REPTILIA. REPTILES,.^[1. See our general sketch, under the title of Animal KlNGDOM, in this Encyclopaedia, vol. iii. pp. 155-180. ] These form the third great division of the animal kingdom, and in systematic works on natural history occupy an intermediate position between the class of birds and that of fishes.^[2. The natural history of reptiles is frequently treated of under the term Erpetology, from ίϚχητον, reptile, and , discourse . The verb {;»«» signifies to creep . ]

As in tracing the modifications of various organs, from the zoophytical and radiated animals to the molluscous, from these to the articulated classes, and onwards through the fishes to the reptile tribes, it is among the last named that we first perceive the passage from the truly aquatic to the terrestrial or air-breathing animal,—so the respiratory organs of such tribes are naturally those which excite the greatest and most peculiar interest. Among the more important classes of animals, respiration is effected in one or other of two ways; lst, either by certain internal cellular sacs, for the reception of air, called lungs, which communicate with the mouth and nose by means of the trachea or windpipe; or, 2dly, by external organs called gills, which require either to float in water, or to be in some other way continually immersed in that fluid. The object of both contrivances is to subject the blood to the influence of vital air, and this end is obtained very admirably, though in a different way, by each. All mammiferous animals or quadrupeds, including whales, all birds, and all reptiles (in the perfect state), possess the first form of the respiratory organs; all fishes, and several reptiles in their adolescent condition, are distinguished by the second. But even among such as are furnished with true lungs, we observe different modifications of the circulating system.

The principal characteristic of reptiles in general consists in this, that only a portion of the blood is transmitted through the lungs, the remainder being projected by the heart directly to the other parts of the body, without being specially subjected to the influence of the respiratory organs; whereas, in the higher classes, such as man, the rest of the mammalia, and birds, the whole of the blood must pass by the lungs before it is retransmitted to the more distant parts of the circulating system. The amphibious habits of such reptiles as are unprovided with gills, result in a great measure from the power which they thus possess of carrying on a partial circulation of the blood, independent of respiration. The respiration of animals, or the process by which the blood is oxygenated, becomes weaker and less [7:19:125]frequent in proportion to the diminution which takes place in the quantity of blood transmitted to the lungs, compared with that which passes directly from the heart; and as it is respiration which warms the blood, and produces in the fibres their susceptibility of nervous irritation, it follows, as observed by Cuvier, that the blood of reptiles is cold, and their muscular strength much less than that of birds and quadrupeds. The scat of their sensations is also much less centralised than in the last-named classes, and hence many of them exhibit life and motion long after their heads have been severed from their bodies. ^[3. “Les muscles des reptiles conservent plus long temps encore leur irritabilité que ceux des poissons. Nous avons vu des era. pauds, des salamandres, des tortues, des serpens, privés de la tête et dépouillés de leur peau depuis plusieurs jours, et maintenus humides, produire encore des mouvemens pendant des semaines entières; un tortue terrestre, du poids des près de 40 kilogrammes, morte depuis plusieurs jours, dont le cou était tombé dans cette sorte de flaccidité, suite de la raideur qui survient après la mort, dont les yeux en particulier avaient la cornée dessechée, manifester des mouvemens par la Contractions et la retraction des membres, toutes les fuis qu'on stimulait, en les piquant, les muscles des membres postérieurs.” (Dumeril et Bibron, Erfatologie, i. 41.) ]

A truly amphibious animal, according to the proper meaning of the term (which is derived from àfafn, on both sides, and ∕3<c{, life), ought to possess the power of breathing under water like a fish, and of respiring atmospheric air like a land animal. According to this interpretation, neither seals, nor beavers, nor even whales, are truly amphibious, for they cannot sustain their existence under water except by the use of a certain portion of air which they have previously inspired at the surface. In like manner, neither the frog nor the tadpole is amphibious (unless it may be for a short intermediate period, or state of transition); for the former seeks the water merely as a place of temporary resort, in which it cannot breathe, and the latter is entirely aquatic, being unprovided with lungs, and consequently unable to respire, except through the medium of water. A frog, therefore, can only be said to be amphibious in as far as it possesses, at two different periods of its life, the faculty of living first in the water and then on the land. Born with gills, and destitute of external members, its form and functions are originally rather those of a fish than of a reptile; but as it advances in growth, the four limbs become developed, the tail decreases and disappears, the jaws are formed, and the gills absorbed, and their functions supplied by lungs. But the peculiar structure of the heart, already mentioned, enables these and other species to remain submerged for a great length of time.

Among the many wonderful anomalies, however, with which the kingdom of nature presents us, there exist two truly amphibious animals, the proteus and the siren, both of which are provided at one and the same time with the gills of a fish and the lungs of a terrestrial creature. But their propensities are decidedly aquatic. The former inhabits certain subterranean waters in Carniola, the latter rejoices in the muddy marshes of South Carolina. ^[4. See Wilson’s Illustrations of Zoology, vol. i. ] Both will be hereafter noticed.

The amount of respiration is by no means so fixed or determinate among reptiles as it may be said to be in quadrupeds and birds, but varies with the proportion which the diameter of the pulmonary artery bears to that of the aorta. Thus, turtles and lizards respire much more than frogs and others of the class; and from this results a much greater difference in energy and sensibility between different tribes of Reptilia, than exists among the members of the class of quadrupeds or birds. Reptiles also may be said to exhibit a much greater variety of form, aspect, and condition, than either of the classes just named; and it is in their production that nature (as we are wont to term the powers of the Omnipotent Creator), has invented the most extraordinary forms and modifications which exist among the vertebrated division of the animal kingdom.

No reptile is known to hatch its eggs, and in the Batra-chian order (frogs, toads, &c.) fecundation does not take place till after the female has excluded the so-called ova, which in such cases are covered merely by a slight and simple membrane, bearing no resemblance to a shell. The young of this Batrachian order, on leaving the egg, bear the general form of fishes, and are, moreover, furnished with gills, which a few of them retain even after acquiring lungs, and assuming the other attributes of maturity. Among several of the egg-laying species, the included young are not only formed, but far advanced at the period of laying; while a few, such as vipers and certain lizards, are actually born alive, being hatched within the body of the mother. Hence the expression by which these are designated, of ovo-vivi-parous. Some even of those which usually lay eggs may be rendered viviparous by a short retardation of the process of laying, as effected by M. Geoffroy in the case of certain snakes by merely depriving them of water.

Although many reptiles are active leapers, and even run with rapidity for a short distance, the coldness of their blood, and proportional want of muscular power, induce on the whole an indolent habit. They are probably, of all vertebrated animals, the least perfectly endowed with the power of migratory movement. The brain is proportionally very small, a sea-tortoise, for example, weighing twenty-nine pounds, having been found to possess brains to the weight only of two drams, that is, equal to not more than an eighteen hundred and fifty-sixth part of the entire animal. Now, we know, that in several small birds and quadrupeds, the brain exceeds a thirtieth part of the remainder of the body. In reptiles, indeed, the brain seems less necessary than among other vertebrated beings, to the exercise of the animal and vital functions, and their sensations are less referable to a common centre. Connection with the nervous system is also much less necessary to the contraction of their fibres, and a portion of their flesh possesses its irritability long after separation from the rest of the body. The heart beats for several hours after being extracted, and the said extraction does not prevent the body itself from moving about for a considerable time. The cerebellum in several species is extremely small, a fact regarded as being in exact accordance with their indolence of movement.

The small size of the pulmonary vessels admits of reptiles suspending their respiration without arresting the course of the blood, and they can accordingly dive more easily, and continue submerged for a longer time, than either mammiferous quadrupeds or birds. The cellules of the lungs being less numerous, as having fewer vessels to lodge upon their parietes, are much wider, and these organs have sometimes indeed the form of simple sacs scarcely cellular.

They are all provided with a trachea and larynx, although many are entirely mute. Their blood being naturally cold, they have no need of such integuments as fur or feathers to retain the heat, and are covered either by scales or a naked skin.

Although no portion of the organ of hearing is external in reptiles, yet among crocodiles there is an appearance of an outer meatus auditorius, owing to the skin forming a thick cover over the tympanum. This peculiar formation is sufficient to explain a passage in Herodotus, who states, that the Egyptians were in the habit of suspending jewels from the ears of the crocodile.

The digestion in reptiles is extremely slow, and all their sensations are obtuse. In cold, and even in temperate climates, they fall into a state of torpor during the prevalence [7:19:126]of chilly weather, being more than any other class of creatures under the influence of temperature,—“frigida aestu-antium animalia ;” and what is truly singular, is the fact mentioned by Humboldt, that the inverse cause produces a corresponding effect on some of the species of tropical climates, the caymans or crocodiles of South America becoming torpid, and entombing themselves in mud, during the prevalence of the hottest season.

Indeed, among the more singular features in the economy of the reptile race, may be numbered their power of enduring long-continued abstinence, and the lethargic state, infinitely more profound than the winter sleep of quadrupeds, into which they yearly fall. In connection with this subject, Mr Jacobson of Copenhagen has recognised in reptiles a special arrangement of certain vessels which constitute a peculiar venous system. This system may be said to exist more or less in all the race; but, rudimentary in the tortoises and crocodiles, it shows its chief development among the other Saurians, and the Ophidian and Batrachian groups. “It is composed of the veins of the abdominal members, the pelvian or caudal veins, the hinder veins of the kidneys, the veins of the oviductus, a great portion of the veins of the skin, of those of the muscles of the abdomen, and of those of certain organs peculiar to the reptiles. These veins combine, and form one or many trunks, which proceed either into the vena porta or the liver, or into both. What especially distinguishes this system is, that in it a part of the veins of the organs of locomotion, and of the skin, proceed to distribute themselves into the liver. There is no other example of this among the vertebrated animals. Certain special organs appear connected with this venous system in a peculiar manner, and are regarded by Mr Jacobson as proper for secreting and preserving a nutritive juice, destined to be re-absorbed in the rigorous months of the severe season, during the hybernal slumber of these animals.” ^[5. Griffith’s Animal Kingdom, ix. 182. ]

In regard to the geographical distribution of reptiles in general, we shall here briefly observe, that they augment in number as we advance towards the equatorial regions. While Sweden possesses scarcely a dozen snakes and lizards, about three or four frogs and toads, and not a single tortoise, the temperate parts of Europe produce about forty snakes and lizards, and several of the tortoise tribe. In Scandinavia, however, although the species are so few in number, the individuals are much more abundant than in Britain; from which we infer, that it is rather the want of strong continuous summer heat than the actuality of our winter’s cold, that is unfavourable to the production of reptiles in our cloudy clime. As soon as we gain the southern extremity of Spain, the number of species in these tribes greatly increases, and in Andalusia the African complexion of the country is still further manifested by the frequent appearance of the chameleon. On proceeding further south, not onlydoes the number of reptiles increase, but they also augment in size, splendour, and ferocity, till from the Tropic of Cancer onwards and beyond the line, we meet with crocodiles, caymans, boas, and other giants of the reptile race. Several species, however, even in sultry latitudes, are subjected by their peculiar position to the influence of severe cold. Thus the axolotl of Mexicooccurs in the chill waters of lakes elevated above 8000 feet from the surface of the sea; and the salamander (a water newt) of Europe is frequently found frozen up in ice in early spring, without being destroyed. Indeed, Dufay has remarked, as a singular circumstance, that those very animals of which it. once was fabled they could withstand the fiery flames, are in reality endowed with the almost equally surprising power of resisting frost, so generally fatal to the life of reptiles.

