402 



HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 



their head : and for some time under dissec- 

 tion, all the parts of this animal seem to retain 

 life : but the tail is the part that longest re- 

 tains its motion. Salt seems to be much more 

 efficacious in destroying these animals than the 

 knife ; for upon being sprinkled with it, the 

 whole body emits a viscous liquor, and the 

 lizard dies in three minutes, in great agonies. 

 The whole of the lizard kind are also 

 tenacious of life in another respect, and the 

 salamander among the number. They sustain 

 the want of food in a surprising manner. 

 One of them, brought from the Indies, lived 

 nine months, without any other food than 

 what it received from licking a piece of earth 

 on which it was brought over ;* another was 

 kept by Scba in an empty vial for six months, 

 without any nourishment ; and Rhedi talks 

 of a large one, brought from Africa, that lived 

 for eight months, without taking any nourish- 

 ment whatever. Indeed, as many of this 

 kind, both salamanders and lizards, are torpid, 

 or nearly so, during the winter, the loss of their 

 appetite for so long a time is the less surpris- 

 ing:. 



CHAP. IV. 



OF THE CAMELEON, THE IGUANA, AND 

 LIZARDS OF DIFFERENT KINDS. 



IT were to be wished that animals could be 

 so classed, that by the very mentioning their 

 rank, we should receive some insight into 

 their history. This I have endeavoured in 

 most instances ; but in the present chapter all 

 method is totally unserviceable. Here distri- 

 bution gives no general ideas : for some of the 

 animals to be here mentioned produce by eggs ; 

 some by spawn ; and some are viviparous. 

 The peculiar manner of propagating in each, 

 is very indistinctly known. The Iguana and 

 ihe Cameleon, we know bring forth eggs; 

 some others also produce in the same manner ; 

 but of the rest, which naturalists make amount 

 to above fifty, we have but very indistinct in- 

 formation. 



In the former divisions of this tribe, we 

 had to observe upon animals, formidable from 

 their size, or disgusting from their frog-like 

 head and appearance ; in the present division, 

 all the animals are either beautiful to the eye, 

 or grateful to the appetite. The lizards, pro- 

 perly so called, are beautifully painted and 

 mottled ; their frolicsome agility is amusing 

 to those who are familiar with their appear- 

 ance ; and the great affection which some of 

 them show to man, should, in some measure, 



1 Phil. Trans, ann. 1601. N. 21. art, 7. 



be repaid with kindness. Others, such as 

 the Iguana, though not possessed of beauty, 

 are very serviceable, furnishing one of the 

 most luxurious feasts the tropical climates can 

 boast of. Those treated of before were ob- 

 jects of curiosity, because they were apparently 

 objects of danger; most of these here men- 

 tioned have either use or beauty to engage us. 



Directly descending from the crocodile, we 

 find the Cordyle, the Tockay, and the Teju- 

 guacu, all growing less in order, as I have 

 named them. These fill up the chasm to be 

 found between the crocodile and the African 

 Iguana. 



The Iguana, which deserves our notice, is 

 about five feet long, and the body about as 

 thick as one's thigh ; the skin is covered with 

 small scales, like those of a serpent; and the 

 back is furnished with a row of prickles, that 

 stand up, like the teeth of a saw : the eyes 

 seem to be but half opened, except when the 

 animal is angry, and then they appear large 

 and sparkling : both the jaws are full of very 

 sharp teeth, and the bite is dangerous, though 

 not. venomous, for it never lets loose till it is 

 killed. The male has a skin hanging under 

 his throat, which reaches down to his breast ; 

 and, when displeased, he puffs it up like a 

 bladder ; he is one-third larger and stronger 

 than the female ; though the strength of either 

 avails them little towards their defence. The 

 males are ash-coloured, and the females are 

 screen. 3 



8 The Common American Iguana is from four to five 

 feet long. It is very common in all the warm parts of 

 America, where it remains in the woods, at the environs 

 of rivers, and sources of spring-water. It passes most 

 part of its time on trees, sometimes going to the water, 

 and living on fruits, grain, and leaves. Without being 

 either venomous or dangerous, its bite is exceedingly 

 painful ; and when it is angry, the goitre which it has 

 under its neck becomes distended and expanded. This 

 reptile has great tenacity and endurance of life, and will 

 resist the blows of a stick or cudgel very well. Accor- 

 dingly, it is usually hunted with the bow or the gun. 



The females are smaller than the males, but their 

 colours are much more brilliant. They lay eggs in the 

 sand, about as large as those of pigeons, but a little 

 longer, and of equal thickness at both ends. The shell 

 of these eggs is white, even, and soft. They are entirely 

 filled by the yolk, and can hardly be said to have any 

 albumen. They never harden by fire, but only become 

 a little pasty. But their flavour is very agreeable, and 

 they are constantly eaten in Surinam and Guiana. A 

 single female will lay about six dozen. 



The flesh of the iguana is considered as delicious, and 

 is in great estimation throughout all the warm parts of 

 America. It is white and delicate. Many persons, 

 however, consider it as unwholesome, especially for those 

 who are infected with syphilis, some symptoms of which, 

 such as pains in the bones, &c. it is supposed to aggra- 

 vate or cause the return of. At Paramaraibo, it is sold 

 extremely dear, and highly thought of by epicures. 

 Pison, and many others of the old travellers in America, 

 have spoken in high terms of the virtues of the bezoar ot 

 the iguana, a kind of stone, found, say they, in the stom- 

 ach or cranium of this reptile. But, at the present day, 



