FAMILY IGUANIDJE ; ANOLIS ; BASILISK. 



559 



woods and rocky places ; and running, leaping, and climbing 

 with singular address and rapidity. It is very timid and harm- 



no. 325. ANOLIS. 



less; and when under the influence of fear or other excitement, 

 the dewlap beneath its throat becomes inflated, and the tints of 

 its skin change with great celerity. In the structure of its feet, 

 it bears some resemblance to the Geckos; and, like them, it 

 feeds chiefly on insects, although it also subsists in part upon 

 vegetable substances. The largest species of this genus (of 

 which several abound in the West India Islands) is not above a 

 foot in length. Another genus of this family has received the 

 name of Basilisk; a term that was applied by the ancients to 

 a monster, which existed only in their own imaginations, yet of 

 which the most detailed accounts have been transmitted to us. 

 The name was derived from a Greek word, signifying royalty ; 

 and the animal was represented as the king of the Serpents, 



FTG. 3^6. MITRED 



with a regal crown upon its head, blighting the herbage with it. 

 breath, and striking dead with a glance of its eye. It was 



