Bb\SSY LtZAKD.- 



-KEPTILES.- 



-EU5IP-F00T Liz.vr.D. 



17 



ernall I'amilies, containing several species, tlie habits of 

 ■wJiich are little known. They are for the most part 

 very serpent-like in their form, and their legs are either 

 very short, or even quite rudimentary. Such are — 



THE BRASSY LIZARDS {ChalcidcE) which have four 

 legs that are only in a rudimentary state, the hinder 

 feet in some not being even divided into distinct toes. 

 Their body is elongate and cylindrical, and their ears 

 are hidden under the ekin. 



THE COMMON BRASSY IIZAED ( Chalcis flavescens) 

 — fig. 6 — is about two and a half inches long, and 

 is a native of tropical America. The scales of the body 

 form very distinct circular rings. The legs are only 

 about a line in length, and the fore-feet are situated 



Fig. 6. 



The Common Brassy Lizard (Chalcis flavescens). 



very near the head. Its colour is rather sombre, the 

 prevailing tint being brassy — hence the name. 



Tribe II.— GEISSOSAUBA.* 



This second tribe of slender-tongued Lizards con- 

 tains eleven families, and is numerous in species — not 

 fewer than one hundred and eighty-three having been 

 enumerated by Dr. Gray in his Catalogue. Formerly, 

 they all entered into the great family of Scinks. 



In this tribe the scales of the body are rounded, 

 quincuncial, that is, placed iu si fivefold order, and 

 disposed in an imbricate form, or hke the tiles of a 

 house, one overlapping the other, in this respect resem- 

 bling the scales of the carp and some other fishes. The 

 tongue is narrow, short, flat, and slightly nicked at tlie 

 end. Body fusiform, or spindle-shaped, or somewhat 

 cylindrical. 



Some of them are remarkable for having only very 

 rudimentary eyelids, or these organs are wanting alto- 

 gether, and the eyes are qujte exposed. Others, and 

 by far the greater number, hawe distinct eyelids, which 

 can close over tho oyes. 



• From the two Grbck words, gcissoii [yurm), a tiled roof, 

 ami sniira (ffcwjfa), a lizard- 



VuL. II. 



In the first group, or Naked-eyes, are the family 

 of Gape-eyed Sci.nks (Gymnop/it/ialmidrc), which are 

 distinguished by the eyelids, when present, being 

 indistinct, circular, ring-like, and immovable. The 

 ears are distinct. The limbs are four, but weak and 

 unequal. 



THE AMERICIMA {G iimnnphthalmus Unentiis) ia 

 completely destitute of eyelids, and the front feet have 

 only four toes, the hinder five. In general form tliis 

 lizard, which is a native of Brazil, resembles very 

 much our common viviparous lizard. It is of a brown- 

 ish-green bronze colour, the sides being blackish, with 

 a slight yellow streak above and below. 



The Ablepharus has the rudiments of eyelids, but 

 they form merely a portion of a circle 

 on the bark part of the eye. 



THE HUNGARIAN ABLEPHARUS 

 {Ahlepharus rannonicus) has tho 

 body long and slender, and the feet 

 short. It is of a coppery-green 

 colour on the upper parts of the 

 body, with a chestnut-coloured band 

 on each side. Tho belly is of a 

 yellowish-white. Tliis lizard isfound 

 in very ditferent parts of the world, 

 being met with in Australia, in the 

 Jlorea, and in Hungary, in which 

 latter country it was first observed. 

 The naturalists connected with tho 

 scientific expedition sent by the 

 French Government to the Morea in 

 1826, found it in considerable abun- 

 dance amongst the ruins of Pylos, 

 and in the neighbourhood of Nava- 

 rino. " This innocent and prett)' 

 little Saurian hides itself under stones, 

 where it rolls itself up like an lulus, 

 which it resembles in appearance, 

 and in its polished steel colour." It lives upon 

 insects, such as beetles, gnats, and gruls. 



THE RUMP-FEET LIZARDS (Pijgopida) have nidi- 

 mentary eyi'lids, but only two feet. 



THE COMMON RUMP-FOOT [Pijgopns lepithpndu.i), 

 — Plato 1, fig. 4 — is a native of Australia, and resem- 

 bles a serpent. There are no fore legs, and the two 

 hinder ones are mere appendages, which look like small 

 fins covered with scales, and seem to be in no way 

 adapted for walking. They are placed far back on 

 the trunk of the bodj', just at the commencement of 

 the tail. The animal altogether resembles in form the 

 smooth snake, and is of a coppery -gray colour, with 

 several series of black spots and streaks on the side of 

 the neck and body. 



Family.— SCINCID^. 



In the second group, that in which the eyes an 

 covered, are the true SciSKS (Scincidtr), a large family 

 containing forty-five distinct genera, and many species 

 They have regular distinct eyelids, whirh move up and 

 down and cov er the eyes. The body is spindle-shape il, 



• From the two Greek words, yj/mnos [yuyto:), naked, and 

 ophAdnos (»f9«A/iot), the eye. 



