Tapataxin.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-Tapayaxin. 



29 



bling in a certain degree the form of the ray fish, only 

 tliat it is mucli smaller, scarcely reaching four inches 

 either in length or breadth. It is of a cartilaginous 

 consistence, however, and varied with many colours ; 

 it is always found cold to the touch, walks very slowly, 

 and seldom changes its place, even if laid hold of and 

 handled. Bnt its head is very hard, elevated, and 

 bristling with a number of spines, disposed in the form 

 of a garland. It delights in being taken hold of by 

 man, to be carried in the hand and fondled, remaining 

 immovable, and enjoying a degree of placid security 

 and tranquillit}' ; wherefore it is usually called by the 

 mtives, the Friend of man. What is wonderful in this 

 animal, and common to no other as far as I am aware, 

 is, that if the head be compressed, or the eyes be 

 troubled, or if it be roughly handled, it can pour out 

 from them drops of blood and eject them to a distance, 

 in the same way as blood is wont to be drawn from a 

 man in sound health ; sometimes it is thrown out with 

 such force as to reach a distance of three paces." 

 AV'onderful virtues were attributed by the superstition 

 of the natives to this blood, especially in the syphilitic 

 diseases which, soon after the conquest of Me.xicc, 



overrun that country. The Tapayaxin lives in the 

 mountainous and cool parts of Mexico, where it is 

 found generally diffused. 



The family of Agamas {Agamida) contains a con- 

 siderable number of species, upwards of eighty having 

 been described by Dr. Gray in his Catalogue. These 

 are distributed through a variety of genera, which are 

 distinguislied by the teeth being implanted into the 

 substance of the jaw, adhering intimately to it by tlieir 

 fings. In none of them is the palate armed with teeth. 

 The thumb of the hind feet is on the same plane as the 

 other toes. These characters separate them distinctly 

 from the Iguanid®, and, moreover, they are all inhabi- 

 tants of the Old World, with the exception of two or 

 three from Australia, whereas the Iguanidae are all 

 natives of the New World. In other respects they 

 resemble the latter family very much, and by many 

 writers on reptiles are made merely a subdivision of 

 them. Like them also they may be arranged in two 

 gror.ps — those which chiefly live upon trees ; and those 

 whose habits are terrestrial. 



Amongst the members of the first group, or those 

 which live on trees, are the harmless little Flvinq 



Fid. 9. 



Tapayaxin of Mexico (Phrjnosoma orbtcularp). 



Lizards or Dragons. To no word, perhap.s, are 

 attaclied ideas more extraordinary, and of greater anti- 

 quity than to that of Dragon. In all ages and in all 

 countries the name Draco has been one of fear and 

 mystery, and has not been dropped by modern natural- 

 ists, who, however, instead of giving it to a creature of 

 romance, have conferred it upon a real, substantial, 

 w'mijnl reptile. The genus Draco contains several 

 upecies, which are small and inoll'ensive, but which, 

 nevertheless, are still equally curious in the eyes of an 

 attentive observer. Their chief character is, in fact, 

 one of the most beautiful examples of the resources, at 

 once simple and varied, that Nature uses in order to 

 arrive at her ends. Destined to live on trees, it was 

 necessary that the Dragons, in order to move them- 



selves with an agility equal to that of the other animals 

 of the tribe to which they belong, should have their feet 

 furnished with toes possessing free claws ; but as tlie 

 insects of which their ordinary food consists fly rapidly, 

 in order to reach them and shoot with celerity from 

 one tree to another it was necessary besides that they 

 should be furnished with wings. We thus see that the 

 skin of the flanks is expandeil in the manner of a para- 

 chute, and sustained by the ribs behind the sternum, 

 which separate themselves bilaterally, in place of con- 

 verging towards the inferior line of the body, a unique 

 example of such an arrangement — Plate 8, fig. 17. 

 The genus Draco has a small head ; the body covered 

 with small imbricate scales ; the throat furnished with 

 three pouches ; six ribs on each side, which are long, 



