I GU AN I DM. 1 1 3 



useless to attempt to find these Reptiles without dogs, as the resem- 

 blance of their colour to that of the trees which they inhabit prevents 

 them from being easily seen. Few dogs but those accustomed to the 

 sport will touch them, as, in addition to the blows which they inflict 

 with the tail, they bite and scratch furiously ; and when once they lay 

 hold of anything with their teeth, they can only be made to let go by 

 an inducement .to bite some more attractive object offered to them. 

 They run into holes when chased, if an opportunity offers, and 

 when their eyes are hidden from view they fancy that their whole 

 body is safely covered. The flesh, particularly of the female, is a 

 great delicacy ; it is cooked in various ways, sometimes in a fricassee 

 with the eggs whole, sometimes roasted or stewed. The eggs have a 

 very glutinous consistence. The flesh is said to disagree with some 

 constitutions. 



" Unless when caught young, it is very difficult to induce these 

 reptiles to feed in confinement, and particularly when watched. 

 Their disposition is sulky and savage, and I have known some of 

 them," continues Lieutenant Tyler, " to die in confinement from 

 starvation, rather than feed. This has caused me to try the following 

 plan, which I find very successful, of affording them nourishment : — 

 I hold them by the lower part of the body with one hand, and with 

 the other I irritate them until they open their mouth and attempt to 

 bite, when I insert food ; and by annoying them in this way, I have 

 not only made them eat their natural food, but I have killed some 

 of them by forcing them to eat corn and leaves, which appear to 

 have disagreed with them. By some of the natives this Iguana is 

 said to eat lizards and insects ; but I have opened several, and 

 I have never succeeded in finding any but vegetable matter in the 

 stomach." 



Of the habits of a kindred species of Iguana, the Cyclura lophura, 

 inhabiting Jamaica, Mr. Gosse has given an elaborate description; 

 and he tells us that the gular pouch in the Iguanidce "is extensible, 

 but not inflatable" as is the current opinion. Holbrook and others 

 have remarked the same ; and Professor Thomas Bell describes the 

 fold of skin as being drawn down by a peculiar arrangement of the 

 lingual bone and a singular cartilage fixed to it and attached also to 

 the skin. These parts are moved by delicate muscles, so that, when 

 the cartilage is drawn down, the skin of course is distended, and 

 follows it "in the same way that the silk is stretched over the 

 whalebone of an umbrella." " In fact the skin," writes Professor 

 Holbrook, " when distended in life by the animal, does not resemble 

 the inflated vocal sacs of the Frogs and Toads, which are round, but 



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