GUANA. 
55 
ceptible particles which were floating in the air. 
When first he took this creature into the house, it 
was very fierce and ill-natured ; but after some days 
its temper improved, and at length it would pass 
the greatest part of the day upon the bed or couch, 
but went out regularly every night. Mr. Browne 
adds, that the guana may be very easily tamed while 
young, and is then both an innocent and beautiful 
companion. 
The female guana is described as smaller than 
the male ; she is said to be more elegantly shaped, 
and to have brighter scales. These beauties, it seems, 
are not lost, since they are productive of the most 
violent attachment in the male, who becomes furious 
when she is in danger, and will defend her person 
at the expense of his life. 
In the spring the female retires from the woods 
to the sea-shore, in order to deposit her eggs, which 
are about the size of a pigeon’s, and generally from 
fifteen to twenty in number. These eggs are reck- 
oned a delicacy, and are said to give an exquisite 
relish to sauces. The animal itself, according to 
Mr. Browne’s account, is so excellent, that when 
fricasseed, and served up at table, it is often preferred 
to the best poultry. 
