G E C K I D &. 



genera 'are named by Cuvier, Platydactyli, Hemi- 

 dactyli, Thccadactyli, Ptyodactyli, and Spherioduclyli ; 

 and the lasts admits of some farther sub-division 

 besides that into species. 



PLATYDACTTLI, flat toes, have the toes enlarged 

 at the sides for the whole of their length ; and fur- 

 nished on their under surfaces with transverse scales. 

 Some of them have not claws on all the toes, and 

 have the thumbs or inner toes small as compared with 

 the rest. Those which have this structure of the feet 

 are the handsomest of the family ; they are beset with 

 tubercles, and ornamented with bright colours. All 

 the known species are natives of the isle of France : 

 some are without pores in the groin ; one species is 

 violet on the upper part, and white on the under, with 

 two colours parted by a black line along the flanks ; 

 others again are grey with eye-spots all over, brown 

 at the edges, but with white centres ; and others have 

 the pores very conspicuous. 



A. Facetanun, the wall gecko, is the species with 

 which we are best acquainted. Its general habitat 

 is the basin of the Mediterranean, on all the shores 

 of which sea it is found, though more abundantly in 

 some places than in others. It is the stel/io of the 

 ancients, though different from the reptiles to which 

 modern naturalists give that name, it is known by 

 dili'erent names in different countries ; but we be- 

 lieve the most common one has some resemblance in 

 meaning to the English name " toad-lizard." It is 

 found in Egypt, in the states of Barbary, on the east 

 coast of Spain, but not on the west of Spain or Por- 

 tugal ia the same latitudes. It is also found in France, 

 in Italy, in Greece, and throughout the Levant, and 

 is understood to be the kind of reptile which Solomon 

 describes as taking up its abode in the palaces of 

 kings, which does not prove much with regard to the 

 cleanliness of royal dwellings at that period of the 

 world's history. It is an unpleasant animal to look 

 on ; its colour is deep dull grey ; its head very rough ; 

 all the upper part of its body studded over with 

 gnarly tubercles, each of them consisting of three or 

 four smaller ones, placed close together, and appa- 

 rently running into each other. Its habits are as un- 

 pleasant as its appearance ; it is a thing of the night, 

 lying concealed while it is light, but crawling out at 

 dusk something after the manner of a toad, searching 

 for flies and other creatures on which it feeds, with its 

 curious cat-like eyes, and probably using its crooked 

 claws to assist in their capture. Deserted houses, 

 neglected corners, mouldering ruins, and all places 

 which in consequence of man's neglect are rank with 

 impurities, and consequently abound in that insect 

 food which it seeks, are the favourite haunts of this 

 crcal urc. And it appears to have borrowed not a 

 few of die gloomy circumstances which are connected 

 with the times and places of its appearance ; for it 

 has been very generally set down as one of the most 

 pestilent of creatures, and one which it was a charity 

 even to nature to destroy by every possible means. 

 In this ctise it has fared much the same as the toad 

 has done, which, like the wall gecko, is no beauty, 

 though it is a very useful scavenger, tending not a 

 little to the destruction of creatures which would taint 

 the air, and thereby contributing more to man's com- 

 fort than some of the animals which he cherishes with 

 the fondest admiration. 



It gets its name from the facility with which it can 

 ascend the walls of houses, and pass along the roofs 

 and ceilings ; and in some parts of the countries which 



610 



it inhabits, it is found very useful in clearing the 

 houses of mosquitoes and spiders. There appear to 

 be several varieties of this species, or at all events 

 several species closely allied to it in habits, though 

 they differ a little in some of their external characters. 

 Of these may be mentioned one found in Egypt and 

 Barbary, which has the tubercles entire and round, 

 and more prominent on the flanks than any other part 

 of the body. All these varieties are equally harmless 

 as to attack ; but they are all equally offensive in 

 their manners, and it is understood that they all distil 

 from the toes that acrid liquor, which has* been de- 

 scribed as poisoning provisions, though this property 

 is perhaps stronger in some of the others, and probably 

 this one has the liquor more acrid in the warmer than 

 in the colder places of its abode. 



A. gecko, the gecko, is an Indian species, and is 

 the one upon which the name gecko is founded, which 

 is described as being as nearly the sound uttered by 

 the animals. This species has no thumb claws on 

 any of the feet ; it is covered with flattened and 

 rounded tubercles on the upper part of the body, the 

 colour of which is reddish marked with round spots of 

 white ; the lower part of the tail is covered with 

 square scales, which are imbricated or placed over 

 each other like tiles. It is represented as abounding 

 in all the oriental Archipelago, but is unknown in the 

 western part of the old continent, and in America. 



A. viitala is another species inhabiting the same 

 countries ; its general colour is brown, with a white 

 stripe down the back, which parts into two branches 

 on the head, and also at the insertion of the tail ; and 

 the tail is surrounded with white rings. 



A. homaloccphala, the margined gecko, is found on 

 the continent of India, and also in the eastern isles ; 

 its head and body are bordered with a white mem- 

 brane, its tail is furnished with lobes of the same, and 

 its feet are webbed. Other species of the same 

 country are mentioned as having the tail without any 

 lobes on the sides ; and there are also some of this sub- 

 genus which have claws on all the toes, and some of 

 them are entirely without tubercles. 



HEMIDACTYLI. This name does not mean literally 

 that the animals are "half-toed," but simply that 

 the expansion in breadth extends only to half the 

 length. This expansion consists of an oval disc upon 

 each toe, furnished on the under part with two rows 

 of scales, in the form of a chevron, or having an angle 

 in the middle. From the middle of this disc, the 

 second joint of the toe rises, which is very slender, 

 and carries the claw, which however has an articula- 

 tion, thus forming a sort of third joint. All the 

 known species of this sub-genus are described ns 

 having claws on all the fore-toes, and a row of pores 

 near the vent ; and the scales on the under side of 

 their tails very much resemble those on the bellies of 

 serpents. 



There is one European species of this sub-genus, 

 usually called the warty gecko, which is found in the 

 same countries with the wall gecko. It is of a red- 

 dish colour ; and the tubercles on the back are small 

 and conical, but with blunted points. There are va- 

 rious species and varieties very much resembling this 

 one in the warm parts of Asia, and some also in Ame- 

 rica, and the West India islands ; but their manners 

 are little known, and not very interesting. 



THECADACTYLI, sheath-toed. These have their 

 toes broadened throughout their whole length, and 

 furnished w ith transverse scales ; but they are divided 



