258 Trmisactioyis. — Zoology, 



and then passing their broad, tliiu, and large tongue right over their eyes, 

 as if washing them, and always so finishing their drinldng. I have also 

 seen them lick the wet koromiko leaves when fresh ; and the young ones, 

 more than once, lick the adult male. Their tongue and palate are of a 

 deep purple colour, much like that of some plums, and the tongue, when 

 fully extended (as in licking), has an emarginate appearance, which may, 

 however, be owing to the action of the hyoid muscle. 



They seem to like the water, as they often go singly into their water- 

 trough, and remain extended in the water for some time. They can swim 

 very fast, too, but clumsily, as if they were in a great hurry about it; I 

 have occasionally tried them at swimming in a large vessel of water. 



They can run very swiftly, as I have often proved. When they merely 

 walk, their tails are always straight ; but when they make haste then- tails 

 are undulated laterally throughout their whole length. Here, no doubt, 

 their under-squamse help them ; this, indeed, I have in a measure ascer- 

 tained, in my taking the large lizard into my hands and holding it vertically, 

 when, to aid its ascent in crawling, all the squama below are used strongly, 

 and one feels them curiously appUed agamst the hand.* This, also, I think, 

 will account for their being able to climb up on the o^ttside , oi ihoix glass 

 dome, which they can do — in which feat they are no doubt also materially 

 aided by the large transverse scales on their toes, which are a beautiful 

 object, and admirably adapted for climbing purposes. Their claws, too, 

 are exceedingly sharp, having a translucent or semi-crystalline appearance, 

 and are set on at almost a right angle to their toes. One can hardly bear 

 to hold them in one's hand when they struggle and use their sharp claws. 



Their tails have also a strong prehensile power, as I have found in their 

 clasping my fingers with them very closely, and so holding on. On one 

 occasion I had to clear the tail of one which was fast, having taken a half- 

 turn over itself in the sharp angle of a twiggy branch of half-withered and 

 flaccid koromiko, which, I suppose, it had pressed down by lying upon it. 



They sometimes spring a short distance very nimbly when they wish to 

 get away from any little obstructions ; and they also jump down fearlessly 

 and without hesitation. I have taken them up and allowed them to run 

 over a book, etc., held horizontally, 2-3 feet above the table, when they 

 would run straight over the edge of the book and drop on the table on all- 

 fours, like a weasel or a cat, and so continue to run as before. 



They assume all manner of curious and grotesque positions, some of 

 them being most extraordinary, and some apparently painful, but in reality 

 I suppose are not so. Whatever posture they assume they both can and 



* The sensation being just as if every single scale was being forcibly moved forwards 

 in rapid succession by the muscles of the animal. 



