THE IGUANA. 515 



The Brazilians, indeed, call it the chameleon. Its food con- 

 sists almost entirely of fruits and other vegetable substances, 

 though some species are supposed to be omnivorous. The 

 natives frequently tame it, when it willingly allows itself to be 

 carried about by its owner, though it at once distinguishes 

 strangers. 



There are, however, numerous species of iguanas ; indeed, 

 the family contains fifty genera — the true iguanas being all 

 inhabitants of the New World. To its predecessor, which it 

 closely resembles in bony structure, the largest is but a mere 

 pigmy — for that extinct monster must have been about 

 seventy feet in length, the length of the tail alone being 

 fifty-two feet, and the circumference of the body fourteen and 

 a half feet; while its thigh-bone was twenty times the size of 

 that of the modern iguana. Vast as was the inhabitant of 

 the ancient world, it was herbivorous, like that of the com- 

 paratively Lilliputian creature of the present day. 



Everywhere the agile, beautifully-tinted lizards abound, 

 sunning themselves on logs of wood, or scampering over the 

 sandy soil. Now they may be seen turning round the trunk 

 of a tree, much as a squirrel does, watching the passer-by, and 

 trying to keep out of sight. Some are of a dark coppery colour, 

 others have backs of the most brilliant silky green and blue, 

 while others are marked with delicate shades of yellow and 

 brown. 



The largest of their family is the tcguexin, or variegated 

 lizard. Sometimes it is called the safeguard, from the idea 

 — probably an idle fable — that, like the monitors of the Nile, 

 they give notice of the approach of the alligator by their loud 

 hissing. 



There are several species which inhabit the hot, sandy 