Although we have now endeavoured to state a few of what may be regarded as the generalities of the reptile class, yet it must be borne in mind, that no great division of the animal kingdom exhibits such a singular diversity of form and aspect, or is more liable to exceptions from whatever features we may incline to consider as general characteristics. “Aussi les reptiles,” says Baron Cuvier, “presentent-ils des formes, des mouvements, et des propriétés beaucoup plus variés que les deux classes précédentes (quadrupeds and birds); et c’est surtout dans leur production que la nature semble s’être jouée à imaginer des formes bizarres, et à modifier dans tous les sens possibles le plan général qu’elle a suivi pour les animaux vertébrés, et spécialement pour les classes ovipares.” Among no animals indeed do we meet with beings of more singular forms than in the class Reptilia, many of which exhibit an aspect so mmsual, so grotesque, and even so formidable, that it would be difficult for the imagination of the poet or the painter to exceed the “dread realities” of nature. Although the majority are oviparous, some, as we have said, produce their young alive. Many have four legs, some only two, which vary from an anterior to a posterior pair, while the entire tribe of serpents have no legs at all. Some have their bodies more or less closely beset by scales, varying in size from extreme tenuity to the strength and thickness of mailed armour; many, as the numerous tribes of frogs, are defended only by a soft and mucous skin; as many more are shut up in a strong bony box-like covering, within which they dwell, as in an impregnable castle. The greater number possess a tail, but several entirely want that organ. Numerous tribes live unceasingly in the water, others pass their infancy in moist abodes, their maturer years on terra firma, provided in the former case with gills, in the latter with lungs for respiration. Marshes and muddy swamps, the dry and desert sands, the umbrageous woods, the upland mountains, the “resounding shores,” are all alike pervaded by one or many of the numerous forms of reptile life. The subterranean proteus fears the light, though dealing in no deeds of darkness; the agile lizard, “all scaled silver bright,” basks delighted beneath the beams of the most brilliant sun, “no cloud in heaven.” Some are fierce and carnivorous, others gentle and herbivorous. The most deadly poison is distilled by many, while entire tribes are quite innocuous; and while some are resplendent in burnished gold and azure, “like mailed angels on a battle-day,” as many exhibit the last stage of ugliness in worse

Than fables yet have feigned or fear conceived,

Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire.

It has been observed, that in the popular superstitions of various countries, the reptile race have been almost always clothed in revolting attributes, and that the worship accorded them was one not of gratitude, but fear. ^[6. Ibid. 20. ] Victor or vanquished, they seem ever to have borne a cruel and pestilential character, in opposition to the welfare of the human race; and the prowess both of gods and men was called into frequent and vigorous exercise for their subduction.

“Glorious Apollo” pursued the enormous Python with his unerring shafts; the dreadful Acheloiis w∙as strangled by the son of Jove, in spite of folds “voluminous and vast ;” the Hesperian gardens and the golden fleece were protected by fierce dragons; Perseus, from the dripping head of Medusa, sowed with serpents the arid Libyan sands; and gorgons and furies, discord and envy, are armed by the poets with snakes, “as appropriate emblems of their ministry of vengeance.”

It was chiefly on the comparative consideration of the amount of respiration, and of the organs of movement, that [7:19:127]M. Brogniart founded the four great orders of the class Reptilia, which are now so generally adopted in the works of systematic authors. 1 They are as follows.

1st, The Chelonian Reptiles (turtles, tortoises, &c.), of which the heart is provided with two auricles, and the body, borne on four legs, is contained as it were within an upper and an under buckler, formed by a peculiar structure of the ribs and sternum.

2d, The Saurian Reptiles (crocodiles, lizards, &c.), which have likewise two auricles and four legs, but the body is covered with scales.

3d , The Ophidian Reptiles (or serpents), which have a heart furnished with two auricles, but the body is destitute of legs.

4 th, The Batrachian Reptiles (frogs, toads, &c.), in which the heart has only a single auricle, the body is naked, and the majority of species undergo a kind of transition as they advance in age, from the form of a fish with gills to that of a quadruped with lungs. Some, however, as already mentioned, never lose their gills, and a few have only a single pair of legs.

Our notices of the various genera of the different orders must be here extremely brief; and in the following slight sketch we shall adhere, as we have done in most of our zoological treatises, to the systematic exposition of Baron Cuvier. 4 Order I.—CHELONIA. CHELONIAN REPTILES.

The various groups of this order are known to English readers by the general names of tortoise and turtle ,—the former appellation being usually bestowed on those which dwell on land, the latter on such as inhabit water. The heart is composed of two auricles, and of a ventricle with two unequal chambers communicating with each other. The blood from the body enters into the right auricle, that from the lung into the left; but both streams mingle together more or less in passing by the ventricle.

All the species of this order are distinguished at first sight by the peculiar armature in which the body is contained, and which consists of an upper and under buckler, nearly meeting along their edges, and permitting only the head, limbs, and tail to appear externally. The upper buckler, called the carapace, is formed by the ribs, which amount to eight pair, extended and united by toothed sutures between, and having bony plates adhering to the annular portion of the dorsal vertebrae, and so connected that all these parts are rendered motionless. The under buckler is called the plastron, and is composed of portions which represent the sternum, and which are usually nine in number. A kind of lateral edging or frame-work, consisting of osseous pieces, bearing some analogy to the sternal or cartilaginous portion of the ribs, and which in one sub-genus even continue cartilaginous, surrounds the carapace, binding and uniting together the ribs by which it is composed. Thus the cervical and caudal vertebrae alone retain the power of distinct movement. See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 1.

These two bony envelopes being covered immediately by skin or scales, the shoulder-blade and all the muscles of the neck and fore-arms, instead of having their attachments over the ribs and spine, as in other animals, are supported from beneath these parts; and the same peculiarity occurs in relation to the bones of the lower extremity and the muscles of the thighs, so that, as Baron Cuvier observes, a turtle may be termed “un animal retourn é ,” as if it had been turned inside out.

The vertebral extremity of the shoulder-blade articulates with the carapace; and the opposite end, which may be regarded as analogous to the clavicle, articulates with the plastron in such a manner that the two shoulders form a ring through which the oesophagus and wind-pipe pass. A third bony branch, larger than the other two, and directed downwards and backwards, represents, as in birds, the coracoid process, but its posterior extremity is free.

The lungs are much expanded, and he in the same cavity with the other viscera. The thorax being immoveable in the majority of species, it is by the play of the mouth that the Chelonians respire,—holding the jaws closed, and alternately lowering and raising the hyoid bone. The first movement permits the air to enter by the nostrils, and then the tongue closing the interior opening, the second movement forces the air into the lungs.

The Chelonians have no teeth, but their jaws are furnished with a horny substance like the mandibles of birds, with the exception of the Chelydes, in which they are cover-

1 E ssai d’une Classification Naturelle des Reptiles, Paris, 1805.

2 The following are some of the principal works on reptiles in general. We do not here name those systematic writers who have treated of the class in question merely in the course of their universal exposition of the animal kingdom, although they are elsewhere referred to in the progress of the present treatise.

J. N. Laurenti, Specimen Medicum, exhibens synopsin Reptilium emendatam, cum experimentis circa venena ct antidota Reptilium Austria - corum, 1768. This work has been since attributed to M. Winterl, a chemist of Vienna, who is merely named by Laurenti, on the terminal page, as having been a co-labourer in his therapeutical experiments. Lacepède, Histoire Naturelle des Quadrup è des Ovipares et des Serpens, 2 vols. 4to, 1788-90. The Abbé Bonnaterre is the author of the text which accompanies the plates of reptiles in the French Encyclop é die, under the title of Tableau Encyclop è dique et M é thodique des trois R ègn es de la Nature (Erp é tologie et Ophiologie), 4to, 1789-90. L. J. M. Daubenton composed Des Quadrup èd es Ovipares et les Serpens, in Dictionnaire des Animaux Vert é br é s, tom. ii. part. de l’Encyclop. M è thod. J. G. Schneider, the celebrated Greek scholar, has not published any general work on reptiles, but has written extensively on various groups. His productions are the following:— Amphibiorum Physiologies Specim. i. and ii. 1797- Amphibiorum naturalis et litterariae Fasciculus primus, continens Ranas, Calamitas, Bufones, Salamandras, et Hydros, in genera et species descriptor notisque suis distinctos, 1799. Fasciculus seoundus, continens Crocodilos, Scincos, Chamaesuuros, Boas, Pseudoboas, Elapes, Angues, Amphisbaenas, Caecilias, 1801. Latreille, Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles, four vols. small 12mo, 1801. Dr Shaw, General Zoology, vol. iii__ Amphibia,

1802. F. M. Daudin, Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles, eight vols. 8vo, 1802-3. Alex. Brogniart, Essai d’une Classification Naturelle des Reptiles, 1805. M. Oppel, Die Ordnungen Familien und Gattungen der Replitien, ah Prodrom einer Natnrgeschichte derselben, one vol. 4to, 1811. Blas. Merrem, Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum, one vol. 8vo, 1820. A. H. Haworth, A Letter on the Binary Arrangement of the Class of Reptiles, in the Philosophical Magazine for 1825, p. 372. F. J. Fitzinger, Neue Classification der Reptilien, one small vol. 4to, 1826. Ritgen, A Classification of Reptiles, in Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. for 1828. Bory St Vincent, Resume d’Erp é tologie, ou Hist. Nat. des Reptiles, 12mo, 1828. J. Wagler, Naturliches system der Amphibian, one vol. 8vo, 1830. We have also by the same author an uncompleted work, Ic ones et Descriptiones Amphibiorum, two fascic. folio, 1830, as well as some explications and critical remarks on Seba’s plates of reptiles (Isis, 1833, ninth cahier, p. 885). J. E. Gray, Synopsis Reptilium, part 1st, 1831; and later in the same year, Synopsis of the species of the Class Reptilia, in Griffith’s Animal Kingdom, end of vol. ix. John Muller, Beitrage fur Ana - tomie und Naturgeschichte der Amphibien, in Zeitschrift fur Physiologie von Tiedemann, &c. No. 19, p. 190, 1832. H. T. Schinz, Naturgeschichte und Abbildungen der Reptilien, 4 fascic. large 4to, 1833. We conclude the list with a reference to a work already named, and frequently hereafter quoted, the Erp é tologie G é n é rale, ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles, of Messrs Dumeril and Bibron (four vols. 8vo, with plates), 1834-38. This work is still in course of publication. It contains as yet only the Chelonian, and a great portion of the Saurian Orders; and when to these are added the Ophidian and Batrachian tribes, we doubt not it will be deservedly regarded as the highest authority extant in all that regards the reptile race. We shall afterwards indicate the principal more special works which apply to particular departments of the subject in hand.
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ed with skin. Their tympanic cavity and palatine arches are fixed to the cranium, and immoveable. The tongue is short, and beset with fleshy filaments. The stomach is simple and strong, the intestines of medium length, and unfurnished with a caecum. The bladder is very large. The females in this order produce eggs provided with a hard shell. The males of many species may be recognised by the greater concavity of the plastron. ^[7. Itigne Animal, ]

The limbs of Chelonian reptiles being so confined between the carapace and plastron, their powers of locomotion, at least on land, are very limited. They can scalcely raise their bodies above the surface of the ground, and they advance by a slow, awkward, and apparently embarrassed action. But the aquatic species being provided with fin-like members, and dwelling amid a fluid well adapted to their use, the flat and smoothly expanded bodies of these creatures glide along with great ease and considerable swiftness. Such of the land species as inhabit temperate countries pass the colder seasons of the year in a state of torpidity, having previously excavated or taken possession of some secure and subterranean retreat. They are supposed to be extremely long lived. The marine species are more tropical in their distribution; and we are not aware that any hybernation takes place among them. They are often met with many hundred leagues from land. They deposit their eggs on sandy shores, where they are hatched by the heat of the sun,—the process of laying being usually carried on during the night.

