38 ON THE GEOGRAPHY OP ANIMALS. 



once fortunate in discovering one of these disgusting in- 

 sects crawling under the pillow of the hed : having lost 

 the specimen, we can only give a copy of the original 

 drawing, exhibiting the natural size (^fig. 4.). The silk- 

 worm of the south of Europe is too well known to re- 

 quire further notice. 



(52.) The European reptiles are fortunately few. Li- 

 zards, so rarely seen in the temperate latitudes of Europe, 

 abound in the south of Italy, and still more so in Sicily 

 and Malta, where the gecko, or house lizards, are fre- 

 quently seen, upon a gloomy day, running along the 

 ceiling of old dwelling-rooms. The viper is the only 

 venomous serpent here found, and there are some few 

 others scattered in the different temperate latitudes. The 



freshwater tortoises, on 

 the other hand, are only 

 to be found in the south 

 of Italy, where they are 

 scarce; and in Greece, 

 where we observed them 

 very common. The spe- 

 cies of turtle found in 

 the Mediterranean is that 

 which is usually described by authors as the logger-head 

 of the West Indies ; and, in support of this opinion, they 

 quote the figure given by Gottwold {fg.5.). Unfortu- 

 nately, we neglected to investigate this question on the 

 spot; but we can vouch for the excellency of this species 

 when dressed, for its flavour is fully equal to that of the 

 green turtle : the flesh of the logger-head, on the con- 

 trary, is described as quite unpalatable. 



(53.) The fish of Southern Europe form one of its 

 most characteristic zoological distinctions. Of those inha- 

 biting the seas of Spain and Portugal, very little is known ; 

 but upon entering the Mediterranean, a large accession 

 of peculiar and very beautiful species appear. The enor- 

 mous shoals of anchovies {fig. 6.), in an economic point of 

 view, are very important — annually employing in their 

 capture and preparation a great number of men. The 



