Teguexix.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-True Lizards. 



11 



tioii of South America and the West Indian Islands. 

 Madame Merian found it in Surinam, ami describes it 

 as growing with time nearly as large as the alligator. 

 It never attacks human beings, she says, but lives upon 

 insects, the eggs of birds, <S:o., and wages war occasion- 

 ally upon small fishes. " When it wishes to' lay its 

 eggs, nature teaches the female to make hollows in the 

 sand, on the bank of some river, and leave to the sun 

 the care of hatching them." These eggs are as large, 

 she says, as that of a small fowl, and are much 

 relished by the Indians. Azara, an acute observer, iu 

 his description of the animals of Paraguay, informs us 

 that these lizards are called by the natives of thut 

 country the Teyu-gikisu,* and that they are generally 

 found on the edges of woods, and in dry plains, in 

 which latter places they form burrows, into which they 

 retreat during the winter. Their motion is very swift, 

 and being rather timid animals, they plunge into the 

 water when ])urs\iod or alarmed, and remain there till 

 the danger is over. lie confirms Madame Merian's 

 statement tliat tliuy live upon insects, and further 

 says, they eat frogs, serpents, young liirds, and eggs. 

 Dumeril and Bibron have alwaj's found the remains of 

 insects in the stomachs of those they have opened, 

 and, on one occasion, mixed up with the remains of 

 some beetles, portions of the skin and bones of a lizard. 

 The natives of Paraguay inlbrmed Azara that the 

 Teguexin is verj' fond of honey, and that to obtain it 

 the reptile approaches close to the hive, and strikes it 

 a pretty smart raji with its tail ; it then runs off, but 

 shortly returns, and with repeated attacks of this kind 

 succeeds in frightening away the bees, and finally 

 regales itself upon the dainty meal thus clevei-ly 

 obtained. Its flesh is esteemed as good eating. The 

 colour of this species is highly beautiful, consisting of 

 an elegant variegation of brown, blackish, and purple 

 spots, on a pale bluish-white, and, in some jiarts, yel- 

 lowish ground. In length it is in general about thirty- 

 eight inches ; the tail is round for the first half, but 

 the latter portion is somewhat compressed. When it 

 walks the belly and tail trail upon the ground, while 

 the head is kept erect. The flattened structure oi the 

 tail shows its fitness for occasionally inhabiting the 

 water, while its strong claws prove its adaptation for 

 digging in the sand. 



THE AMEIVAS {Ameivina) resemble the Teguexins 

 in general form, but the head is more slender and 

 compressed ; the extremity of the muzzle is pointed, 

 and there is no division in size between the neck and 

 the body. The tail is more than two-thirds of the 

 length of the whole body, and is of a rounded tetra- 

 gonal form. They do not like them, however, frequent 

 the neighbourhood of water; they only inhabit arid 

 places. Till y live on wunns, insects, snails, and herbs. 



THE COMMON AMErfAiAmeivaSurimtinensis) is a 

 native of Guiana and Brazil, being spread all over the 

 latter country. It is about a foot, or a little more, in 

 lenglii, and has the back more or less picked out and 

 spotted with black, and vertical rows of white ocelli 

 bordered with black on the flanks. 



* Tryu U the general name for lizards, gi'uiuu alludes to 

 its size ; this species being larger than any other lizard of 

 I'Hragnay. 



THE TEYU-HOBY, orGitEKN Liz.^un of Pai;agi ay 



(Acfdiifiia ti'ijoii), difiers from all the other species 

 belonging to this family, in having only four toes on 

 the hinder feet, like the Crocodiles. The head is short 

 compared with the Ameivas, and the tail is thick at 

 the root, and terminates in a very sharp point. It is 

 nine inches long, tail included, and its colouration is 

 very beautiful. The head is of an enamelled green, 

 this colour being prolonged in a line along the back, 

 and the body is marked with six yellow rays, three on 

 each side ; each of the intervals between the rays being 

 filled up with a series of tolerably large black spots. 

 This green lizard is very common in Paraguay, in the 

 thickets, living there till the end of October, and at 

 the approach of winter retiring into holes. It runs 

 very quickly. 



THE CKOCODILE-TAILS {CrncodHin-liw)* in size 

 and aquatic habits, and in the tbrm of the tail, approach 

 the Crocodiles. They frequent the large rivets, lakes, 

 or wide morasses of South America, and pass a great 

 portion of their life in the water. 



THE ADA, or Gr[;at DitAfiON (Ada Giiiannixii), 

 is an example. It attains the length of from four to 

 six feet, and is a native of Guiana. Its flesh is accounted 

 excellent by the natives, who compare it to that of a 

 fowl. Its eggs are also in request. 



THE TRUE LIZARDS {LaceHkhv) compaise amongst 

 them some of the smallest and prettiest species belong 

 ing to the Saurian order of Reptiles. They are ratbei 

 numerous, upwards of fifty distinct species being eim 

 merated by Dr. Gray in his British Museum Catalogue 

 of Lizards. They are distinguished by having a Jiyra 

 midal head, covered with regular many-sided shields ; 

 a scaly throat, often with a cross fold in front, and a 

 collar of larger scales behind; a lengthened, flat tongue, 

 not sheathed, but free at the base, divided at the tip 

 into two long forks, and capable of being projected 

 to a considerable length. Their teeth are hollow at 

 the roots internally. They are all natives of the Old 

 World and Austialasia, and are all terrestrial. \\'e do 

 not know a single species which is really aquatic. 

 Their tail, instead of being compressed and cajjable of 

 acting as an oar, as in some of the preceding groups, 

 is perfectly round, and in general very long. But 

 though tliey are all terrestrial, they do not all inhabit 

 the same kind of places, nor do they possess the same 

 habits and manner of living. For instance, many of 

 them cannot exist except in such situations as abound 

 more or less in vegetation and herbage, whilst others 

 are only found in desert and arid places. Tlie first set 

 are tliose wdiich are found climbing habitually upon 

 shrubs m thickets, or upon walls or hedges and palings 

 which serve as inclosures of our habitiitions. In these 

 the toes are alwaj's simple, compressed, and quite 

 smooth. The second set never rise Iroin the sandy 

 soil, upon the surface of which they run with great 

 rapidity; for, however unflrvourablc at first sight such 

 a surface might appear for walking njion, the struc- 

 ture of their feet ciuibles them to traverse it with 

 the greatest ease. The toes iu these are exceedingly 

 flattened, keeled beneath, and dentated, or fringed on 



* From the two Greek words, cracodiliis {«;ii««8ii*«), a 

 crocodile, and oura (ei/;«), a tail. 



