286 Animal Life 
The Fence Lizard is also a viviparous species, and its eggs are sub-ellipsoidal in 
form and perfectly white. During the breeding season, the male of this lizard is a 
wonderfully handsome reptile, especially in the coloration of its lower parts, which 
although of a dingy white, are made conspicuous by being set off on either side by 
an area of deep, iridescent cobalt-blue bordered by a jetty black band. There are many 
species of this genus (Sceleporws) in the United States, differmg much in size, colour, 
and appearance. I am most familiar with some of the south-western forms, and the 
type of the eastern one here shown. They are extremely interesting little reptiles, 
perfectly harmless, very gentle, and prettily marked. In the middle districts, as soon 
as the spring is thoroughly opened and the sun becomes powerful enough to warm 
up the woods and waysides at midday, then these lizards come forth from the places 
where they have spent the winter, and are to be observed basking on the old fence-rails 
or scampering with great agility up the tree-trunks when an attempt at capture is 
made. I have kept them alive upon many occasions, and found them to be almost 
wholly insectivorous, and especially fond of flies and ants. Dr. Giinther and other 
herpetologists have classed this genus among the terrestrial lizards, but I have found 
the members to be quite as much arboreal in their habits as Anolis, which by no 
means confines itself to the trees, as the author I have just quoted seems to believe, 
placing it as he does, in his classification, among the arboreal genera. 
De Kay, an American naturalist, claimed that this Fence Lizard (S. wndulatus) has 
the power of changing the brownish olive or grey of its back to a bright azure colour, 
but I have never seen anything of the kind take place, and I think De Kay was 
mistaken, or at least misinformed in this matter. It is a well-known fact to naturalists, 
however, that the little fence lizards lay their white eggs, that I have described above, 
in the sand in the early part of June, and that they hatch out in about a month; 
and it is said that when the young appear “they are treated with the utmost gentle- 
ness by all the adults.’ I have collected this lizard as far south as Mount Vernon, 
Alabama, and have found it abundant in the District of Columbia and in Maryland. 
Passing next, for a brief consideration, to the Heloderma, I find that the reptile 
has been written about and figured in many papers and works upon natural history. 
Still, no little doubt seems to prevail among people generally that this lizard is a 
venomous one, and that its bite may prove to be fatal in the case of man. ‘This is 
one of the most interesting parts of its history, and the more I investigate the 
matter the less inclined am I to believe the truth of the statement. Indeed, I have 
yet to meet with a case, either in my reading or through personal observation, where 
a person has died from the effects of the bite of a heloderma. Certainly, up to a few 
years ago, when I published a full account of the species, no well-authenticated instance 
of the kind was on record, and, as I say, no such case has come to my knowledge 
since. There seems to be, however, some pretty good evidence extant going to prove 
that with respect to the nature of the wound it inflicts with its teeth, in the case of 
small animals it has been established that it occasionally turns out to be fatal. Dr. 
Mitchell's experiments with heloderma venom in Philadelphia appear to corroborate this 
much. As I have already stated, in my own case the bite was certainly non-venomous, 
although it was inflicted by a very large and healthy specimen recently captured in 
Asdizorna, and the wound, a very severe one, cutting through the ball of my thumb 
clear to the bone. Beyond sucking the incision, and the internal administration 
of about an ounce of pure whiskey, with a simple subsequent local dressing, nothing 
whatever was done in the way of treatment. 
While they were formerly very common in the south-western States, these reptiles 
are becoming very rare. This is due to their haying been killed whenever met with. 
