50 
room x. land ; the Ornamented Monitor ( Mon. ornatus) 
from the Cape; and the Grey Ouran {Mon. 
Scincus) from Egypt. All these specimens live 
near the water’s edge, and are venerated by the 
natives, who assert that they give notice of the 
approach of the Crocodiles, by hissing when 
they perceive one of those animals. Whether 
this be fact or fiction, the name, Monitor, is 
probably to be traced to that origin. The 
Americans have a similar idea with regard to 
the Safeguards {Teius) of the New World. In 
the Collection are the Double-crested Ada 
{Teius bicar mains'), very like the Crocodile in 
shape; the Variegated Safeguard {Teius Mo¬ 
nitor); various species of Ameiva {Lacerta 
Ameiva , Lin.) ; and the Intermediate Centropyx 
{Teius intermedins ), peculiar for having lanceo¬ 
late abdominal plates, and the males two spini- 
form scales on each side of the base of the tail. 
Next follow the True Lizards, which, like the 
Monitors, are peculiar to the New World ; but 
they are at once distinguished from them by 
their tongue being, like those of the Safeguards, 
simply contractile, whereas that of the Monitor 
is withdrawn into a sheath under the gullet, 
when at rest, in the same manner as the tongue 
of snakes. The Collection contains several 
specimens of this genus, most of which are 
found in Europe, as the Ocellated Lizard {Lac. 
ocellata ), Green Lizard {Lac. viridis), and the 
Wall 
