ORDER SAURIA. 221 



and limbs carinated ; the tongue fleshy, scarcely extensible, 

 and slightly emarginated ; a long pointed wattle under the 

 neck, supported by the tail of the hyoid bone ; on the sides 

 of this last, two others, supported by the horns of the same 

 bone ; tail long ; thighs destitute of porous grains ; a slight 

 indentation on the nape ; four small incisors in each jaw, and 

 on each side a long and pointed canine, and a dozen of cheek 

 teeth, large and trilobed ; toes free and unequal, six in 

 number. 



The wings are plicatile, and are developed, like a fan, at 

 the will of the animal. In a state of repose they are horizon- 

 tal. They support the dragon like a parachute, when he 

 leaps from branch to branch, but they have not sufficient 

 force to strike the air and elevate him like a bird. The 

 goitre under the throat is a sort of dilatable sac, narrow, and 

 capable of being folded in circular and concentric wrinkles. 



All the dragons are very harmless animals, of a small size, 

 living; in the bosom of the forests which cover some of the 

 burning regions of Africa, and a portion of the great islands 

 of the Indian ocean, particularly Java and Sumatra. In 

 these deserted places they pursue the insect tribes with dex- 

 terity and quickness, and may be almost said to take them 

 on the wing. They rarely descend to the earth, on which 

 they crawl with difficulty. They always couple on the 

 branches of trees, and the females deposit their eggs in the 

 hollows of trees exposed to the south. Such is the report 

 made by Van Ernest, a Dutch naturalist, to M. Daudin. 



It would appear, according to the observation of M. Palisat 

 de Beauvois, that the dragons are amphibious reptiles. This 

 philosopher remarked one of them, among several, in the 

 Kingdom of Benin, which he was unable to procure, because 

 the animal was swimming in a river. 



These reptiles belong exclusively to Africa and Asia. 

 Scba has led naturalists into an error by saying that they 



