50 
L A C E R T A, 
every part that had been touched by the feet of the li¬ 
zard was covered witli (mail hot fiery pimples, like thofe 
produced by nettles. Thefe facts confirm the teftimony 
of Bontius; fo that it appears inconteftibly proved, that 
the gecko, in the hot countries of Egypt and India, con¬ 
tains a dangerous poifon, which fometimes produces mor¬ 
tal effects: hence, it is not at all furprifing that people 
fhould fee it with horror, and either fly from, orufe every 
exertion to deftroy, fio noxious an animal. It is probable, 
however, that thefe deleterious qualities may be modified 
in their degrees by different circumftances in the feafon of 
the year, the climate, food, See. in different individuals of 
the fpecies. Seba fays, “ I can fcarcely believe that their 
venom is fo deffruCtive as is commonly reported." The 
eggs of the gecko are reprefented by Seba, in the fame 
plate with the figure of the animal itfelf; thefe the female 
carefully covers over with a little earth, leaving them to 
be hatched by the heat of the fun. Wurfbainius, in his 
Salamandralogia, miftakingly reports that the gecko lays 
no eggs. 
The Jefuit mathematicians, whom Louis XIV. fent to 
India, have given the figure and defeription of a lizard 
■which they found in Siam, named tokaie, which is evidently 
the fame animal with the gecko. The individual exa¬ 
mined by them meafured twelve inches and a half from 
the point of the muzzle to the tip of the tail. It is named 
tokaie by the Siamefe, in imitation of its cry; which 
proves that the voice of this fpecies confifts of two founds 
harflily uttered, which are difficultly imitated by the hu¬ 
man organs, and which fome have endeavoured to render 
by the fyllables tokaie, and others by gecko. 
40. Lacerta dubia, the geckotte, or doubtful gecko: 
colour livid, with pointed warts on the upper fur- 
face; no femoral papilae. This is deferibed by Cepede, 
who informs us that it is fo nearly allied to the gecko, as, 
without an attentive furvey, to be eaiily confounded with 
it; yet he appears to fuppofe it the L. Mauritanica of 
Linnaeus, but M: .Schneider affures us, that this is a mif- 
take. It differs from the common gecko by three con- 
ftant and very obvious characters. The body is ffiorter 
and thicker ; it is deftitute of the particular rows of hol¬ 
low tubercles on the infide of the thighs, which have 
been deferibed in the gecko and many other fpecies of the 
genus; and, laftly, the tail is ffiorter and thicker in pro¬ 
portion. While young, the tail of the geckotte is covered 
with feales, that are all armed with prickly tubercles, and 
which are ranged in fuch a manner as to refemble circu¬ 
lar rings ; but, as the animal grows older, the rings neared 
the tip of the tail difappear ; this obliteration gradually 
extends toVards the root, till at lad only a few remain, 
clofe to the origin of the tail, and thefe are at lad oblite¬ 
rated as well as the red ; fo that, when the geckotte has 
attained its full fize, the tail is only covered with very 
fmall feales, without the lead verticillated appearance. 
At this period the tail is confiderably thicker and fhorter 
in proportion than during the youth of the animal. This 
is the only fpecies in which that Angular change in the 
ftru&ure of the tail has been hitherto obferved. Thefe 
pointed tubercles are found on other parts of the gec¬ 
kotte, particularly on the legs, the head, neck, back, and 
fides; they are round, projecting, and (harp-pointed, be¬ 
ing furrounded at their bafes by other fmaller tubercles, 
in the form of rofes. 
As the geckotte inhabits almod the fame countries 
with the gecko, they cannot be confidered as varieties of 
the fame fpecies, produced by the influence of different 
climates. The geckotte is found in Amboyna, India, 
and Barbary, from which lad country it was fent by M. 
Brander to Linnaeus. There is a fmall fpecimen in the 
Paris cabinet, marked by the name of St. Domingo lizard, 
which is diftinCtly a geckotte ; fo that in all probability 
this fpecies may likewife inhabit the weflern world. M. 
