GECKOS. 517 



hunting: for the flies and otlicr insects to bo found there. Re- 

 [)ulsive as are these little geckos, and undeservedly possessing 

 a bad name for being poisonous, they are not only harmless, 

 but render good service by the destruction of numerous house- 

 hold pests. Their laige eyes are so constructed that they can 

 discern objects in the dark, and are at the same time capable 

 of bearing the rays of the bright sun. Their colour, too, 

 enables them to escape detection by the creatures which 

 attack them, while they are thus hid from the prey for which 

 they lie in wait. They can also bend themselves in an ex- 

 traordinary way into hollows and crevices. 



But their feet are 

 especially curious, 

 being admiral)ly a- 

 dapted for clinging 

 to and running over 

 smooth surfaces. The 



under side of their toes is expanded into cushions, beneath 

 which folds of skin form a series of flexible plates. By 

 means of this apparatus they can run or crawl across a 

 smooth ceiling with their backs downwards — the soft soles, 

 by quick, muscular action, exhausting and admitting air alter- 

 nately. They are also })rovided with sharp claws, which en- 

 able them to climb up the trunks of trees, and over rough 

 surfaces. 



The Brazilians call them osgas, and believe that they poison 

 by their touch whatever they pass over. Probably, however, 

 if any annoyance does arise from them, it is when with their 

 sharp claws they run across a sleeping man, or small blisters 

 have been raised by the adhering apparatus at the bottom of 

 their feet. B}^ some " the spider, which taketh hold with her 



