DRACAENA LIZARD. 219 



more esteemed in some countries as an article of 

 food than the Guana, The head is small, and of 

 an elegant form, the snout tapering in such a 

 manner as to bear a resemblance to that of an 

 Italian greyhound : the teeth are small and nume- 

 rous, and the tongue forked : the openings of the 

 ears large, and surrounded by a well-defined scaly 

 border : the proportions of the neck and limbs 

 are elegant though strong, and the body is mode- 

 rately thick : the tail is of a great length, though 

 in a fine specimen, preserved in the Leverian Mu- 

 seum, it is not quite so long in proportion, as re- 

 presented by Seba, whose excellent figure is copied 

 in the present work. The colour is brown, with a 

 slight cast of chesnut, palest on the abdomen and 

 insides of the limbs ; the outsides of which are 

 marked by numerous, small, pale, or yellowish 

 spots. The whole animal is smooth, or destitute 

 of prominences on the skin, which is covered with 

 small, ovate, and, in some parts, slightly subqua- 

 drate scales, largest on the outsides of the limbs, 

 the back, and the abdomen : along the upper edge 

 of the tail runs a continued series of short, tri- 

 angular denticulations, as shewn in the engrav- 

 ing : the feet are moderately strong, and the toes 

 are armed with sharp, crooked claws. This ani- 

 mal has been described by some of the older 

 writers on natural history, under the name of 



/ ' 



Cordylus, or Cordyl ; a name which has also beeri 

 applied to different species. 



