THE LIZARD TRIBE. 4£ 



they were all perfected in the space of five days 

 after the first appeared*. 



It would seem that the flesh of this Toad is not 

 unwholesome, as, according to Madame Merian, 

 the negroes of Surinam eat of it with pleasure, and 

 suffer no inconvenience from its usef. 



THE LIZARD TRIBE. 



THE Lizards, from in many instances an un- 

 pleasant appearance, have, like the Toad, obtained 

 the repute of being venomous. The whole tribe 

 however is perfectly destitute of poison ; and, except 

 in three or four of the enormously large species, al- 

 together inoffensive to mankind. 



They are chiefly inhabitants of the warmer re- 

 gions, and in general possess considerable agility. 

 The larger ones live on animals, which they seize by 

 stratagem, and the smaller ones on insects. Many 

 of them serve mankind for food. The aquatic spe- 

 cies undergo a metamorphosis, being first in a larva 

 state. Most of them are produced from eggs ex- 

 ternally, but some are brought forth alive. In this 

 genus are found nearly the largest and the smallest 

 animals in the creation. 



Anderson's Recreations, ii. 32. Shaw's Gen. Zool. ill . 167. 



+ Dissert, de General, et Metarnorph. Insect, Surinam. Quoted 

 in La Cepede, ii. 315. 



