LIZARDS. 
1 5° 
however, common to the three countries named, while one species actually ranges 
from India to Australia. That this widespread generic distribution is not a feature 
of the present epoch is proved by the occurrence of fossil monitors in both the two 
latter countries; whereas we have no evidence that they possessed genera of tortoises 
in common. Before proceeding further, it is well to mention that the Egyptian 
representative of the group is known to the natives by the name of ouaran, which 
appears to be the Arabic term for lizards in general. Transliterated as waran, this 
word has been confused with the German warnen, to warn, whence these reptiles 
have been termed warn-eidechsen, or warning lizards; this, again, having been 
translated into monitors —a name which, however erroneous in origin, is too well 
established to be superseded. 
The monitors are distinguished from all the lizards hitherto described by the 
long and deeply-forked tongue, which is capable of being protruded far in front of 
the lips, and is furnished at the base with a sheath, into which it can be withdrawn, 
as in snakes. Including the largest members of the suborder, monitors are further 
characterised by the long body, the broad, uncrested back, the well-developed, five- 
toed limbs, and the long tail, which is very frequently markedly compressed. The 
head is covered with small polygonal scales; the eyelids are well developed; the 
opening of the ear is distinct; and the head is covered with small scales. In the 
skull we may notice alike the absence of a bony roof over the temporal fossae, and 
of teeth on the palate; while it is further remarkable for the union of the two 
nasal bones into a single ossification. The teeth are large and pointed, with ex¬ 
panded bases fixed to the sides of the jaws. On the back the scales are rounded 
and bordered by rings of minute granules, so that they do not overlap; while in 
the under surface we find the squared scales arranged in cross rows. Pores are 
absent both on the under surface of the thigh and in front of the vent. A peculiarity 
of the group is the presence of an imperfect midriff, found elsewhere among reptiles 
alone in the crocodiles. Monitors inhabit Africa, Southern Asia, Oceania, Papua, 
and Australia, and are represented by nearly thirty living species, the largest of 
which attains a length a little short of 7 feet. A fossil species from Northern India 
was, however, probably 12 feet long, while one from Australia could not have fallen 
much, if at all, short of 30 feet. The group is an isolated one, without near relation¬ 
ship to any other family. 
The genus may be divided into four distinct sections, the first of which is 
represented solely by the desert-monitor ( V . griseus ) of North-Western Africa and 
South-Western Asia, extending from Arabia and the Caspian to North-Western 
India. This species differs from all the rest in that the nostrils are in the form of 
oblique slits, while the tail, except sometimes near its tip, is cylindrical. Attaining 
a length of 4 feet 2 inches, and inhabiting the deserts of North-Western India, and 
thence westwards through Southern Asia to the Caspian and North Africa, it takes 
its name from its greyish yellow colour, which may be relieved by brown crossbars 
on the back and tail, and streaks of the same hue along the sides of the neck; the 
young always having yellow spots and dark bars. In accordance with its sombre 
coloration, this species is an inhabitant of sandy deserts. A far handsomer lizard 
than the last is the Cape monitor ( V. albigularis ) of Southern and South-Eastern 
Africa, where it is commonly known to the Boers as the “ adder.” It is the first 
