140 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
spines. On the nozzle, however, is a spine which it uses to scoop out the earth, 
something after the manner of hogs in rooting. It also has the power of bur¬ 
rowing in the sand tail foremost, in doing which it works its way downward, 
very like a crab, and makes a hole some six inches in depth. Its color is a 
pale olive, spotted with brown, while down the back run stripes of pale yel¬ 
low. Its eyes are large, across which run two black lines at right angles. In 
size it rarely exceeds two inches long, by one inch in height. Its movements 
are slow and apparently laborious. 
THE LIZARD SPECIES. 
Under this head, the species technically known as Lacertilia , from the 
Latin lacertce , meaning moving quickly , a Latin term also for lizard, are 
included. These creatures are the 
link connecting batrachians with 
ophidians or snakes, since in many 
respects they resemble both. They 
are usually of an elongated form, 
and while all have four legs, in 
some species these are only rudi¬ 
mentary or even externally absent. 
But even in those which have legs 
well developed the muscular power 
is so small that they rarely lift the 
animal’s body from the ground, but 
are used rather to push the creature 
forward. In some, however, the feet 
are fashioned for grasping, as the 
chameleon’s, while in yet others the 
toes terminate in sucker discs, which 
enable the animal to adhere to 
smooth walls. A majority lead an 
arboreal life, while two species, the flying gecko and flying drake , have the 
power of half-flying, half-leaping, from tree to tree. Nearly all are oviparous, 
laying their eggs in rude nests chosen in 
dry places and about dead timber; the 
eggs are never numerous, and are usually 
connected in a chain. Some few species, 
however, are oviparous, producing their 
young so well developed that they need 
little parental care. • There is but one 
species recognized by naturalists as being 
venomous, viz., the heloderma , commonly 
called the Gila monster , an inhabitant of 
Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico, 
and it is greatly to be doubted whether 
even this creature is poisonous, as will here¬ 
after be explained. The water species of lizards, or newts, belong more directly 
to the batrachian class, since they produce their young after the manner of frogs, 
though the eggs are never connected, being laid singly and hatched in succession. 
garden toad (Bufo vulgaris). 
