182 ISLES OF SUMMER. 
its forehead and head of its nose. Iread in Appleton’s Americatt 
Encyclopedia that there are no four footed reptiles that are dan- 
gerous. I have allowed the lizards of all descriptions to bite 
me, and never suffered any inconvenience from it. Their bite 
is like that of turtles; they pinch hard, and have great strength 
in their jaws. The small lizards will stand and turn their heads 
and listen if you whistle. It is amusing to see them out hunting. 
They hunt insects that are large enough to attract their atten- 
tion. Ata place where I used to go to get sea-eggs to dry, flies 
collected, and I would sit and watch them. They would see a 
fly when two feet distant, and then lie down and creep towards 
it like a dog after a wood-chuck, or acat after a mouse. I have 
seen them jump and catch flies, and catch them on the wing. 
Salamanders are not dangerous. I have tamed little red ones so 
that they would walk ’round on my finger. I never could get 
one of them to bite me. They are perfectly harmless.” 
In a communication received from our young friend, Mr. 
Phelps, of Vermont, while this chapter was in the printer’s hands, 
he states: ‘‘Many of the people of Nassau consider the flesh of 
the iguana a great delicacy. I wadMnable to test it personally, 
because none were offered for sale in the Nassau market. I ob- 
tained one from Cuba for my collection. They grow toa length 
of from three to four feet, including the tail, which is two-thirds 
the entire length. The head is large, and its capacious mouth 
is armed with about fifty teeth upon each jaw. The dew-lap has 
a depth about equal to the diameter of the head; it is triangular, 
and has about a dozen separations on itsanterior border. Along 
its neck and back is a comb-like crest of fifty-five scales, which, 
extending to the tail, becomes simply a serrated ridge. The 
color above is greenish, with blue and slate tints; below it is a 
greenish yellow; generally, upon the sides, there are brown, zig- 
zag bands, with a yellowish border; on the front of the shoulder 
