BASILISK. 



207 



But fiercely hissing through the poison'd air 

 The Basilisk exerts his deathful glare : 

 At distance bids each vulgar pest remain, 

 And reigns sole monarch of his sultry plain. 



But the animal known in modern natural his- 

 tory b}^ this name is a species of Lizard, of a very 

 singular shape, and which is particularly distin- 

 guished by a long and broad wing-like process or 

 expansion continued along the whole length of 

 the back, and to a very considerable distance on 

 the upper part of the t^il, and furnished at certain 

 distances with internal radii analogous to those in 

 the fins of fishes, and still more so to those in the 

 wings of the Draco volans, or Flying Lizard. 

 This process is of different elevation in different 

 parts, so as to appear strongly sinuated and in- 

 dented, and is capable of being either dilated or 

 contracted at the pleasure of the animal. The 

 occiput or hind part of the head is elevated into 

 a very conspicuous pointed hood or hollow crest. 



Notwithstanding its formidable appearance, the 

 Basilisk is a perfectly harmless animal, and, like 

 many other of the Lizard tribe, resides principally 

 among trees, where it feeds on insects, &c. It 

 has long ago been admirably figured in the work 

 of Seba, and as it is an extremely rare species, 

 has sometimes been considered (from the strange- 

 ness of its form) as a fictitious representation. 

 There is, however, in the British Museum, a very 

 fine specimen, well preserved in spirits, and which 

 fully confirms the excellency of Seba's figure ; 

 from which, in all probability, Linnaeus himself 



