LAC 
ruffed with moderately ftrong and (harp claws. The chief 
difference, exclufive of colour, feems to be the want of the 
reverfed fcales on the back part of the head. 
Cepede is of opinion that the' cinereous green lizard, 
reprefe'nted by Sloane, voi. ii. plate 273. fig. 2. the fifth 
fpecies of lizard, which Brown (p. 463.) fays is very com¬ 
mon in Jamaica, and the blue lizard of Edwards, pi. 245. 
are all to be confidered as varieties of this fpecies. 
That defcribed by Sloane is of a cinereous green colour, 
having a fhort creft on the back. It is found in great 
numbers in the woods of Jamaica, and differs little from 
the guana, but is finaller, of a fuller green colour, and the 
creft on its back is fhorter. Its eggs are finaller than 
thofe of pigeons. 
The lizard, which Brown enumerates as his fifth fpe¬ 
cies, is green, and its tail has a creft or ridge of eredt fcales. 
It is very common in Jamaica; and is ufually of a beau¬ 
tiful green, but the colour changes according to the fitu- 
ation of the animal, like feveral other fpecies of this ge¬ 
nus; this changeablenefs is even more remarkable than in 
molt other lizards, and it more readily acquires the hues 
of fuch fubftances as it is affefted by. The body is co¬ 
vered by flight fcales; thofe which are on the upper fur- 
face of the tail being erefted, and forming a fnall creft, 
fomewhat like that of the guana. Its difpoiitions are very 
gentle, and it feldom exceeds nine or ten inches long. 
The blue lizard of Edwards is very lingular in the ftruc- 
ture of its toes: thefe are edged on each fide by a kind of 
membranes, that are very unlike thofe on the feet of cer¬ 
tain aquatic birds, having more refemblance to the feet 
of fome kinds of flies that afl in fome degree by fucking; 
they feem intended to enable the animal to walk on the 
fmooth furfaces of the large leaves of trees and other 
plants. There is a fmall elevated ridge along the whole 
back, as far as the tail, where it becomes ferrated. The 
whole upper part of the body is bluilh, tranfverfely varie¬ 
gated with lighter and darker (hades. The under parts of 
the body are of a very pale flefh-colour. The fpecimen de¬ 
fcribed by Edwards was fent from the iHand of Nevis in 
the Weft Indies, preferved in fpirit of wine; and had pro¬ 
bably changed its natural green colour to blue, in confe- 
quence of the adlion of the fpirit, as fuch a change is 
very often produced in green lizards by the fame means. 
26. Lacerta umbra, the clouded lizard : tail long and 
round, nape fomewhat crefted, hind-head callous and pro¬ 
tuberant, back ftreaked. The head is much rounded, the 
hind-head being augmented by a callous protuberance of 
fome fize, entirely deftitute of fcales. The under part of 
the throat has a deep fold of (kin. The colour of the 
body is difpofed in clouds, and the fcales are ridged and 
lharp-pointed, giving the back a ftreaked appearance. 
The tail is longer than the body. Inhabits the warm 
fouthern parts of America; but is little known. 
27. Lacerta marmorata, the marbled lizard : tail long 
and round ; throat flightly crefted ; back fmooth. The 
head is covered by large fcales ; the under part of the 
throat is furniftied with a range of fmall fcales, extending, 
like a kind of creft, towards the breaft, and notched or 
indented on its edge ; this appeudage being more remark¬ 
able on the male than the female. The belly has no 
tranfverfe bands. The under fide of the thighs have each 
a longitudinal row of tight or ten tubercles, which are 
not fo obvious on the female. The upper furfaces of the 
claws are black. Its molt remarkable character is the 
length of its tail, which exceeds that of any other lizard 
in proportion to its body : in one fpecimen fent from In¬ 
dia to Paris by M. Sonnerat, the tail is four times the 
length of the body and head, having the fcales fo difpofed 
as to give it the appearance of nine longitudinal ridges. 
The colour of this fpecies is greenilh on the head, greyilh 
on the upper parts of the body, tranfverfely ftreaked with 
white and black ; this becomes reddilh on the thighs and 
fides of the belly, where it is rnarbled with white and 
brown. This fpecies inhabits America and the Weft- 
India ifiands, and, according to Linnxus, India. The 
VOL. XII. No. 809. 
