41 
LACERTA. 
But the animal'known In modern natural hiftory by this 
name is a fpecies of lizard, of a very lingular fliape, and 
which is particularly diftinguifhed by a long and broad 
wing-like procefs or expanfion, continued along the whole 
length of the back, and to a very confiderable distance on 
the upper part of the tail, and furnifhed at certain dif- 
tances with internal radii analogous to thofe in the tins 
of fillies, and ftill more fo to thofe in the wings of the 
Draco volans, or flying dragon. This procefs is of dif¬ 
ferent elevation in different parts, fo as to appear flrongly 
finuated and indented, and is capable of being either di¬ 
lated or contracted at the pleafure of the animal. The 
occiput, or hind part of the head, is elevated into a very 
confpicuous pointed hood, or hollow creft; and from this 
creft, fays Cepede, the name bafilic, which fignifies “ lit¬ 
tle king,” is derived. Notwithftanding its formidable 
appearance, the bafiliik is a perfectly-harmlefs animal, 
and, like many other of the lizard tribe, refides princi¬ 
pally among trees, where it feeds on infefts, &c. It has 
long ago been admirably figured in the work of Seba, and, 
as it is an extremely rare fpecies, has fometimes been con- 
fidered (from the Itrangenefs of its form) as a fictitious 
reprefentation. There is, however, in the Britifh Muleum, 
a very fine fpecimen, well preferved in fpirits, and which 
fully confirms the excellency of Seba’s figure; from which, 
in all probability, Linnaeus himfelf (who never faw the 
animal) took his defcription. The colour is a pale cine¬ 
reous brown, with fome darker variegations towards the 
tipper part of the body. Its length is about a foot and a 
half. The young or final] fpecimens have but a flight 
appearance either of the dorfal or caudal procefs, or of 
the pointed occipital creft. It is principally found in 
South America, and fometimes confiderably exceeds the 
length before mentioned, meafuring three feet, or even 
more, from the nofe to the extremity of the tail. It is 
fa'id to be an animal of great agility, and is capable of 
fwimming occafionally with perfeCt eafe, as well as of 
fpringing from tree to tree by the help of its dorfal creft, 
which it expands in order to fupport its flight. See fig. 3. 
18. Lacerta principalis, the finooth-crefted lizard : tail 
jfubcarinated, plain-edged gular creft, and fmooth back. 
Bather a fmall fpecies, fcarcely exceeding the length of 
eight or nine inches from the nofe to the extremity of the 
tail. Its general form is rather (lender; the head fmall; 
the fnout taper, the back fmooth, ordeftituteof ferratures, 
a Iharpened carina only running along the upper part of 
the tail; the throat is furniftied with a gular creft, which 
is of a fmooth or rounded outline; the fcales on the whole 
animal are very fmall 5 the tail long ; and the toes, as in 
Lome other lizards, fomewhat dilated on each fide towards 
their extremities. The colour of the animal is blue. It 
Is a native of South America. 
The Roquet, deferibed by Cepede, appears to be a va¬ 
riety of the above. It was fent from Martinico to the 
Paris cabinet, under the appellation of anolis, or garden- 
lizard. It is by no means the anolis of Rochefort and 
Ray ; but refembles very much the animal deferibed by 
Dutertre and Rochefort under the name of roquet. The 
roquet refembles the L. agilis in feveral circumliances of 
Its figure and itrudhire; but differs materially from that 
fpecies, by wanting the tranfverfe bands of fcales on the 
belly. It is never of any confiderable fize ; that in the 
Paris cabinet meafured two inches and a half long, exciu- 
five of the tail, which is twice the length of the body. 
The roquet deferibed by Ray was confiderably fhorter, 
the body and head being only one inch, and the tail an 
Inch and a half, long. The general colour is like that of 
a withered leaf, fpotted with yellow and blackifh. The 
eyes are very bright; the noftrils tolerably large. Like 
the L. agilis, it frequents gardens, and is very active; its 
fore-legs being long, which, raifing its body from the 
ground, contributes to its agility. The claws are long 
and hooked, which enable it to climb with facility. In 
running, it always carries the head a good deal elevated, 
which attitude increafes the agreeablenefs of its appear¬ 
ance and motions. It runs about with amazing fwiftnefs, 
Vol, XII. No. 809. 
in fudd&n and interrupted jerks, that are compared, in 
their rapidity, to the flight of a bird. It feems to prefer 
moift fituations, and is frequently found among ftones, 
feeming to be fond of leaping about from one to another. 
