Oeckos. REPTILES. Geckos. 2.3 
■walls for the purpose of finding chinks or hollows in 
which to conceal themselves during the day, and in 
which they will remain motionless for hours, affixed by 
their feet with the back downwards. Their flattened 
body, which is flexible in every direction, when insinu- 
ated into small crevices moulds itself as it were to 
them; and the variable colour.s of the skin enable 
them to harmonize with the dull tints of the objects 
with ■which the body is in contact. The usual colour 
of the skin of the Geckos is of a gray or dull yellow- 
ish hue. In a few species, however, bright patterns 
ornament some portions of the body, and according to 
some observers, the various tints of blue, red, and 
yellow which are shown, appear and disappear at the 
creature’s will. Wagler states on the authority of 
some travellers, that certain species occur in India, 
which become luminous or phosphorescent in the dark. 
The varying colours of the skin thus enable them to 
conceal their presence from the animals which they 
prey upon, as well as from the little birds of prey and 
other enemies which seek to destroy them. 
The Geckos, for the most part, are inhabitants of 
hot climates, and in almost all the countries where 
they live are objects of horror and repugnance. 
Nevertheless, they seem to have a preference for the 
dwellings of man, and love particularly to take up their 
abode in inhabited houses — probably from the fact 
that they are there enabled to find a greater number of 
insects which are themselves attracted by the sub- 
stances used as food by the families living in them. 
Their repulsive appearance causes them often to fall 
victims to the fear they produce, for popular prejudices 
endow them with many hurtful properties. 
The species of Geckos are numerous, upwards of 
ninety being described by Dr. Gray in his Catalogue. 
Some, as we have said above, are so far domestic as 
to live in houses ; others are wilder, and live in sandy 
desert places; whilst a third set live in a great 
measure on trees, and chase their prey by springing 
from branch to branch. The name of Gecko is 
derived from the peculiar noise they make, which is 
like the sort of sound by which horses are urged to 
greater speed, and which the natives of different 
countries have tried to imitate or express by the names 
of Gecko, in Europe ; Tolcaie, in Siam ; and Geitze, in 
South Africa. 
The species may be divided into two large groups : 
first, those which have the toes dilated, and possess 
under the dilated part two rows of membranaceous 
plates ; and second, those which have the toes more or 
less dilated, but which possess only a single series of 
transverse plates beneath. 
Amongst the species of the first group, we may 
mention two or three which have the transverse scales 
under the toes divided by a longitudinal furrow, which 
is deep enough to permit the claws to be withdrawn 
as into a sheath, and which are called Sheath-claws, or 
Thecadactyles. 
THE TUENIP-TAELED GECKO {Thecadacfylus rapi- 
cauda), one of these, is remarkable for the shape of its 
tail. On being caught, in its exertions to escape it 
often parts with its tail, which is round and tapering, 
but which when reproduced assumes an almost globu- 
lar shape. Even when thrown alive into spirits it 
does the same, and the tail then contracts and becomes 
rounded in form. As it is usually found in this state 
in collections, it has in consequence received its specific 
name of Turnip-tail. 
THE HOUSE GECKO, or Fan Foot {Ptyodactylus 
Gecko), another species, which abounds in Egypt. It 
is found also in Arabia, Syria, and Barbary, whence it 
has spread to the southern countries of Europe. It 
frequents the humid and gloomy parts of houses, and 
there may often be heard croaking somewhat like a 
frog. Hasselquist tells us that it is very common in 
Cairo, and asserts it to be poisonous. Its claws are 
very sharp, and he says “that he had occasion to 
convince himself of the acrimony of its venom, as it 
ran over the hand of a man who wished to catch it. 
His hand was instantly covered with red pustules, and 
became inflamed as if it were stung by a nettle. At 
Cairo it has received the name of Ahou-hurs (Father 
of leprosy), from the belief the natives have that its 
poison produces this disease. Cats, we are told, pursue 
the Gecko, and feed upon it; and the natives keep 
their kitchens free from its visits by keeping in them 
a large quantity of garlic. Its eggs are spherical, 
with a hard calcareous shell, and about the size of a 
small nut. 
THE EAMOCAHTRATA, or Fringed Gecko {Uro- 
plates Jimhriatus), is a third species of the Sheath- 
claws, and few reptiles are more remarkable for 
singularity of form. It partakes somewhat of the 
appearance of the chameleon, the gecko, and the 
salamander. In its head and skin it resembles the 
former, and in its tail that of the latter. Its head is 
very flat, and of an elongate triangular shape ; the eyes 
are extremely large and prominent, and its throat of 
immense extent. Its tail is broad and flat, like that of 
the beaver, and much shorter than the body. It is 
covered with a membrane which extends on each side, 
and gives it somewhat the form of the blade of an oar. 
The toes are united for half their extent by a broad 
membrane, which is covered underneath with small 
square scales or plates, and are only dilated at their 
tips. The body is flat and elongate, and is remarkable 
for having a prolongation of the skin, in form of a 
slashed membrane, extending like a frill along its sides 
the whole length from the muzzle to the tip of the 
tail, including the legs. In colour it varies like the 
chameleon, presenting successively the various shades 
of red, yellow, green, or blue. This curious animal is 
found in Madagascar, and is the lizard mentioned by 
Flacourt in his history of that island in 1658. This 
author informs us that the natives regard it with a 
kind of horror. As soon as they see it they turn away, 
cover their eyes, and even fly from it with great haste. 
He says, moreover, that it is a very dangerous animal ; 
that it darts upon the negroes, and that it attaches 
itself so strongly to their chest, by means of its 
fringed membrane and sharp claws, that it can only 
be removed by the use of a razor ! This state- 
ment, however, is contradicted by a later observer, M. 
Bruguieres, who says they are perfectly harmless, that 
he has often taken them in his hand, and that he has 
allowed them to squeeze his fingers between their jaws 
