HOW TO KNOW THE REPTILES 



By DOUGLAS ENGLISH, B.A., F.R.P.S. 



Author of " Wee Tim'rous Beasties," " Beasties Courageous," etc. 



THE LIZARDS 



THE SLOW WORM. THE SAND LIZARD. THE COMMON LIZARD, 



With Photographs by the Author 



I 



T is customary to introduce reptiles of this gentle, philosophic lizard is univers- 

 ally recognised, it may be of service to 

 him if I lay some stress on the character- 

 istics which distinguish hzards from snakes, 

 so that, though one Slow Worm may have 



with some form of apology, and I 

 imagine that it is with this intention 

 that Dr. Gadow prefaces Part II. of his 

 " Amphibia and Reptiles " with the 

 philosophic reflec- 

 tion of Sancho 

 Panza : " We are 

 all as God made 

 us, and many 

 even worse." 



But there are 

 reptiles and rep- 

 tiles. 



There is little 

 doubt that the 

 majority of civil- 

 ised mankind re- 

 gard snakes with 

 abhorrence, and 

 that the snake 

 worship of some 

 uncivilised tribes 

 has its origin in 

 fear. In most 

 cases a distinct 

 effort of the will 

 is needed to over- 

 come this feeling, and I must confess 

 that in my own case the will is not equal 

 to the willingness. I have never schooled 

 myself, for example, to keep my face close 

 to the glass of an adder's cage while the 

 adder strikes at it. Reason tells me that 

 no harm can possibly occur, but instinct 

 flings me backward. 



Most horses will shy at a snake, most 

 monkeys chatter. It is no doubt from 

 an association of ideas that human beings 

 attack Slow W^)rms, and though I fear 

 that it wiU be long before the amiability 



64 



A MALE SAND LIZARD. 

 The length of the tail, which in male Lizards is proportionally longer than in females, 

 should be noticed. See illustration of the female Sand Lizard on p. 503. 



been thoughtlessly killed, there may be 

 no reasonable excuse for killing a second. 

 There are three unmistakable characters 

 in a Slow Worm's head. To begin with, 

 he has movable eyehds — a thick upper one, 

 and a thin under one ; also a nictitating 

 membrane which sweeps backwards on 

 occasion from the anterior corner of his 

 eye. 



A snake has no eyehds, his eyes being 

 protected by a fixed transparent scale, 

 which becomes opaque when he is slough- 

 ing, and is shed with the rest of his skin. 



:oi 



