428 THE FLYING DRAGON. 
very well flavoured and in high repute. It is rather curious that they contain 
very little albumen, the yellow filling almost the entire shell. As is the case 
with the eggs of the turtle, they never harden by boiling, and only assume a 
little tnicker consistence. Some persons of peculiar constitutions cannot eat 
either the flesh or the eggs of the Iguana, and it is said that this diet is very 
injurious in some diseases. The egys are hid by the female Iguana in sandy 
soil, near rivers, lakes, or the sea-coast, and after covering them with sand, 
she leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, 
THE family which comes next in order is that in which are included the 
AGAMAS, a group of Lizards which have been appropriately termed the 
Iguanas of the Old World. In the members of this family the teeth are set 
upon the edge of the jaws, and not upon their inner side, as in the true 
Iguanas of the New World. Between thirty and forty genera are contained 
in this family, and some of the species are interesting as well as peculiar 
beings. 
1 erhaps the most curious of all this family, if not, indeed, the most curious 
of all the reptiles, is the little Lizard which is well known under the title of 
the FLYING DRaGoN. 
This singular reptile is a native of Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and 
neighbouring islands, and is tolerably common. The most conspicuous 
characteristic of this reptile is the singularly developed membranous lobes 
on either side, which are strength- 
ened by certain slender processes 
from the first six false ribs, and 
serve to support the animal du- 
ring its bold leaps from branch 
to branch. Many of the pre- 
viously mentioned Lizards are 
admirable leapers, but they are 
all outdone by the Dragon, which 
is able, by means of the mem- 
branous parachute with which it 
is furnished, to’ sweep through 
distances of thirty paces, the so- 
called flight being almost iden- 
tical with that of the flying squir- 
rels and flying fish. 
When the Dragon is at rest, 
or even when traversing the branches of trees, the parachute lies in folds 
along the sides, but when it prepares to leap from one bough to another, it 
spreads its winged sides, launches boldly into the air, and sails easily, with 
a slight fluttering of the wings, towards the point on which it had fixed, 
looking almost like a stray leaf blown by the breeze. As if in order to 
make itself still more buoyant, it inflates the three membranous sacs that 
depend from its throat, suffering them to collapse again when it has settled 
upon the branch. It is a perfectly harmless creature, and can be handled 
with impunity. The food of the Flying Dragon consists of insects. : 
THE last tribe of the Lizards contains but one genus and very few species. 
From their habit of constantly living on trees, these creatures are called 
DENDROSAURA, or TREE L1ZaRDS. In these, the scales of the whole body 
are small and granular, and arranged in circular bands. The tongue is very 
curious, being cylindrical and greatly extensile, reminding the observer of a 
common earthworm, and swollen at the tip. The eyes are as peculiar as the 
tongue, being very large, globular, and projecting, and the ball is closely 
covered with a circular lid, through which a little round hole is pierced, 
FLYING DRAGON.—(Draco volans.) 
