LECTURE VII. 27 



bodies, and square plates beneath. The Cha- 

 meleons, with granulated skin, a large head, long 

 extensile tongue, and long cylindric tail. Geckos, 

 with granulated skin, scattered over with tuber- 

 cles, and lobated feet. Skinks, with a very smooth, 

 skin, and large fish-like scales. Salamanders or 

 Newts, with soft skins, and which generally in- 

 habit the water. And lastly the long or snake- 

 shaped Lizards, with extremely short legs and. 

 very minute feet. 



Of this vast tribe of animals those termed Cro- 

 codiles have in all ages been regarded as some- 

 of the most formidable animals of the warmer re- 

 gions. They inhabit Asia and Africa, but seem 

 to be most common in the latter, where they 

 reside in large rivers, as the Nile and the Nigeiv 

 preying chiefly on fish, but occasionally seizing 

 on almost every animal which happens to be ex- 

 posed to their rapacity. Their size is prodigious, 

 specimens being often seen of twenty feet in 

 length, and we have accounts of some which ex- 

 ceeded thirty feet. The general colour of the 

 Common Crocodile, when arrived at full growth, 

 is blackish olive above and yellowish white be- 

 neath. The armour with which the body is co- 



