L A C E R T A. 59 
nnte immediately from the body, which gradually grows 
narrower towards the head and tail. The whole body, 
both above and underneath, is covered by rhomboidal 
fcales, like thofe of fifties, overlapping each other in al¬ 
ternate rows ; their ground-colour is gold-yellow, while 
feveral of thofe on the back are blackifh, or dark brown, 
with a fmall white line along the middle of each. On 
each tide of the body, there is a longitudinal ftreak of 
black fcales, the ground-colour growing lighter on the 
infide of thefe two liripes, where there are two other lon¬ 
gitudinal Itreaks almoft white. The colours, however, are 
lubjedl to variety : thofe that live among rotten trees, in 
marfhy places, and in deep fhady valleys, where the rays 
of the fun feldom penetrate, are almoll black ; and, per¬ 
haps, thefe may be confidered as jultifying, in fome de¬ 
gree, what has been faid refpedling their hideous appear¬ 
ance. The fcales of thefe feem fineared over with oil or 
varniffi. The muzzle is blunt; the openings of the ears 
are tolerably large; the claws are hooked ; the tail is 
thick, blunt, and very fliort. The individual in the 
French cabinet rneafures eight inches long ; but thofe de- 
fcribed by Sloane are confiderably fmaller, probably be- 
caufe they were not full grown. This fpecies climbs 
trees, and crawls about the polls and beams of the negro 
huts; but it more generally frequents the clefts and hol¬ 
lows of old rotten wood, from which it only comes forth 
during the heat of fummer. The favages of America be¬ 
lieve both this fpecies and the aurata to have venomous _ 
properties; but Sloane and Brown alfert that they could 
never learn any pofitive proof in fupportof that opinion. 
Sometimes they attack boldly fuch as irritate them, and 
keep fuch fall hold as to be very difficultly ffiaken off. 
This animal chiefly inhabits the Weft-India iflands, but 
is likewife found in the Old World, particularly in Sardi¬ 
nia, where it is known by the names of tiligugu and tilln- 
goni. M. Cetti, from whofe Natural Hiftory of that ifland 
this information is derived, and who has given a very ac¬ 
curate defcription, has obferved with great acutenels the 
circumftances of refemblance and difference between it 
and the fcink; and, not having been acquainted with the 
defcription of Sloane, Rochefort, and Dutertre, very na¬ 
turally fuppofed it an unknown fpecies. 
Profeffor Thunberg of Upfal has given, in the Stock¬ 
holm Memoirs for 1787, an account of a lizard of the 
ifland of Java, which he calls Lacerta lateralis, which ap¬ 
pears to be only a variety of this fpecies. He compares 
it with the fcink and L. aurata, from both of which it 
differs in various circumftances, particularly from the lat¬ 
ter by the thicknefs and fhortnefs of its tail. It is grey- 
iffi on the back, with four rows of black fpots, mixed with 
fpots of brown, and having a longitudinal black ftreak 
on each fide. 
M. Afzelius, another learned Swedifh naturalift, men¬ 
tions having feen a lizard, in the collection of M. Baetti- 
ger at Wefteras, which only differed from that defcribed 
by Thunberg, in wanting the fpots on the back, and in 
having the lateral ftripes of a deeper black, and more 
equal. Thus the tiligugu is found to inhabit Europe, 
Alia, and America. 
57. Lacerta Uralenfis, the Ural lizard : tail longifh, 
round ; neck plaited beneath, all the feet pentadaClyle, 
and back livid, rugofe, and fubverrucofe. Native of the 
defert of Ural: length about four inches. Head roundifli; 
colour of the upper parts livid brown, and covered with 
a wrinkled and ilightly-tuberculated lkin : under parts 
whitifli : moves with great fwiftnefs. 
58. Lacerta bullaris the bladder-lizard: tail long and 
round, with a globular red protuberance under the throat. 
