38 LACERTAD^E. 



animals are not wholly devoid of the instinct of parental 

 care and tendance ; hut it is scarcely prohahle that the 

 exercise of this feeling is ever very powerful, or that it 

 endures for any considerable period. The young when 

 brought forth are fully formed, and capable of running 

 about, and very shortly afterwards of taking their own 

 food. They vary in number from three to six. 



Although I have alluded to the sun's influence as being 

 the means of hastening the evolution of the embryo in the 

 oviparous reptiles, it is not to be concluded that the same 

 source of warmth is unnecessary in the present and similar 

 instances. The only difference is, that in the ovo-vivipa- 

 rous species the solar heat is communicated to the embryo 

 through the medium of the mother; and hence we often 

 see the pregnant female about the month of June con- 

 stantly basking in the sun, and lying in such a position as 

 to expose the body most fully to his influence. Every 

 one who has watched the habits of our native reptiles 

 must have seen the same circumstance in the gravid 

 female of the Common Viper ; and may have observed 

 how much more reluctantly and tardily she leaves the 

 genial spot than the male. 



This little Lizard is much smaller and more gracile 

 in its form than the L. agilis. The head is more depress- 

 ed, rather narrower, and the muzzle more acute. The 

 arrangement and relative size of the plates on the head 

 do not differ very considerably ; but those of the temples 

 are much smaller and more numerous in the present than 

 in the former. The collar consists of nine plates, which 

 are nearly equal; the abdominal plates in six rows, the 

 middle and outer ones narrower than the intermediate. 

 The dorsal scales are narrower, more angular, and the 

 carina less distinct than in L. agilis : those of the tail are 



