Some Notes on the Reptiles 
OF WHICH 
PHOTOGRAPHS APPEAR IN 
THE FOREGOING PAGES * , 
BY 
WALFORD B. JOHNSON. 
To the average person the word “Reptile” means anything 
1 between snakes and slugs or crocodiles and worms, and still to a 
1 large number induces thoughts of something hideous and repulsive, 
or even dangerous. Properly, however, this term should only be 
I api>lied to cold-blooded vertebrate creatures, which are born into the 
I world with all the main features of their parents’ form and shape 
; already developed. The Common Frog, which is regarded hy many 
as one of the most typical of this order, is really not a reptile at all. 
I It first sees the light as a tadpole, and is then as much unlike its 
parents as it is possible to imagtne. On account of these transforma- 
tions which it undergoes in the early part of its existence, the fro^, 
1 in common with the toad, newt, salamander, and many others, is 
ddistinguished from true reptiles. Now a lizard is horn usually from 
„an egg, and escapes from the shell as an exact representation, in 
miniature, of its parents in everything but colour. This, coupled 
-with the fact that it is cold-blooded and vertebrate, at once brings 
the lizard under the order of Reptilia. In short an animal is only a 
ireptile when it possesses a backbone, is cold-blooded, and is born 
structurally similar to its parents, providing also it breathes at all 
I'periods of its existence by means of lungs. 
Every member of this order is covered with some kind of scaly 
armour, the plates varying between the tiny granules of the chamm- 
ieon and the large shields which protect the tortoise. We may 
■ divide all reptiles roughly into four great families : — Crocodiles, 
ITortoises Lizards, and Snakes. 
Crocodiles, as every one knows, when of any size are extremely 
dangerous, becoming morose and wantonly destructive to animal 
I ife ; but if taken young they may be ea.sily tamed, becoming then 
]uite gentle and good tempered. They inhabit all the tropical parts 
)f the Old World, .spending an almost aquatic life, and preying on 
my terrestri.al creatures, which they are strong enough to pull under 
vater and drown. Their throats for the size of the animals are 
urprisingly small, which nece.ssitates the tearing of their food into 
mall pieces. This is accomplished very quaintly by firmly holding 
he victim in the jaws, while pieces are torn from it by the claws of 
he hind foot. Crocodiles are chiefly confined to the Old World, but 
here is a species found in Jamaica, this being the one figured in our 
