142 CLASS REPTILIA. 



with very regular folds of skin, which enables them 

 to adhere so well to different bodies, that they are 

 observed to walk on ceilings. Their claws are re- 

 tractile in various manners, and preserve their edge 

 and their point. This character, united to that of 

 their eyes, might justify a comparison between the 

 rank of the geckos among the saurians, and that of 

 the felinge in the carnassial mammifera. But their 

 claws vary in number according to the species, and 

 are entirely wanting in some. 



The first and most numerous division of the 

 geckos, which I shall call 



Platydactylus, 



Have the toes widened over their entire length, and 

 furnished underneath with transverse scales. 



Among these platydactylous geckos some have no 

 claws whatsoever, and their thumbs are very small. 

 There are handsome species, all covered with tuber- 

 cles, and painted with lively colours. Those which 

 are known come from the Isle of France. 



Some are destitute of pores in the thighs.* 



There is one of them violet above, white under- 

 neath, with a black line on the flanks. (G. Inunguis, 

 Cuv.) 



Another is grey, all covered with eye-like spots, 

 brown and white in the middle. (^Q. VeillatuSy 

 d'Oppel.) 



* To this division Mr. Gray has reserved the name of Platydactylus. 



