CONTENTS. 



xix 



Page 



The green calotes . .276 

 The lyre-headed lizard . .277 

 Chameleon . . . .278 

 Ceratophora . . . .279 

 Geckoes, — their power of re- 

 producing limbs . .281 

 Crocodiles . . . .282 

 Their sensitiveness to tickling 285 

 Anecdotes of crocodiles . . 286 

 Their power of burying them- 

 selves in the mud . . ib. 

 Tortoises. — Curious parasite . 289 

 Terrapins . . . .290 

 Edible turtle . . .291 

 Cruel mode of cutting it up 



alive . . . ib. 

 Huge Indian tortoises (note) 293 

 Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous 

 mode of stripping it of the 

 tortoise-shell . . . ib. 

 Serpents. — Venomous species rare 294 

 Tic polonga and carawala . 296 

 Cobra de capello . . .297 

 Tame snakes . (note) 298 

 Anecdotes of the cobra de ca- 

 pello . . . 298, 305 

 Legends concerning it . . 299 

 Instance of land snakes found 



at sea . . . 300 



Singular tradition regarding 



the cobra de capello . . ib. 

 Uropeltidse. — New species dis- 

 covered in Ceylon . .302 

 Buddhist veneration for the 



cobra de capello . . 303 

 The Python . . . ib. 

 Tree snakes . . .305 

 Water snakes . . .306 

 Sea snakes .... ib. 

 Snake stones . . .312 

 Analysis of one . . .315 

 Ca3cilia . . . .317 



Frogs ib. 



Tree frogs .... 320 

 List of Ceylon reptiles . .321 



CHAP. X. 



FISHES. 



Ichthyology of Ceylon, little 



known . . . .323 

 Fish for table, seir fish . . 324 



a 



Page 



Sardines, poisonous ? . . 324 



Sharks 325 



Saw- fish ib. 



Fish of brilliant colours . .326 



The ray ib. 



The sword-fish . . . 328 

 Curious fish described by iElian 330 

 Salarias alt tens . . .332 

 Beautifully coloured fishes . . ib. 

 Fresh-water fish, little known, — 



not much eaten . . . 335 

 Fresh -water fish in Colombo Lake 336 



Perches ib. 



Eels 337 



Immense profusion of fish in the 



rivers and lakes . . .339 

 Their re-appearance after rain . 340 

 Mode of fishing in the ponds . ib. 

 Showers of fish . . .341 

 Conjecture that the ova are pre- 

 served, not tenable . . 342 

 Fish moving on dry land . . 344 

 Ancient authorities, Greek and 



Roman .... 345 

 Aristotle and Theophrastus . 346 

 Athenseus and Polybius . . ib. 

 Livy, Pomponius, Mela, and 



Juvenal .... ib. 

 Seneca and Pliny . . . ib. 

 Georgius Agricola, Gesner, &c. 347 

 Instances in Guiana (note) ib. 

 Perca Scandens, ascends trees 348 

 Doubts as to the story of 

 Daldorf .... 350 

 Fishes burying themselves during 



the dry season . . .351 

 The protopterus of the Gambia 352 

 Instances in the fish of the 



Nile .... ib. 

 Instances in the fish of South 



America .... 353 

 Living fish dug out of the 

 ground in the dry tanks in 

 Ceylon .... 354 

 Molluscs that bury themselves 355 

 The animals that so bury them- 



selves in India . . . 357 



Analogous case of . .358 



Theory of aestivation and 



hybernation . . . ib. 



Fish in hot water in Ceylon . ib. 



List of Ceylon fishes . . 359 

 2 



