SAURIA. 37 



covered with very small scales. The toes are di- 

 lated at the edges, and they can adhere to a plane 

 surface so firmly, as even to crawl beneath a ceil- 

 ing : their length is nearly equal, and they are fur- 

 nished with claws, which, strange to say, are re- 

 tractile, a circumstance which, in conjunction with 

 their eyes, causes them to represent, in Cuvier's 

 opinion, the Cats among Reptiles. It appears that 

 their bad reputation is not wholly groundless, for 

 Hasselquist remarks of the House Gecko, (A. 

 Gecko,) a species that infests cellars, &c., on the 

 borders of the Mediterranean, that a poison exudes 

 from its toes. He saw at Cairo, two women and a 

 girl, at the point of death, from having eaten some 

 cheese, over which a Gecko had crawled. At 

 another time, he saw the hand of a man, who 

 would lay hold of the reptile, instantly covered with 

 red pustules, inflamed and itching. 



Cham&leo,* the Chameleon. 



Perhaps the most singular form in all the existing 

 Saurian tribes is shewn by the Chameleons, indicative 

 of habits not less remarkable. Their compressed 

 body, flattened to an edge at the back, is clothed 

 with minute scaly grains, like shagreen: the tail is 

 prehensile, twining round objects, and grasping them : 

 the five toes of each foot are divided into two sets 

 of three and two respectively, each set being united 

 by a common skin as far as the nails, and the two 



v, chamaileon, the Greek name of the animal. 



