LECTURE Vri. 
S'? 
bodies, and square plates beneath. The Cha- 
masleons, with granulated skin, a large head, long 
extensile tongue, and long cylindric tail. Geckos, 
with granulated skin, scattered over with tuber- 
cles, and lobated feet. Skinks, with a very smooth 
skin, and large fish-like scales. Salamanders or 
Newts, with soft skins, and which generally in- 
habit the water. And lastly the long or snake- 
shaped LizardSy with extremely short legs and 
very minute feet. 
Of this vast tribe of animals those termed Cro- 
codiles have in all ages been regarded as some 
of the most formidable animals of the warmer re- 
gions. They inhabit Asia and Africa, but seem 
to be most common in the latter, where they 
reside in large rivers, as the Nile and the Niger, 
preying chiefly on fish, but occasionally seizing 
on almost every animal which happens to be ex- 
posed to their rapacity. Their size is prodigious, 
specimens being often seen of twenty feet in 
length, and we have accounts of some which ex- 
ceeded thirty feet. The general colour of the 
Common Crocodile, v/hen arrived at full growth, 
is blackish olive above and yellowish white be- 
neath. The armour with which the body is eo- 
