S8 L A C E R T A. 
and its full hi (lory does not appear to be clearly underftood. 
See Plate III. fig. i. 
| 3 . There is an Egyptian variety mentioned by Laurenti, 
No. 54. 
L. Schneideriano, Schneider’s fiat-tailed gecko, is pro¬ 
bably another variety, though confidered by him and Dr. 
Shaw as a diftindt fpecies before unnoticed. Size not men¬ 
tioned ; colour cinereous with a brown band on each fide 
the head, running acrofs the eyes over the thoulders; 
along each fide of the body a kind of future or wrinkling of 
the fkin : tail broad, convex above, fiat below, and edged 
with a row of longer and Iharper fcales than on the other 
parts. The lamellse of the feet lunulated and divided. 
5. Lacerta dracaena, the dracsena lizard : tail long, and 
denticulated along the upper part ; body fmooth. This 
may be confidered as one of the larged of the lizard tribe; 
it is a native of feveral parts of $outh America, as well 
as of fome of the Indian iflands, and is faid to be more 
efieemed in fome countries as an article of food than 
chicken. The head is fmall, and of an elegant form, the 
fnout tapering in fuch a manner as to bear a refemblance 
to that of an Italian greyhound ; the teeth are fmall and 
numerous, and the tongue forked ; the opening of the 
ears large, and furrounded by a well-defined fcaly border. 
The proportions of the neck and limbs are elegant, 
though ftrong; and the body is moderately thick : the 
tail is of a great length, though in a fine fpecimen, pre¬ 
ferred in the Leverian Mufeum, it was not quite fo long 
in proportion as reprefented by Seba. The colour is 
brown, with a flight call of chefnut, paled on the abdo¬ 
men and infides of the limbs; the outfides of which are 
marked by numerous fmall pale or yellowilh fpots. The 
whole animal is fmooth, or defiitute of prominences on 
the ikin, which is covered with fmall, ovate, and in fome 
parts flightly-fubquadrate, fcales, largeft on the outfides 
of the limbs, the back, and the abdomen ; along the up¬ 
per edge of the tail runs a continued feries of fhort tri¬ 
angular denticulations. The feet are moderately ftrong, 
and the toes are armed with fliarp crooked claws. This 
fpecies, like the preceding, has the power of agitating its 
long tail, and brandifhing it like a whip; from which the 
name of caudiverbera has been applied to it as well as to 
the other. This fpecies has likewife been named the cor- 
dylus ; but that term belongs to a very different lizard, to 
be afterwards defcribed. Dr. Shaw obferves, that Ce- 
pede’s account rather applies to the bicarinata, or at leaft 
that he has confounded the two fpecies. 
6 . Lacerta bimaculata, the two-fpotted lizard : tail 
twice the length of the body, carinated and ferrated on 
the upper edge ; toes lobate. This fpecies was firft de- 
fcribed by Dr. Sparrman, in the Memoirs of the Stock¬ 
holm Academy for 1784, from feveral fpecimens fent to 
the mufeum of baron de Geer, from North America, by 
Dr. Aerelius. In fome of thefe fpecimens, the upper 
parts of the body were fpotted with black ; but in every 
one there were two large black fpots on the Ihouldeis, 
from which circumftance the trivial name, here retained, 
was adopted by Sparrman. The head is compreffed, or 
flattened at the fides. The tail is flattened laterally, and 
is twice the length of the body. All the toes are edged 
with membranes, or lobed at their fides, except the outer 
tee of each foot . The ground-colour of this fpecies is va¬ 
riable, but is mo ft commonly blackifti or greeniih blue. 
Each foot has fiv.e toes. This fpecies is found in Pen- 
fyivania and St. Euftatius ; and frequents the woods, liv¬ 
ing much in the hollows of trees-: it is likewife found in 
drains, and other fubterraneous places. Its voice is a 
kind of whittle, which it emits frequently. It is eafily 
taken by means of a bunch of ftraw, which is brought 
towards it, the perfon who carries the ltraw imitating its 
whittle, when the animal leaps in, and is fecured. 
