90 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Stellio. 



tbeae U a sharp and lerrated edi<e, extending on 

 each side downwards, from the point to the broadest 

 portion of the body of the tooth. The second pro- 

 vision is one of compensation for the gradual de- 

 struction of this senatpd edge, by substituting a 

 plate of thin enamel, to maintain a cutting power in 

 . the anterior portion of the tooth, until its entire 

 substance was consumed in service. Whilst the 

 crown of the tooth was thus gradually diminishing 

 above, a simultaneous absorption of the root went 

 on below, caused by the pressure of a new tooth 

 rising to replace the old one, until, by this continual 

 consumption at both extremities, the middle por- 

 tion of the older tooth was reduced to a hollow 

 stump, which fell from the jaw to make room for a 

 more efficient successor." The young tooth some- 

 what resembled a serrated lancet. Dr. Bock land 

 observes, that this serrature ceased at the broadest 

 diameter of the tooth, that is, precisely at the line 

 below which, had the serrations been continued, 

 they would have had no effect in cutting. As 

 , these saw-like edges were gradually worn away, the 

 cutting power was transfened to the enamel in front, 

 which was traversed by alternate longitudinal ridges 

 and furrows, the latter serving" as ribs or buttresses 

 to strengthen and prevent the enamel from scaling 

 off, and forming, together with the furrows, an edge 

 slightly wavy, and disposed in a series of minute 

 gouges, or fluted chisels; hence the tooth became 

 an instrument of greater power to cut tough vege- 

 tables under the action of the jaw, than if the 

 enamel had been in a continuous straight line. By 

 these contrivances, also, it continued effective 

 durmg every stage through which it passed, from 

 the serrated lancet-point of the new tooth to its final 

 consumption." 



At Fig. 21.58 are exhibited, a, the Crown of a 

 Tooth of the Iguanodon not worn by use, closely re- 

 sembling i, the Magnified Tooth of a recent Iguana; 

 c, is a Portion of the Upper Jaw of a recent Iguana 

 with Eight Teeth highly magnified ; d. Front View 

 of a Tooth of the Iguanodon, natural size, the point 

 is worn by grinding food ; e, is a Back View of the 

 same Tooth ;/, Front and Back View of a Tooth of 

 the Iguanodon worn down by use ; g, the Worn 

 Surface ; h, the Cavity formed by the pressure of a 

 new tooth, as in the teeth of the Iguana at c. 



Fig. 2159 exhibits, a, the Young Tooth of Igua- 

 nodon ; b and c, Teeth further advanced and worn. 



Fig. 2160 exhibits a sort of Nasal Horn (one-third 

 the natural size) seated on the snout of this huge 

 reptile, the thigh bone of which exceeds in bulk 

 that of the largest elephant, and measures from four 

 to five feet in length. These relics have been col- 

 lected in the Isle of Wight, and Purbeck, Tilgate 

 Forest, and in the Rag-quarries near Maidstone. 



2161. — The Great Crested Ajjolis 



\Anolis velifer). The genus Anolis is peculiar to 

 America and the adjacent islands, where the spe- 



-cies appear to take the place in some measure of 



the geckos, the structure of their toes enabling them, 



if not to traverse a smooth wall or ceiling, at all 

 events to climb with great facility. The last joint 



but one of each toe is furnished with a pad beneath, 

 more or less developed, and transversely striated, 



■so as to act as a sucker, and thus secufe the animals 

 more firmly to the trunks or branches of trees over 



'xvhich they may be making their way. The toes 

 are long, well divided, and furnished with sharp 

 hooked claws. The limbs are long. The tail is 

 slender, elongated, compressed, and tapering. The 

 skin is iiTCgularly granulated with round scales ; 

 those on the head are mostly pentagonal or hex- 

 agonal. The tongue is short, fleshy, rounded at the 

 tip, and very restricted in its movements, being at- 

 tached almost throughout its whole length to the 

 lower jaw. The teeth, of which, besides the max- 

 illary, there are two palatal rows, are sharp and ser- 

 rated. The skin of the throat forms a pendulous 

 dewlap capable of being inflated, and in one spe- 

 cies, a native of the West India Islands (A. bullaris, 

 Gmel.), is when distended of a bright cherry red. 

 The nostrils are small, and the tympanic membrane 

 is more or less below the level of the auditory 

 orifice, which is minute and simple. In some spe- 

 cies both the back and tail are furnished with a 

 longitudinal notched crest ; in some that on the tail 

 is wanting. 



Slender, active, and of small size, these little rep- 

 tiles frequent woods and rocky places, running, 

 climbing, and leaping with singular address and 

 celerity ; so rapid indeed are their movements, that 

 they have been compared to the flitting of birds. 

