litters of from eight to twelve and are immediately left by the mother to 
shift for themselves. Hiding in the underbrush for the first few days, they 
subsist upon a portion of the egg yolk that has been absorbed through 
the abdominal opening. Later they feed on tiny insects which they find 
in cracks in the soil. The adult lizard attains a length of eight inches. 
GREEN LIZARD 
The green lizard of France and Central Europe is an active, friendly 
creature, which can be taught to eat out of a man’s hand provided the 
hand contains grubs, worms or larvae. Most members of this species attain 
a length of twelve inches and are colored a uniform green, but some are 
spotted or streaked with yellow. Their brittle tails often snap off when 
they are caught, and in the course of time are replaced by new and shorter 
ones. Green lizards excavate burrows and spend their nights in them. 
On the evening of Easter Sunday, the gypsies of southern Europe take 
a wooden vessel resembling a band-box which rests cradlewise on two cross¬ 
pieces of wood. In this they place herbs and the dried carcass of a lizard, 
which every person present must first have touched with his fingers. The 
vessel is then wrapped in white and red wool and carried by the oldest 
man from tent to tent. It is finally thrown into running water after every 
tribe member has spat into it once and the sorceress has uttered some 
spells over it. Frazer states that the gypsies believe that this ceremony 
dispels all illnesses that would otherwise afflict them during the coming 
year. Anyone finding the vessel and opening it is believed to be visited 
with all the maladies which the others have escaped. 
WALL LIZARD 
The wall lizard is so called because of its habit of scampering up and 
down walls. Many different varieties of this species are found throughout 
southern Europe and on the various Mediterranean islands. 
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