SAND LIZARD. 



and the present one is probably intended by the phrase 

 " L. terrestris anguiformis, in ericetis" These words, with 

 the enumeration of the different species of Newts, are copied 

 verbatim by Ray without acknowledgment. This, however, 

 is but an obscure and uncertain allusion. The first descrip- 

 tion of the species by any British Zoologist is that by the 

 Rev. Revett Sheppard, in the sixteenth volume of the Lin- 

 nean Transactions, in the year 1802. This gentleman adopts 

 the specific name anguiformis from Ray, with whom he 

 appears to believe it to have been original, as he was proba- 

 bly unacquainted with the " Pinax" of Merrett. The Lizard 

 to which his description refers could not have been a variety 

 of the common species, as the latter never acquires half the 

 length of one specimen seen by Mr. Sheppard, which, he 

 says, was upwards of a foot long; and this, although cer- 

 tainly an extraordinary, is not an incredible length for an 

 individual of this species, as I have myself occasionally seen 

 them approaching that length, measured from the nose to the 

 extremity of the tail. Even the general length of Mr. Shep- 

 pard's specimens was " seven inches and upwards." It is 

 true that the characters and descriptions given by this au- 

 thor are vague and unsatisfactory, as they refer merely to 

 colour ; but the dimensions can scarcely admit of a reason- 

 able doubt on the subject. The locality mentioned by him 

 as its most usual resort, namely, on heaths, is also, as far as 

 it goes, a confirmatory fact. 



It is to Mr. Jenyns, however, that we owe the only clear 

 and satisfactory published description of this species as a 

 native of Britain ; and his account of its characters is as admir- 

 able for its correctness and perspicuity as any of the other 

 descriptions of that accomplished author. 



It is from the immediate vicinity of my own native place 

 that the specimens which have hitherto formed the subjects 

 of more recent observation have been obtained. I have been 