The dimensions of animals of this order exhibit a great range, some being only a few inches in length, while others attain to a gigantic size, and weigh many hundred pounds. They are all extremely tenacious of life,—whether under the effects of long-continued abstinence while being conveyed from distant regions, or when suffering from the infliction of grievous wounds. Indeed they will live for months, or, as it is alleged, even for years, without any food, and will show decided symptoms of life and locomotion for several weeks after their heads have been severed from their bodies.

The whole of this order was formerly contained in the old and unrestricted genus Testudo of Linnaeus, divided by Cuvier into the five following generic groups, of which the distinctive characters are mainly derived from the form and covering of the carapace, and from the feet.

Genus Testudo, Brogn. Tortoises. Carapace bulged, supported by a solid bony frame-work, and soldered by the greater portion of its lateral edges to the plastron. Legs as if truncated, the toes extremely short, and united almost to the nails, of which there are five to the fore-feet, and four to the hinder, all thick and conical.

The species, most of which subsist on vegetables, are too numerous to be here described, but we shall indicate a few of the more noted or remarkable.

The Greek tortoise ( 'Γ. Groeca, Linn.) is the most common of the European kinds, and occurs in most of the

. countries which surround the Mediterranean, and in several islands of that sea. lt is distinguished by its broad and equally bulged carapace, its relieved scales, granulated in the centre, striated on the margins, and spotted, or rather marbled, with black and yellow; in the centre of its posterior margin there is a small prominence slightly curved over the tail. The Greek tortoise lives on leaves, fruits, and insects. It sleeps throughout the winter, pairs in spring, and lays four or five eggs resembling those of a pigeon. It seldom attains to the length of twelve inches, its general extent being from six to eight. This species has been known to reach an extraordinary old age. One of the most remarkable instances has been often recorded. It is that of a tortoise which was introduced into the archie-piscopal garden at Lambeth in the time of Archbishop Laud, about the year 1633, and continued there till 1753, when it died, as was supposed, rather from accidental neglect than the effect of old age. Its shell is preserved in the library of the palace. The Greek turtle is used as an article of food in some of the southern countries of Europe. According to Forskal, it retires under ground in September, and re-appears in February. In this country it hybemates later, and does not emerge so soon. It lays its eggs in June, in a small hole, which it scratches in some sunny spot, and the young are hatched in autumn, being on their first exclusion about the size of walnuts.

Of the foreign species, one of the most remarkable for size is the Indian tortoise (Τ’. Indica, Vosm.), first described by M. Perrault. It has been taken on the coast of Coromandel, and sometimes measures four feet and a half from the nose to the tail, with a height or convexity of fourteen inches. The shell is brown, reflected or turned upwards over the neck; and there is a tubercle on each of the three anterior scutella.

Other species are less remarkable for size than for the beautiful distribution of the colours by which they are adorned. Such is the geometrical tortoise ( T. geometrica, Linn.), which is easily distinguished by the symmetrical regularity with which the yellow rays, and the alternate lines of brown and yellow, are disposed upon the scales of the upper shield. Certain species have the anterior part of the shield move-able, while in others the posterior portion is in that condition. The former constitute the genus Pyxis of Mr Bell, while the latter pertain to the genus Kinixis of that author.

Genus Emys, Brogn. Fresh-water tortoises.

The species of this genus are not distinguishable from those of the preceding by more important characters than the greater separation of the toes, which are terminated by longer nails, and have their intermediate spaces filled up by membrane. The number of the nails is the same, but the form of their feet enables them to indulge in more aquatic propensities. Their envelope is generally of a flatter form than that of the terrestrial species, and the majority live on insects, small fishes, &c. See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 2.

One of the best known of this group is the speckled tortoise (Τ’. Europoea, Schn.; T. orbicularis, Linn.), a small species, pretty widely distributed over the southern and eastern countries of Europe. Its carapace is of an oval form, but slightly convex, rather smooth, of a blackish colour, beset with innumerable small yellow spots. Its length seldom exceeds ten inches. This creature inhabits lakes, marshes, and muddy places. Its flesh is esteemed as food, on which account it is sometimes kept in ponds appropriated to the purpose, and fattened with lettuce leaves, bread, and other substances. It may also be kept in a cellar, and fed with oats scattered on the floor. These it eats readily, especially when they have begun to germinate. Its natural food, however, is said to consist of insects, slugs, &c. It deposits its eggs in warm and sandy places, and Marsigli alleges that an entire year elapses before they are hatched.

Another species of this genus is la Bourbeuse of the French (Τ’. lutaria, Linn.), commonly called the mud-tortoise. It is a small animal, with a Aattish brown-coloured shield, and a tail of considerable length, which, instead of being kept bent inwards, is stretched out in walking. It is well known in France, and is particularly plentiful in Languedoc and many parts of Provence. It has been known to occur in such abundance in a lake of about half a league in width in the plain of Durance, that the neighbouring peasantry, on one occasion, almost entirely sustained themselves
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upon them continuously for three months. Though the species is aquatic, it always lays its eggs on land. When the young are first hatched they do not measure above six lines in diameter. Like most other tortoises, it may be tamed, and its love of slugs and snails makes it a useful adjunct to a garden. Yet it must be borne in mind, that however beneficial to the horticulturist, it is a dangerous inmate of the fish-pond, where it attacks and destroys the inhabitants, first biting them till they become enfeebled through loss of blood, and then dragging them to the bottom, where it quietly devours everything but the bones and some of the cartilaginous parts of the head. The air-bladder also is often left, and, swimming on the surface, gives notice of the depredation done below. The mud-tortoise walks with greater quickness and activity than the ordinary land spe cies, especially on even ground.

The painted tortoise ( T. picta) likewise pertains to this genus. It is a beautiful little creature, with a smooth, rather Aattish shield, of a brown colour, and each compartment bordered by a yellow band. It is a North American species, often seen congregated in clear sunny weather along the sides of rivers on stones and trunks of fallen trees, from which it plunges into the water on the slightest disturbance. It swims swiftly, but walks slowly, and is said to be very voracious, sometimes even destroying ducklings, by seizing their feet and dragging them below the water.

A few species with the neck more elongated (such as T. Iongicolis, Shaw) form the genus Hydraspis of Bell. There are also some peculiar species called tortues a boite by the French, in which the plastron or lower shield is divided into two by a moveable articulation. These tortoises can close their carapace, and so shut themselves up as in a box, after having drawn in their head and legs. Such is the close tortoise ( T. clausa, Gmel.), so called on account of the peculiarity just alluded to. The shell is of great strength, and although the creature itself rarely exceeds a few inches in length, it remains uninjured under a weight of five or six hundred pounds. It occurs in different parts of North America, being usually found in marshy places, though sometimes seen in dry and sultry situations. It feeds on insects, mice, and even snakes, which it is said to seize by the middle, and crush to death by drawing them within its shell.

Others have the tail and limbs by much too large to be withdrawn into the shell. Such is the long-tailed tortoise ( T. serpentina, Linn.), a fresh-water species, native to the warmer parts of North America, where it is known under the name of snapping turtle. It is of considerable size, sometimes weighing twenty pounds, and seizes upon its prey (fish, ducklings, &c.) with great force and rapidity, stretching out its neck, and uttering a hissing sound. Its grasp is so tenacious that it will suffer itself to be lifted up by a stick rather than quit its hold. The tail is almost as long as the body, and is beset by sharp raised ridges. The plates of the shield assume a somewhat pyramidal form. See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 3.

GENUS CHELONIA, Brogn. Turtles, or sea-tortoises. This group differs from all the preceding in its long, flat, fin∙like feet, with the toes closely united, and enclosed within the membrane. The first two toes of each foot alone are furnished with nails, one or other of which often drops off at a certain term of life. The different portions of the lower shield do not form a continuous plate, but are variously dentated, and have large intervals covered by cartilage alone. The ribs are narrow, and separate from each other at their outer portion; but the circumference of the shield is occupied throughout by a circle of pieces corresponding to the sternal ribs. The interior of the oesophagus is entirely beset by sharp cartilaginous points directed towards the stomach.

To illustrate the prevailing habits of these curious creatures, we shall extract the following notices regarding se-

