63 
and devours man. The Sucuriaba, Anaconda, or Water Boa 
{Eunectes murinus), as it is variously named, attains still 
larger dimensions than the constrictor, as some have been 
' found of a length of forty feet. It inhabits the large rivers, 
lakes, and marshy grounds of tropical America and passes 
most of its time in the water, now reposing on a sand bank 
with only its head above the surface of the stream, now rapidly 
swimming like an eel, or abandoning itself to the current of 
the river. Such is its voracity that Firmin (‘ Histoire 
Naturelle de Surinam ’) found in the stomach of an Ana- 
conda a large sloth, an iguana nearly four feet long, and a 
tolerably sized ant-bear, all three nearly in the same state as 
when they were first swallowed — a proof that their capture 
had taken place within a short time.” 
Several specimens will be found in the collection, of the 
Common Boa (^Boa constrictor) of South America, and the 
Tree Boa {Epicrates angulifer) of Cuba. The genus Epi- 
crates belongs to a section of the family which are distinct- 
ively known as Tree Boas ; they are rarely more than seven 
or eight feet long, are arboreal in habit, and are found in the 
West Indies and Guiana. 
A large variety of Lizards are distributed throughout the 
world, being most common in the warmer parts of the 
temperate zone. There are many species, belonging to the 
order Lacertilia. Among the most common North American 
forms are : — 
The Striped Lizard i^Eumeces fasciatus), Middle Atlantic 
and Southern States. 
The Six-lined Lizard {^Cnemidophorus sex-lineatus), South- 
ern States. 
The Brown Lizard {Scdoponis undulatus), Southern States. 
The Horned Toad {Phrynosoma cornutd), South western 
United States and Mexico. 
The Chameleon {AnoUs principalis), Southern States. 
These are all small and harmless, many of them living 
among trees and feeding upon worms, insects, &c. 
The Iguanas also belong to this order ; in some species 
they attain a length of four and five feet ; pass most of 
