238 AEISTOTLE'S ENAIMA, 



Aristotle's Emys seems to be the European pond-tortoise 

 {Emys orbicularis). According to him, it is a small water- 

 tortoise,* but no passage in his works seems to state that it 

 is a freshwater animal. That it is so may be inferred from 

 H. A. Y. c. 27, s. 1, for, after describing how E7n7js deposits 

 its eggs in a hole in dry ground, Aristotle follows with a 

 short but separate description of marine tortoises. Pliny 

 clearly states that freshwater tortoises were called Emydes 

 by some Greek authors. t 



The Nile crocodile is mentioned by Aristotle in several 

 passages, but he gives nothing of importance beyond the 

 information given by Herodotus. 



The gecko, probably Hemidactylus turcicus, and other 

 species, is clearly indicated by Aristotle, who calls it 

 Askalabotes. He says that it can walk on trees in any 

 position, even below the branches,! and that it eats spiders. § 

 Just as, at the present day, the bite of the gecko in some 

 parts of southern Europe is considered to be poisonous, or 

 even fatal, Aristotle says that in some parts of Italy the bite 

 of the Askalabotes is fatal. || Geckos are quite harmless, 

 although their appearance is not inviting, and their food 

 chiefly consists of spiders, flies, and moths. 



Perhaps no reptiles were better known by Aristotle than 

 the chamseleons. He probably saw many of them in western 

 Asia, and it is evident that he dissected them. Some in- 

 teresting statements relating to the anatomy of the chamae- 

 leon have been discussed in Chapters x.-xii. The rest of the 

 statements made by Aristotle, in H. A. ii. c. 7, and P. A. iv. 

 0. 11, are too numerous to be cited at length, and a selection 

 only will be given. He saj^s that it has a very long tail 

 tapering to a point and much twisted, like a thong. IT The 

 outer part of each of its front feet, he says, is divided into 

 two toes, and the inner part into three ; the inner part of 

 each hind foot is divided into two toes, and the outer part 

 into three.** This description agrees with the peculiar 

 arrangements of the toes of a chamseleon, but an error seems 

 to occur, hror for Uros, in Schneider's Greek text. 



Aristotle gives a good description of the eyes of a 

 chamseleon and a short account of their movements, ft 

 but, strangely enough, does not point out that each eye can 



■-'= H. A. viii. c. 2, s. 2. f Nat. Hist, xxxii. 14. 



I H. A. ix. c. 10, s. 2. § Ibid. ix. c. 2, s. 5. 



II Ibid. viii. c. 28, s. 2. IT Ibid. ii. c. 7, s. 1. 

 -- Ibid. ii. c. 7, s. 2. f f Ibid. ii. c. 7, s. 3. 



