Dec. 14, 1882, 
milk and cocoa-nut oil, which latter taste the Tapir pos- 
sesses in common with the O’rangutan. It delighted in 
bathing, and was otherwise cleanly. 
27. THE ONE-WATTLED CASSOWARY (Casuarius unt- 
appendiculatus).—The Cassowaries of the Moluccas and 
Papuan Islands, together with the Emeu of Australia, 
constitute a very well-marked division of the Struthiones, 
or ostrich-like order of birds, and occupy a large area of 
the Australian region. But while the Emeu (Dromcus) 
is spread over the whole of the Australian continent, the 
Cassowary is only met with in the northern parts of 
Queensland and in the peninsula of Cape York, and we 
must cross Torres Straits into New Guinea and its adjoin- 
ing islets before we arrive at the true metropolis of the 
Cassowaries. Here we shall find them scattered over 
the different islands to the number of nine, as indicated 
in Count Tommaso Salvadori’s recent essay on the 
group, and but one, or at most two species being ever 
found exactly within the same area. 
A characteristic of the Cassowaries is the large horny 
NATORE 
Tee 
casque which covers the head, and is devoid of feathers. 
In one division of the genus this is much elevated and 
laterally compressed, in the other the casque is pyramidal 
in shape, and flattened cross-ways behind. The One- 
wattled Cassowary belongs to the second division, and is 
further distinguished by having (in common with its near 
ally C. occzpztalis) but a single wattle in the middle of its 
throat. 
This Cassowary was first made known to science in 
1860 by Blyth, from an example brought alive to Cal- 
cutta, of which the exact origin was uncertain. It has, 
however, since been ascertained that it inhabits the 
Island of Salawatty, and adjacent western portions of 
New Guinea, where the naturalists Bernstein, v. Rosen- 
berg, D’Albertis, and Beccari, who have visited these 
districts, have obtained specimens. Like other members 
of the group, it is a forest-hunting bird, living principally 
on various fruits, but also occasionally indulging in such 
animal food as lizards, fishes, and insects. 
Our figure of this Cassowary (Fig. 27) is taken from a 
Fic. 28.—The Sonoran Heloderm. 
nearly adult individual of this fine species, now living in 
the Zoological Society’s Gardens, which was obtained by 
purchase in July last. 
28. THE SONORAN HELODERM (Heloderma suspectum). 
—Lizards, as a general rule, are perfectly harmless ani- 
mals, whose only object when approached is to get out 
of sight as fast as possible. In almost every country, it 
is true, some sorts of lizards have a dreadful reputation 
amongst the ignorant. The Slowworm, in England, and 
the Gecko, in India, are alike reputed to be highly veno- 
mous, but naturalists well know that there is not the 
slightest foundation for these fancies, and that both these 
little creatures are, in fact, quite innocuous. It was, in 
fact, until within a comparatively recent period, the gene- 
rally received opinion among the best authorities, that no 
member of the Lacertilian order was really venomous. It 
is only within the last few years that the evil reputation 
which certain lizards of Mexico and the adjoining dis- 
* “‘Monographia del gen. Casuarius, Briss. Per ‘Tommaso Salvadori.’’ 
Mem. R, Acc. Sc. di Torino). Ser, ii. tom. xxxiv. 
tricts of the United States have long borne among the 
natives of those countries, has been confirmed by an 
accurate examination of their teeth, and the conclusion 
thus forced upon us that atleast one form of lizard is 
endowed with the faculty of producing a poisonous bite. 
The possesssors of these formidable weapons of defence 
are the members of the genus He/oderma of naturalists, 
one species of which was long ago described from Mexico 
under the appropriate name /eloderma horridum. It 
has been shown by MM. Dumeril and Bocourt in France, 
and Dr. J. G. Fischer in Germany, that this lizard has 
not only grooved teeth, after the manner of many of the 
poisonous serpents, but likewise highly developed salivary 
glands, which issue at the bases of the teeth with the 
evident purpose of carrying the poisonous saliva into the 
grooves. It has been likewise shown by the evidence of 
careful observers that the bite of the Heloderma horridum 
is fatal to small mammals and birds, and highly injurious 
to man, although not perhaps under ordinary circum- 
stances capable of inflicting a fatal wound. 