veral species of sea-turtle, from one of those delightful papers with which Mr Audubon has enlivened his Ornithological Biography. That gentleman’s observations were made chiefly among the Tortugas, a group of low uninhabitable islands, or rather banks of shelly sand, which lie about eighty miles from Key West, off the peninsula of the Floridas. As usual, the author intermingles his minuter notices of natural history with very pleasing sketches of the general features of the surrounding scene. “If you have never seen the sun setting in those latitudes, I would recommend you to make a voyage for the purpose; for I much doubt if, in any other portion of the world, the departure of the orb of day is accompanied by such gorgeous appearances. Look at the great red disk increased to triple its ordinary dimensions! Now it has partially sunk beneath the distant line of waters, and with its still remaining half irradiates the whole heavens with a flood of golden light, purpling the far-off clouds that hover over the western horizon. A blaze of refulgent glory streams through the portals of the west, and the masses of vapour assume the semblance of mountains of molten gold. But the sun has now disappeared, and from the east slowly advances the gray curtain which night draws over the world.” “Slowly advancing landward, their heads alone above water, are observed the heavily-laden turtles, anxious to deposit their eggs in the well-known sands. On the surface of the gently rippling stream, I dimly see their broad forms, as they toil along, while at intervals may be heard their hurried breathings, indicative of suspicion and fear. The moon, with her silvery light, now illumines the scene, and the turtle having landed, slowly and laboriously drags her heavy body over the sand, her ‘flappers’ being better adapted for motion in the water than on shore. Up the slope, however, she works her way, and see how industriously she removes the sand beneath her, casting it out on either side. Layer after layer she deposits her eggs, arranging them in the most careful manner, and, with her hind paddles, brings the sand over them. The business is accomplished, the spot is covered over, and with a joyful heart the turtle swiftly retires towards the shore, and launches into the deep.” “There are four different species, which are known by the names of the green turtle, the hawk-bill turtle, the loggerhead-turtle, and the trunk-turtle. The first is considered best as an article of food, in which capacity it is well known to most epicures. It approaches the shores, and enters the bays, inlets, and rivers, early in the month of April, after having spent the winter in the deep waters. It deposits its eggs in convenient places in two different times in May, and once again in June. The first deposit is the largest, and the last the least, the total quantity being at an average about two hundred and forty. The hawk-bill turtle, whose shell is so valuable as an article of commerce, being used for various purposes in the arts, is the next with respect to the quality of its flesh. It resorts to the outer keys only, where it deposits its eggs in two sets, first in July, and again in August, although it ‘ crawls’ the beaches of these keys much earlier in the season, as if to look for a safe place. The average number of its eggs is about three hundred. The loggerhead visits the Tortu-gas in April, and lays from that period until late in June three sets of eggs, each set averaging a hundred and seventy. The trunk-turtle, which is sometimes of an enormous size, and which has a pouch like a pelican, reaches the shores latest. The shell and flesh are so soft, that one may push his finger into them, almost as into a lump of butter. This species, therefore, is considered as the least valuable, and indeed is seldom eaten, unless by the lndians, who, ever alert when the turtle season commences, first carry off the eggs, and afterwards catch the turtles themselves. The average number of eggs which it lays in the season, in two sets, may be three hundred and fifty."
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“The loggerhead and the trunk turtles are the least cautious in choosing the places in which to deposit their eggs, whereas the two other species select the wildest and most secluded spots. The green turtle resorts either to the shores of the Maine, between Cape Sable and Cape Florida, or enters Indian, Halifax, and other large rivers or inlets, from which it makes its retreat as speedily as possible, and betakes itself to the open sea. Great numbers, however, are killed by the turtlers and Indians, as well as by various species of carnivorous animals, as cougars, lynxes, bears, and wolves. The hawk-bill, which is still more wary, and is always the most difficult to surprise, keeps to the sea-islands. All the species employ nearly the same method in depositing their eggs in the sand; and as I have several times observed them in the act, I am enabled to present you with a circumstantial account of it. On first nearing the shores, and mostly on fine calm moonlight nights, the turtle raises her head above the water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from the beach, looks around her, and attentively examines the objects on shore. Should she observe nothing likely to disturb her intended operations, she emits a loud hissing sound, by which such of her many enemies as are unaccustomed to it are startled, and so are apt to remove to another place, although unseen by her. Should she hear any noise, or perceive indications of danger, she instantly sinks and goes off to a considerable distance; but should everything be quiet, she advances slowly towards the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached a place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. Finding ‘all well,’ she proceeds to form a hole in the sand, which she effects by removing it from under her body with her hind flappers, scooping out with so much dexterity that the sides seldom if ever fall in. The sand is raised alternately with each flapper, as with a large ladle, until it has accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself with her head and fore part on the ground fronting her body, she with a spring from each flapper sends the sand around her, scattering it to the distance of several feet. In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen inches, or sometimes more than two feet. This labour I have seen performed in the short period of nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped one by one, and disposed in regular layers to the number of a hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly two hundred. The whole time spent in this part of the operation may be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes the loose sand back over the eggs, and so levels and smooths the surface, that few persons, on seeing the spot, could imagine anything had been done to it. This accomplished to her mind, she retreats to the water with all possible despatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand. When a turtle, a loggerhead, for example, is in the act of dropping her eggs, she will not move although one should go up to her, or even seat himself on her back, for it seems that at this moment she finds it necessary to proceed at all events, as she is unable to intermit her labour. The moment it is finished, however, off she starts; nor would it then be possible for one, unless he were as strong as a Hercules, to turn her over and secure her.” “Persons who search for turtles’ eggs are provided with a light stiff cane, or a gun-rod, with which they go along the shores, probing the sand near the tracks of these animals, which, however, cannot always be seen, on account of the winds and heavy rains that often obliterate them. The nests are discovered not only by men, but also by beasts of prey, and the eggs are collected or destroyed on the spot in great numbers, as on certain parts of the shores hundreds of turtles are known to deposit their eggs within the space of a mile. They form a new hole each time they lay, and the second is generally dug near the first, as if the animal were quite unconscious of what had befallen it. It will readily be understood, that the numerous eggs seen in a turtle on cutting it up could not be all laid the same season. The whole number deposited by an individual in one summer may amount to four hundred, whereas, if the animal is caught on or near her nest, as I have witnessed, the remaining eggs, all small, without shells, and as it were threaded like so many large beads, exceed three thousand. In an instance where I found that number, the turtle weighed nearly four hundred pounds. The young, soon after being hatched, and when yet scarcely larger than a dollar, scratch their way through their sandy covering, and immediately betake themselves to the water.”

“The food of the green turtle consists chiefly of marine plants, more especially the grass-wrack (Zostera marina), which they cut near the roots, to procure the most tender and succulent parts. Their feeding grounds, as I have elsewhere said, are easily discovered by floating masses of these plants on the flats, or along the shores to which they resort. The hawk-billed species feeds on sea-weeds, crabs, various kinds of shell-fish and fishes; the loggerhead mostly on the fish of conch-shells of large size, which they are enabled, by means of their powerful beak, to crush to pieces with apparently as much ease as a man cracks a walnut. One which was brought on board the Marion, and placed near the fluke of one of her anchors, made a deep indentation in that hammered piece of iron that quite surprised me. The trunk-turtle feeds on mollusea, fish, crustacea, sea-urchins, and various marine plants. All the species move through the water with surprising speed; but the green, and hawkbilled in particular, remind you, by the celerity and ease of their motions, of the progress of birds through the air.” ^[8. Ornithological Biography, ]

We shall add a few brief notices, chiefly to connect the preceding observations, and such as follow, with the systematic names bestowed by naturalists.

Our first species is Chelonia mydas, commonly called the green turtle, not so much by reason of its external colour, as because its fat, beloved by aldermen, assumes, when the creature is in high condition, a decidedly greenish hue. This tint is by some regarded as derived from its marine pastures, particularly Zostera marina, or turtle-grass, of which it is particularly fond. The shield of this species consists of thirteen plates, which do not lie over each other after the manner of tiles. Those of the central or upper line are almost in the form of regular hexagons. The green turtle is a reptile of gigantic proportions, sometimes measuring six or seven feet in length, and weighing seven or eight hundred pounds. Its flesh forms an agreeable and healthy aliment to sea-faring men in most of the seas of the torrid zone, and is still more highly prized by epicurean landsmen. Its eggs are also most excellent as articles of diet. The introduction of turtle into Britain, as an article of luxury, is believed to be of no very distant date.

“Of the sea-turtles,” says Catesby, “the most in request is the green turtle, which is esteemed a most wholesome and delicious food. It receives its name from the fat, which is of a green colour. Sir Hans Sloane informs us, in his History of Jamaica, that forty sloops are employed by the inhabitants of Port Royal, in Jamaica, for the catching them. The markets are there supplied with turtle as ours are with butchers’ meat. The Bahamians carry many of them to Carolina, where they turn to good account; not because that plentiful country wants provisions, but they are esteemed there as a rarity, and for the delicacy of their flesh. They feed on a kind of grass growing at the bottom of the sea commonly called turtle-grass. The inhabitants of the Ba[7:19:131]hama Islands, by often practice, are very expert at catching turtles, particularly the green turtle. In April they go in little boats to Cuba and other neighbouring islands, where, in the evening, especially in moonlight nights, they watch the going and returning of the turtle to and from their nests, at which time they turn them on their backs, where they leave them, and proceed on, turning all they meet; for they cannot get on their feet again when once turned. Some are so large that it requires three men to turn one of them. The way by which the turtle are most commonly taken at the Bahama Islands, is by striking them with a small iron peg of two inches long, put in a socket at the end of a staff of twelve feet long. Two men usually set out for this work in a little light boat or canoe, one to row and gently steer the boat, while the other stands at the head of it with his striker. The turtle are sometimes discovered by their swimming with their head and back out of the water, but they are oftenest discovered lying at the bottom, a fathom or more deep. If a turtle perceives he is discovered, he starts up to make his escape, the men in the boat, pursuing him, endeavour to keep sight of him, which they often lose, and recover again by the turtle putting his nose out of the water to breathe; thus they pursue him, one paddling or rowing, while the other stands ready with his striker. It is sometimes half an hour before he is tired; then he sinks at once to the bottom, which gives them an opportunity of striking him, which is by piercing him with an iron peg, which slips out of the socket, but is fastened with a string to the pole. If he is spent and tired by being long pursued, he tamely submits, when struck, to be taken into the boat or hauled ashore. There are men who by diving will get on their backs, and by pressing down their hind parts, and raising the fore part of them by force, bring them to the top of the water, while another slips a noose about their necks.” ^[9. One of the most remarkable modes of capturing turtles is that mentioned by Mr Salt. When that gentleman was at Mosam. bique he received a present of a fish of the genus Ecfiencis, which the inhabitants assured him they were in the habit of employing, by securing it by a cord to a boat, after which it would fasten itself by a sucker on the head to the breastplate of the first turtle it met with, and so firm Iy that the latter might be drawn towards the boat and captured. ]

“The sea-tortoises, or turtles, in general,” continues our author, “never go on shore but to lay their eggs, which they do in April. They then crawl up from the sea above the flowing of high water, and dig a hole above two feet deep in the sand, into which they drop in one night above an hundred eggs, at which time they are so intent on nature’s work that they regard none that approach them, but will drop their eggs into a hat, if held under them; but if they are disturbed before they begin to lay, they will forsake the place and seek another. They lay their eggs at three, and sometimes at four different times, there being fourteen days between every time, so that they hatch and creep from their holes into the sea at different times also. When they have laid their complement of eggs, they fill the hole with sand, and leave them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, which is usually performed in about three weeks.”

A still more gigantic species is the loggerhead-turtle (CA. Caretta, Gm.), distinguished by fifteen dorsal plates, of which the central are raised into a ridge. The upper portion of the muzzle is bent or beak-shaped, the anterior pair of feet are longer and narrower than in the allied species, and the two nails are persistant and better marked. It inhabits the tropical seas along with the preceding species, but extends into nearer northern latitudes, occurring occasionally in the Mediterranean. In a commercial point of view it is of little or no value, the flesh being coarse and rank, and the shell of no estimation. It furnishes, however, a useful lamp-oil. The loggerhead is said to be a bold and voracious reptile, feeding on shell-fish and other animal products, which it crunches with its strong bony beak. Al-drovandus alludes to one which he saw exhibited alive in his days in Bologna. He held a thick walking-stick towards it, which it immediately bit in two.

The imbricated turtle (CA. imbricata, Linn.) is so named on account of the mode in which its dorsal plates, thirteen in number, lap over each other, after the manner of tiles. (See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 4.) Its muzzle is more prolonged than in many species, on which account it is sometimes named the hawk’s-bill. Its mandibles are serrated. It measures from two to four feet, and occurs in the tropical seas. The flesh is disagreeable, and occasionally even dangerous, but the eggs are excellent; and its shield yields the finest quality of that valuable material in the arts called tortoise-shell. The lamellae or plates are thicker, stronger, clearer, and more beautifully mottled than in any other species. The colours consist of an elegant undulation of white, yellow, red, and rich deep brown; hut the article is too well known to require any detailed description. It is obtained by raising the fine external coating from the bony portion which it covers, by placing fire beneath the shell, which causes the plates to start and become detachable. They vary in thickness with the age and dimensions of the individual, and measure from an eighth to a fourth of an inch in thickness. A large turtle is said to afford about eight pounds weight of tortoise-shell; and Mr Schoepf states the range to be from five to fifteen or twenty pounds, adding, that unless the animal itself has attained the weight of a hundred and fifty pounds, the shell is of little value.

“In order,” says Dr Shaw, “to bring tortoise-shell into the particular form required on the part of the artist, it is steeped in boiling water till it has acquired a proper degree of softness, and immediately afterwards committed to the pressure of a strong metallic mould of the figure required; and where it is necessary that pieces should be joined, so as to compose a surface of considerable extent, the edges of the respective pieces are first scraped or thinned; and being laid over each other during their heated state, are committed to a strong press, by which means they are effectually joined or agglutinated. These are the methods also by which the various ornaments of gold, silver, &c. are occasionally affixed to the tortoise-shell.”

