70 THE FAN-FOOT. 



according to Dr. Russell, will live for some time even when immersed in spirits of wine. 

 The general color of the Typhlops is yellowish white. 



This family contains also the Clawed-snake (Onyftokophis) so called because the bony 

 shield on the muzzle is erect, keeled, and bent over in a claw-like shape and the 

 Silver Snakes (Argyrophis), a small group of reptiles, deriving their popular name from 

 the silvery lustre of their scales. 



THE last family of the sub-order Leptoglossae, or Slender-tongued Lizards, is the group 

 of reptiles termed the Rough-tailed Lizards, or UROPELTID^E. In these Lizards the head 

 is rather compressed, flat above and sharp towards the muzzle. The eyes are of moderate 

 size, and without eyelids, a bony scale answering the purpose. The body is cylindrical 

 and covered with regular six-sided scales, sometimes ridged, but mostly smooth. The 

 tail is also cylindrical, and abruptly terminated, as if cut off obliquely. There are no 

 external limbs, and by most systematic naturalists the Rough-tails have been placed 

 among the serpents, which they very closely resemble, except in the arrangement of 

 certain scales, and the short, abruptly truncated tail. 



According to the elaborate catalogue of the British Museum, the Rough-tailed Lizards 

 are divided into three genera, separated from each other by the formation of the 

 scales that cover the tail. While moving, the Rough-tails aid themselves by pressing 

 the truncated tail against the ground. As a typical species, we may select the PHILIP- 

 PINE SHIELD-TAIL (Uropdtis Philippinus), a reptile which, as its name imports, 

 inhabits the Philippine Islands. In this creature the tail is rather flattened, and 

 covered above with a curious "flat, roundish, radiating, granular shield." On the 

 lower side of the tail the scales are arranged in six rows. The color of the Philippine 

 Shield tail is brown above and white beneath, the line of demarcation being very dis- 

 tinct, and regularly waved. 



A NEW sub-order now comes before our notice, the members of which are distinguished 

 by the formation of their tongues, which, instead of being flat and comparatively slender, 

 as in tha preceding Lizards, are thick, convex, and have a slight nick at the end. On 

 account of this structure, the species of this sub-order are termed PACHYGLOSS^E, or 

 Thick-tongued Lizards. 



These reptiles are divided into sundry groups, the first of which is termed the 

 NYCTISAURA, or Nocturnal Lizards. These creatures have eyes formed for seeing in the 

 dusk, circular eyelids which, however, cannot meet over the eyeball, and in almost every 

 case the pupil is a long narrow slit like that of the cat. The body is always flattened. 

 The limbs are four in number, tolerably powerful, and are used in progression. 



Of these Lizards, the first family is the GECKOTID^E, or Geckos, a very curious group 

 of reptiles, common in many hot countries, and looked upon with dread or adoration 

 by the natives, sometimes with both, where the genius of the nation leads them to 

 reverence the object of their fears, and to form no other conception of supreme power 

 than the capability of doing harm. 



The FAN- FOOT, or HOUSE GECKO, is a native of Northern Africa, and is very common 

 in Egypt, and is found, as its name imports, in houses, traversing the floor and walls with 

 astonishing address, in search of its food, which consists of worms, insects, and similar 

 creatures. The natives have a very great dread of this creature, asserting that it is 

 extremely poisonous the poison not being injected by the teeth, but exuding from the 

 lobules of the toes. The generic title Ptyodactylus, or Toe-spitter, is given to the reptile 

 in allusion to this idea. It is said by Hasselquist, that if a Gecko is taken in the hand, 

 the poisonous matter which is immediately shed over the skin from the feet of the captive, 

 causes an instantaneous eruption, similar to that produced by the sting of a nettle. The 

 same traveller proceeds to relate an incident which is hardly so much in accordance with 



