136 THE EEPTILES OE EGYPT. 
black lining of the back part of the mouth, the throat is puffed out, and the body 
becomes greatly expanded by the inflation of the lungs. The tail is curved, in the 
form of the letter S, to the side away from the danger threatening it ; and if it is still 
nearer approached while in this attitude, the chest is contracted, the mouth closes, and 
the air rushes out with a hissing sound, and a smart blow is delivered by the tail with 
great rapidity 1 . It runs with great alacrity, its body well raised from the ground. From 
the strong character of its claws, more especially those on its fore feet, it is evidently 
addicted to burrowing, but whether it makes its own burrows or merely inhabits those 
made by other animals is not known ; indeed we possess very little reliable information 
regarding the habits of the two species of this genus found in Egypt, in their wild 
state. Pococke 2 says it frequents caverns, where it sleeps during the winter. 
This species is distributed over the Northern Sahara from "Western Algeria to Egypt, 
and southwards along the Nile valley to Sennaar, and throughout the Eastern Sudan 
to the shores of the Red Sea. It is found in Southern Syria, apparently throughout 
Persia (Caspian Province), Afghanistan, and N.W. India. 
It is known to the Arabs as the waral of the land or of the desert, ,J^I Aj = 
waral el ard, and jj^Jl J = waral eljibal. 
Sonnini is responsible for the statement that this lizard is represented on the 
monuments, but he does not record on what monuments he had observed it. I have 
not met with any figures of it myself, but it is quite possible that it may occur in 
some of the scenes depicted on the tomb of Tih. 
The Egyptians did not regard it as a sacred animal, although they may have held it 
in high respect in consequence of its reputation as a destroyer of the eggs of the 
crocodile. 
Herodotus 3 , in his account of the animals of Libya, mentioned a lizard which he 
called the " crocodile of the land." Prospero Alpini 4 speaks of the " scincus or 
land crocodile " ; but he says that the Scincus of his day was not the lizard of that 
name described by the ancients, which was probably this species, V. griseus, a cubit 
lono-, like a crocodile, with slightly rounded scales, lighter in colour, and with a 
thinner skin. Cuvier after much research arrived at the same opinion. Maillet also 
says there is a species which strongly resembles the crocodile ; it is what the ancients 
called " Crocodile de terre, dont la chair des reins est si renomm<5e dans l'Empire de 
Venus " 5 . 
We are indebted to Abd-Allatif 6 (1161-1231 a.d.) for the native name of this lizard. 
He says : "On pourroit dire que le crocodile est le waral aquatique ; et le waral, le 
crocodile de terre " ; and he adds, " le waral habite les montagnes," that is the desert. 
Along with his account of the waral he also describes the scink, which he says " est 
1 Zool. Garten, xxxvi. 1895, p. 298. 2 L. c. 
3 Bk. iv. cap. 192. 4 Op. cit. Lib. iv. cap. 5, pp. 215-216. 
5 Op. cit. p. 30*. e Relation de l'Egypte, transl. by S. de Sacy, 1810, p. 142. 
