TRUE LIZARDS. 
165 
the scales of the back being smaller than those on the tail, and by the toes being 
without fringes on their sides, or keels on their soles. An allied genus —Algiroides 
—represented by three species from the eastern coast of the Adriatic, Greece, 
Sardinia, and Corsica,—differs by the strongly overlapping scales of the back being 
nearly as large as those of the tail. On the other hand, four species inhabiting 
South-Western Europe and the opposite coast of Africa constitute a third genus— 
Psammodromus —in which the collar is indistinct or wanting, the toes are not 
fringed, though general^ more or less distinctly keeled interiorly, while the over¬ 
lapping scales of the back bear strong keels. Among these the Spanish keeled 
lizard, or sand-runner (P. hispanicus), retains a trace of a collar and has strongly 
keeled soles; whereas in the Algerian keeled lizard (P. algirus ) the collar is 
COMMON FRINGE-TOED LIZARDS (nat. size). 
wanting, and the soles are at most but feebly keeled. The figured species, which 
inhabits not only North-Western Africa, but likewise Portugal, Spain, and the 
south of France, reaches nearly 10J inches in length, and has a tail almost twice as 
long as the head and body. It is specially distinguished by the scales of the 
abdomen being of nearly equal width and arranged in six rows, as well as by the 
presence of from thirty to thirty-six scales round the middle of the body. In 
colour, this lizard is bronzy-green above, with one or two golden, dark-edged 
streaks along the side; the male being ornamented with a pale blue eye-like 
spot above the shoulder, sometimes followed by one or two behind, while the 
under-parts are whitish. Abundant in Algeria and the neighbourhood of Mont¬ 
pellier this lizard is found in the former region both in hedges and on limestone 
rocks, whereas in France it frequents hedges alone. Preferring dry, open, and 
