MONITOR. KEPTILES. 343 



Gen. 4. MONITOR, Cuv.^-Tupinambis, Lacepede. 



Scales on the head, belly, and tail, small and imbricated ; tail 

 compressed laterally ; teeth in both jaws, but none on the 

 palate. 



According to Cuvier, Marcgrave, speaking of a lizard of America, says that it was 

 named teyu-guacu, and among the Tupinambous, temapara. Seba has taken the 

 first word for the name of the animal, and the later naturalists have copied him in 

 making it a generic term. 



* Tail compressed and carinated. 



M. elegans, Cuv. Elegant Monitor. Body brownish black, with white 

 concentric lines above the head and neck ; nine transverse bands 

 of round white spots upon the back ; belly white. Inhabits In- 

 dian Archipelago. Reg. An. ii. 24. 



M. variegatus, Cuv. (L. varia, Shaw.) Variegated Monitor. Black- 

 ish above, variegated with double transverse rows of rounded 

 yellow spots and lines ; tail twice as long as the body. Inhabits 

 New Holland. Shaw, Nat. Mis. pi. 83. 



M. maculatus, Cuv. Spotted Monitor. Black above, irregularly 

 marked with transverse bands, and seven longitudinal rows of 

 greenish spots on the upper parts ; neck plaited below ; tail half 

 the length of the body. Seba, i. pi. 110. fig. 4. 



** Tail almost rounded, with a dentated ridge above. 



M. Nilolicns, Cuv. (Lacerta Nilotica, Lin.) The Monitor of the 

 Nile or Ouaran. Back brown, with whitish spots, forming small, 

 oval, and irregular compartments ; tail almost triangular ; 24 to 

 30 teeth in each jaw. 3 feet long. Egypt Cuv. Reg. An. ii. 25. 



M. ornatus, Cuv. Body black ; throat white, with transverse black 

 bands ; seven transverse rows of round white spots on the back, 

 and from 12 to 18 whitish rings round the tail ; 24 to 30 teeth 

 in each jaw. 5 to 6 feet long. Africa Cuv. Reg. An. ii. 25. 



M, albigularis, Cuv. White Throated Monitor. Lower part and 

 sides of the head and neck whitish, spotted with brown ; two 

 whitish lines running from the eyes to the neck; tail long. Daud.ii. 

 pi. 32. 



*** Tail almost round, not carinated. 



M. terrestris, Cuv. Back uniform brown or yellowish green. In- 

 habits Egypt. Cuv. Reg. An. ii. 25. 

 The jugglers of Cairo train this animal to play tricks, after having extracted its teeth. 



Gen. 5, DRACCENA, Cuv. 



With angular plates on the head ; large carinated scales on the 

 back, and forming crests on the tail ; scales under the neck 

 small ; those of the belly and around the tail rectangular ; 

 teeth conical ; tail rounded at the base, and compressed to- 

 wards the end, 



