94 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Lizards. 



of that animal, txith young and adult. It swims 

 admirably, and causes great destruction among the 

 younij crocodiles, which can only escape by taking 

 refuge under the adults of their own species. It 

 aiso searches for the eggs of that reptile, devouring 

 them like the ichneumon. 



The length of the Varan of the Nile is between 

 five and six feet ; its general colour is greenish grey 

 mottled with black ; four or five horseshoe marks 

 of yellow in succession are on the back of the neck, 

 and seven or eight rows of spoU, of a greenish-yellow 

 tint, extend from the shoulders to the root of the 

 tail ; a black stripe runs before each shoulder. The 

 fii-st half of the tail is banded with black, the re- 

 mainder ringed with greenish yellow. Fig. 2170 

 exhibits — a, the Skull of this species seen from 

 above ; b, the Under Jaw. 



2177. — Brix's Varan 



(Vartnua Bdlii). This beautiful varan is a native 

 of New Holland, and one of the aquatic tribe : it is 

 agreeably parti-coloured ; deep black and pale yel- 

 low or whitish. It is a large species, and agrees in 

 habits with the rest of its race. 



2178. — The Rough-scaled Heloderma 



(Heloderma horridicm). In the genus Heloderma 

 the scales are not encircled by a ring of granules ; 

 the tail is rounded ; and the fifth toe of the hind- 

 foot is on the same line at its origin as the rest. 

 The disposition of the scales of the head is exhibited 

 at Fig. 2179. 



One species only is known, a native of Mexico, 

 where there is a general but erroneoiis belief that 

 its bite is fatal. The general colour of this species 

 is of a blackish brown above, paler below ; there 

 are red marks on the neck and back, dotted with 

 yellowish or whitish ; the tail is ringed with reddish. 

 Length about three feet. 



Family TEID/E (TEGUIXINS). 



This family is exclusively American, and contains 

 those large lizards known as safeguards, monitors, 

 &c., from an idea that they gave warning by a hiss 

 of the proximity of the alligator, and the same has 

 been supposed, but erroneously, respecting the 

 varans. 



The tongue in these Teidae is long, extensible, 

 forked, and with a basal sheath, into which it is re- 

 tracted. No palatal teeth. Tympanic membrane 

 on a level with the skin. Back covered with small 

 angular, smooth, but not imbricated scales, disposed 

 in transverse bands. Ventral plates flat, smooth, 

 and oblong. 



Skin of the lower part of the neck disposed in 

 two or three simple transverse folds. Head covered 

 with large plates. Femoral pores present. Tail 

 long, and slightly compressed. Fig. 2180 displays 

 Head of the Teguixin or " Sauvegarde." 



These lizards are natives of the warmer portions 

 of America, inhabiting fields, thickets, and the bor- 

 ders of woods, as well as sandy arid plains and 

 sterile spots, where they are said to form deep bur- 

 rows, in which they hybernate. According to 

 MM. Dum^ril and Bibron, they are not arboreal, 

 never ascending trees. Azara states that, when pur- 

 sued, should they meet with a lake, pond, or river, 

 they throw themselves into the water, in order to 

 escape the danger which threatens them, and do 

 not emerge till all cause for fear is over. These 

 animals however, as MM. Dumdril and Bibron ob- 

 serve, have not the toes webbed, but their long tail, 

 slightly as it is compressed, becomes without doubt, 

 under such circumstances, a sort of oar, of which 

 they readily avail themselves. It is said by Azara 

 that these lizards feed on fruits and insects, and 

 that they also eat snakes, toads, young chickens, and 

 eggs. He moreover relates that they are partial to 

 honey, and that, in order to procure it without being 

 injured by the bees, they have recourse to artifice, 

 advancing at intervals to the hive, which they strike 

 with their tail, and rapidly dart away, till at last, 

 wearied out by repetitions of the annoyance, the in- 

 dustrious inhabitants quit the hive. We cannot 

 help confessing that we have some feelings of doubt 

 as to the correctness of this account. 



M. Bibron observes that he has never been able 

 to satisfy himself as to the frugivorous habits of the 

 sauvegardes, but that they feed on insects is fully 

 proved from the stomachs of those opened being 

 found to contain their remains ; and on one occasion, 

 amidst the debris of coleoptera, and the shrivelled 

 relics of caterpillars, were found strips of the skin 

 and portions of the bones of a well-known species 

 of lizard, the common ameiva. 



The sauvegardes often exceed four feet in length ; 

 and are strong and active, and have an imposing 

 aspect. 



2181.— The Teguixix 



(Teguixin monitor, Gray). Variegated Lizard, 

 Shaw ; Great American Safeguard, Griffiths, Cu- 

 vier ; Lacerta Teguixin, Linn. ; Tupinambis monitor. 