This, according to Catefby, is ufually fix inches long, 
and of a fhining grafs-green colour. It is common in Ja¬ 
maica, frequenting, hedges and trees, but is not feen in 
houfes : when approached, it fwells its throat into a glo¬ 
bular form, the protruded fkiri on that part appearing of 
?. bright red colour, which difappears in its withdrawn or 
contracted ftate; this aCtion is fuppofed to be a kind of 
menace, in order to deter its enemy ; but it is incapable of 
doing any mifchief by its bite or otherwife. Cepede af- 
ferts, that this fpecies has no rows of fquare fcales on the 
belly. Should that be the cafe, it ought to be placed in 
a different fub-divifion. 
59. Lacerta aurita, the eared lizard t tail round, middle- 
fized, with callous dots each fide ; gular fold tranfverfe, 
almoft double 5 angles of the mouth on each fide dilated 
into a femi-orbicular, foft, rough, dentate, creft. Inha¬ 
bits the fandy hillocks of fouthern Siberia, and gravel- 
pits in the defert Comani. Something larger than the 
gecko; of a thick or ventricofe habit; with the body ra¬ 
ther depreffed, and the head rounded or blunt in front. 
From the corners of the mouth on each fide is horizon¬ 
tally extended a flat femi-orbicular fkin or wattle, of a red 
colour, with ferrated edges, appearing like ears, and 
reaching as far as the fhoulders : the remainder of the 
animal is clouded with yellovvifli and cinereous. Tail 
roughened above, as is the whole body, with fniall pointed 
granules: toes five, of which the three intermediate ones 
are ferrated on the edges. 
60. Lacerta teguixin, the teguixin : tail long and round ; 
feveral folds of the fkin on the fides, and a triple plait 
under the throat. This, which is by far the largeft in 
this divifion of the genus, fometimes exceeds the guana 
in fize. It has been extremely well reprefented in fome 
of the plates of Seba, as well as by the celebrated Madame 
Merian, who has given a figure of it at the end of her 
fplendid work on the infeCts of Surinam. The head is 
covered, as in the green lizard, with large fcales or plates; 
the body with fmall and fomewhat fquare fcales, which 
are fo difpofed as to mark the fides into numerous taper¬ 
ing annuli or ftriae, paffing from the back perpendicularly 
downwards, and from the fides perpendicularly upwards, 
the narrow end of each row alternating with the broader 
end of the oppofite one. The tail is round, and confi¬ 
derably longer than the body, its outer extremity being 
pointed : the fcales on the root of the tail are arranged in 
half-circles, while thofe on the reft of it go quite round. 
The particular diftinguifliing character of the teguixin is 
formed by feveral blunt folds of the fkin along both fides, 
from the head to the hind thighs, and by three tranfverfe 
folds under the throat. The colour is highly beautiful, 
confining of an elegant and in general fomewhat minute 
variegation of brown, blackifh, and purple, fpots, on a 
pale bluifli-white, and in fome parts yellowifh, ground. 
The whole form of the animal is rather thick or plump, 
in comparifon with many other Lizards : the tongue is 
broad, flat, long, forked at the tip, and curioufly flriated 
on each fide : the head fhaped like that of the ameiva, to 
which this fpecies is nearly allied. It is a native of South 
America, and probably of India. 
61. Lacerta erythrocephala, the red-headed lizard : ge¬ 
neral colour blackifh-green, with tranfverfe black undula¬ 
tions ; abdomen longitudinally banded witli black, white, 
and blue; the bread black, and the top of the head red. 
A middle-fised fpecies ; native of the ifland of St. Chrifto- 
pher; defcribed by Cepede. Colour deep or dark green 
above, mixed with brown ; back marked by feveral tranf¬ 
verfe black undulations; top of the head, and part of the 
fides of the neck, red : throat white; bread black; belly 
variegated with longitudinal black, blue, and whitilh, 
bands, and covered with fquare fcales or plates; head co¬ 
vered with larger fcales than the other parts; beneath the 
thighs a row of tubercles, lirnilar to thofe on the nimble 
lizard and feveral other fpecies. In the individual de¬ 
fcribed by M. Badier, the body meafured one inch in dia¬ 
meter, at the thickeft part, and one inch eleven lines in 
length ; the tail being l'even inches eight lines long, and 
furrounded by rings of fcales. The hinder legs meafured 
two inches and one line to the firft joint of the toes. It 
lives on infedts, and grows to three times the fize of the 
individual here defcribed, 
62. 