 When tired and overheated by these exertions, they 

 stop, open their mouths, and pant like a dog. They 

 are very timid and harmless, and when under the 

 influence of fear or anger, or otherwise excited, they 

 dilate the dewlap, or loose fold of the throat, to a 

 great extent, and assume an endless succession of 

 ever-varying hues, the tints of the skin generally, 

 but especially of the throat, changing with even 



greater rapidity than in the chameleon. Tliough 



often inhabiting woods and thickets along the bor. 

 ders of rivers, it does not appear that they take to 

 the water like the iguana. Insects constitute their 

 food, and these they pursue with great eagerness 

 and celerity. Cuvier, liowever, found berries in the 

 stomach of the Great Crested Anolis. 



The great crested anolis is one of the largest of 

 the genus, the body measuring a foot in length: it 

 is a native of Jamaica and the Antilles, generally 

 residing in woods and lodging in hollow trees, where 

 the female deposits her eggs. This species is ex- 

 tremely restless, ever in motion ; timid, and yet not 

 without curiosity, for while peeping from the bough 

 of a tree, as if to scrutinize what might be going 

 forward, it allows itself to be caught in snares, and 

 will also unsuspiciously noose itself in those which 

 the children in the West Indies place in its haunts, 

 alluring it from its concealment by imitating its 

 voice. When pleased it utters a low but acute 

 chirp. 



A dentelated crest, supported by the elongated 

 spinous processes of the vertebral column, runs 

 along the back and half of the tail ; the dewlap is 

 very extensive. Its colour is a dark ashy blue. 



2162. — TlIK WuiTE-SCARrED AXOLIS 



{Anolis eqttestrU). Le grand Anolis ii dcharpe of 

 Cuvier. 



This species inhabits the Antilles, and specimens 

 in the Paris Museum have been received from 

 Cuba. It is also found in Jamaica, and is figured 

 by Sir Hans Sloane in his history of that island. 



This species equals the preceding in size ; there 

 is but an indication of a crest on the base of the 

 tail, which is more fleshy than in anolis velifer, so 

 as to conceal the spinous processes, which are 

 equally as elongated as in that reptile. The general 

 colour is a pale tawny, the yellow clouded with 

 blending tints of ashy lilac. The skin of the throat 

 is white, and a band of the same colour passes over 

 each shoulder and runs half way down each side. 



Mr. Bell, in his interesting work on 'British 

 Reptiles,' relates a singular circumstance respecting 

 the green anolis of the West Indies (Anolis bullaris, 

 Gm. ; Anolis chloro-cyanus, Bibr.), which, as he 

 well remarks, proves that lizards in the act of seizing 

 their food must often be exposed to danger from the 

 noxious qualities of the insects which they indis- 

 criminately attack; and he adds, "the following 

 fact would seem to indicate that, even in our own 

 temperate climate, an insect not generally recognised 

 as poisonous may inflict a fatal injury on its Saurian 

 enemy." " Some years since," he continues, " I had 

 in my possession two living specimens of the beauti- 

 ful little green anolis of the West Indies, a lizard 

 about the size of our own smallest species. I was in 

 the habit of feeding them with flies and other 

 insects ; and having one day placed in the cage with 

 them a very large garden spider, Epeira diadema, 

 one of the lizards darted at it, but only seized it by 

 the leg. The spider instantly ran round and round 

 the creature's mouth, weaving a very thick web 

 round both jaws, and then gave it a severe bite in 

 the lip, just as this species of spider does with any 

 large insect which it hastaken. The lizard was greatly 

 distressed ; and I removed the spider, and rubbed oft 

 the web, the confinement of which appeared to give 

 it great annoyance ; but in a few days it died, though 

 previously in as perfect health as its companion, 

 which lived for a long time afterwards." 



2163. — The Hooded Basilisk 



(Basilisms mitratus). Though the Basilisk of the 

 ancients was a fabulous animal, the name is still re- 

 tained as the title of an American genus of Iguanian 

 reptiles, distinguished by an elevated fin-like crest 

 on the back and basal portion of the tail, supported 

 by the elongated spinous processes of the dorsal and 

 caudal vertebrae : the skin of the throat, contrary to 

 the general rule, in the present reptile is not dilata- 

 ble ; but, to counterbalance this, there is a large mem- 

 branous sac on the occiput,capable of being distended 

 with air at pleasure. The head is thick and short ; 

 the general contourstout ; the limbs long and power- 

 ful ; the tail elongated, tapering, and compressed at 

 the sides ; the toes long and armed with small claws ; 

 the skin is covered with small scales of a rhomboi- 

 dal form, and generally speaking slightly carinated. 

 Palatal as well as maxillary teeth. No femoral pores. 



In their habits these animals, like the iguanas, 

 are arboreal, climbing with great ease and celerity ; 

 but they are also aquatic, swimming with great ad- 

 dress, while they lash the water from side to side 

 with their finny tail. They are said to live on grain 

 and fruits. The flesh is held in estimation. 



The Hooded Basilisk is a native of Guiana, Mar- 

 tinique, and the tropical countries of South America 

 generally, and attains to a considerable size, the tail 

 being nearly twice as long as the head and body. 

