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VARANS OR MONITORS. 



physiognomy more hideous, perhaps, than that of any of its con- 

 geners. It attains the length of two to three feet. Its head is 

 depressed, very obtuse, swollen behind the eyes, and, so to speak, 

 truncated in front. Its body, cased in shells of a tawny-like yellow, 

 marked with brown spots, blends curiously with the sand, half-buried 

 in which it lurks to surprise its prey or escape from its enemies. 

 The cerastes frequents the deserts of Lybia, Arabia, the Sahara, and 

 the valley of the Nile. Its bite is exceedingly dangerous. 



The varans, or monitors, called also tupinambis by the ancient 

 naturalists, form a genus represented in tropical climes by several 

 species of great size. English writers commonly designate them 

 monitors, the French sauvegardes, because they frequent the haunts 

 of crocodiles and alligators, and give warning of their approach by a 

 whistling sound. Two species belong to Africa : one, aquatic, the 

 varan of the Nile (varanus draccena) ; the other, sand-burrowing, 

 the varan of the Desert (varanus sunius, or arenarius), called by 



