ORDER SAURIA. 135 



The species known (^Lac. Basiliscus. Linn.) Seb. I. 

 c. i. Daud. iii. xlii., is recognized by a membranous 

 prominence of its occiput, in the form of a hood, 

 supported by a cartilage. It is an animal of Guiana, 

 grows to a considerable size, is blueish, with two 

 white bands, one behind the eye, the other behind 

 the jaws. They are both lost towards the shoulder. 

 It feeds on grains.* 



POLYCHRUS. 



Have, like the iguanas, teeth in the palate, and pores 

 in the thighs, though not much marked ; but their 

 body, covered with small scales, has no crest. The 

 head is covered with plates. The tail is long and 

 slender. The extensible throat can form a dewlap 

 or cuticular appendage at the will of the animal. 

 Like the cameleons, they possess the faculty of 

 changing colour. Their lungs, accordingly, are 

 voluminous, filling almost the entire body, and being 

 divided into many branches, and their false ribs like 

 those of the cameleon, surround the abdomen, and 

 unite to form entire circles. 



The Polychrus of Guiana, {hac, Marmorata. L.) 

 Lacep. I. xxvi. Seb. II. Ixxvi. 4. Spix, XIV. 



Reddish grey, marbled with transverse irregular 

 bands of a brown red, and sometimes mingled 



* It has been hitherto erroneously believed, on the testimony of Seba, 

 the basilisk of the East Indies. 



