102 



CLASS RE FT I LI A 



ORDER SAURIA. 



POLYCHRCS. This genus is intermediate between the Againas and Geckos. 

 Like the Chameleon it has the power of changing the colour of its skin, 

 probably depending, as in that animal, on the great size of its lungs, which 

 extend throughout nearly the whole length of the body. 



SITANA. General colour tawny, marked along the back with a row of 

 large, rhomboidal, brown patches. It is distinguished from the genus Draco, 

 to which it is nearly allied, by a large kind of dewlap which extends from 

 the throat nearly to the middle of the belly, and is twice as deep as the 

 animal's height ; its false ribs also do not project laterally to support the 

 skin and form the so-called wings of the Dragon. 



TKAPELUS. General form and teeth similar to those of Agama ; scales 

 smooth, not spiny, and extremely small. They have been separated by 

 Cuvier from the Agama on account of the minuteness and smoothness of 

 their scales, and of the teeth resembling those of the Stellioms, to which 

 they are more nearly allied. 



TROPIDURUS. The animal which forms this genus (T. Torquatus) is 

 distinguished from the Levant Stellion by the absence of the throat-sac, and 

 by the scuta which cover the top of the head. It is one of the most common 

 Lizards hi the eastern part of Brazil, and lives in dry, sandy, or stony dis- 

 tricts, where it is called by the general name Lagarta, or Lizard. 



UROMATRIX. This genus, often called Bastard Stellions, is distinguished 

 from the Stellions by the flatness of its head, by the smoothness of its scales, 

 and by the pores on its thighs. The four teeth in the intermaxillary bone 

 of the young annual become subsequently consolidated into a single one. 

 The scales on the trunk are generally small, rhomboidal, smooth, equal 

 sized, and slightly imbricated, but occasionally there are found little granular 

 scales, intermingled with others of larger size. The toes are large, short, 

 cylindrical, covered above with one row, and on the sides with two rows of 

 rhomboidal scales, the first four toes of each foot graduated. The scales 

 covering the tail are quadrilateral, and of these the upper are almost all sur- 

 mounted with a triangular spine on one of their hind corners. They are 

 natives of Africa. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 4. 

 Family GECKOS ; Geckotida. 



The Geckos are nocturnal in their habits, hence they are furnished with 

 large eyes, the pupils of which, like those of Cat's eyes, shrink from the 

 light ; they have not the attenuated form of Lizards ; their gait is slow 

 and stately, their feet being of mean length ; their skin is granulated with 

 minute scales, and their tail has circular folds. 



Genus. 

 Gecko 



Species. 

 jEgyptiacus 



Common Name. 

 - - Egyptian Gecko. 



Family CHAMELEONS ; Chamcekonida. 



The family Chamaeleonida is one of the most remarkable among animals ; 

 the sympathy of the two sides of their entire system is of so diminished a 

 character that one side may be of one colour and the other of another ; or 

 one side may be asleep and the other side awake at the same time ; while 

 their eyes, which are large and nearly covered with the skin, act inde- 

 pendently of one another. The vastness of their lung is such that when 

 inflated with air, the animal is rendered transparent. 



Chamaeleo - - - Vnlgaris ... - Common Chameleon. 



Family SCINKS ; Scincoida. 



The Scink family are distinguished by their tongue, which is non- 

 extensile ; by the equality of the scales which overspread their body and 

 tail, and by the shortness of their feet. 



Scincus .. 

 Seps 



Bipes - . 

 Chirotes - - 



.. Officinalis - 



Tridactylns 

 .. Lepidopus 

 - - Propus. 



.. Official Scink. 



.. Three-toed. 



.. Scaly-footed Biped. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. GECKO. Same as STELLIO above; but besides their distinct toes, 

 which are always furnished with t\vo or more nulls, they have not any 

 fringe on the sides of the body, tail, or limbs. 



1. CHASLELEO (Gr. ^a/jiatXiov). (Skin capable of change of colour, 

 studded with scaly grains ; body compressed ; tail round and prehensile ; 

 head irregularly rhomboidal, presenting eight faces ; tongue long, vermiform, 

 and much expand.'!! at the tip; teeth trilobed ; eyes large, covered with 

 skin, which is pierced by a small hole in the centre opposite the pupil, mid 

 moveable independent of each other ; ear hardly visible ; feet pentedactvluus, 

 two of the toes joined together by a membrane extending as far as the 

 claws, and the other three united in like manner apart, so as to form two 

 distinct sets of toes on the same foot. 



1. SCINCUS (Gr. <r'y*:o, SkinK). Body elongated, spindle-shaped, cylin- 

 drical, covered with imbricated scales ; head oblong ; jnws armed with 

 small close-set teeth; the tongue fleshy, and slightly forked at the tip; 

 tympanum more or less distinct, its anterior edge sometimes furnished with 

 a toothlike process; tail short or very long, cylindrical, and generally 

 covered with imbricated scales in some species, however, it has transverse 

 plates on its under surface ; legs short and slender, having five distinct toes 

 of equal or nearly equal length, and terminated with short nails. 



2. SEPS (Gr. O-J/TTO), / putrefy). Head small, obtuse, covered with 

 scuta; tympanal membrane distinct, and behind the maxillary joint ; tongue 

 thick, short, and cleft at tip ; neck, body, and tail long, slender, and cylin- 

 drical, covered with round imbricated scales ; front and hind limbs far 

 apart, slender and short, and terminating each in one, three, four, or five 

 very small toes ; viviparous. 



3. BIPES. Hind feet only visible ; ears very distinct. 



4. CHIROTES (Gr. x ',> a hand). Two small feet before, none behind. 



GECKOTIDA, CHAM^LEONIDA, SCINCOIDA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



GECKO. This genus is said to derive its name, Gecko, from a peculiar 

 cry made by one of its species which inhabits Batavia, according to Bontius ; 

 it is of a thicker form 

 than the other lizards ; 

 the feet are very re- 

 markable, from the un- 

 der part of the toes 

 being covered with such 

 fine folds of skin, as to 

 enable them to walk on 

 the ceiling; their nails, 

 which are wanting in 

 some species, are re- 

 tractile in different ways, 

 for the purpose of preserving their points, and to give them a better grasp ; 

 the pupil of the eye contracts very much in the light, like those nocturnal 

 animals who pass the day in their holes. They are a very numerous genus, 

 and scattered over the warm countries of both continents. They have been 

 accused of being poisonous, in consequence of their dull air and partial 

 resemblance to the salamanders and toads ; but the charge is without 

 foundation. 



The illustrated species, the Egyptian Gecko, is about eighteen inches and 

 a quarter in length, and is distinguished from the Wall Gecko by the 

 anterior edge of the external auditory passage being more distinctly toothed, 

 by the tubercles on the upper part of the body being smooth, conical, and 

 further apart, whilst those on the sides of the body and limbs are rather 

 small, and distributed in four longitudinal rows ; it is marked between the 

 two shoulders with four white spots disposed in a square, and widely but 

 irregularly surrounded with black ; sometimes the front two approach so 

 closely as to unite. It is a native of Egypt. 



Gecko. 



