Geckos,- 



-KEPTILES.- 



-GliCKOS. 



23 



walls for the purpose ol" finding chinks or Iiollows in 

 which to conceal themselves during the day, and in 

 wliich they will remain motionless for hours, affixed by 

 their feet with the back downwards. Their flattened 

 body, which is flexible in every direction, when insinu- 

 ated into small crevices moulds itself as it were to 

 them ; and the variable colours of the skin enable 

 them to harmonize with the dull tints of the objects 

 with which the body is in contact. The usual colour 

 of tlie skin of the Geckos is of a gray or dull j'cllow- 

 ish huo. In a few Kjieoies, however, bright patterns 

 ornament some portions of the body, and according to 

 some observers, the various tints of blue, red, and 

 yellow which are shown, appear and disappear at the 

 creature's will. Wagler states on the authority of 

 some travellers, that certain species occur in India, 

 which become luminous or phosphorescent in the dark. 

 Tlie varying colours of the skin thus enable them to 

 conceal their presence from the animals which they 

 prey upon, as well as from the little birds of prey and 

 other enemies which seek to destroy them. 



The Geckos, for the most part, are inhabitants of 

 hot climates, and hi almost all the countries where 

 they live are objects of horror and repugnance. 

 Nevertheless, they seem to have a preference for the 

 dwellings of man, and love particularly to take up their 

 abode in inhabited houses — probably from the fact 

 that they are there enabled to find a greater number of 

 insects which are themselves attracted by the sub- 

 stances used as food by the families living in them. 

 Their repulsive appearance causes them often to fall 

 victims to the fear they produce, for popular prejudices 

 endow them with many hurtful projjerties. 



The species of Geckos are numerous, upwards of 

 ninety being described by Dr. Gray in his Catalogue. 

 Some, as we have said above, are so far domestic as 

 to live in houses; others are wilder, and live in sandy 

 desert places; whilst a third set live in a great 

 measure on trees, and chase their prey by springing 

 from brancli to brancli. The name of Gecko is 

 derived from the peculiar noise they make, which is 

 like the sort of sound by which horses are urged to 

 greater speed, and which the natives of different 

 countries have tried to imitate or express by the names 

 of Gecko, in Europe ; Tokair, in Si;un ; and Geitze, in 

 South Africa. 



The species may be divided into two large groiips : 

 first, those which have the toes dilated, and possess 

 under the dilated part tw-o rows of membranaceous 

 plates ; and second, those which have the toes more or 

 less dilated, but which possess only a single series of 

 transverse plates beneath. 



Amongst the species of the first group, we may 

 mention two or three which have the ti'ansverse scales 

 luider the toes divided by a longitudinal furrow, which 

 is deep enough to permit the claws to be withdrawn 

 as into a sheath, and which are called Shcalh-claics, or 

 Thecadactylcs. 



THE TUENIP-TAILED GECKO {Thecadactylus rapi- 

 canda), one of these, is remarkable for the shape of its 

 tail. On being caught, in its exertions to escape it 

 often parts with its tail, which is round and tapering, 

 but which when reproduced assumes an almost globu- 



lar shape. Even when thrown alive into spirits it 

 does the same, and the tail then contracts and becomes 

 rounded in form. As it is usually found in this state 

 in collections, it has in consequence received its specific 

 name of Turnip-tail. 



THE HOUSE GECKO, or F.4N Foot {Ptiindartulus 

 Gecko), anotlier species, which abounds in Egypt. It 

 is found also in Arabia, Syria, and Barbary, whence it 

 has spread to the southern countries of Europe. It 

 frequents the humid and gloomy pails of houses, and 

 there may often bo heard croaking somewhat like a 

 frog. Hasselquist tells us that it is very common in 

 Cairo, and asserts it to be poisonous. Its claws are 

 very sharp, and he says " that he had occasion to 

 convince himself of the acrimony of its venom, as it 

 ran over the hand of a man who wished to catch it. 

 His hand was instantly covered with red pustules, and 

 became inflamed as if it were stung by a nettle. At 

 Cairo it has received the name of Ahou-hurs (Father 

 of leprosy), from the belief the natives have that its 

 poison produces this disease. Cats, we are told, pursue 

 the Gecko, and feed upon it ; and the natives keep 

 their kitchens free from its visits by keeping in them 

 a large quantity of garlic. Its eggs are spherical, 

 with a hard calcareous sliell, and about the size of a 

 small nut. 



THE FAMOCANTRATA, or FRINGED GeCKO {Vrn- 

 j^latcs fimhriatus), is a third species of the Shcat/i- 

 daics, and few reptiles are more remarkable for 

 singularity of form. It partakes somewhat of the 

 appearance of the chameleon, the gecko, and tlie 

 salamander. In its head and skin it resembles tlie 

 former, and in its tail that of the latter. Its head is 

 very fiat, and of an elongate triangular shape ; the eyes 

 are extremely large and prominent, and its throat of 

 immense extent. Its tail is broad and flat, like that of 

 the beaver, and much shorter than the body. It is 

 covered with a membrane which extends on each side, 

 and gives it .somewhat the form of the blade of an oar. 

 The toes are united for half their extent by a broad 

 membrane, which is covered underneath with small 

 square scales or plates, and are only dilated at their 

 tips. The body is flat and elongate, and is remarkable 

 for having a prolongation of the skin, in form of a 

 slashed membrane, extending like a frill along its sides 

 the whole length from the muzzle to the tip of the 

 tail, including the legs. In colour it varies like the 

 chameleon, presenting successively the various shades 

 of red, yellow, green, or blue. This curious animal is 

 found in Madagascar, and is the lizard mentioned by 

 Flacourt in his history of that island in 1658. This 

 author informs ns that tlie natives regard it with a 

 kind of horror. As soon as they see it they turn awa}-, 

 cover their eyes, and even fly from it with great haste. 

 He says, moreover, that it is a veiy dangerous animal ; 

 that it darts upon the negroes, and that it attaches 

 itself so strongly to tlieir chest, by means of its 

 fringed membrane and sharp claws, that it can only 

 be removed by the use of a razor! This state- 

 ment, however, is contradicted by a later observer, M. 

 Bruguieros, who says they are perfectly harmless, that 

 he has often taken them in bis hand, and that he li^s 

 allowed them to squeeze his fingers between, tlicif ^aws 