Both in running and when at reft, it always keep's the tail 
reflected over its back; and, notwithftanding the rapidity 
of its motions, and the apparent petulance of its manners, 
it is in reality very harmlefs, and even docile, affecting 
the company of mankind, like the fcaly and green iizards. 
When fatigued by its rapid movements, and over-heated, 
it flops for a time with its mouth open, pulhing out a 
large divided tongue, and panting like a dog that has 
taken violent exercife. It is probably from this habit, 
joined to the ufual turned-up form of the tail, that it has 
received the trivial name of roquet, which is given iri 
France to a particular fmall kind of dog. It deftroys great 
numbers of infects; and, as it eafily and frequently goes 
into l'mall holes in the ground, in thofe places which it 
frequents, fome have alleged that it feeds on the eggs of 
other lizards and fmall tortoiles, which, being only co¬ 
vered by loft membranes, give hardly any refinance to its 
teeth. 
19. Lacerta platura, the broad-tailed lizard : body 
rough; colour grey-brown, paler beneath; with ueprelfed. 
lanceolate tail, almoft fpiny on the margin. This remark¬ 
able fpecies is a native of New Holland, and is ftrikingly 
diftinguifhed by the peculiar form of its tail, which is flat 
or depreli’ed, and gradually widens from the bafe to a 
greater diameter than the body of the animal, and again 
gradually tapers to a (harp attenuated extremity ; it is 
muricated, as is every other part of the upper furface of 
the animal, by fmall tubercles, which on the edges of the 
tail are lengthened into ftiarpened points ; the head i» 
large, fomewhat flattened, broad at the back part, and ta¬ 
pers at the fnout; the neck is nearly of the diameter of 
the body, which fomewhat exceeds the tail in length; the 
limbs are of moderate length and rather flender than, 
ltrong; the feet all pentadafiyle, with ilender toes, armed 
with curved claws. The colour of the whole animal on the 
upper parts is a dulky brownifh grey; beneath paler, and 
fmooth. The general length of this fpecies feems to be 
from four to fix inches, or rather more. See Plate IV. fig. 4. 
IV. Back ciliate, toothed, or crejled ; head covered with 
callojities. 
20. Lacerta iguana, the common or American guana. 
Specific character, long round tail, ferrated back, and 
denticulated gular creft. Though the lizard tribe affords 
numerous examples of ftrange and peculiar form, yet few 
fpecies are perhaps more eminent in this refpeft than the 
guana, which glow's to a very confiderable fize, and is 
often leen of the length of four, five, and even fix, feet. 
It is a native of many parts of America and the Well- 
Indian Ifiands, and is alfo laid to occur in fome parts of 
the Eaft Indies. Its general colour is green, but with 
much variation in the tinge of different individuals; it is 
generally ftiaded with brown in parts of the body, and 
fometimes this is even the predominating colour. It has 
been deferibed and figured by feveral authors; but the 
molt expreflive reprelentations are thofe given by Seba, 
who has no lefs than five. The guana is eafily diltiu- 
guifhed from all other lizards, by the large pouch which 
hangs from the under fide of its neck, and by the ferrated 
or indented creft, which reaches from the head to the ex¬ 
tremity of the tail, and which likewife adorns the fore¬ 
part of the throat. The fpecirnen in the Paris cabinet, 
which was fent by M. Sonini from Cayenne, and from 
which the defcription in Cepede’s work was formed, was 
four feet long. The head is comprefled at the iides, and 
flattened at the top. The teeth are lliarp, and referable 
in form thole of the green lizards that inhabit the South 
of France. The muzzle, between the eyes, and the cir¬ 
cuit of both jaws, are covered with fmooth, Ihining, and 
highly-coloured, fcales; three of thefe, larger than the reft, 
are placed on each fide of the head, beneath the external 
ear; and one of thefe three, larger than either of the 
. M others,, 