Daudin ; Teius monitor, Merrem ; Podinema Te- 

 guixin, Wagler; Salvator Merianae, Dumdril and 

 Bibron. 



This species is spread over the warmer parts of 

 South America and the Antilles, and was faithfully 

 figured by Madame Merian, botli in its young and 

 adult condition ; and also by Seba and Spix, and 

 more recently by Prince Maximilien de Wied. 



When fully grown it measures nearly five feet in 

 length, and is active and vigorous. Azara says that 

 when, in order to escape danger, it plunges into the 

 water, it does not swim, but walks along the bottom ; 

 we rather suspect, however, that it dives and re- 

 I mains motionless at the bottom, or under the cover 

 of aijuatic plants, being enabled, from the structure 

 of its voluminous lungs, to endure for a considerable 

 time without the necessity of respiration. It de- 

 fends itself when captured with great resolution, 

 and will bite severely, retaining its hold with in- 

 flexible obstinacy, and the same observation applies 

 to it when it has seized- its prey. Its flesh is ac- 

 counted excellent, and Azara says that rings of skin 

 stripped from its tail are worn as preventives against 

 paralysis, from a belief in their efficacy, and that it 

 IS considered useful in removing tumours. 



The colouring of this species is somewhat variable ; 

 generally, however, the ground-colour of the upper 

 parts is black, often deep black, on which some- 

 times small and irregular spots of a rich yellow, 

 sometimes large regular spots, are disposed so as to 

 produce transverse bands. Generally a stripe runs 

 on each side from the occiput to the root of the 

 tail. Under parts yellow marked with black bands. 



Family LACERTID^ (TRUE LIZARDS). 



Bright-eyed, active, and of slender figure, often 

 adorned with brilliant colours, the true lizards have 

 nothing repulsive in their aspect or manners. • 



These reptiles are covered above by small imbri- 

 cated scales ; a minute plate of bone protects the 

 orbits above the eyes ; the lop of the head and the 

 temples are covered with plates or scuta ; the scales I 

 of the tail are long and narrow, and disposed in 

 rings around it ; the tongue is long and forked, the 1 

 under parts are covered with plates ; and a distinct j 

 collar of scales, larger than those of the throat, I 

 passes across the lower part of the same, anterior to 

 the base of the fore-limbs. A row of pores runs 

 down the inside of each thigh. There are generally 

 small teeth on the palate. 



Fig. 2182 represents the Head of a True Lizard, as 

 an example of the arrangement of the jjlates. j 



2183. — The Viviparous Lizard 



(2^ootoca vivipara). Lacerta agilis of various authors ; I 

 Nimble Lizard ; Common Lizard. j 



In the genus Zootoca there are no palatal teeth, ' 

 and the females produce their young alive. [ 



Thickets, heaths sunny banks, and sheltered 

 orchards are the favourite localities of this little j 

 lizard, which in all its actions is graceful, prompt, | 

 and rapid. In certain spots they seem to abound. 

 We have often, while walking, in the heat of a ' 

 summer's day, along a sunny bank covered with 

 furze, counted more than a dozen within the space 

 of a few yards, basking in the rays, and probably 

 watching for their insect food. We have caught 

 them, by cautiously surprising and rapidly seizing 

 them, but several, notwithstanding all our address, 

 have we missed, and one has occasionally left its 

 tail wriggling in our hand, though we used not the 

 slightest violence, nor ever attempted to retain our 

 hold ; it snapped, in fact, like glass, at the slightest 

 touch. It is astonishing to see how rapidly, when 

 alarmed, these agile little creatures gain their 

 burrows, or disappear from view, diving beneath 

 the intertangled vegetation ; they seem gone in the 

 twinkling of an eye. No less prompt and rapid 

 are they in catching their prey ; the moment an 

 insect comes near them, or settles on a leaf within 

 due distance, their bright eyes mark it ; the next 

 instant it is seized and swallowed : the act is won- 

 derfully quick and instantaneous. The sight of 

 these animals is indeed very acute ; and their hear- 

 ing appears also to be by no means deficient ; we 

 have seen them on the slightest noise, on the 

 snapping of a branch, or a rustle made among the 

 leaves, dart off to their burrows, and after a little 

 time cautiously make their reappearance, and on 

 the least alarm again seek refuge in their retreats. 



Unlike most lizards, which produce eggs covered 

 by membrane, and which they deposit in the sand 

 or in other places, to be hatched by the warmth of 

 the sun, the present species brings forth living 

 young, the eggs being hatched while yet within the 

 body of the parent. This species is therefore ovo- 

 viviparous. The membrane covering the eges is 

 very thin, and the female in the month of June 

 passes a great portion of the day basking in the 

 sun, for the sake of the vivifying heat, as necessary 

 for the exclusion of the young from the eggs as if 

 they had been previously deposited in the sand. It 

 is very remarkable that one out of our two true 



; lizards should be thus ovoviviparous, and one out of 

 ; our two true snakes, viz., the viper, which brings 

 forth living youn?, and basks in the tun that the 

 same object may be accomplished. 



