i 5 o LIZARDS. 



however, common to the three countries named, while one species actually ranges 

 from India to Australia. That this widespread generic distribution is not a feature 

 of the present epoch is proved by the occurrence of fossil monitors in both the two 

 latter countries; whereas we have no evidence that they possessed genera of tortoises 

 in common. Before proceeding further, it is well to mention that the Egyptian 

 representative of the group is known to the natives by the name of ouaran, which 

 appears to be the Arabic term for lizards in general. Transliterated as waran, this 

 word has been confused with the German warnen, to warn, whence these reptiles 

 have been termed warn-eidechsen, or warning lizards; this, again, having been 

 translated into monitors — a name which, however erroneous in origin, is too well 

 established to be superseded. 



The monitors are distinguished from all the lizards hitherto described by the 

 long and deeply-forked tongue, which is capable of being protruded far in front of 

 the lips, and is furnished at the base with a sheath, into which it can be withdrawn, 

 as in snakes. Including the largest members of the suborder, monitors are further 

 characterised by the long body, the broad, uncrested back, the well-developed, five- 

 toed limbs, and the long tail, which is very frequently markedly compressed. The 

 head is covered with small polygonal scales; the eyelids are well developed; the 

 opening of the ear is distinct ; and the head is covered with small scales. In the 

 skull we may notice alike the absence of a bony roof over the temporal fossa?, and 

 of teeth on the palate ; while it is further remarkable for the union of the two 

 nasal bones into a single ossification. The teeth are large and pointed, with ex- 

 panded bases fixed to the sides of the jaws. On the back the scales are rounded 

 and bordered by rings of minute granules, so that they do not overlap ; while in 

 the under surface we find the squared scales arranged in cross rows. Pores are 

 absent both on the under surface of the thigh and in front of the vent. A peculiarity 

 of the group is the presence of an imperfect midriff, found elsewhere among reptiles 

 alone in the crocodiles. Monitors inhabit Africa, Southern Asia, Oceania, Papua, 

 and Australia, and are represented by nearly thirty living species, the largest of 

 which attains a length a little short of 7 feet. A fossil species from Northern India 

 was, however, probably 12 feet long, while one from Australia could not have fallen 

 much, if at all, short of 30 feet. The group is an isolated one, without near relation- 

 ship to any other family. 



The genus may be divided into four distinct sections, the first of which is 

 represented solely by the desert-monitor ( V. griseus) of North- Western Africa and 

 South- Western Asia, extending from Arabia and the Caspian to North- W T estern 

 India. This species differs from all the rest in that the nostrils are in the form of 

 oblique slits, while the tail, except sometimes near its tip, is cylindrical. Attaining 

 a length of 4 feet 2 inches, and inhabiting the deserts of North- Western India, and 

 thence westwards through Southern Asia to the Caspian and North Africa, it takes 

 its name from its greyish yellow colour, which may be relieved by brown crossbars 

 on the back and tail, and streaks of the same hue along the sides of the neck ; the 

 young always having yellow spots and dark bars. In accordance with its sombre 

 coloration, this species is an inhabitant of sandy deserts. A far handsomer lizard 

 than the last is the Cape monitor ( V. albigularis) of Southern and South-Eastern 

 Africa, where it is commonly known to the Boers as the " adder." It is the first 



