

A POISONOUS LIZARD. 53 



its brethren, it was believed to be thoroughly and 

 completely harmless. True, stories had now and then 

 been circulated by travellers in Mexico, that there 

 existed in that country a lizard, or reptile of allied 

 nature, whose bite was believed to be terribly fatal. 

 But naturally enough, without evidence of the exist- 

 ence of such an animal, naturalists relegated the story 

 to the domain of legend and exaggeration. Without 

 direct evidence of such a statement, no man of 

 science, basing his views of lizard-nature on the 

 exact knowledge to hand, would have hesitated in 

 rejecting the story as, at least, improbable. Yet 

 it is clear that the stories of the New World may 

 have had an actual basis of fact; for the Hcloderma 

 horridum has been, beyond doubt, proved to be 

 poisonous in as high a degree as a cobra or a rattle- 

 snake. 



At first the lizard was freely handled by those in 

 charge at Regent's Park, and being a lizard, was re- 

 garded as harmless. It was certainly dull and inactive, 

 a result probably due to its long voyage and to the 

 want of food. Thanks, however, to the examination 

 of Dr. Giinther, of the British Museum, and to actual 

 experiment, we now know that Heloderma will require 

 in future to be classed among the deadly enemies of 

 other animals. Examining its mouth, Dr. Giinther 

 found that its teeth formed a literal series of poison- 

 fangs. Each tooth, apparently, possesses a poison- 

 gland ; and lizards, it may be added, are plentifully 

 supplied with these organs as a rule. Experimenting 



