CORDYLUS MICROLEPIDOTUS. 



towards the point of the tail the keels are acute, but do not end in spines. 

 Where the rings consist of two circles of scales, the scales of the circle 

 nearest to the body are always smallest, and the keels but scarcely visible. 

 The under-surface of the tail, towards its base, coated with two rows of flat 

 square scales, towards the point with keeled ones, like those of the sides and 

 upper surface. Meatus extemus large, vertically ovate, and opening out- 

 wards and backwards, under the projecting edge of the temple. Nostrils 

 small, circular, and placed near to the apex of the muzzle. Eyes moderately 

 large, rather deeply set, and the eyelids, particularly the lower ones, covered 

 with small granular scales. Femoral pores in one, two, or three rows, each 

 of a circular shape, and its interior consisting of a sort of fungoid texture, 

 which generally protrudes beyond the investing membrane. Full-grown 

 specimens of this species vary from twelve to eighteen inches in length, and 

 the tail generally measures more than the other parts. 



Each of the varieties figured appears to be restricted to its own localities; and, as far as my 

 observations extend, no specimens of two varieties are ever found in the same districts. All 

 the varieties inhabit rocky situations, and where they have a choice they invariably prefer pre- 

 cipices, and the stoney walls of difficultly accessible ravines. In these situations they wander 

 carelessly in search of food and warmth, unless alarmed by what they may regard as enemies. 

 On being closely approached in their retreats they seek concealment under rocks, or in crevices; 

 and when they get into such positions they are with difficulty captured, as by aid of the 

 prominences on the hinder edge of each temple they hold on with a tenacity which is quite 

 surprising, and by them they occasionally offer such an effectual resistance to the force 

 applied from behind, that the tail breaks off from the body before the reptile is secured. 

 The variety represented in Plate XXIV., Fig I, is found on Table Mountain, and the hills near 

 Cape Town ; that on the same plate, and lettered 2, is an inhabitant of rocky precipices at 

 and around Algoa Bay. The variety represented in Plate XXV. occurs on the hills between 

 the principal branches of the Orange River, to the eastward of Phillopolis ; and that figured in 

 Plate XXVI. is found on the top of the high mountainous range, which extends behind Kaffer- 

 land and the country of Natal. 



