VARAN1DM. 107 



muzzle, or nearer to one or to the other ; and according to this and 

 some other differences, Dr. Gray divides the Varanidce into as many 

 as seven genera, Dr. Giinther into two. When the tail of these 

 lizards is mutilated, the lost portion is never renewed ; whereas in 

 the preceding families of the Zonuridce, Lacertidce, and Teidce a new 

 tail or portion of one is produced — but this renewed portion contains 

 no bony vertebrae, and remains smooth externally; when the fracture 

 is cleft, as sometimes happens, two new tails are put forth. Another 

 family of lizards in which the tail is thus commonly renewed is that 

 of the Geckos ; but never in the IguanidcB, the Aga??iidce, and the 

 Chameleonidcz, any more than in the Varanidcz. The species of this 

 family defend themselves vigorously, when attacked, by lashing with 

 the tail, as do also the Crocodiles and the larger Iguanidce. 



In the genus Varanus, the nasal apertures form an oblique slit, 

 in, or nearly in, the middle, between the eye and the tip of the snout. 

 The scales are elliptic and small ; those on the back and on the sides 

 are not imbricate, each of them being surrounded by a small, circular, 

 granular fold. The tail possesses a low crest, formed by two or 

 four series of strongly keeled scales. The throat has a transverse 

 fold. The V. draccena, very common in India and Ceylon, grows to 

 a length of five feet, the tail being longer than the body. These 

 reptiles live in holes, and in midday they come forth to seek their 

 food, which consists chiefly of the smaller reptiles and insects. In 

 many parts of India, and in. Ceylon, their flesh is eaten by the natives. 

 The late Dr. Kelaart states that soup made from it tastes like that 

 from hare. At Trincomali, he tells us, they are hunted down by 

 dogs, and sold in the market for sixpence each. This species climbs 

 walls, and holds on so firmly with its strong claws, that it is actually 

 used by housebreakers in India to surmount obstacles : the robber 

 retaining hold of the creature's tail, while in its endeavour to escape 

 it draws him upwards. It lays twenty or thirty eggs, which in texture 

 and appearance resemble those of many snakes, being similarly 

 agglutinated together by a viscid mucus. Sir J. E. Tennent remarks 

 that "one of the earliest, if not the first, remarkable animal to startle 

 a stranger on arriving at Ceylon, whilst wending his way from Point de 

 Galle to Colombo, is this large lizard, which may be seen at noonday 

 searching for ants and other insects in the midst of the highway and 

 along the fences. When disturbed, but by no means alarmed, by the 

 approach of man, it moves off to a safe distance: and, the intrusion 

 being at an end, it returns again to the occupation in which it had 

 been interrupted. It lives in any convenient hollow, such as a hole 

 in the ground, or the deserted nests of the termites ; and some 



