262 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
I saw two women and a girl at Cairo who narrowly 
escaped death from having eaten cheese upon which 
this animal had shed its venom. I had another occa- 
sion at Cairo of being convinced of the sharpness of its 
venom., as it ran off the hand of a man who was en- 
deavouring to catch it ; his hand was instantly covered 
with red inflamed pustules, attended by a sensation 
like that which is caused by the stinging of a nettle. 
It croaks at night almost like a frog.” 
This reptile yields in malignity to no serpent 
whatever. Foskall, the Danish naturalist, says of it, 
— “ The Gecko is called in Egypt, Abu Burs, f Father 
of Leprosy/ that is, extremely leprous : at Aleppo, 
simply Burs, f Leprosy/ It is frequent in the houses 
at Cairo ; wanders about in summer weather ; has 
much the same squeak as a weasel; is not much 
seen in winter, but hides itself in the roofs of houses, 
and reappears in the middle of March. If the tail 
be separated from the living animal, it will give 
signs of life and motion half an hour afterwards. 
They say this lizard hunts and lives on poultry. Its 
name is said to he derived from its properties ; for if 
it drops any of its spittle on salt intended for the 
table, it would produce a leprosy on any man who 
should partake of it ; for this reason they carefully 
put away salt, or keep an onion by it, which the lizard 
cannot bear. Others think its name is taken from 
the resemblance of its colour to that of a leper.” 
It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the ample 
account furnished of this reptile, there is no evidence 
whether it has the fang-teeth of venemous serpents, or 
whether, being imbued with venom throughout, it 
