part next the body being round and fcaly like diat 
of the rat. 
This fpecies, \vhich is a native of India, is about 
fix inches long; and it's hair, which is fofn and 
downy, is cinereous mixed with tawny. 
Jerboa, Torrid. This creature has long 
whiflcers, haked open ears, and four toes on each 
of the fore-feet; the hind-feet, which are as long 
as the body, are thick, ftrong, and thinly haired, 
with five toes on each; the tail, vv'hich is about the 
length of the body, is very thin of hair; the upper 
part of the body is yellow ; and the lower is white. 
This fpecies is no larger than a common moufe; 
and, according to Linnsus, the only naturalift 
who mentions it, is found only in the torrid zone. 
JESUS. An appellation given by the natives 
of Dantzic to the fifh called by Gefner and others 
the blue chub or capito cperuleus. 
IGNAVUS. A term ufed by feme authors to 
exprefs the creature commonly called the floth in 
England. 
IGUANA. An animal of the lizard kind, of 
which there are feveral fpecies. 
The common Iguana is about five feet long; 
the body is as thick as a man's thigh; the fl<in is 
covered with fmall fcales like thofe of a ferpent; 
and the back is furnifhed with a row of ereft 
prickles, refembling the teeth of a faw. The eyes 
feem to be but half opened, except when the crea- 
ture is irritated, and then they appear large and 
fparkling; both the jaws are full of very fharp 
teeth ; and it's bite is dangerous, though not ve- 
nomous. The male has a flcin depending from 
the throat, v/hich reaches down to the breafi:; and, 
when provoked, the Iguana pufFs it up like a blad- 
der. The female is confiderably lefs than the 
male : the former is green, and the latter afh-co- 
loured. 
■ The flefh of thefe animals may be regarded as 
the greateft delicacy of Africa and America. The 
fportfmen of thofe climates hunt the Iguana in the 
fame manner as the Europeans do the pheafant or 
the hare. At the beginning of the vernal feafon, 
when the great floods of the tropical climates are 
dried up, and vegetation ftarts into univerfal ver- 
dure, the hunters fally forth with a noofe and a 
ftick, along the fides of the rivers, in order to 
catch the Iguana. This animal, though appa- 
rently formed for attack, is one of the moft inno- 
cent in nature, living among trees, or fporting in 
the water, v/ithout ever offering to offend; there, 
having fed on the flowers of the mahot, and the 
leaves of the mapore, that fringe the banks of the 
tropical fcreams, it repofes on the branches of fuch 
trees as overhang the water. On land, the Iguana 
•is fwift of foot; but, when once in poffeffion of a 
tree, it feem.s confcious of the fecurity of it's fitu- 
ation, and never offers to ftir iinlefs roufed: hence 
the fportfrnan has no great difficulty in finding it, 
and as eafily faftcns his noofe round it's neck. If 
it's head be reclined in fich a manner that the 
noofe cannot readily be faitened, by fi:riking the 
anim^al with a ftick on the nofe, it lifts up it's head, 
which in fome meafure affilts the operation; and 
in this way it is dragged from it's proteding tree, 
and killed by repeated blows on the head. 
About the aiontli of May the females proceed 
to the fea-fide, in order to lay their eggs, the males 
accompanying them. The number of their eggs 
is from diirteen to twenty-five, but they are not 
all laid at once : they are as large as thofe of the 
pigeon j their fliellsj which are white and foftj con- 
tain no white; and never become hard by boiling. 
The French pretend that they are much better 
tafted than thofe of pullets ; and that they are pro- 
per to be mixed with all forts of fauces. Thefe 
eggs are laid in the find; and, after being carefully 
covered over, are left to be hatched by the geniai 
warmth of the fun. 
Iguana of Surinam. This fpecies, which 
has a large fl<in under the throat, and a row of 
teeth or thorns on the upper part of the body, re- 
fembles the comimon Iguana in fiiape and colour; 
but differs from it in having prickles on the tail, 
and wrinkles or folds in the bag under the throat. 
The back and fides of the belly are brown mixed 
with blue; and the neck is fprinkled withblackiih 
fpots. Above the fides the colour is more bright; 
and the whole trunk of the body is covered with 
very thin fcales. The thighs, legs, and feet, are 
of a dull blue colour; and the toes, which are of a 
chefniit hue, are arrfied with fliarp crooked claws. 
Iguana of Ceylon. This animal has a large, 
thick head, with warts or tubercles over the eyes; 
the forehead is covered with blue fcales ; and the 
eyes are large and fparkling. The ears are fringed 
with finall eminences, which exhibit the appear- 
ance of eye-lids ; the jav^^s are armed with fmall 
teeth; and underneath there are prickly fcales of a 
bright blue colour. The upper part of the body 
is covered with large fcales, encircled with broad 
whitifh ftreaks ; and the belly is of a very pale blue 
colour. 
This creatute can erefl and deprefs the row of 
fpines on it's body at pleafure: thefe fpines are of 
a pale blue colour, and reach along the back to 
the tail. The female is furnilhed with a double 
rowof ipines, which reach as far as the thighs, and 
then difappcar. 
Iguana- of Formosa. The head of this fpe- 
cies is variegated with fcales of bay, brown, grey, 
and cinereous. The fcales under the body are of 
a duflcy grey colour; but the bag under the throat, 
the hinder thighs, the paws, and the tail, are encir- 
cled with large bright grey ftreaks ; and the fore- 
part of the bag under the threat, as v/ell as the topi 
of the back, are armed with large prickles, which 
on the latter reach to the tail. The flefli of this 
animal is efteemed very delicious. 
Formofa affords another variety of the Iguana, 
of an inferior fize, and v/ith two rows of teeth run- 
ning from the top of the neck to the middle of the 
tail. The bag under the throat is connedled to 
the lower jaw; and that, as well as the head, belly, 
legs, feet, and tail, are of a deep blue colour; arid 
the back is covered with thin fmall Icales of a dun. 
grey. 
Iguana of Nevv^ Spain. This fpecies, like 
the ot'ner congenerous animals, is armed on the 
back with large teeth or prickles, covered with 
fmall thin fcales of a rhomboidal figure, of a grey- 
ifli and reddifli colour undulated with bay brown^ 
The head, and the bag under the throat, are a 
bright grey, the latter being marbled with black; 
the tail is thick at the root, long, and flender at 
the end; the jaws are furnifhed with fnall teeth; 
and on the fide of the lowxr, beneath the ear, there 
is a fort of white button refembling a flattened 
wart. 
JIBOYA. A monftrous ferpent inhabiting 
Java and Brazil, which Legaut affirms he has feen 
fifty feet long : nor is this gentleman Angular in his 
report, many of the miffionaries corroborating his^ 
alfertion; and, as .a farther proof, we have the cor^- 
5 H current 
