M. P. Sumichrast on the Habits of some Mexican Reptiles. 507 



mingo (isthmus of Tehuantepec), and in the forests of Gineta 

 (department of Chiapas), All the specimens which I procured 

 in these different localities were absolutely identical. 



Genus Phrynosoma, Wagler. 



Phrynosoma orbicular e, Wiegm. 



' Cameleon ' of the Mexicans. 



This little Saurian, which is equally curious both in its appear- 

 ance and habits, owes to this circumstance its having been known 

 to the first observers who traversed Mexico, and also its having 

 been shifted, in the different herpetological classifications, from 

 one family to another, until at last it has come to take up its 

 natural position in the neighbourhood of Tropidolepis. 



The Phrynosoma, which is peculiar to the cold and dry regions 

 of the Mexican plateau, inhabits sandy spots exposed to the sun, 

 such as the margins of roads and the arid ridges, where the 

 earthy colour of its body easily conceals it from observation. 

 Ill formed for running, it has none of that lizard-like vivacity 

 which has become proverbial; its gait is slow and awkward. 

 On seeing it making its way painfully over the sand, we at once 

 perceive that the poor devil must have no little trouble in pro- 

 curing its daily bread. Its thick tongue, fastened to the palate, 

 cannot be darted, like the Chameleon's, at the insects which pass 

 within its reach ; its large and dragging belly prevents it from 

 seizing a prey by running in the manner of the slender lizards, 

 or capturing a fly on the wing like the impetuous Anolides. In 

 order that it may dine, one of the heavy beetles of the sands, 

 as ill organized as itself for locomotion, must, so to speak, come 

 to tickle the teeth of this melancholy hunter. This forced abs- 

 tinence of the Phrynosoma has obtained for it, among the 

 natives, the reputation of living upon air. 



Destitute of means of defence, it allows itself to be taken 

 without even attempting to bite the hand that has seized it. I 

 have several times kept one of these inoffensive animals alive : 

 they usually remained squatting in a corner of my room ; and 

 whenever they disappeared, I was certain soon to find them 

 again in my shoes or in the pockets of my clothes. 



On several occasions when I have put females of Phrynosoma 

 orbiculare into alcohol, I have seen the young immediately issue 

 from the cloaca, to the number of ten or twelve. I have made 

 the same observation with regard to a species of an allied genus, 

 Tropidolepis formosa ; and I have reason to believe that most of 

 the Mexican species of Tropidolepis, or at least those of the colder 

 regions, are likewise ovo-viviparous. 



33* 