“The Greeks and Romans appear to have been pecu-liarly partial to this elegant ornamental article, with which it was customary to decorate the doors and pillars of their houses, their beds, &c. In the reign of Augustus this species of luxury seems to have been at its height in Rome.” ^[10. General Zoology, ]

“The Egyptians,” says Mr Bruce, in the supplement to his Travels, “dealt very largely with the Romans in this elegant article of commerce. Pliny tells us the cutting them for fineering or inlaying was first practised by Carvillus Pollio; from which we should presume that the Romans were ignorant of the art of separating the Iaminae by fire placed in the inside of the shell when the meat is taken out. For these scales, although they appear perfectly distinct and separate, do yet adhere, and oftener break than split, where the mark of separation may be seen distinctly. Martial says that beds were inlaid with it. Juvenal, and Apuleius in his tenth book, mention that the Indian bed was all over shining with tortoise-shell on the outside, and swelling with stuffing of down within. The immense use made of it in Rome may be guessed at by what we learn from Velleius Paterculus, who says, that when Alexandria was taken by Julius Caesar, the magazines or warehouses were so full of this article that he proposed to have made it the principal ornament of his triumph, as he did ivory afterwards [7:19:132]when triumphing for having happily finished the African war.”

But of all the marine tortoises, the coriaceous turtle ( Ch. coriacea, Linn.) seems to attain to the greatest size, individuals having been met with measuring eight feet in length, and weighing about a thousand pounds. It differs from the rest of its tribe, as well in its more lengthened form and tapering termination, as in the softer or more leathery texture of its shield, which is not formed into distinct plates, but rather marked all over with small obscure subdivisions or lineations, which do not interfere with the general smoothness of the surface. There are also three raised longitudinal ridges, which run from above the shoulders to the posterior portion of the shield. (See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 5.) This species inhabits the Mediterranean Sea, has been frequently taken even along the outer coasts of France, and occasionally makes its way to our own island shores. In the month of August 1729 a specimen was taken about three leagues from Nantes, near the mouth of the Loire. It measured above seven feet in length, and is said, when taken, to have uttered a scream so loud and hideous as to have been heard at the distance of a mile. Its mouth “foamed with rage, and exhaled a noisome vapour.” It no doubt, and very naturally, objected to being lifted into a stinking slimy boat, from its own beautiful translucent sea. In the year 1778 a specimen was captured off the coast of Languedoc, which measured seven feet five inches; and, in 1756, another was taken on the Cornwall coast, which, Dr Borlase says, “measured six feet nine inches from the tip of the nose to the end of the shell, and ten feet four inches from the extremities of the fore-fins extended, and was adjudged to weigh eight hundred pounds.” According to Lacépède, the coriaceous turtle is the species with which the Greeks were best acquainted, and he supposes it to have been particularly used in the formation of the ancient harp or lyre, which was originally constructed by attaching strings or wires to the carapace of one of these marine reptiles. “We may add,” says Dr Shaw, “that the ribs or prominences on the back of the shell bear an obscure resemblance to the strings of a harp, and may have suggested the name of luth or lyre, by which it is called among the French, exclusive of the use to which the shell was anciently applied.” This turtle is reputed to be extremely fat, and it is eaten by the Carthusians, although its flesh is coarse and bad.

GENUS CHELYS, Dumeril. Wide-mouthed turtles. This little group resembles the preceding genus Emys in the feet and claws. The carapace is much too small to admit of the withdrawal of the head and limbs, which are proportionally large. The muzzle is prolonged into a little trunk, but the most marked and peculiar character consists in the deeply cleft transverse gape, which is not armed with corneous mandibles, as in the other Chelonians, but rather resembles that of the Batrachian genus Pipa.

The best known and most noted species is the matamata ( 7 , . fimbria, Gm.), an animal of a very singular and rather repulsive aspect, first described by M. Bruguiere. ^[11. 1 Journal d' Hist. Nai. ] It measures about a foot and a half in length. Its carapace is oval, with raised pyramidal plates pointing backwards. The neck and other parts of the body are furnished with peculiar projecting fringes, or wart-like appendages. This reptile is native to Guiana, and was once common in Cayenne; but its numbers were long ago much thinned by the fishermen, who prize it as an excellent and nutritious food. It feeds on aquatic plants, and is said to wander by night to some distance from the banks in search of pasture. The specimen described by M. Bruguiere was brought to him alive, and was sustained for some time on bread and herbs. It afterwards laid five or six eggs, one of which produced a young turtle.

Genus Trionyx, Geoff. Soft turtles. These have no plates or scales, but merely a soft skin enveloping their carapace and plastron, neither of which are completely supported by the bones, the ribs not reaching to the margins of the shield, nor being united to each other except by a portion of their length, and the parts analogous to the sternal ribs being replaced by simple cartilage, and the sternal pieces, partly toothed as in the marine species, by no means filling up the whole of the under surface. The feet, as in the fresh-water tortoises, are palmated though not elongated, and only three of the toes are furnished with nails. The corneous portion of the beak is clothed externally with fleshy lips, and the snout is prolonged. The tail is short. The species of this genus dwell in fresh waters, and the flexible margins of their carapace are of use in swimming.

The Egyptian species or tyrse, the soft turtle of the Nile {Test, triunguis, Forskal, Tr. Aegyptiacus, Geoff.), sometimes attains the length of three feet. Its shield is flattish, and of a green colour, spotted with white. This reptile devours young crocodiles the moment they are hatched, and, according to Sonnini, is more serviceable in this way than even the ichneumon.

An American species ( Tr. ferox, Gmel.) inhabits the rivers of the new world, from Guiana as far north as the southern parts of the United States. It lies concealed in reeds and rushes, seizes on birds and reptiles, preying also on young caymans, and being in turn frequently devoured by the elder members of that powerful family. It is itself sought after as an article of food even by the human race, its flesh being by some esteemed equal to that of the green turtle. This species has been described as possessing considerable vigour and swiftness in its motions, and as springing forward when attacked to meet its assailant with fierceness and alacrity. It measures about a foot and a half in length, and seems to have been first described by Dr Garden in his correspondence with Pennant. ^[12. 2 Phil. Trans, Chelonographia oder Ixs-chreibung ciniger Schildkraeten i Allgemeine Naturgeschiciite der Sehildkreeten, nebst cinen Systematischen Ixrzeich-nisse dcr einzelnen arten, Historia Testudinum iconibus illustrata. Monographia Testudinum Monograph of the Tcstudinata. Species Novae Testudinutn et Ranarum quas in itincre, Synopsis Rtptilium, ] Order II—SAURIA. SAURIAN REPTILES.

In this order the heart is composed, as among the Che-lonians, of two auricles and a ventricle, the latter being sometimes divided by imperfect partitions. The ribs are moveable, partly attached to the sternum, and are capable of being raised and depressed for the purposes of respiration. The lungs extend more or less towards the hinder portion of the body, and frequently enter far into the lower part of the abdomen. Those in which the lungs are large possess the singular faculty of changing the colour of their skin, according as they are excited by their wants or passions. The eggs are enveloped by a more or less consistent covering, and the young are born in the perfect state, that is, they merely increase in size, without undergoing metamorphosis. The mouth is always armed with teeth; and the toes are furnished with nails, with very few exceptions. The skin is clothed with scales, or with little sealygranules. All the species have a tail, varying in length in the different kinds, but almost always thick at the base. The majority have four legs, although a few have only a single pair.
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The Saurian order of reptiles was included by Linnaeus under two genera, Dhaco and Lacerta. The latter has been greatly subdivided, in accordance with the number of the feet, the form of the tongue, tail, and scales; and the formation of several separate families has resulted from the consideration of these important features. None of the saurian reptiles are venomous, although the bite of several of the larger kinds is to be avoided rather than otherwise. They all appear to be what may be called carnivorous; that is, they feed on living prey. Many assume the torpid state during the colder seasons of the year; but in their more active condition they affect, according to the species, a great diversity of situation; some haunting obscure and humid places, others rejoicing in a dry and sandy soil, exposed to the influence of the most radiant sun. Several are aquatic; while many climb trees, or, avoiding “leafy umbrage,” seek the surface of exposed and barren rocks. Their form and outward adornment are as varied as their habits. Some are remarkable for beauty of shape and brilliancy of colour, while others present a repulsive aspect and a lurid hue. Many are extremely small, entirely innocent, and naturally familiar and confiding in their mode of life; others are of gigantic size, and distrustful and dangerous in their disposition. How great the"difference between the beautiful, bright-eyed lizard, which suns itself beside a cottage window, and the huge cayman of America, stretched like a blackened log along the desolate shore of some forsaken river!

FAMILY I.—CR0C0DILIDAE. CROCODILES IN GENERAL.

The Crocodilidoe take the first place in the Saurian order, a distinction to which they are well entitled from their great magnitude and strength, and a ferocity which has obtained for them the appellation of the tyrants of the fresh waters, both in the old and new world. They often attain the size of ten and twelve feet, frequently that of fifteen and twenty, and, more rarely, even that of twenty-five and thirty. Inhabiting the margins of the mighty streams of tropical climates, they are the terror of all who approach them; they prey upon every animal which comes within their reach; and man himself is not free from their attacks, for instances are by no means rare, both in ancient and modern times, of their suddenly seizing upon human beings, and carrying them off to their watery haunts. Hence these formidable animals are never witnessed, especially in temperate climates, but with the deepest interest. In the year 58 before the common era, the edile Scaurus exhibited at Rome five crocodiles from the Nile; on another occasion, Strabo mentions that the inhabitants of Denderah brought many to the great capital of the world; but the most astonishing spectacle of this sort ever witnessed was when the Emperor Augustus caused the Flavinian Circus to be filled with water, and there displayed thirty-six crocodiles, which were killed by an equal number of men accustomed to fight with these monsters. Popular curiosity continues unabated; and the intimate connection of the creatures in question with geological investigations has more recently conferred upon them a very different but not less important interest.

The Crocodilidoe form an exceedingly natural group, closely associated by many common characters, of which the following are the most striking. They all attain a great size.

Their tail is compressed laterally. The fore-feet have five toes; the hind four, the three internal of which are furnished with nails, but all of them are more or less united by membranes. There is a single row of teeth in each jaw. The tongue is fleshy, flat, and attached by nearly the whole of its margin, a circumstance which led the ancients to believe that crocodiles were destitute of this member. The back and tail are covered with great scales or plates, which are often pointed in their centre; the scales on the abdomen are not so thick and strong.

The nostrils of these amphibious creatures open at the end of their snout by two small apertures, which shut with valves. The lower jaw is prolonged behind the cranium, which gives the appearance of motion to the upper jaw when the mouth is opened, an idea entertained by the ancients. ^[13. The peculiar structure of the jaws, and the nature of their movement, among these reptiles, have formed the subject of frequent argument. The fact, or rather the knowledge of it, although controverted by Perrault and Duverney, is as old as the time of Herodotus; and Aristotle asserts that they can move both jaws: x,,βa∕cι,w, «ΰτ» vw, σ ∣ uγοvsn. " Enfin, nous reviendrons encore sur la circonstance, tout-k-fait particulière, qui permet k la mâchoire supérieure, ou plutôt à toute la masse supérieure de la tête, de s’élever en bascule, et de se mouvoir ainsi sur la mâchoire inférieure quand celle-ci repose sur le terrain ou sur un plan fixé.” (Erpitologit Giniralt, iii. 2δ.) See also Annales du Mus. ii. 38. ] Their external ears are shut at will by two fleshy lips; their eye has three eyelids, two horizontal, like our own, and the third, a membrana nictitans, capable of being drawn from within outwards over the whole front of the globe. Beneath the lower jaw, on either side, is a gland, whose duct opens by a small slit a little within the lower edge of the jaw; it secretes an unctuous matter of a strong musky smell, and is supposed by Mr Bell (Phil. Trans. 1827) to be a bait for attracting fish towards the sides of the mouth. This gland, with others of a like nature situated elsewhere, confers a smell which pervades the whole animal. The vertebrae are to the number of sixty; seven are cervical, and these are so connected with each other by bony processes that they impede lateral movements, so that it is difficult for the animal to change its direction; and hence, when a person is pursued, he may easily escape by turning. Of all the Saurians, they are the only ones which are destitute of clavicles. Besides the ordinary supply of ribs, they have some which protect the abdomen without ascending to the spine. Their lungs do not descend into the abdomen, as in other reptiles of their order; and this, with their heart of three cavities, where the blood from the lungs does not mix with that from the body so freely as in the rest of the Reptilia, associates them somewhat nearer to warmblooded animals.

