348 REPTILES. SAURIA. 



ated with white. 9 or 10 inches long. Inhabits Asia and Africa. 



Sharv, iii. pi. 54. 



Notwithstanding the terror of its name, as celebrated by poets and historians, the 

 flying dragon of modern naturalists is a very innocent animal, inhabiting trees and 

 feeding on insects, which it seizes in leaping from branch to branch. The lateral 

 expansions or wings are merely aids to it in leaping, and quite incapable of support- 

 ing it in continued flight. These wings are triangular, and their upper surface is 

 furnished with small scales. They are strengthened by six bony rays, unequal in 

 length, and extend from the fore to the hind feet. This species walks with difficulty 

 on the ground. 



D. viridis. Body green, rather scaly ; wings gray, transverse, mark- 

 ed with four brown bands, and connected with the thighs. . 

 Daud. iii. pi. 41. 



T>.fuscus. Body brown above, paler beneath, scarcely scaly ; wings 

 brown Dfiud. iii. 307- 



Gen. 19. IGUANA, Cuv. Lacerta, Lin. 



Body and tail covered with small imbricated scales ; a row of 

 spines or impressed and pointed scales along the back ; throat 

 with a pendant and inflated skin, compressed laterally ; femo- 

 ral pores ; head plated ; a row of compressed triangular and 

 serrated teeth around the jaws ; and two little rows on the pos- 

 terior margin of the palate. 



I. vulgaris, (L. Iguana, Lin.) The Common Iguana. Body blue 

 above, changing to green and violet, paler below ; dorsal spines 

 large ; a large round plate under the tympanum, at the angle of 

 the jaws ; sides of the neck furnished with pyramidal scales scat- 

 tered among the others ; anterior margin of the gular pouch den- 

 tated. 4 to 5 feet long. Inhabits S. America. Shaiv, iii. pi. 61. 

 Tliis animal lives generally among trees, goes sometimes to the water, and feeds 



on fruits, grains, and leaves. Its flesh is much esteemed. 



I. nudicollis, Cuv. (7. delicatissima, Laur.) Head with gibbous 

 plates; no tubercles oiithe sides of the neck; gular pouch without 

 dentations. Inhabits India Cuv. Reg. An. ii. 40. 



Gen. 20. POLYCHRUS, Cuv. Lacerta, Lin. 

 No dorsal crest ; toes not dilated ; head covered with plates ; 

 body and tail with small scales ; throat extensible and capa- 

 ble of inflation ; femoral pores ; maxillary teeth edged and 

 dentated, and small ones on the palate. 



This genus has the faculty, like the Chameleon, of changing colour. Their lungs 

 are large, filing a great part of the body and dividing into many branches ; and 

 their false ribs, like the same genus, surround the abdomen, uniting to form com- 

 plete circles. 



P. marmoratns, Cuv. Reddish gray, marbled with irregular trans- 

 verse bands of red brown ; tail very long. Inhabits Guiana. 

 Cuv. Reg. An. ii. 41. 



Gen. 21. ANOLIUS, Cuv. Lacerta, Lin. 

 Skin of the toes extended in the antepenult joint into an oval 



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