E R T A. 45 
tail is marked by three or four (lightly-riling or carinated 
longitudinal lines. 
The African lizard, named Warral by Shaw, and Gua- 
ral by Leon, belongs apparently to this fpecies. Accord¬ 
ing to Shaw, the warral is fometimes thirty inches long, 
probably including the tail ; and its colour is bright red, 
with blackifh fpots. This red colour is not very different 
from the rednefs on the marbled lizard, the colour of 
which at lead comes nearer that of the lizard mentioned 
by Shaw than any other African fpecies. Shaw mentions, 
that the warral ftrikes its tail againft the ground when¬ 
ever it Hops, which circumftance accords very well with 
the ftrufture of the marbled fpecies, which has a very long 
(lender tail, which may be ealily agitated. The Arabs, 
according to Shaw, believe that a woman certainly be¬ 
comes barren, if (truck by the tail of this lizard. 
28. Labrus criftata, the crefted lizard : tail lanced, ftiorf, 
pinnate ; back crefted ; body porous, naked. The body 
is reddifti-brown, with lead-colour fpots; creft reaching 
from the head to the tail, unequally dentate, fubpellucid, 
in the middle of the back half an inch high : head very thick, 
obtufe : fnout broad ; feet cleft, the fore-feet four, hind 
feet five, toed ; tail with a bordered membrane each fide. 
V. Body naked , fed unarmed ; fore feet four-toed. 
29. Lacerta Americana, the American lizard : tail lan¬ 
ceolate, middle-fized ; back fringed ; belly (potted with 
yellow. This is an aquatic fpecies, defcribed by Seba. 
When a warm (bower falls, it comes upon land as it were 
to ref refit itfelf. It delights in change of food. The tail 
is broad, extended obliquely from the body, which the 
animal makes life of as an oar. The venter is fomewhat 
puffy and round ; the upper part of the body is of a deep 
brown, fpotted with black on the fcales, which are thin ; 
the under part is pale yellow, fpotted with red. Inhabits 
America ; length four or five inches. The tranflator of 
Cepede fuppoles this may be a variety of the following. 
30. Lacerta paluftris, the a(k, or great water-newt: co¬ 
lour blackifh, fpeckled with white on the fides ; belly 
orange, irregularly fpotted with black. This fpecies, when 
full grown, meafures from about five and a half to fix 
inches in length, and fometimes rather more. Its colour 
on the upper parts is an extremely dark or blackifh brown, 
the fides being marked with numerous fmall fcattered 
whitifli fpecks or granulations: the under parts are of a 
bright orange-colour, variegated with numerous large ir¬ 
regular fpots or patches of deep black. The tail is of a 
flattened form, with thin or (harp edges, and with an acute 
termination : on each fide of the tail, in the male, is a fil- 
very-white broad band or ftripe, accompanied by a bluifh 
(inge : this lateral tail-ftripe, as well as the dorial creft or 
procefs, is generally far lei’s confpicuous, and even fome¬ 
times entirely wanting, in the female. The eyes are of a 
bright gold-colour; the head rather fmall than largej 
the limbs (liort; the fore feet divided into four, and the 
hind into five, toes, all of which are deftitute of claws. 
This animal is by no means an unfrequent inhabitant of 
the clearer and colder kinds of ftagnant waters ; and is 
alfo occaiionally met with in damp and fhady fituations, 
under trees, hedges, &c. &c. It is, in this country at 
leaft, a much rarer Ipecies than the fmall or common wa¬ 
ter-newt, with which it appears to have been confounded 
by fome authors, and among others by Cepede, in his 
Hiltory of Oviparous Quadrupeds. It lives principally 
on infers. Though an innoxious fpecies, and perfectly 
incapable of injuring any of the larger animals, yet it ap¬ 
pears, from the experiments of Laurenti, that the natural 
exfudation or fecreted nioifture of its (kin is fatal, like that 
of the falamander, to the fmall varieties of the Lacerta 
agilis, feveral of which, on biting this animal, foon became 
paralytic on the fore legs, were feized with,a general weak- 
nefs, and died without any convulfive motions. See fig. 6. 
The aquatic lizard, known in Mexico by the name of 
axolotl, called inguete de agua by the Spaniards, is probably 
to be referred to this fpecies. It has been miftaken for a 
N fifli. 