It would be interesting, did space permit, to enlarge upon these physiological details. It is not a little curious, that in the animals belonging to this group, two openings are found, leading from the surface to the internal cavity of the abdomen, a structure similar to that which prevails in a few animals further down the scale. M. Geoffroy St Hilaire supposes that the superior energy of the crocodile in water is due to this penetration of that fluid, and the consequent conversion of the peritoneum into an additional respiratory surface. Another singular circumstance is, that these animals, as in some higher up the scale, are in the habit of swallowing great stones. An officer in the Colombian navy, who mentions this, tells us, that being somewhat incredulous on the point, he was satisfied of the fact by Bolivar, who, in order to convince him, shot several alligators with his rifle, and in the stomachs of all of them were found stones varying in weight according to the size of the animal. The largest killed was about seventeen feet in length, and had within him a stone weighing from sixty to seventy pounds. Upon their dispositions and habits we cannot greatly dilate.

In relation to the geographical distribution of the Croco-dilidae, we may here remark, that they are entirely foreign to Europe, and do not occur in New Holland, but are else[7:19:134]where extensively spread over various regions of the earth. The caymans are peculiar to America, the crocodiles, properly so called, are common to both worlds, and the gavials have hitherto been found only in Continental India. The following table will show the distribution of the family, and the amount of species, in all the great divisions of our globe;
[table]

Genus Gavialis, Cuv. and Geoff. We begin with the very limited genus Gavial, which, so far as known, is confined to the old world, if not to the Asiatic continent. The first description of one of these animals was given by our celebrated countryman Edwards. ^[14. Phil. Trans. 1756. ] Count Lacépède introduced the native name Gavial into our systematic works. The most recent researches of Cuvier have scarcely succeeded in determining whether there is more than one living species; there appear, however, to be several fossil, and hence additional interest is excited.

In this genus the snout is slender, and very much prolonged; the teeth are nearly uniform and alike; the fourth of the under jaw, when the mouth is closed, locks not into a foramen in the upper jaw, but into a lateral groove only; the hind feet are denticulated on the outer margin, and pal-mated to the extremity of the toes; and there is a deep depression behind the eye.

G. Iongirostris, Cuv.; Crocodilus longirostris, Schn.; Lacerta Gangeticus, Gmel. The Great Gavial. The muzzle of this species is almost cylindrical, and somewhat bent at its Extremity; its head is singularly broad, especially towards the back part; the length of its muzzle to that of its body is as one to seven and a half. Its dental formulary is 2/2 3/5 = 106. Its scales, as in all its congeners, supply excellent specific characters. This animal appears to attain a great size. Baron Cuvier received from Mr Wallich a specimen of an individual captured near Calcutta, which was seventeen feet long; and from a fragment in the Paris museum, it is calculated it must sometimes attain to nearly double that size. Notwithstanding its great bulk, the very slender form of its muzzle renders it much less formidable than the other and more numerous genus (Crocodilus), which also frequents the Ganges. It feeds wholly upon fish, and is not regarded as dangerous to man, a fact confirmatory of Aelian’s observation, that “there are two kinds of crocodiles in the Ganges, the one innocent, the other cruel.” Though it has not hitherto been observed in other Asiatic rivers, it may reasonably be supposed to exist elsewhere than in the Ganges.

G. tenuirostris. Though the materials possessed by Baron Cuvier did not enable him to come to a definitive conclusion regarding the existence of the small gavial, yet upon the whole he favoured its claims to being something more than the young of the preceding species; the existence of some nearly allied fossil kinds favouring the conclusion. There is no difference in the shape and arrangement of the teeth or scales; and the greater narrowness of the upper and back part of the head, and of the orbital foramina, are the only specific differences supplied. Its average size has not been ascertained. Like the preceding, it frequents the Ganges.

Genus Crocodilus, Cuv. The generic characters of the true crocodiles are sufficiently distinct. They do not possess the slender beak of the gavials; the head is oblong, and not half as broad as it is long; the muzzle is oblong and depressed; the teeth, which are somewhat unequal in their dimensions, are fifteen on each side in the lower jaw, and nineteen in the. upper; the fourth, which are the longest, pass into furrows, and are not lodged in distinct foramina of the upper jaw; the hind feet have usually a denticulated crest at their outer margin; and the interval of their toes, at all events the external ones, are palmated. There is a deep hollow behind each eye.

Different species of crocodile are found in the hot regions of Asia, Africa, and America. Many bear a very close resemblance to each other, but about eight seem to be satisfactorily established. These are, the species called chamses, or temsoch,— the common crocodile of the Nile; the biporcatus, or double crested; the acutus, rhombifer, galeatus, and cataphractus (Cuv.); to which are to be added the Gravesii and Journei (of Bory de St Vincent). We begin with that which has been longest, and perhaps is best known, the famous crocodile of the Nile.

C. vulgaris, Cuv.; Temsach of the modern Egyptians; Lewerta crocodilus, Linn. The length of the head of this species is double that of the breadth; the snout is very ragged and unequal, especially in the old; its eyes are more asunder than in other species. Without entering into minute details of the number and arrangement of the scales on the neck, back, tail, &c. we shall only state, that six rows of nearly equal-sized plates run all along the back, giving it the appearance of mosaic. The colour is a bronzed green, speckled with brown; underneath it is a yellowish-green.

These animals sometimes attain the enormous size of thirty feet; “and if we except,” says Lacépède, “the elephant, the hippopotamus, some cetacea, and a few enormous serpents, they have no equal in nature.” The female lays her eggs twice or thrice in the year, but only during the hot weather, and deposits them in the sand, where they are hatched by the sun. They amount to about twenty; and are said to be hatched after fifteen or twenty days. They are about twice the size of the goose’s egg, and it is stated that the mother takes no charge whatever of them. Indeed we believe that this maternal carelessness is characteristic of the reptile race.

This species is frequently designated the crocodile of the Nile, a name far from happy,—because other species may inhabit its waters, and the one in question may be more common elsewhere. There seems, indeed, to be no doubt that this same animal abounds in the Senegal and other rivers of Western Africa; probably even in all the rivers of that continent, and certainly in those of Madagascar. Formerly it used to frequent the Nile as far down as the Delta, but now we must ascend to its less frequented portions before it is encountered. It was probably in reference to an individual of this species that Mungo Park relates the fact, that one of his guides across the river Gambia was suddenly seized by a crocodile and pulled under water. The negroes, however, are so familiar with these creatures, and so skilful in meeting their attacks, that they generally escape. On this occasion the negro thrust his fingers in the crocodile’s eyes with so much violence that it quitted its hold; but seizing him again, he resorted to the same expedient, and with more success, as it again released him, appeared stupified, and swam down the river. Although its flesh has a strong musky smell, yet the inhabitants of the districts wherein it abounds frequently attach a high value to it, as, according to the testimony of Herodotus, did also some of tile ancient Egyptians. A common method employed by the Africans for destroying the crocodile is to thrust the arm, well defended with ox-hides, down its throat, and then to plunge a dagger into its vitals. The European [7:19:135]traveller will probably prefer avoiding such a close encounter.

Although we have hitherto treated of the common crocodile as one and distinct, yet it seems beyond doubt, that in the wide habitat assigned to it, many varieties at least exist. Cuvier remarks, that from the Senegal to the Ganges, and even beyond it, there are crocodiles very like the common one, which have the muzzle somewhat longer or narrower, and have slight differences in the scales of their neck and back, but which it is very difficult to distribute into distinct species. He himself was not able to establish any; nor could he with satisfaction adopt the four proposed by his eminent colleague M. Geoffroy, viz. C. suchus, marginatus, lacunosus, and complanatus. ^[15. These seem all to be now regarded as varieties of the common Egyptian crocodile,— C. vulgaris, Cuv. and Dum. See Erpétologie Générale, iii. 104. ] Of these, by far the most famous is the suchus, which the last-named naturalist considers identical with the sacred crocodile of the ancient Egyptians. His theory is, that there existed a species of a small size, having a narrow snout, and a disposition which was wholly gentle and inoffensive, which affected the margin of the river, and was thus the precursor of its inundations; and that it was to this species that the Egyptians rendered divine honours. The opposing view, advocated by Cuvier, is that the favoured crocodile did not belong to any one species or variety more than another, and, far from being less, was even more ferocious; but that it was the custom of the priesthood to entertain, not a host of crocodiles, but only one, or a few, of any given variety, under the name of souchis, as the idol of a divinity who was represented by a crocodile’s head; and that it was to this individual especially that divine honours were paid, in the same way as apis was the name of the sacred ox at Memphis, and mnevis at Heliopolis. This favoured animal was always nourished and adorned with extreme splendour, and after its death was buried in the subterranean cells of the Labyrinth; whilst throughout the district where these honours were paid, the whole race of crocodiles were respected and preserved. Cuvier assigns the following among other reasons for the accuracy of his views, which we think conclusive: First, the crania of the buried and embalmed crocodiles do not belong to any one variety, but to all of them; and, 2 dly, there is the strongest historical proof that the crocodiles in those districts where they were worshipped, far from being less savage, were even more so than in others, because from their impunity they became more bold. Thus Aelian reports, that in the district of Tyntyri-tes, where they unsparingly destroyed the crocodiles, the inhabitants could bathe and swim in the river securely, whilst at Arsinoe they could not safely walk, far less draw water from the river’s banks. The evidence that individuals, when taken young, may be completely tamed, is equally satisfactory. Thus Bruce relates, that on the western shores of Africa, the negroes bring up crocodiles, which become so gentle as to let children play with them and ride upon their backs; a fact which satisfactorily corroborates the accounts of those religious processions, &c. in which the sacred crocodile performed so essential and conspicuous a part.

C. biporcatus, Cuv. Dum; C. porosus, Schn. Double crested crocodile. This species is the common crocodile of India and its archipelago, frequenting the Ganges and other great rivers which empty themselves into the ocean, as also those of Corea and China, Ceylon, Java, Timor, &c. It has a strong resemblance to the Egyptian species; but the cervical scales are differently arranged, and the dorsal are smaller, more numerous, and differently shaped. (See Plate CCCCXXX. fig. 6.) the appearance of the pores between the scales is much more conspicuous than in the other species, and grows with their growth. Its colour is brownish, with black bands on the back, and spots on the side. In the Paris museum there is one seventeen feet long, from the Ganges. In the account of Macassar, or Celebes, we read, that in the great river of that island, there are crocodiles so ferocious that they do not confine themselves to making war on fish, but assemble in troops to watch the boats, and endeavour to overturn them, that they may devour those who are in them. It is the opinion in Java that these animals do not devour their prey on capturing it; but bury it for a time in the mud, that it may decay. This remark is so generally made of other species in different parts of the world, that it would appear to be a prevailing habit among them.

