Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, $*<?. 377 



to heal. Perhaps independent of the mechanical effect, 

 putrefactive matter from the tearing up of his prey may 

 adhere to the tiger's claws, or it is possible that they may 

 have a noxious exudation, which by inoculation festers a 

 wound ? 



In the second volume of Kirby and Spence's excellent work 

 on Entomology, occurs this passage : — " Hasselquest says 

 that the Gecko is very frequent at Cairo, both in the houses 

 and without them, and that it exhales a very deleterious poison 

 from the lobule between the toes ; he saw two women and a 

 girl at the point of death, merely from eating a cheese on 

 which it had dropped its venom. One ran over the hand of 

 a man who endeavoured to catch it, and immediately little 

 pustules, resembling those occasioned by the stinging-nettle, 

 rose all over the parts the creature had touched." 



I have seen a dog run up to the common house lizard 

 of this country (a variety of Lacerta agilis) and try to lay 

 hold of it, but he soon let go again, seemingly consider- 

 ably incommoded and his salivary secretion much increased. 

 A cat again will devour a lizard without hesitation, begin- 

 ning at the tail and crunching away — all but the head, which 

 he leaves. 



The house lizard in India in passing over the face or 

 any part of the human body, produces by the contact a 

 blistered surface. The common belief, so far as I have 

 been able to learn it, is, that this effect is produced by 

 the creature's urine. Be that as it may, I have no doubt 

 of the fact that the contact of the creature does produce 

 the irritation of the skin alluded to. 



A somewhat similar effect is said to be produced by the 

 contact of a large species of house or godown spider. I had 

 often heard of this, but with some measure of incredulity. It 

 is not always easy to catch the spider in the fact, but cir- 

 cumstantial evidence is against him. I have now seen several 

 cases where the peculiar affection was attributed to the 



