Varying Agama. REPTILES. .Voi.ocii-i.izakd. 
31 
Guiana to designate a peculiar kind of lizard, and which, 
by a mistake of M. Daudin, was conferred as a generic 
name upon a group of Sanrians, of which the represen- 
tative unfortunately happened to he a native of Africa. 
'I’he genus Agama^ as now adopted, is characterized 
liy the species having their body thick and covered 
with strongly-keeled scales, amongst which there are 
some which form groups of spines upon the regions of 
the nape of the neck and ears. The skin is loose, and 
can be itiflated at the will of the animal. In most of 
tlie species there is a crest which runs along the back 
to the tail, and the throat is furnished with some longi- 
tudinal and cross folds. The tail is elongate, tapering ; 
in some rounded ; in others compressed. The species 
known are most of them natives of South Africa and 
Egypt, a few being also inhabitants of the eastern 
portion of the world. They frequent humid places 
ill hot countries, and never issue from their retreats 
till evening. Some of them are remarkable for the 
power they possess of changing their colours like the 
Chameleon. In consequence of this, Cuvier gave these 
species the name of Changeants, or Changeable lizards. 
THE VAKYIKG AGAMA (^Agama vuriuhilis or Tra- 
pelus ruderatua), one of this group, is particular!}^ 
noted for this faculty. M. Isidore Geoflroy St. 
Hilaire, in his description of the reptiles of Egypt, 
thus mentions it : — “ If this little animal had been 
known in ancient times ; if, abundantly spread over 
some of the countries frequented by Europeans, it had 
happened to have become the subject of frequent 
observation, doubtless the name of the Chameleon 
would not have been so celebrated in our days, nor 
would it have been so frequently made the emblem of 
inconstancy and Hatteiy. In fact, the Varying Agama 
is subject to changes of colour even more prompt and 
more rapid than those of the Chameleon, although this 
latter can in a few minutes paint itself with a crowd 
of different tints.” This species of Agarna is of small 
size, being only five and a half inches long from the 
tip of the muzzle to the extremity of the tail ; this 
latter organ forming nearly the half of the total length. 
The head is of a very remarkable form, triangular, and 
as broad at its posterior part as it is long. The tail 
broad, and a little depressed at its base, is slender and 
rounded for the rest of its length. The scales with 
which the body is covered, are remarkable for tlieir 
being all smooth, not spiny, and extremely small. 
“ Individuals,” continues the same author we have 
quoted above, “ which have been preserved in cabinets 
for some years, generally appear of a brownish-gray 
colour above and whitish beneath. But these colours 
do not in any way resemble those which the animal 
presents when alive; it is then often of a beautiful deep 
blue, tinted with violet, with the tail barred with black, 
and with some indistinct reddish spots disposed upon 
the back in such a manner as to form four or five 
small rather regular transverse bands. In a few more 
seconds the blue is replaced by clear lilac ; then the 
head and the feet are ordinarily tinted with green, and 
there is nothing left to recall the remembrance of the 
first colours except the small red spots of the back.” 
The species represented in Plate 2, fig. 3, is the 
Hispid or Spiked Aga.\ia [Agama acideata), which 
is a native of South Africa, in the neighbourhood ot 
the Cape of Good Hope. 
THE STELLION [Stellio cordylus or vulgaris ) — 
Plate 3, fig.l — is another animal belonging to this 
group. It is a native of the Levant, being found 
abundantly in the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, 
tlie Morea, North Africa, Egypt, and Asia Minor. It 
is usually about a foot in length, the tail forming more 
than the half of this. It has rather a bulky head, 
somewhat flattened, and of a triangular shape. The 
throat has a lax, posterior, cross fold, and the body is 
depressed, with a longitudinal plait on each side. The 
tail is conical, round, and ringed with whorls of spinose 
scales. In Greece the Stellion is called Koskordilos 
(xoffxopdvXog), and the Arabs know it by the name of 
Ilardiin. It appears to live in preference amidst the 
ruins of old edifices, amongst heaps of stones, or in the 
clefts of rocks, and is often also found in a kind of 
burrow, which it has the art and industry to excavate 
for itself. It is extremely agile in all its movements, 
and feeds upon the insects which flutter over the sand. 
In the scientific expedition sent by the French govern- 
ment for the purpo.se of exploring the Moreu, this 
animal came under the especial notice of the naturalists 
attached to the party. “ They found it,” says M. 
Bibron, “ at Delos as well as at IMyconia. In this 
latter island especially, it is prodigiously common, and 
is found upon the little walls of dry stone with which 
the fields are surrounded. It retires into the crevices 
amongst the rough stones at the least noise. It is 
suflii'ient, in order to take it, to lift the stones ; then it 
assumes a grotesquely-menacing posture, puffing and 
blowing, and opening a large but inoffensive throat. 
It is reckoned venomous ; but, in spite of this, the 
children are every day handling them, and killing them 
with perfect impunity. Their colour enables them to 
be easily confounded with the rocks, stones, and grayish 
dust amidst which they live ; the quickness of their 
movements alone calling attention to them. They 
leap with great nimbleness. The greater number of 
adult individuals are covered, or rather powdered, with 
whitish, mealy spots, which give them a leprous look, 
which, however, disappears when the animals are 
placed in spirits.” In Egypt, according to Belon and 
some other authors, the people in the neighbourhood 
of the pyramids and the tombs of the Thebais collect 
with care the excrements of this animal ,foi' phar- 
maceutical pur[)oses. In olden times this substance, 
known utider the names of Cordylea, Crocodileu, and 
Stercus Lacerti, was used in Europe as a cosmetic, and 
is still sometimes employed by the Turks even at the 
present day. The Mahommedans have a particular 
dislike to this poor little creature. They pursue it and 
kill it whenever they meet with it, because, they say, 
it mocks them, by lowering its head in the same 
manner as they themselves do when engaged in their 
devotions ! 
In this terrestrial group of the Agamas are several 
species which arc not remarkable for their beauty : — 
THE MOLOCH [Moloch horridtis), for instance, is an 
uncouth and horrid-looking creature from Western 
Australia. The body of this extraordinary reptile is 
covered from head to extremity of tail with numerous 
