216 CLx\SS REPTILIA. 



the cameleons ; their sides destitute of membranes, distin- 

 guish them from the dragons. Their tail without spines, the 

 throat without goitre, and the head without plates, will not 

 permit us to confound them with the stelliones, the iguanas, 

 and the lizards. 



In general, the true agamse have the body thick, covered 

 with a loose skin, which can be inflated at the will of the 

 animal, and which is sown, throughout its whole extent, with 

 small tuberculous scales, rounded, rhomboidal, or hexagonal, 

 and more or less projecting. Their tongue is not extensible, 

 the gullet is without teeth, the neck seems compressed, and 

 on its sides, and behind the ears, are fasciculi of pointed 

 tubercles. The tail is seldom longer than the body. The 

 figure of Agama spinosa, so named by Mr. Gray, is from a 

 specimen in the British Museum ; the colour is uniformly 

 yellowish green, and the species seems nearly allied to the 

 A<jama Colonorum, described at p. 123. 



They seek out humid places in the warmest countries of 

 the two continents, and never issue forth from their retreats 

 until the evening. 



The species which gives rise to our author's subdivision 

 of the Tapayes, or orbicular agamse, namely, the lacerta 

 orbicularis, of Linnaeus, has some apparent relations with 

 the toad. Seba has accordingly designated it under the 

 name of the spinous toad of America. In Paraguay 

 it is called cameleon, because it can swell its body and 

 change colour a little when it is touched. Its body is 

 nearly orbicular, broad, and inflated. Its head thick, short, 

 widened, and swelled behind the eyes. The occiput is 

 furnished with small spines, in the same manner as the back 

 and the upper part of the tail. The tail is short, slender, 

 . and pointed. The feet have fine long and slender toes, 

 armed with crooked nails. The colour is an ashen grey, 

 more clear underneath, and shaded Avith brown spots more or 