Olivier informs us, that the geckotte is very common in 
the fouthem parts of Provence, where it is called tarente ; 
a name applied in fome places to the flarry lizard, and to- 
a variety of the green lizard. It is there found among 
the ruins of old buildings, avoiding cool, low', or damp, 
fituations, and generally keeping about the roofs. It 
prefers a warm expofure, and balks much in the rays of 
the fun. During winter, it retires under the cover of the 
tiles, or into chinks of the walls, but without undergoing 
any perfect hybernation or torpor; for, when uncovered, 
it immediately endeavours to efcape, but with a flow pace. 
It quits thefe retreats in the early part of fpring, to warm 
itfelf in the fun-beams, but never goes far from its hole, 
into which it retires on the fmalled alarm. In the warmed 
feafon of the year it moves quickly, but not with the 
amazing agility of fome lizards. It feeds chiefly on in¬ 
fers. It climbs readily, by means of its hooked claws, 
and the feales which cover the under furface of the toes, 
being able to run about very nimbly on the walls, and 
even under the beams of houfes. M. Olivier, from whom 
the foregoing account of this fpecies was received, has 
often feen them fixed on the under fide of the vault in a 
church. Thus the geckotte refembles the gecko both in 
its manners and appearance. It has likewife been confi¬ 
dered as venomous, probably on account of its refemblance 
to that other fpecies, which, according to the accounts of 
a great number of voyagers, emits a mortal poifon ; but 
M. Olivier declares, that he never could receive any proof 
of this faCt, and that it always endeavours to elcape, 
when feized, without making any attempts to bite. The 
geckotte always keeps in its hole before rain but it ne¬ 
ver emits any cry on thefe occafions, like the gecko; and 
M. Olivier, who has often caught it with pincers, affures 
us that he never heard from it the fmalled found on any 
occafion. 
41. Lacerta Sinenfis, the Chinefe gecko: tail flat, all 
the toes unguiculated, and the face perforated by feveral 
pores. This was firfi deferibed by Offieck, who obferved 
it in China, where it is frequently feen in houfes, running 
about the walls, and climbing with extreme readinefs on 
the fmoothed furfaces, preying chiefly on the fmaller kind 
of blattae. The head is broad and flat; the teeth fmall ; 
the tongue flat and emarginated at the tip. The body is 
flat, broad, and comprefled at the fides ; the back befet 
with black and whitiffi tubercles ; the tail rather longer 
than the body, and flat or ancipital; the toes lamellated 
beneath, and all furniffied with claws. The colour of 
the upper parts is cinereous ; the abdomen white; and 
the tail variegated by ten or eleven blackiffi clouds or 
bars; about the fides of the nofe and eyes are feveral fcat- 
tered pores. This fpecies is confidered as perfectly in¬ 
noxious. It appears to be omitted in the Gmelinian edi¬ 
tion of the Syltema Naturae. 
42. Lacerta geitje, Sparmann’s gecko : body papillated 
above ; tail lanceolate, of moderate length ; the fore feet 
tetradaCtyle. This fmall fpecies, which does not exceed 
three inches in total length, is found at the Cape of Good 
Hope, where it is confidered as a poifonous animal, the fa- 
liva, fecreted moilture from its pores, &c. being faid to 
produce tumours, and even gangrenes, which are fometimes 
cured by the application of lemon-juice, but, if too much 
negleCted, are productive of dangerous fymptoms. It 
leems to have been firft deferibed by Sparmann. Its co¬ 
lour on the upper parts is a variegation of darker and 
lighter ffiades, and on the under parts whitiffi. 
43. Lacerta rapicauda, the turnip-tailed lizard : tail 
turbinate, ears concave. The body is white fpotted with 
brown ; the warts are fmall, and thickly fprinkled ; the 
claws hollowed out in the middle underneath. Dr. Shaw 
deferibes this fpecies as fo nearly allied to the common 
gecko, that it might pafs for the lame animal, except that 
it is of a fomewhat thicker form, with fhorter limbs, and 
is lefs diftinCtly marked by tubercles on the back, which 
is rather covered by fmall conical feales or granules; it is 
alfo deftitute of fubfemoral papillae ; the lamellae of the 
feet are divided by a midrib, or longitudinal furrow, and 
the 
