258 



Ertaguri) of Natural fg 



the holes of rocks, and to climb walls. Of 

 sombre or varying colours adapted generally 

 to the locality where their lot is cast, they 

 will often remain for hours in positions as 

 extraordinary as the flies and insects for 

 which they watch, the wonderful apparatus 

 with which their feet is furnished enabling 

 them to overcome the general law of gravity, 

 and without which they would instantly 

 fall to the earth. The hues of their skins 

 thus render them less objects of suspicion to 

 the little animals for which they lie in wait, 

 and also serve to dodge even the acute eye 

 of the bird of prey that seeks to destroy them. 

 Their eyes enable them to discern objects in 

 the dark, and are at the same time capable 

 of bearing the rays of a bright sun ; for many 

 insects are nocturnal or crepuscular, while 

 the great mass of them are diurnal. The 

 pursuit of their prey leads them near the 

 habitations of man; whose dwelling always 

 attracts certain kinds of insects, and they 

 sometimes fall victims to their appearance, 

 which frequently inspires terror, and after 

 disgust. A Gecko, confident in his powers 

 of flight, appears boldly to await his adver- 

 sary, and his sudden disappearance at a 

 nearer approach adds to the horror which 

 his uncouth form inspires. The poor Geckos 

 too have a bad name. They are supposed 

 to poison whatsoever they touch, be it ani- 

 mate or inanimate, and their saliva is said 

 to vex the skin of those on whom it falls 

 with foul eruptions. Many of these cuticu- 

 lar irritations, when they have actually 

 existed from the intervention of these ani- 

 mals, may have arisen from the extremely 

 sharp claws of a Gecko running over a sleep- 

 ing man, or small blisters may have been 

 raised by the adherent apparatus at the 

 bottom of its feet. In each great division of 

 the globe various species of the Geckotidae 

 are found, though very few of them exist in 

 Europe. 



Descriptions of the numerous species will 

 be found in Mr. Gray's catalogue of the rep- 

 tiles in the British Museum, where there is 

 a large collection of these interesting lizards. 

 By some biblical commentators, " the spider 

 that taketh hold with her hands, and is in 

 king's palaces " is believed to have been a 

 Gecko ; Geckos are very common in houses 

 in the East, and may be seen running about 

 the walls. 



GENET. ( Viverra genetta.) This animal 

 belongs to the Weasel tribe ; has a very 

 beautiful soft fur ; and is about the size of a 

 very small cat, but is of a longer form, with 

 a sharp pointed snout, upright ears, slightly 

 pointed, and very long tail. The colour of 

 the Genet is usually a pale reddish grey, the 

 sides of the body being spotted with black, 

 and a dark line running along the back ; 

 where the hair, being longer than on the 

 other parts, resembles a slight mane : the 

 muzzle is dusky ; beneath each eye is a 

 white spot ; the cheeks, sides of the neck, 

 and the limbs, are spotted in a proportion- 

 ally smaller pattern than the body, and the 

 tail is marked with black and white rings. 

 Easily tamed, and of a mild disposition, the 

 Genet, at Constantinople, and various other 



parts of the East, is domesticated like the 

 Cat, and is said to be equally if not more 

 serviceable in clearing houses of rats and 

 other vermin. It is a native of the western 

 parts of Asia, and is also occasionally found 

 in Spain ; but though it requires a warm 

 climate for its subsistence and propagation, 

 it has not been discovered in India or any 

 part of Africa. This animal, like the Civet, 

 produces an agreeable perfume ; it is, how- 

 ever, less powerful, and its scent much sooner 

 evaporates. 



There are two or three other species found 

 in the East ; among these may be mentioned 



LAOCENS1S.) 



the Rasse (Viverra Mdlaccensis*), found in 

 Java by Dr. Horsfield, but also a native of 

 the Indian continent : our ligure shows this 

 well-marked species. 



GEOMETRID.E. A family of Lepidop- 

 terous insects, of very considerable extent. 

 It is distinguished from the NOCTUID^E by 

 its general weakness of structure and slen- 

 derness of body, but still more by the re- 

 markable peculiarities and mode of progres- 

 sion of the caterpillars. The wings are large 

 and of various outlines ; in general they are 

 horizontally extended, but in a few species 

 they are carried vertically ; the maxillae 

 short, weak, and nearly membranous ; the 

 labial palpi small and cylindrical ; the 

 antennas variable, being in some males 

 strongly bipectinated ; the legs are slender, 

 the anterior tibiaa being armed with a spur 

 on the inside, and the posterior with two 

 pairs. From their peculiar mode of progres- 

 sion, the caterpillars are called Loopers or 

 Geometricians : they have only three pairs 

 of pectoral, and one pair of ventral pro-legs, 

 with a pair of anal feet ; they then extend 

 the body to its greatest length, when they 

 put down their fore feet, drawing the hind 

 part of the body as close after them as possi- 

 ble, so as to form an arch, like a pair of com- 

 passes, fixing their hind feet, and proceeding 

 again as before. It is evident that they 

 possess great muscular power, and hence 

 their positions during repose are very strik- 

 ing. Fixing themselves by their anal feet 

 alone, they extend their bodies in a straight 

 line, holding it in that position for a long 

 time together. This, together with their 

 obscure colours, and the warts on their bodies, 

 renders it often quite difficult to distinguish 

 them from twigs of trees on which they feed. 

 When alarmed, these caterpillars have the 

 instinct to drop from the leaves, and suspend 

 themselves by a thread, which enables them 

 to remount when the danger is past. The 



