J3tcttonarg 



257 



wise, in all probability, be productive of con- 

 tagious diseases. Analogous species of Cro- 

 codiles have been found in a fossil state in 

 Yorkshire and other places. The fossil 

 group is named Teleosaurus. 



GAZELLE. (AntUope Dorcas.) Of all 

 the Antelopes of the East none are so cele- 

 brated for beauty as the Gazelle ; and ori- 

 ental poets, from time immemorial, have 

 thought that the highest compliment they 

 could pay the female sex was to compare the 

 eyes of a lovely woman with the lustrous 

 organs of vision which distinguish that light 

 and graceful animal. This very beautiful 

 species inhabits Arabia and Syria, where 

 they are seen in large groups, bounding 

 across the desert with such amazing fleet- 

 ness that they seem, bird-like, to skim over 

 the surface. It is so swift that the grey- 

 hound is generally unable to overtake it 

 without the assistance of falcons, which fly 

 at its head and thus check its speed till the 



dogs regain their lost distance. The Ariel 

 Gazelle is about twenty inches high at the 

 shoulder ; its limbs are slender, but vigorous ; 

 and all its actions are spirited and graceful. 

 It is of a dark fawn colour above, and white 

 below ; the upper parts being divided from 

 the lower by a deep dark band along the 

 flanks. On each side of the face a broad 

 stripe of white passes from the horns over 

 the eyes to the nose. Wild and timid as 

 the Gazelle is, when taken young it is rea- 

 dily domesticated ; and it is frequently seen 

 at large in the court-yards of houses in 

 Syria, their exquisite form, general beauty, 

 and playfulness rendering them especial fa- 

 vourites. 



GECARCINUS. The name given to 

 those Crustaceans which are formed to live 

 at a distance from the sea ; some residing in 

 fresh water, and some burrowing in the 

 ground, even at a distance from water. [See 

 Land Crab, art. CRAB.] 



GECKO. This name is given to a con- 

 siderable number of Saurian Reptiles, and 

 is said to be taken from the sound of their 

 voice, which resembles the word gecko uttered 

 in a shrill tone. Our figure, which repre- 

 sents a common New Holland species, is 

 named by Mr. Gray White's Phyllure, or 



Gecko. It was first described by Dr. Shaw 

 in White's Voyage to New South Wales, 

 and is the Phyliurus platurys of naturalists ; 

 but though very characteristic of the group 

 we prefer giving an account of the COMMON 

 GECKO (Gecko verus) : It is of a thicker and 



WHITE'S OEOKO, -(PHYL-LORDS PLATDBHS) 

 atouter form than most other lizards, having a 

 large and somewhat triangular flattish head, 

 covered with small scales, a wide mouth, large 

 eyes, minute teeth, and a broad flat tongue. 

 The limbs are of moderate length.and the feet 

 are of a broader form than in the rest of the 

 genus Lacerta, each toe being dilated on the 

 margins, and divided beneath into a great 

 number of parallel transverse lamellae, with- 

 out any longitudinal mark or furrow ; all 

 the toes, except the thumbs, are furnished 

 with small claws ; the tail, which is gene- 

 rally longer than the body, is marked, more 

 or less, according to the age, into divisions or 

 vcrticillated rings : the whole animal is co- 

 vered on the upper parts with numerous, 

 distant, round warts or prominences, ap- 

 proaching more or less to an acute form in 

 different individuals, and sometimes obtuse : 

 beneath each thigh is a row of perforated 

 papillae, as in the Green Lizard and many 

 others : the under parts of the body are co- 

 vered with scales of somewhat dissimilar ap- 

 rance, but all approaching to a round 



describing the habits, food, &c. of the 

 Geckotidce, Mr. Broderip observes that " the 

 greatest number feed on small animals, sucli 

 as insects, their larvae and pupae. These 

 they catch either by lying in ambush, or by 

 pursuing their feeble prey in the holes and 

 dark crevices to which it retires. The struc- 

 ture of their feet enables them to run in 

 every direction over the smoothest surfaces, 

 and they can even remain suspended beneath 

 the large leaves which a luxuriant tropical 

 vegetation so frequently puts forth. The 

 sharp and retractile nails with which the 

 feet of the greater number are armed enable 

 them to cling to and make rapid progress on 

 trees with the smoothest bark, or penetrate 



