LIZ 
inagnitude: (or, though the newt may be regarded 
in this contemptible light, the crocodile would be 
a dreadful infeft indeed ! Thus Lizards are in 
ibme meafure excluded from every rank, while 
they exhibit fomewhat of the properties of all : 
the legs and fpeed of the quadruped ; a facility 
of creeping through narrov/ and intricate ways, 
like the lerpent ; and a power of living in the 
water, like fifiies. However, though endued 
with thcfe various powers, they have no real ad- 
vantages over any other clafs of animated nature; 
for what they gain in aptitude for one element, 
they lofe in their fitnefs for another. Thus, be- 
tween both, they are an aukward, uncouth tribe; 
neither fo alert on land, nor fo nimble in the wa- 
ter, as the refpe6live inhabitants of either abode : 
and, indeed, this axiom holds good throughout all 
nature, that in proportion as the feeming advan- 
tages of inferior animals are multiplied, their real 
ones are abridged ; and all their inftinfts are 
weakened and loft by the variety of channels into 
which they are divided. 
As Lizards differ from every other clafs of ani- 
mals, they alfo vary widely from each other. 
With refpecft to fize, the ranks of no clafs of be- 
ings are fo oppofite. What, for inftance, can be 
more removed than the fmall camelcon, an inch 
long ; and the alligator of the River of the Ama- 
zons, about thirty feet ? To an inattentive obferv- 
er, they would appear entirely of different kinds; 
and Seba expreffes his aftonifliment that ever they 
came to be clalTed together. 
Nor are thefe animials more various in their 
fizes than in their colours : they are found of 
every different hue; green, blue, red, chefnut, 
yellow, fpotted, ftreaked, and marbled. Were 
Colour alone capable of conftituting beauty, the 
Lizard might often be regarded as charming ; but 
there is fomething in the figure of that animal fo 
extremely forbidding, and fo inimical to our ideas 
of proportion and harmony, that the brilliancy of 
it's fcales, and the variety of it's fpots, only tend to 
convey an idea of more exquifite venom, and more 
iiniverfal malignity. The formation of thefe ani- 
mals is alfo exceedingly various : fometimes they 
are fwollen in their bellies ; fometimes they are 
purfed up at their throats ; fometimes they have 
rough fets of fpines on their backs, like the teeth 
of a faw ; fometimes they have teeth, at others 
none; fometimes they are venomous, at others 
harmlefs, and even docile ; fometimes they are 
fmooth and even ; fometimes they have long, flen- 
der tails; and, at others, blunt ones. 
But the principal diftiinflion between the Lizard 
fpecies arifes from the manner of bringing forth 
their young. Some of them are viviparous; and 
others emit their fpawn like fiflies. The crocodile, 
the iguana, and all the larger kinds, bring forth 
eggs, which are hatched by the vivifying heat of 
the fun : the animals that iffue from them are com- 
pleat on leaving the flielis; and their firft efforts to 
run are in order to procure fubfiftence in their na- 
tive element. The viviparous kinds, in which are 
all the falamanders, are produced from the bo- 
dies of the females perfeft and a6tive, and undergo 
no future change: but thofe which are bred in the 
water, and, as is generally fuppofed, from fpawn, 
fuffer a very confiderable change in their form j 
they are generated with external fkins or coverings, 
which fonrietimes enclofe their feet, and give them 
a ferpentine appearance. To thefe adfcititious 
fi<ins fins are fuperadded above and below' their 
tailsy which affift the animals in fwimming.;. but 
LIZ 
when the falfe fldns drop off, thefe likewife dif\p- 
pear; and then the Lizards, with their four feetj 
are compleatly formed, and exchange the water for 
the land. 
Thus it appears that of this tribe there are three 
didind kinds, differently produced, and moft pro- 
bably very unlike in their formation. , But the 
hiftory of thefe animals is as yet very obfcure, and 
will perhaps ever remain fo : their difpofitions are 
in general foiitary, and their very appearance is 
difgufting to moft people; hence, therefore, nei- 
ther opportunity nor curiofity are favourable for 
the inveftigation of this part of animated nature. 
We are ftill incapable of drawing the line which 
feparates the different kinds : all we know is, that 
the great animals of this clafs are produced perfeft 
from the eggs; that the falamanders are generally 
viviparous; and that fome of the Water-Lizards 
are imperfe£lly formed at their firft coming abroad. 
In all thefe moft unfiniflied produftions of nature, 
if they may be fo called, the varieties in their ftruc- 
ture increafe in proportion to their imperfedions; 
and, were it lawful to give fcope to the flights of 
imagination, it would probably occur, that Na- 
ture, in fuch cafes, grew tired of the odious for- 
mation, and left Accident to compleat her plan. 
However, the three diftinft kinds of Lizards 
have many features of fimilitude; and, in all their 
varieties of figure, colour, and produ£lion, this 
tribe is eafily diftinguiftied from the reft of ani- 
mated nature, and ftrongly marked : they have all 
four legs, the two fore ones fomewhat refembling 
the arm and hand of the human race; they have 
tails which are almoft as thick as their bodies at the 
beginning, and generally run tapering to a point ; 
they are all amphibious; and their internal ftruc- 
ture is fuch, that the exercife of their lungs is not 
neceffary to preferve life and circulation. 
Thefe indeed are lines which fufficiently fepa- 
rate Lizards from all other animals; but it will be 
very difficult to fix the limits which diftinguifii the 
three kinds from each other. The crocodile tribe 
and it's affinities are fufficiently diftinguiftied from 
all the reft by their magnitude and ferocity ; the fa- 
lamander tribe is diftinguiftied by their deformity, 
their frog-like heads, the ftiortnefs of their fnouts, 
their fwollen bellies, and their viviparous produc- 
tion ; but with regard to the reft, which may be 
confidered as the proper Lizard tribe, they are too 
various in their habits and conformations to be re- 
duced to any fpecific chara£lers, as well as too in- 
fignificant in themfelves to merit a minute invefti- 
gation : we ftiall therefore only fubjoin a defcrip- 
tion of fome of the moft ufual fpecies, and leave 
the patrons of deformity to increafe the catalogue. 
Lizard, Scaly; the Lacerta Agilisof Linnsus. 
The length of this animal, from the nofe to the 
hind legs, is about three inches; and from thence 
to the extremity of the tail, three inches and three 
quarters. It has a black lift along the back, and 
a brown one on each fide ; beneath which, it has 
another broad one of black. The belly is yellow j 
and the fcales are large and even, thofe on the 
back beingfmall, and varied with black and brown. 
The legs and feet are dufky; and on each foot 
there are five toes, furniftied with claws. 
Lizards of thisipecies are extremely nimble, and 
hence receive their Linnsaa appellation. In hot 
weather they are frequently feen balking on the 
fides of dry banks, or old trees; but, on being ob- 
ferved, they retreat to their holes with the greateft 
precipitation. The food of this, and indeed of 
every other fpecies of Lizards found in England, 
is 
