much despised, much maligned and much persecuted class 

 of animals. 



Still, of all living things reptiles are of no less impor- 

 tance as vermin destroyers than birds, they are with few 

 exceptions carnivorous. Lizards and snakes are of great 

 value as insect and rodent eaters. Turtles act as scaven- 

 gers in the water, but they are frequently destructive to fish. 



Turtles are universally used as food by man, while in 

 many countries lizards and snakes, and even crocodiles, 

 are eaten. Excepting the poisonous snakes, the large 

 Crocodilia and a few others, reptiles are entirely harmless 

 animals which should be protected instead of persecuted 

 through ignorance and prejudice. Even poisonous snakes, 

 with but few exceptions, are far more useful than danger- 

 ous to man. In intelligence lizards outrank all others, 

 whilst turtles show less of it than snakes. 



Reptiles are known from the Permian certainly, though 

 there are indications of their having existed in the Carbon- 

 iferous period. They reached their greatest development 

 during the Cretaceous period. 



The total number of Reptile species now known is about 

 4,000. 



Orders of Reptiles. 



Owing to their many structural resemblances Birds and 

 Reptiles have been placed together by Huxley in the great 

 group of Sauropsida. Dr. Giinther 1 divides the class Rep- 

 tilia into ten orders, five of which are extinct. The other 

 five, embracing but insignificant animals as compared with 

 their forerunners, are : 



Crocodilia, Alligators and crocodiles. 



Rhynchocephalia, one genus and species only, the Hat- 

 teria punctata of New Zealand. 



Lacertilia, Lizards. 



Ophidia, Snakes. 



Testudinata' 1 , Turtles. 



'Article "Reptiles," Encycl. Brit., Vol. 20. 



2 Giinther uses Chelonia instead of Testudinata, using the latter term for a 

 subdivision of the order. 



