16 
THE ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. 
[UPPER 
only traces of them ; in the Blind Worms the bones of the legs are 
hid under the skin. Cases 8, 9. The Geckos, or Night Lizards, which 
can walk up glass, and run with facility, back downwards, on the 
ceiling of a room, like flies. The Guanas, many of which are highly 
esteemed as food, are natives of America, and, like the Chameleons, 
have the power of changing their colour with great quickness. In Case 
10 is the Moloch of King George's Sound, covered with large spines, 
which serve for its defence ; the diminutive Dragons of India, with the 
skin of their sides expanded upon long slender ribs, in the form of 
wings, which spread out and support the creatures as they leap from 
branch to branch. The Chlamydosaurus, or frilled Lizard of North 
Australia, with a large folded frill round its neck, like a Queen Eliza- 
beth's ruff, which it can elevate when excited. The Chameleons of 
Africa and India, celebrated for the rapidity with which they change 
their colours ; they feed on insects, which they catch by protruding 
their long tongues ; only a small part of the eye is visible, the rest 
being covered with skin; the eyes move independently of each other. 
Cases 11-17. Snakes or Serpents. Case 11. The Poisonous 
Serpents, such as the Rattle-snakes of the New World, which have a 
rattle at the end of the tail ; this rattle is formed of a series of hard 
horny joints, fitting loosely one into another, which the animal can 
shake at pleasure ; the Vipers, such as the Adder, the only venomous 
reptile of the British Islands ; the Puff-adders of Africa, so named 
from their power of inflating their bodies when irritated. Cases 11- 
17. The Colubrine Snakes, such as the Sea-snakes found in the seas 
of Asia and Australia ; many of them have poison-fangs. The Boas, 
with the rudiments of legs more conspicuous than in other snakes ; 
they are not venomous ; they kill their prey by constriction, twisting 
the end of their prehensile tail round a tree, and thus increasing their 
power over the animal when encircled by the folds of their body ; their 
gape is enormous. The Coral Snakes are banded with black and red 
rings ; the Cobra Snakes, which can dilate the skin of the neck so as 
to form a kind of hood over the head ; they are the snakes used by the 
Indian jugglers. They have large poison-fangs, which are carefully 
extracted before the performances. The Tree Snakes, called, from the 
great length of their bodies, the Coach-whip Snakes; one kind has 
the nose much produced. 
Cases 18-23. The Tortoises and Turtles. Cases 18, 19. The 
Land Tortoises live on vegetable substances ; the gigantic, so called, 
Indian Tortoise, is common in the Galapagos islands, whence sailors 
procure them as food. Cases 20-22. The Fresh-water Tortoises live on 
animal food ; some of these cannot withdraw their heads into the cavity 
of the shell like the other Tortoises. Case 23. The Three-clawed 
Terrapins live in the rivers of Africa, Asia, and America; they are 
carnivorous, and eat their food in the water. The Marine Turtles 
live in the ocean, feeding chiefly on sea- weeds and shell-fish ; these 
include the Green Turtle, the fat of which is so much relished by the 
gourmand ; the imbricated Turtle, which furnishes the best sort of 
" tortoise-shell." 
