THE CAPE TARENTOLA. 73 



" In a boudoir where the ladies of my family spent their evenings, one of these familiar 

 and amusing little creatures had its hiding place behind a gilt picture-frame, and punctually 

 as the candles were lighted, it made its appearance on the wall to be fed with its accustomed 

 crumb ; and if neglected, it reiterated its sharp quick call of cJiic-chic-chit, till attended to. 

 It was of a delicate gray color, tinged with pink, and having by accident fallen on a work- 

 Table, it fled, leaving its tail behind it, which, however, it reproduced within less than a 

 month. This faculty of reproduction is doubtless designed to enable the creature to escape 

 from its assailants ; the detaching of the limb is evidently its own act. 



" In an officer's quarters in the fort of Colombo, a Gecko had been taught to come daily 

 to the dinner-table, and always made its appearance along with the dessert. The family were 

 absent for some months, during which the house underwent extensive repairs, the roof having 

 been raised, the walls stuccoed, and ceilings whitened. It was naturally surmised that so 

 long a suspension of its accustomed habits would have led to the disappearance of the little 

 Lizard, but on the return of its old friends, at their first dinner it made its entrance as usual 

 the instant the cloth had been removed." 



Another rather curious species is the Turnip-tailed G-ecko (Thecodactylus rapi- 

 eaudus), so called from the odd shape of its tail, which, when reproduced, is very much 

 swollen at the base, and, with its little conical extremity, has an almost absurd resemblance 

 to a young turnip. It is worthy of mention, that all the Geckos possess the faculty of 

 reproducing their tails when those members have been lost by some accident, and that the 

 second tail is mostly very tinlike the original. Before the creature has suffered (if it does 

 suffer) this mutilation, the tail is covered with scales of the same structure and form as 

 those of the back; but when the tail is reproduced, it is generally supplied with little 

 squared scales arranged in cross series. In examining a Gecko therefore, ft is necessary to 

 ascertain whether the tail be in its normal condition or only a second and altered edition of 

 that member. 



The color of the Turnip-tailed Gecko is brown, mottled boldly with a darker tint, and 

 speckled with tiny dots of dark brown. The scales of the back are six-sided, and on each 

 side of the base of the tail there is a prominent conical tubercle. This species inhabits 

 Tropical America. 



A vert remarkable reptile is the Fringed Tree Gecko, or Smooth-headed Gecko. 

 It is a native of Java, and especially worthy of notice on account of the broad membranous 

 expansions which fringe the sides of the head, back, limbs and tail. On the body this 

 membrane is covered with scales, and waved on its edges, but on the tail the waves become 

 suddenly deepened, so as to form bold scollops. The toes are webbed to the tips, and, with 

 the exception of the thumb-joint, are furnished with claws at the swollen extremity. The 

 scales of the back are smooth and flat, and even the membranous fringes are covered with 

 scales. 



Formerly this creature was thought to be aquatic in its habits, but it is now known to 

 live on trees, and to employ the membranous expansions in aiding it in its passage from 

 branch to branch, much after the well-known fashion of the flying squirrels. The generic 

 title, Ptychozoon, is composed of two Greek words, the former signifying a fold of a garment, 

 and the latter a living being. The general color of the Fringed Tree Gecko is brown above, 

 with a slight yellowish tinge along the spine, and crossed with small dark brown lines, very 

 narrow and deeply waved. A line of similiar appearance and of a bold zig-zag form encircles 

 the top of the head, looking as if a dark brown string had been tied at the ends, formed into 

 a rude circle, and then pinched at intervals so as to cause deep indentations. Below it is of a 

 whitish gray color. 



The curious and rather interesting little Lizard called the Cafe Tauentola, is an inhab- 

 itant, as it name signifies, of the Cape of Good Hope, and is found spread over a considerable 

 portion of Southern Africa. 



Vol. m.— 10. 