C. acutus, Cuv. Dum. The slender-snouted crocodile, or crocodile of St Domingo. This slender-snouted crocodile is extremely common in the island of St Domingo, as well as in Martinique, and the northern parts of South America. Its most remarkable specific characters are the length of the muzzle, which is bulged at its base; and the scales of the back are differently disposed from those of the preceding. The upper part of the body is of a deep green colour, spotted and marbled with black; the under part is pale green. Dr Descourtils states that this animal is more flexible than is usually supposed, for it can introduce the extremity of its tail into its mouth. On the same respectable authority we learn that the males are not so numerous as the females; that they fight furiously at the season of reproduction; that the males are fit for generation at the age of ten, and the females at that of eight or nine, their fecundity not lasting more than four or five years,—a statement which may well be questioned. The eggs are deposited in spring, and hatched in a month. On issuing, the young are only nine or ten inches long; their growth continues for about twenty years, and some are as long as sixteen feet. At the time of the escape of the young, the female comes to scrape away the earth and let them out. She conducts, defends, and feeds them, by disgorging her own food for about three months, a space of time during which the male would seek to devour them.

C. rhombifer, Cuv. Dum. Lozenge-scaled crocodile. The habitat of this species has been ascertained only of late years. It occurs in the island of Cuba, and probably inhabits the other Antilles. Its specific characters are well marked. Its chanfrin is extremely prominent, forming a semicircle, whilst in the common crocodile it is only a gentle elevation; and the extremities are clad with much stronger and more projecting scales than in the other species. Its ground colour is green, bespeckled with small and very distinct brown spots.

C. galeatus, Cuv. Dum. Helmeted crocodile. The helmeted crocodile has been hitherto found only in Siam, and is remarkable for two bony triangular crests implanted, the one behind, the other on the middle line of the head. It has been taken ten feet long. C. biscutatus is now regarded as an anomalous variety of C. acutus. C. cataphractus, the cuiirassed crocodile, may be witnessed in the museum of the London Royal College of Surgeons, and it is very different, according to Cuvier, from all the others described. The source from whence it was obtained is unknown. ^[16. A specimen of a young individual was presented to the Paris museum as having been obtained from “le grand Galbac, rivière qui coule près de Sierra de Leone." ] Its muzzle is longer and narrower than that of the St Domingo crocodile, whose peculiar chanfrin it wants. It is most easily distinguished by the armour on its neck; there are first two oval plates, then a row of four, then sealybands common to the neck and back, which together form a cuirass as strong as that of any of the gavials or alligators.
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There still remain two other true crocodiles, described by M. Graves, ^[17. Ann. Gin, des Seien. Physiques, ] and which he regards as new; the C. Gra-vesii and Jtmrnei of Bory de St Vincent. Both of them are in the Bordeaux museum. The habitat of the former is believed to be the Congo, and of the latter America. All the bones of the Gravesii are as if pierced with small holes, a character they possess in common with some of the alligators. Its head is of the shape of a slender isosceles triangle; the extremity of the snout is rounded, and its surface covered with great obtuse tubercles, having no regular arrangement. The ninth, tenth, and eleventh teeth of the lower jaw are received into a furrow, as well as the fourth. The colour of the upper part is a dark deep brown, that of the lower a dull yellow. The snout of the Journei is very slender, approaching to that of the gavials; it is convex as well as long, and near its extremity is almost cylindrical. The back of this species is of a deep yellowish green; the flanks are yellowish, and the belly yellow.

Genus Alligator, Cuv. The alligators are by far the most common representatives of this group in the new world; although, as we have already seen, there are true crocodiles in St Domingo, and probably in many other localities. In most parts of America they are known by the title of cayman, a name apparently of African origin, and applied by the negroes, not to the alligators only, but indifferently to every species of the group. It does not seem to be yet ascertained whether any true caymans are found in the old world. Adanson thought he discovered one in the Senegal; M. de Beauvais states that he saw one in Guinea; and Cuvier thinks it most probable that they have their representatives in our hemisphere. They possess all the power and ferocity of the true crocodiles, and in many places are found in astonishing numbers.

The head of the alligators is not so oblong as that of the true crocodiles; the snout is broad and obtuse; the teeth are somewhat unequal, the number ranging from nineteen to twenty-two on each side of each jaw; the fourth of the under jaw is received, not into a lateral furrow of the upper one, but into a distinct foramen. Their feet are only semi-palmated, and are not denticulated.

A. lucius, Cuv.; Croc. Cuvieri, Leach. Pike-muzzled alligator. This is peculiarly the alligator of the southern parts of North America, including Carolina, the Floridas, and Louisiana. In the Mississippi it ascends as far as the thirty-second degree north, a higher latitude than any species reaches in the old world. In these countries they frequent the muddy banks, and quite bury themselves in the cold season, falling into a lethargic state before the setting in of the frost. ^[18. An individual, however, was observed by Messrs Dunbar and Hunter ⅛ latitude 32 1/2° north, in the month of December, while the weather was very cold. ] This sleep is so profound that they may be almost cut to pieces without manifesting any sign of life; when the warm weather returns, they are soon roused into activity. According to Bosc, their eggs are white, and not larger than those of the turkey. They are good eating, and are prized by the natives, though they partake of the musky smell of the animal. As soon as they escape, the young betake themselves to the water; but the vast majority become the prey of turtles, fish, and amphibious animals, not excluding the older of their own species. During the first year they feed upon insects and very young fish. Bosc states that he preserved a brood of fifteen. They ate only living insects; and never captured them except when moving, upon which they darted at them with great velocity. They appeared quite gentle when he took them in his hand. At the end of the first year they are still very feeble creatures; during the second they acquire their formidable teeth. The duration of their existence is not precisely ascertained, but is supposed to equal that of man. They never cast their skin; and on acquiring their full size, few animals can injure them. They can fast long. They live on frogs, fish, aquatic birds, on dogs, hogs, cattle, and any animal they can catch; when these go to the river to drink, they seize them by the muzzle or leg, and draw them into the water to drown them. “I used often,” adds the traveller last named, “to amuse myself, bringing them from their retreats by making my dog bark. Sometimes I used to advance and strike them with my stick, at which they were little disturbed. They never thought of attacking me, and deliberately retired when they found their hunting promised no success.” Though slow on land, they swim with great velocity. In Carolina they make deep burrows, where they pass the whole winter, and even the entire day in summer. Though usually met with on the edges of rivers and lakes, they are sometimes also found in ponds in woods. Bosc often attempted to take them with every kind of strong snare; but these were invariably broken to pieces. They are commonly taken with a strong hook bated with a bird or small quadruped, and connected by a chain to a tree. The Indians eat the tail only. At the time of reproduction they fight furiously with each other, and bellow as loud as bulls. They avoid the salt water and proximity to the sea, because they are there exposed to the attacks of sharks and the great turtle. In very warm districts in the Floridas, the rivers are sometimes quite crowded with them, so that they almost interrupt the navigation.

The specific characters of the pike-headed alligator are a flat snout, the sides of which are nearly parallel, uniting in front in a regular curve. There are eighteen transverse rows of scales on the back. The colour above is a deep greenish brown, beneath white tinged with green, and the flanks are regularly striated with the two colours. Catesby has seen them fourteen feet long. Its hide, except at particular spots, resists a musket ball; it is most vulnerable at the inferior part of the belly, and round the eye.

The great alligator of North America certainly forms one of the most remarkable features in the zoology of the United States. Whatever may be said of the African or South American species, this huge reptile is usually neither shy nor dangerous. Its ordinary motion on land is slow and sluggish, a kind of laboured crawling, which leaves the track of a lengthened trail upon the mud, like the keel of a small vessel. When met with at any distance from the water, it immediately squats, that is, lies as flat as it can, with its nose upon the ground, and staring around with rolling eyes. “Should a man approach them,” says that accurate and admirable describer Audubon, “they do not attempt either to make away or attack, but merely raise their body from the ground for an instant, swelling themselves, and issuing a dull blowing sound, not unlike that of a blacksmith’s bellows. Not the least danger need be apprehended; you either kill them with ease, or leave them.” As if conscious of their incapacity of self-defence, they seldom travel except during the night, being then less subject to disturbance, besides “having a better chance to surprise a litter of pigs, or of land-tortoises, for prey.” “In Louisiana,” Mr Audubon observes, “all our lagoons, bayous, creeks, ponds, lakes, and rivers, are well stocked with them; they are found wherever there is a sufficient quantity of water to hide them, or to furnish them with food; and they continue thus in great numbers as high as the mouth of the Arkansas river, extending east to North Carolina, and as far west as I have penetrated. On the Red River, before it was navigated by steam-vessels, they were so extremely abundant, that to see hundreds at a sight along the shores, or on the immense rafts of floating or stranded timber, was [7:19:137]quite a common occurrence, the smaller on the backs of the larger, groaning, and uttering their bellowing noise, like thousands of irritated bulls about to meet in fight; ^[19. The majority of authors who have written of crocodiles from personal observation, agree regarding the frequent cries of the younger individuals, but seem to consider the older ones as seldom giving utterance to their feelings in that way. “Au contraire,” says Humboldt, “le rugissement du crocodile adulte doit être très rare, car avant vécu pendant plusieurs années ou en couchant à l’air libre sur les bords de l’Orénoque, nous avons été presque toutes les nuits entourés des crocodiles, nous n'avons jamais entendu la voix de ces sauriens à taille gigantesque” (Recueil d’Obseiv. de Zoologie, torn, i ) ] but all so careless of man, that unless shot at or positively disturbed, they remained motionless, suffering boats or canoes to pass within a few yards of them without noticing them in the least. The shores are yet trampled by them in such a manner that their large tracks are seen as plentiful as those of sheep in a fold.” It was in the Red River, it seems, that so many thousands of these reptiles were killed, while a mania prevailed for wearing boots and shoes made of crocodile leather. This had fairly become an article of trade, many of the squatters following for a time no other business. But this leather, though handsome and pliant, exhibiting all the regular lozenges of the scales, and capable of receiving the highest polish, is not sufficiently firm or close-grained to prevent for any length of time the ingress of damp or moisture.

The power of this alligator lies chiefly in his jaws and tail. The latter is admirably adapted to serve as an ally to the former, because when curved into a semicircle it sweeps everything towards the enormous mouth. “Woe be to him who goes within the reach of this tremendous instrument; for, no matter how strong or muscular, if human, he must suffer greatly if he escapes with life. The monster, as he strikes, forces all objects within the circle towards his jaws, which, as the tail makes a motion, are open to their full stretch, thrown a little sidewise to receive the object, and, like battering-rams, to bruise it shockingly in a moment. The alligator, when searching after prey in the water, or at its edge, swims so slowly towards it as not to ruffle the water. It approaches the object sidewise, body and bead all concealed, till sure of his stroke; then, with a tremendous blow, as quick as thought, the object is secured.” When these giant reptiles are engaged in fishing, the flapping of their tails upon the water may be heard at half a mile. In the vicinity of Bayou Creek, on the Mississippi, there are extensive shallow lakes and marshes, yearly overflowed by the dreadful flooding of that mighty river, and stored with myriads of fish of many different kinds—trouts, white perch, cat-fish, alligatorgars or devil-fish. Thither, in the heats of early autumn, after a burning summer sun has exhaled a quantity of water, the squatter, planter, hunter, all proceed in search of sport. The lakes are then not more than two feet deep, with a fine sandy bottom, and much grassy vegetation bearing seeds, keenly sought for by vast multitudes of water-fowl. In each lake is a deeper spot, called the Alligator Hole, because dug and dwelt in by these reptiles. There they may be seen in numbers lying close together. “The fish that are already dying by thousands, through the insufferable heat and stench of the water, and the wounds of the different winged enemies constantly in pursuit of them, resort to the alligator’s hole to receive refreshment, with a hope of finding security also, and follow down the little currents flowing through the connecting sluices; but no! for as the water recedes in the lake, they are here confined. The alligators thrash them and devour them whenever they feel hungry; while the wood-ibis destroys all that make towards the shore. The hunter, anxious to prove the value of his rifle, marks one of the eyes of the largest alligator, and as the hair-trigger is touched, the alligator dies. Should the ball strike one inch astray from the eye, the animal flounces, rolls over and over, beating furiously with his tail around him, frightening all his companions, who sink immediately; while the fishes, like blades of burnished metal, leap in all directions out of the water, so terrified are they at this uproar. Another and another receives the shot in the eye, and expires; yet those that do not feel the fatal bullet pay no attention to the death of their companions till the hunter approaches very close, when they hide themselves for a few moments by sinking backwards.” So disinclined are they to attack the human race, that Mr Audubon and his companions have waded waist-deep among hundreds of them. The cattle-drivers may be often seen beating them away with sticks before crossing with their beasts, for they will readily attack cattle, and swim after such animals as dogs, deer, and even horses.

