78 THE MARINE OREOCEPHALE. 



The Iguana is capable of domestication, and can be tamed without much difficulty by 

 those who are kind to it and accustom it to their presence. It will even permit itself 

 to be carried about in its owner's arms, though it will not permit a stranger to approach. 



The general aspect of the Iguana is most remarkable, and can perhaps be better 

 understood by reference to the illustration than by any lengthened description. Suffice 

 it to say that the head is rather large, and covered above with large scales. The 

 mouth is enormously wide, and studded around the edge with those singularly shaped 

 teeth which have already been described. About the angles of the jaw there are gen- 

 erally some large, solitary, rounded scales. The chin is furnished with a kind of dew- 

 lap, large, baggy, and capable of being inflated at the will of the animal, scaly, and 

 edged in front with a row of bold, tooth-like projections. The sides of the neck are 

 covered with tubercles. The tail is extremely long, and very thin and tapering. The 

 usual color of the Iguana is dark olive-green, but is rather variable even in the same 

 individual, being affected by change of weather, or locality, or temper. On the sides 

 a few brown bands are generally seen, and the tail is marked with brown and green 

 of various tone, the two colors being arranged in alternate rings. The average length 

 of the Iguana is about four feet, but it often attains a much greater size, reaching a 

 length of six feet or a little more. 



The NAKED-NECKED IGUANA was long confounded with the preceding species, bear- 

 ing a great resemblance to that reptile in color, form, and habit, being found in the 

 same localities. It can, however, be readily distinguished from the common Iguana 

 by the absence of tubercles upon the sides of the neck. Along each side of the lower 

 jaw runs a series of large strong scales. The general color of this species is bluish 

 green, darker on the back than on the abdomen. Its flesh is esteemed equally with 

 that of the preceding species. 



BESIDES these Iguanas, there are one or two which deserve a short notice, although 

 our limited space does not permit of a lengthened description. One of these animals 

 is the MARBLED IGUANA or CAMALEAO (Polychrus marnwrdtus\ also a native of Brazil 

 and Central America. This species has the throat compressed into a small dewlap, 

 and the scales of the back and sides equal. There is no crest upon the back and tail. 

 Its color is brown, mottled with bold marblings and diverging lines of a darker hue, 

 and sometimes having a slight purple gloss. 



The APLONOTE (Aloponbtus Ricardi) is another species of Iguana, having its head 

 covered with small equal many-sided plates, and its throat dilated into a small pouch 

 without the toothed projections in front. A shallow crest runs along the back and tail, 

 and the back is without scales, but covered with multitudinous granular tubercles of 

 a very small size. The tail is compressed. The color of this species is blackish 

 brown, variegated with many spots of tawny brown. 



Another curious species is appropriately called the HORNED IGUANA (Metopbceros 

 corntitus), deriving its name from the horn-like projections upon its head. Upon the 

 forehead there is a large horn-like tubercle, and two pairs of large horny plates be- 

 tween the nostrils. There is a crest upon the back, but it is very low between the 

 shoulders, and upon the loins it is not continuous. It inhabits St. Domingo. 



_T has already been mentioned that the Iguana possesses the power of swimming to 

 a large extent, and that it is capable of sustaining a long submersion without suffering 

 any injury. 



There is a curious species of Iguana, the MARINE OREOCEPHALE, which exists upon 

 the seashore, and passes a considerable portion of its time in the water. This creat- 

 ure was first made known to science by Mr. Darwin, who found it on the coasts of 

 the Galapagos islands, and describes its habits in the following words : 



" It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black color, stupid and sluggish in its 

 movements. The usual length of a full-grown one is about a yard, but there are some 

 even four feet long. I have seen a large one which weighed twenty pounds. These 

 lizards are occasionally seen some hundred yards from the shore swimming about, and 



