Lizards. REPTILES. Slendeu-tosgued Lizards. 7 
long, fleshy, and movable. They are not much better 
off with regard to the sense of hearing ; but the organ 
of vision is much more highly developed, and their 
sense of sight is, in consequence, very active in most 
of the species. In this, however, there are exceptions ; 
as, in the case of the Blind Worm, for instance, this 
sense is almost entirely wanting. 
The animals belonging to this order live entirely 
upon living prey, their food consisting of small mam- 
malia and birds, fishes, mollusca, and insects. They 
are remarkable for their voracity, devouring a great 
quantity of food at a time, though one meal suffices for 
several days. The jaws are furnished with teeth, which 
are small, simple, conical, unequal, isolated, and without 
true fangs. The mouth is destitute of lips, is generally 
large, so as to admit of their swallowing large pieces of 
flesh, and the hinder nostrils open into its back part. 
The tongue varies a good deal in the different families. 
In the Monitors and true Lizards it is protractile, is less 
so in the Geckos, but in the Chameleons is exceedingly 
long, cylindrical, and worm-like in appearance. The 
structure of the heart and lungs, and the circulation of 
the blood, are the same as has been already described 
in the preliminary remarks upon Reptiles. One of the 
most distinctive characters of the Saurian reptiles, is 
the existence of a breast-bone, or sternum, which is 
generally of large size, and of a cartilaginous structure. 
This sternum, along with the shoulder-bone, forms a 
protection for the heart and large vessels. The species 
of Reptiles belonging to the Lir.ard order grow very 
slowly, and the duration of their life is in general very 
lengthened. Many of them, in course of time, acquire 
large dimensions, as the Monitors and Iguanas. They 
are chiefly to be found in very warm and humid 
climates. Egypt, for example, the temperature of 
which is so burning hot, while the soil is periodically 
moistened bj’ the overflowing of the Nile, possesses an 
immense number of Saurians, especially of the Lizard 
family, and they are remarkable there for there lithe- 
ness, their agility, and the vigour of their movements. 
Bruce, speaking of them, says — “ There is no genus of 
quadrupeds that I have known in the East so very 
numerous as that of the lizard, or of which there are 
so many varieties. The eastern or desert parts of 
Syria, bordering upon Arabia Deserta, which still have 
moisture sufficient, abound with them beyond a possi- 
bility of counting them. I am positive that I can say, 
without exaggeration, that the number I saw one day 
in the great court of the temple of the Sun at Baalbec 
amounted to many thousands ; the ground, the walls, 
and stones of the ruined buildings, were covered with 
them, and the various colours of which they consisted 
made a very extraordinary appearance, glittering under 
the sun, in which they lay sleeping or basking.” A 
very limited number of species, and these all of small 
size, inhabit our island, and the parallel and more 
northern countries of the adjacent continent. As we 
advance into cold climates they disappear altogether, 
but when we pass southwards, their number, specifically 
considered, increases ; and among them some occur of 
unexpectedly large dimensions, as, for example, that 
beautiful species, the Eyed Lizard, measuring sixteen 
or seventeen inches in length, and rvhich is a native of 
Spain, Italy, and the South of France. 
The flesh of many Saurians is held in high repute 
in the countries in which they are found, as an article 
of food. Dampier, in his “ Voyage,” tells us that the 
island of Blanco (in the South Seas) was plentifully 
stored with “Guanos. Their flesh,” he says, “is 
much esteemed by privateers, who commonly dress 
them for their sick men; for they make very good 
broth.” In America the Iguanas are regarded by 
epicures as a great delicacy ; and in Asia the Scinks 
are considered to have aphrodisiac powers. Medicinal 
properties have been attributed to many, especially by 
the Arabian physicians. But this belief was not con- 
fined to the East. “ One species,” says Mr. Martin, 
“ the Adda of the Arabians (Scincus officinalis), for- 
merly obtained a place in the British Materia Medica • 
its flesh was supposed to be a restorative, and of great 
avail in leprosy and other diseases. It was one of the 
ingredients in that compound known as theriaca or 
confectio damocratis; the ‘wild exuberance,’ as Dr. 
Lewis expresses it, ‘ of medical superstition in former 
ages.’” 
None of the Lizard order are poisonous, though the 
ancients regarded many as poisonous in the extreme ; 
and the vulgar, in our own times, frequently look upon 
them with great horror, and entertain a strong suspi- 
cion of their noxious qualities. 
Sub-Order I.— SLENDEK-TONGUED LIZAEDS. 
The Slender-tongued Lizards are divided into two 
tribes, the Ring-scaled Lizards (Cydosaura), and the 
Tile-like Scaled Lizards (Geissosaura), so named from 
the structure and arrangement of the scales with which 
their body is covered. 
Tkibe L— CYCLOSAURA.* 
This tribe contains ten families, and is thus character- 
ized. Scales of the belly square, in cross bands ; those 
* From the two Greek words, Iculdos a circle, and 
saura {trauma), a lizard. 
of the back and tail rhombic and imbricate, or circular 
and subgrannlar, placed in cross rings; of the sides, 
generally granular, rarely like the back. Tongue elon- 
gate, flattened, base sometimes sheathed, generally free, 
only attached to the gullet by a long bridle, and with 
two elongate, cylindrical, horny tips. Tail elongate, 
with whirls of scales, generally conical, tapering, some- 
times compressed, with two elevated crests above. 
Eyes diurnal, with two valvular lids. Feet formed for 
walking. Toes unequal, compressed. 
One hundred and fifty-four species of this tribe are 
enumerated. Our space, of course, will not allow us 