7. Lacerta monitor, the monitory lizard : body black, 
with tranfverfe rows of white ocellated fpors; tail very 
long, compreffed, and carinated. The monitor, or mo¬ 
nitory lizard, as one of. the nxoit beautiful of the whole 
tribe, and is alfo one of the largeft; fometiines meafuring 
not lefs than four or five feet from the nofe to the tip ot 
the tail. Its ihape is fiender and elegant, the head being 
fmall, the fnout gradually tapering, the limbs moderately 
fiender, the tail laterally compreffed, and infenfibly de- 
creafing towards the tip, which is very fiender and fliarp. 
Though the colours of this lizard are Ample, yet fuch is 
their difpofition, that it is impoflible to furvey their gene¬ 
ral effect without admiration. In this refpeft, however, 
the animal varies, perhaps, more than raoft others of its 
tribe; hence the many varieties quoted, which chiefly 
confift in the diftribution of the colours. However, it is 
moft commonly black, with the abdomen white, the lat¬ 
ter colour extending to fome diftance up the fides, in the 
form of feveral pointed bands; befides which the whole 
body is generally ornamented by feveral tranfverfe bands 
cqnfifting of white annular fpots, while the head is marked 
with various ftreaks of the fame colour, the limbs with 
very numerous round fpots, and the tail with broad dif- 
tant tranfverfe bands. In others, the fpots forming the 
lateral bands are Ample inftead of annular; and in others 
again, the annuli, or white rings, are themfelves compefed 
of fmall white fpots, which are likewife often fcattered 
here and there over the black ground-colour. The 
ground-colour in fome, inftead of being black, is of a 
deep ferruginous brown. All, however, agree fo far in 
the general difpofition of the variegations, that it is not 
eafy to miftake the fpecies for any other. This elegant 
animal is a native of South America, where it frequents 
woody and watery places, and, if credit may be given to 
the reports of fome authors, is of a difpofition as gentle 
as its appearance is beautiful. It has even gained the ti¬ 
tle of monitor, falvaguarda, &c. from its pretended attach¬ 
ment to the human race; and it has been faid that it warns 
mankind of the approach of the alligator by a loud and 
fhrill whiftle. But thefe names have been alfo applied by 
fome authors to different fpecies, as the teguixin. See. 
Six diftindt varieties of this fpecies are enumerated in 
the Syftema Naturae on the authority of Laurenti and Seba ; 
the variation is chiefly in the colour; we fhall therefore 
only mention one, which Seba has more particularly de* 
feribed. 
t. The Tejuguacv. The French call this lizard de mer, 
fea-lizard ; and Seba defenfor litloris marts, the fafeguard of 
the fea-fhore, becaufe it feeds upon dead fifti which it 
finds either upon the fhores of the fea or the banks of ri¬ 
vers ; but it never commits itfelf to the deep, for it can¬ 
not fwin, not having the neceffary organs. The furface 
of the upper part of the body, which is of a bluifh caft, 
is ornamented with fmall fquamas of the thinneft texture. 
The head, which is adorned in a fimilar manner, is thin 
and long. The mouth converges to a point, and, as well 
as the head, is variegated with bright white fpots like 
fmall pearls in a firing, and the intermediate fpaces are 
likewife marked with other fpots. This - variegation on 
the top of the head refembles a crown. The eyes and 
ears are deeply fixed in the head, over the ears is a pellu¬ 
cid fquama like that of a fifti : the tongue, like a ferpent’s, 
is bifid. All the remaining part of the body, the legs 
and feet, are ornamented like a peacock’s tail. The up¬ 
per part of the tail, which is furnifhed with a fliarp edge 
or ridge, has Angular fpots, which form large belts, and 
in thefe likewife the bright fpecks are apparent; the reft 
of the tail, to the end, is covered with fmall fquamas form¬ 
ing rings. Bright thin fquamas of a flcy-blue cover the 
vortex. Near the arms are perceptible two tubercles, rug¬ 
ged, with pointed heads, not unlike tefticl.es. 
8. Lacerta varia, the variegated lizard : tail long, cari¬ 
nate; body blackifti, tranfverfely variegated with yellow 
fpots and marks. Introduced into the Syftema Naturae 
by Dr. Turton ; but fo nearly does it referable the L. mo¬ 
nitor, that it may be doubted whether it ftiould not be 
confidered as a variety, rather than a truly-diftindt fpecies. 
It differs, however, in colour, and in fome degree in the 
difpofition of its variegations, which are generally pale 
yellow 