 It is very harmless, though of formidable aspect, 

 and when alarmed drops off the branch into the 

 water and swims rapidly away. The colour is 



yellowish brovm passing into white on the under 

 parts; the throat is longitudinally striped with 

 leaden brown, which colour prevails on the sides of 

 the neck; a longitudinal stripe edged with black 

 extends from each eye along the back of the neck 

 to the sides of the dorsal region, and there blends 

 with the general tint. The hood and crests are 

 more developed in the male than the female. 



A distinct species, the Banded Basilisk (B. vit- 

 tatus, Weigmann), inhabits the forests of Mexico. 

 We may now pass to the acrodontous iguanidae. 



2164. — The Fbinoed Dragon 

 (Ihaco flmbriatus). The little harmless arboreal 

 reptiles distinguished by the portentous name of 

 Draco have nothing in them to startle the most 

 timid : they are distinguished at once bv a wing- 

 like expansion of skin along their sides, supported by 

 the six first false ribs, which are very slender and 

 greatly elongated (see Skeleton, Fig. 216."j), and 

 which when at the full stretch acts the part of a 

 parachute, enabling these creatures to skim like the 

 flying squirrels, from branch to branch, or from tree 

 to tree, with great ease, but in no respect approxi- 

 mates either in structure or action to the wing of a 

 bird or bat. 



Belovv the throat hangs a long pointed dewlap, 

 supported by a stylet of the os hyoides. On each 

 side of the neck is a fold of skin, and there is gene- 

 rally a small cervical crest ; the tongue is thick and 

 rounded. The head is short and triangular; the 

 limbs long; the thighs without pores. The tail is 

 long and slender. The skin is covered by small im- 

 bricated scales, of which those of the limbs and 

 tail are carinated. Several species are known, na- 

 tives of India, Java, Sumatra, Timor, Manilla, &c. 



In their habits these little sweeping lizards are 

 arboreal, searching on the leaves and in the crevices 

 of the bark of trees for insects, on which they feed. 

 They are prompt in their motions. 



The Fringed Dragon is a native of Java ; the up- 

 per parts are clouded with brown on a grey or olive- 

 grey ground, and often ornamented with black 

 spots within a white ring; the wings are striped 

 with white. Fig. 2164 exhibits this species (natural 

 size), profile of the head, and one of the toes (en- 

 larged). 



2166. — The Common Stellio 

 (Stellio vulgaris). In the genus Stellio the head is 

 triangular, flattened, and moderately long ; the sides 

 of the muzzle angular ; the tongue thick, spongy, and 

 slightly notched at the point : on each side of the back 

 is a fold of skin covered with larger scales than those 

 of the sides. No femoral pores, but follicular scales 

 across the lower part of the abdomen. The tail is 

 subconical and covered with rings of scales more or 

 less spinous. The back and thighs are here and 

 there varied with scales exceeding the rest, and 

 sometimes spinous ; small groups of spines surround 

 the auditory orifice. 



The Common Stellio measures about a foot in 

 length, and is spread over the whole of the Levant ; 

 it is extremely common in Egypt, Syria, and Greece, 

 where it tenants old walls, ruins, masses of moulder- 

 ing piles of stones, retiring within the crevices for 

 safety. It feeds on all kinds of insects. It is called 

 «««o{J<x« by the modern Greeks, and Hardun by 

 the Arabs. It has a curious motion of the head, 

 wherefore the Mahometans make a point of killing 

 it, because they say it mocks them by bending down 

 its head, as they do during their devotions. The 

 general colour of this species is olive clouded with 

 black ; all the under parts yellow, or olive-yellow. 



2167. — The Spine-footed Stellio 



(Uromastix spinipes). Le Fouette-queue d'Egypte 

 of Cuvier. 



The genus Uromastix differs from Stellio in the 

 head being less swollen posteriorly ; and all the 

 scales of the body are small, smooth, and uniform ; 

 those of the tail are, however, much larger and more 

 spiny than in the common stellio, but are wanting 

 on the under surface. There is a series of femoral 

 pores. The muzzle is arched above. 



This species attains to the length of two or three 

 feet, and is a native of Egypt, where it inhabits 

 deserts, tenanting moiddering ruins, and other places 

 of refuge. Belon regarded it as the land crocodile, 

 (<t{«»»SiiA,« X'!""") o' Herodotus and the ancients, 

 but without any proof ; that animal was most pro- 

 bably the Desert Varan of Egypt (Varanus arena- 

 rius), the warcU or ouaran cl hard of the Arabs. 



The present reptile has a row of spinous scales 

 along each thigh ; its body is tumid ; its general 

 colour, while alive, of a fine grass green, which be- 

 comes lost in dried specimens, or such as are pre- 

 served in spirits. 



2168. — The Commox Stellio and the 

 Spine-footed Stellio. 

 These reptiles, which we have just described, were, 

 no doubt, well known to the Latins. Our classical 



