. The Gila monster 

 belongs to their family, though he is much 

 larger. The look of him is very forbidding and 

 he has an ugly way of hissing at you ; but just 

 how venomous he is I do not know. Very 

 likely there is some poison about him, though 

 this has been denied. It would seem that every- 

 thing that cannot stand or run or hide must 

 be defended somehow. Even the poor little 

 skunk when he comes to live on the desert de- 

 velops poisoned teeth and his bite produces 

 what is called hydrophobia. The truth about 

 the hydrophobia skunk is, I imagine, that he is 

 an eater of carrion ; and when he bites a per- 