The number of young which the viviparous lizard 

 produces is four or five, and they are occasionally 

 seen in company with their parent, but whether 

 they are united together by any instinctive attach- 

 ment is doubtful ; the probability is that they keep 

 about the spot where they were bom, and where 

 the parent has her burrow, and remove by degrees 

 as they increase in size and strength, for from their 

 birth they are capable of running about, and soon 

 begin to exercise their powers in the capture of 

 prey. 



During the winter this, as well as the other 

 British lizard, hybemates, but whether its torpidity 

 is ver)- profound is not ascertained : it appears 

 early in the spring, and continues active till au- 

 tumn has far advanced, when it betakes itself to its 

 burrow. 



This species, and also the sand-lizard, are found 

 in Ireland ; with respect to the former, Mr. Bell 

 remarks that on the Continent its range does not 

 appear to be extensive : " It is not," he adds, 

 " found in Italy, nor, 1 believe, in France, and is 

 very probably confined in a great measure to our 

 own latitude." M. Bibron, however, assures us 

 that it exists both in France and Italy, and that 

 it inhabits Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, as 

 well as the British Islands, preferring mountain 

 districts ; and he adds, " M. Tschudi, informs us 

 that in Switzerland it frequents, in preference, the 

 forests of dry pines, making its runs under the fallen 

 leaves, and to these it retreats on the appearance of 

 danger. Sometimes, however, it is met with in 

 damp and humid forests. In France it is not so 

 common as the sand-lizaid, while in England it is 

 the contrary." 



The average length of the viviparous lizard is six 

 inches ; its colour and markings are subject to va- 

 riation; in general the upper parts are of an olive- 

 brown, with a dark brown and often interrupted line 

 down the middle of the back, and a broad longitu- 

 dinal band down each side, between which and the 

 middle line are blaci: dashes or spots. In the male 

 the under parts are of a fine orange spotted with 

 black ; in the female pale olive-grey. 



2184.— The Saxd-Lizard 



{Lacerta agilis, Linn.). Lacerta Stirpium, Daudin. 



This species, an example of the rellricted genus 

 Lacerta, is much larger than the viviparous lizard, 

 sometimes measuring a foot in length ; we have 

 seen specimens upwards of seven inches long, and 

 in the ' Linnaean Transactions' an instance is ad- 

 duced by the Rev. R. Sheppard, in which the 

 measurement exceeded twelve inches (vol. xvi., 

 1802). 



It is to the labours of several modern naturalists 

 that we owe the extrication of this lizard from 

 much confusion, for the term agilis, applied by 

 Linnaeus to the present species, has been given in 

 England to the viviparous lizard, and in France and 

 Italy to the wall-lizard, the common lizard of those 

 countries. 



The sand-lizard is subject to much variation of 

 colour; indeed, two varieties appear to exist : one, 

 and that the most common, of a sandy brown 

 colour, more or less rich, with obscure longitudinal 

 stripes of a darker tint, and a lateral series of black 

 ocellated spots, each with a white or yellowish dot 

 in the centre ; the other variety has the uppei parts 

 of a brownish green, the green being more or less 

 decided, with the same general markings. 



'Ihe ordinary residence of this species is sandy 

 heaths, and, though less rapid in its actions than the 

 viviparous, it is quick and active, and runs with 

 considerable alertness; occasionally it may be seen 

 basking on sunny banks and in verdant spots, and 

 has been observed also near marshes. According 

 to Mr. Bell, it occurs in the neighbourhood of Poole 

 both on sandy heaths and in moist situations, and 

 that able naturalist adds, " It has been stated, by a 

 gentleman of my acquaintance, that the brown 

 varieties are confined to the sandy heaths, the 

 colours of which are closely imitated by the surface 

 of the body, and that the green variety frequents 

 the more verdant localities. Be this as it may, and 

 it is a statement which at present I can neither con- 

 firm nor dispute, it is certain that these varieties 

 mentioned by Linnaeus, and seen by Miiller, do 

 exist in the place I have named, and within a com- 

 paratively short distance." The sand-lizard is com- 

 mon in France, but rare in Italy ; it is abundant in 

 the middle districts of Europe, and extends as far 

 north as Sweden and Denmark. It is found in 

 Ireland. According to M. Bibron, it inhabits the 

 plains and hills, but never the mountains, of the 

 Continent, and gives preference to the margin of 

 woods, copses, large gardens, and vineyards. Its 

 retreat is a burrow varying in depth, worked < ut 

 under a malted collection of herbage, or between 



