OF THE UNITED (STATES 



113 



orbits. The oral gape is capacious, and the aperture leading to 

 the interna 1 ear is found a few millimeters to the rear of its com- 

 missure. In some specimens a jet black patch is found between 

 the eye and ear, and another above the forearm on the side, sur- 

 rounded by a whitish border; one or both of these markings may 

 be absent, the anterior one being by far the most persistent. 

 During deep inspiration eight ribs may be counted on either side 

 of this lizard's body; these rarely show when the specimen is at 

 rest and in good condition. See what peculiar feet he has, par- 

 ticularly the hinder pair, and I have taken unusual pains to rep- 

 resent these correctly, and to the best advantage. The tore feet 

 are arranged quite symmetrically, but the toes on the rear pair 

 can be spread out as shown in the cut, or drawn down, side by 

 side, to form a very narrow and, we must own, much more sightly 

 foot. Lying in the median plane, beneath the throat and reach- 

 ing back as far as the sternal space, Anolis possesses a peculiar 

 ornament; this consists in a fold of the common integument, con- 

 trolled by an exceedingly interesting apparatus that gives it the 

 power of protruding downward and slightly forward at will, 

 carrying the fold with it, to fully the extent shown in the figure, 

 or even more. Upon complete retraction this appendage is 

 scarcely discernible. Its sudden appearance has a very striking 

 effect, as the skin of which it is composed is of a bright red color, 

 being decked over with the white scales, which are here larger 

 than usually found elsewhere on the body, that stand apart by 

 the stretching. Out of the large number of specimens that I 

 have examined alive, this curious affair never appeared to be 

 missing, though in some it was very much more prominent than 

 in others, so we are forced not to attach to it any sexual distinc- 

 tion. The males are also crested along the dorsum, another 

 feature which becomes more prominent when this reptile is ex- 

 cited. Under nearly all conditions the ventral parts of Anolis, 

 except the continuity of the tail, are white, longitudinally striped 

 with irregular dusky lines that are much more decided at the 

 throat, and almost amount to a mottling on the belly and chest. 

 A certain amount of mottling occurs high up and along the back. 

 This lizard can assume, apparently at will, one of two colors, or 

 an irregularly distributed combination of both of them; these 

 colors are a bright pea-green, the alternative being a very hand- 

 some shade of brownish-bronze, very dark in some old specimens, 

 verv light in others. 



