164 Rev. L. Guilding on the Zoology of 



the intensity of which the animal seemed to have the power of chang- 

 ing ; for the colours varied in the same light and in the same medium, 

 after the manner of the spots on the Cephalopodous MoUusca, or, ta 

 use a more familiar instance, somewhat in the same Avay that the hues 

 of a turkey-cock's wattle vary. On touching the mantle, it was imme- 

 diately withdrawn within the shell, which became exposed in all its 

 brilliancy. 



So firmly did the soft parts adhere to the shell, that, in no instance, 

 (and the experiment was often made) did Mr. Stutchbury succeed in ex- 

 tracting them by force, either during life, or before decomposition took 

 place. He was obliged to let the animal die, and suffer the soft parts to 

 decay, in order to remove them. 



Art. XVIII. Observations on the Zoology of the Cari- 

 bcean Islands. By the Rev. Lansdown Guilding, B.A., 

 F.L. and G.S., M.W.S., Sfc. 



(Continued from Vol. Ill, p. 544.) 

 NOTICE OF THE LIVING GUANA OF THE WEST INDIES. 



The Zoologist will never, perhaps, be able in all respects to estabhsh 

 correctly the characters of exotic genera, until he can have an opportu- 

 nity of drawing up his descriptions from living subjects. After the 

 death of the larger animals within the tropics, the greatest changes 

 almost instantly succeed, and mock the skill of the investigator 

 of the works of Nature. Dried specimens suffer materially in the pro- 

 cess necessary for their safety ; and subjects preserved in spirit not only 

 lose their colours, but often reach him in a state of decay, which pre- 

 vents an accurate examination of important parts. 



Hence has arisen the error handed down by so many naturalists that 

 the gular process, fPalear, Guild.,) in the Iguanido' and the .^nolideSy 

 was a pouch capable of inflation. Indeed to one of our lizards, Anolis 

 bullaris of modern herpetology, (A. variabilis, nobis,) a specific name 

 has been given which can by no means be retained; the dew-lap process; 



