Fair play., 1882-11-25
The He!Odernl.


Heloaernla horriium is the technical
name which has been bestowed on the
poisonous lizard. For simplicity's sake
we will call it the helOderm. 1t IS a
handsome creature, and its general hue
and appearancc strike the attention at
once; rather over a foot in length, with
4 body as thick as 4 mans wrist; the
ground color a warm pale yellow, COW
cred with a network pattern of dark
brownish lines; the tail large, stumpy and
cncircled with double rings; muzZle,
black. At first it refused grapes. banana,
lettuce, carrot, minced meat, cock
reaches, frogs, lizards, slow-worms, mice
and rats: all of which were rendered to
it for food; it, however, devoured a
couple of eggs. Harmless rs all other
lizards are supposed to be. the mouth OF
the heloderm reveals dental arrange
ment totally at variance with all ones
preconceived ideas, ercry tooth appear
ing to be grooved rs in the case Of the
fangs of poisonous serpcnts. Further
more, this irrecOncilable lizard holds on
to its victim, and works its jaws iicrcely
and continuously after they are buried
in the flesh. as though sending an abun-
dant flow of venomous saliva into the
body: thus departing from all rule OF
procedure among veneniferous serpen,s
on like occasions.
Itrcmains to he seen, however, whether
these groovcd teeth are, so TO speak, the
direct channels for the introduction of
deadly secretion limited TO their append
ages. as is the case with snake or
whether they simply effect inoculation
OF poisonous matter. disseminated
throughout the general saliva or lnucls
of the mouth by the mere wound they
infiict, in the same way that Il mad dog
communicates hydrophoba by its bite
a process which resembles That of 3
lancet procuring the absorption of vac
cine fund by its scratch, willie the or'!i-
nary bite Of venOmouS snake Is rather
to be compared 10 the action OF hypo-
.lermic syringe. 1t is worthy Of note. Us
bearing out both this possibility and the
inconsistent character of the hcloierm,
that il has glands in the toSGcr as well rs
in the upper jaw.
1t will be very interesting to learn tho
natural food of this creature, and such
knowledge will probably give Us a solr-
ton of the mvstcry-Why is IL, and mot
the other members Of the lizard tribe.
yenomous? Nature bestows nothing
wantonly. and there must bc reason
for the heloderm's possession OF such Il
secretion-some function Of vital import
to the posscsSor. Poisonous snakes are
SO provided, not-as many people mag
to enable them 10 80 about d"inT
mischief. but for the simple purpose OF
obtaining food. Destitute of the con-
strictiee power which distinguishes b"a'
and pythons, they would he no match
for the animals which corstitatc their
natural prey, were ii not for tieiEseupm.
But what can. a creature, having teeth
10 bite with, claws TO seize and tear with,
agility for pursuit. and. il may 'e. pre-
hensible tongue. want this eSAsRnd
seemingly superiluons ammuniti0l for Z
In other words, upon what has ti6eeil
intended to feed, TO demand sud- yAeap.
ons of oflense? Certainly. onf would
say, not upon eggs, fruit or cabhages,
like the iguana; ;and we find II apparently
AS perfectly adapted for ca,chIpa amt
shaving smallmamlnais and birds aSare
many undoubtedly harmless l'Z:iisiS q q
similar size and formation.
Hmay be that it win be found to lEey'
upon some powerful animalthat reiNires
great holding -pOwerto retain. andwhlcfi
may probably be cOld-blooded animals
such rs snakes. When 4 venomOu9Ser-
pent which feeds on birds Or rats attacks.
it strikes Sudden blow and with,
draws. The victim may stagger az sfter
away. but is bound to fall Ni1i1 y
short distance, where it can be A&tett
and eaten at leisure. But those Which
devour their own And. like thS cofal-
snake and hanadryad, seize s1er-
pents which form their meals. saAte do
not again reling,,ish them-mnch Is Pur
common rrass-snake deals with bg.
The reason for this is sevitlent: thy poFon
takes effect so much more slowly IN
cold-blooded animal. owing defect
i've organization. and consequent tar
diness of the vital process, that the BIT
ten snake might escape too far TO be rd-
trieved if released before it dieti.f ffl.s
The Indians in Central Mexico lary,
saidto pay asuperstitiousrev2 renee t. a'e'
heloderm. and to worship il As he incar-
nation of one of their deities. The writer
heard there-thc legend obtains much
farther south-of 4 lizard which fights
with all yenomous snakes from an
tipaihy' and other di>intereSted motives
whenever it comes across them; but. as
a specimen which was brought 10 me
proved TO he common teGurNln. ana
rs. furthermore. was told that ltits
lizard. when accidently bitten. always
runs TO certain shrub. etc, | confess
did not pay much heed o'the ascohnt.
Ii behooyes one. however. 10 he guarded
in ridic,ile of popular errors for lbe. fu-
ture. after this distinct triumph ;of .'ril7
gar prejudice over scientific assur-
ance.-ChdHbers' JyHrnul. ... -..,,