I'YGOPUS. Fygnpus 



life and death, added to human ingenuity and industry, that its harmful districts occupy 

 but a comparatively small portion of its surface, the greater part of the world beine; 

 suitable for human habitations, the black man settling as a pioneer, a hewer of wood and 

 drawer of water, where the white man cannot yet abide. But in all those localities 

 where the miasmatic exhalations impall the land with their pestilential mantle, and scatter 

 the seeds of death on every breeze, the reptiles may be found luxuriating amid the deadly 

 elements, and thriving in spots where the foot of man dares not tread, and his inquiring 

 eye ventures not to penetrate. 



THE first family of this tribe is distinguished by the apparent absence of eyelids, those 

 organs being only rudimentary and scarcely visible, so as to give to the eyes a superficial 

 resemblance to those of the serpents. On account of this peculiarity, the reptiles belonging 

 to this family are termed the Gape-eyed Skinks. Their bodies are spindle-shaped, their 

 tongues are scaly, nicked at the tip, their teeth are conical, and their limbs are four in 

 number, and very feeble. 



These creatures are found in various parts of the globe, but Australia seems to be their 

 favourite home. The PETE or AUSTEALIAN TILIQUA (CrytobUpharus Boutonii) is a good 

 example of the Gape-eyed Skinks or GYMNOPHTHALMID^E, a long name derived from two 

 Greek words signifying naked-eyed. As its name imports, this reptile is a native of 

 Western Australia, but it is also found in other parts of the world, specimens having been 

 taken in Timor and the Mauritius. The colour of the Pete is olive, sometimes with a 

 wash of bronze, mottled with brown, and variegated with little black streaks. Sometimes 

 there is a bright yellow streak on each side. Its eyelid is circular and scaly, and the three 

 upper scales are the largest. 



THE next family is well represented by the PYGOPUS, or NEW HOLLAND SCHELTOPUSIC, 

 a curious reptile that inhabits Australia. 



This creature might easily be mistaken for the snake-like Lizard called the Schelto- 

 pusic, which has already been described on page 49, as the two fore legs are entirely 

 absent, and the hinder pair are very small, rudimentary, and set so closely against the 