As soon as the cool autumnal air gives warning of the approach of frosty weather, alligators leave the lakes to seek for winter quarters, by burrowing beneath the roots of trees, or covering themselves with earth. They speedily become inactive; and to sit and ride on one, according to Mr Audubon, who never rows in the same boat with Squire Waterton, would now be no more difficult than for a child to mount a rocking horse. The negroes kill them by separating, at a single blow, the tail from the body. They are afterwards cut into large pieces, and boiled in a good quantity of water, from the surface of which the fat is collected in large ladles. A single man often kills above a dozen alligators in an evening, prepares his fire in the woods, and, by morning, the oil is rendered. This oil is used for greasing the machinery of steam-engines and cotton-mills; and formerly, when Indigo was made in Louisiana, it served (we know not how) to assuage the overflowing of the boiling juice, when a ladleful was thrown into the caldron. We would have deemed the remedy more dangerous than the disease. These reptiles emit a strong odour, and a large one may be discovered by it at a distance of sixty yards. The smell is musky, and, when strong, is insupportable. It is not, however, perceptible when they are in the water, “although I have,” says Mr Audubon, “been so close to them while fishing, as to throw the cork of my line upon their heads to tease them.” He adds, that he has regularly found in their interior round masses of a hard substance resembling petrified wood. He has broken these with a hammer, and found them brittle, and as hard as stones, which they outwardly resemble. “And as neither our lakes nor rivers in the portion of the country I have hunted them in, afford even a pebble as large as a common egg, I have not been able to conceive how they are procured by the animals if positively stones, or (if not) by what power wood can become stone in their stomachs.” They are probably concretions formed of indigestible animal substances, or may themselves assist digestion. ^[20. “Une particularité notable, mais qui parait assez constante chez les crocodiles, puisque tous les auteurs qui en ont fait l’anatomie en ont fait mention, c’est qu’on trouve dans leur estomac des cailloux de différentes grosseurs, qui semblent devoir servir à la trituration iles alimens, comme les petits pierres qui se rencontrent dans le gesier ou Vestamac musculeux des oiseaux.” (Erpetologie Gene - rale, iii. 27.) ] Mr Audubon has often amused himself, when fishing where alligators abounded, by throwing an inflated bladder towards the one next him in the water. It makes for it at once, flapping it towards its mouth, and trying to seize it, but in vain. The light inflation floats aside, and in a few minutes many more of these huge creatures are seen attempting to master the delusive bladder, , ∙ putting one in mind of a crowd of boys running after a foot-ball.” A black bottle is also sometimes thrown among them, tightly corked; but some one, more active than the rest, will seize it greedily, and the crunched [7:19:138]glass gives way within its ponderous jaws as easily as if ground in a coarse mill.

During the season of love, in spring, the male alligator is a fierce and dangerous animal, and possibly its observation by different naturalists, at different seasons of the year, may account for the contradictions which pervade the recorded statements of its life and manners. When thus excited, no man dares to swim or wade among them, or, as Mr Audubon quietly observes, “they are usually left alone at this season,” a delicate piece of attention, which, we doubt not, like other virtues, is its own reward. The female prepares her nest about the first of June, choosing a place about forty or fifty yards from the water, in some thick bramble or cane, where she gathers leaves, sticks, and rubbish of all kinds, carrying the materials in her mouth as a hog does straw. As soon as a proper nidus is formed, she lays about ten eggs, which she covers over with more rubbish and mud; and proceeding in this manner, she deposits about fifty or sixty eggs in various layers. The whole is then covered up, matted, and tangled together with long grasses, in such a manner that it is extremely difficult to break it up. These eggs are in size like those of a goose, but of a longer form, and are protected rather by a parchment-like transparent substance than by shell. Though they are not eaten either by hogs or vultures, the female, now not only wary, but ferocious, watches near the spot, visiting the water from time to time for food. The nest is of course easily discovered, as she always goes and returns the same way, and soon forms a conspicuous path by the dragging of her giant form. According to Mr Audubon, to whom we stand indebted for these details, it is not the heat of the sun which hatches the eggs, but that of the nest itself,—a perfect hot-bed, from the mode of its formation. The young, as soon as excluded, force their way through the walls of their putrescent chambers, and issue forth all as beautiful and brisk as lizards. The female then leads them to the lake, or more frequently, for greater security, to some small detached bayou; for now the males, their own ungentle fathers, will swallow them by hundreds, and the wood-ibis and sand-hill cranes devour them. ^[21. See “Observations on the Natural History of the Alligator,” by John J. Audubon, Esq. in Edinburgh Nev Philosophical Journal, ii. 270. ] A. Sclerops, Cuv.; Croc. Sclerops, Selm. Spectacled alligator. This is more especially the alligator of Guiana and Brazil. Its snout, though broad, has not the sides parallel, as in the preceding, and is more triangular in its shape. The lower edge of the orbits are very prominent, and a crest projecting between them gives the appearance whence their specific name is derived. Its colour is bluish-green above, and irregularly marbled green and yellow, more or less pale, below. Azara speaks of a red variety, which is the most savage of all. It acquires a great size. Cuvier has seen it fourteen feet long; and in Surinam some have attained the length of twenty and twenty-four feet. In South America it extends as far as 32° south latitude, the same distance from the equator on the one side, as the preceding species reaches on the other. It cannot run half so swiftly as man, and rarely attacks him; but when the eggs are plundered, the female defends them courageously. She lays, according to some, as many as sixty, and covers them with a few leaves or a little straw. It passes the night in water, as Herodotus states of the crocodile of the Nile, and during the day basks in the sun on the banks. It has been stated, that in certain places, when the morass is partially dried, the remaining water is so crowded with caymans that nothing is to be seen but their projecting backs.

It was probably over this species (the Yacare of Azara, Jacare noir of Spix) that Mr Waterton obtained his far-famed and well-known conquest; and of it also that he relates the following anecdote. “One fine evening last year, as the people of Angustura, said its governor, were sauntering up and down here on the bank of the Oronoco, I was within twenty yards of this place, when I saw a large cayman rush out of the river, seize a man, and carry him down, before any body had it in his power to assist him. The screams of the poor fellow were terrible as the cayman was running off with him. He plunged into the river with his prey; we instantly lost sight of him, and never saw or heard him more.” The negroes of South America sometimes eat the flesh, notwithstanding its fetid and musky smell. Azara tells us that they succeed in sticking it with an armed harpoon, and after fatiguing it in the water, null it out by main force and despatch it.

A. Palpebrosus, Cuv. Bony eyelid alligator. The muzzle in this species is somewhat longer and less depressed than in the preceding, and the margins of the orbits are not projecting. The character, however, which at once distinguishes it from all the other Crocodilidae is, that the upper eyelid is wholly occupied with an osseous plate, divided into three pieces by sutures. None of its congeners have more than a small osseous particle near the inner angle. Its teeth are ½¾ on each side of each jaw. The interval between the two external toes is less palmated than in the other species, from which it may be concluded to be more terrestrial. This animal inhabits Cayenne, and exhibits considerable variation in its characters.

In addition to these clearly distinct species, naturalists now recognise the two following, viz. the dog-headed cayman, Al. cynocephalus, Dum. and Bib., and the black spotted cayman, Al. punctulatus, Spix. ^[22. Erpetologie Générale, iii. 86-91. ]

FAMILY IL—LACERTINIDAE. LIZARDS IN GENERAL.

The members of this family are characterised by a slender extensile tongue, terminated by two filaments, like that of many snakes. All the four legs have five toes, separate, of unequal size, especially the hinder ones, and furnished with nails. The scales on the abdomen, and those beneath the tail, are disposed in transverse parallel bands. A produced portion of the skin, longitudinally cleft, and closing by a sphincter, protects the eye, beneath the anterior angle of which there is the vestige of a third eyelid. The false ribs do not form an entire circle.

The species of this family are numerous and diversified, and now constitute several generic groups. Like all other reptiles, they are much more abundant in sultry than in cold or temperate climates. “I am positive,” says Mr Bruce, alluding to the lizard tribe in general, “that I can say without exaggeration, that the number I saw one day, in the great court of the temple of the sun at Balbec, amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings were covered with them, and the various colours of which they consisted made a very extraordinary appearance, glittering under the sun, in which they lay sleeping and basking.” He adds, that the desert parts of Syria, bordering on Arabia Deserta, abound with these reptiles beyond the possibility of calculation.

The genus Monitor of Cuvier contains the largest species, some of them almost approaching to the size of crocodiles. They have teeth on both jaws, but none upon the palate. The greater number have the tail compressed, which aids their aquatic propensities. Their vicinity to water brings them into the frequent neighbourhood of crocodiles and caymans, and they are said to give warning of the approach of these formidable reptiles by a shrill whistle. Hence probably their name of monitor. That of Tupinam-
[7:19:139]

bis, which they often bear, was bestowed upon them by an error of Seba’s, who, misconstruing a passage in Margrave, applied to these reptiles the designation of a tribe of people.

The first subdivision of the genus contains the Monitors properly so called (genus Varanus, Dum.), ^[23. The term Monitor is somewhat injudiciously app lied to this restricted group, in as far as it does not contain the species originally so named, that is, the grande sauvegarde d’Amérique,—Lacerta tequixin of I.inn. and Shaw. ] distinguished by small and numerous scales on the head, limbs, beneath the abdomen, and around the tail, the last-named portion being surmounted by a kind of keel formed by a double range of projecting scales. The thighs want the peculiar range of pores observable among several other groups of saurians. The species are confined exclusively to the ancient world, although Seba, and in later years Daudin, have stated the contrary. Travellers report that they prey on the eggs of water-fowl and on those of crocodiles, and that chameleons, young turtles, and fishes, have been found in their stomachs. M. Leschenault de Latour even states that they combine together on the banks of lakes and rivers for the purpose of attacking such quadrupeds as come to assuage their thirst, and that he has seen them attempt to drown a young stag which was trying to cross a river. He moreover found the thigh-bone of a sheep in one which he dissected.

The monitor of the Nile (A. Nilotica, Linn. Varanus Niloticus, Dum.), called Ouaran by the Arabs, has the teeth strong and conical, the posterior becoming rounded by age. The general colour is brown, with paler and darker points, forming various compartments, among which are transverse rows of large oceliated spots, which on the tail become ring-like. The tail is rounded at the base, and surmounted by a keel throughout its whole length. This species grows to the length of five or six feet A vulgar belief prevails among the Egyptians, that it is a young crocodile hatched in drier earth than usual. Its figure is engraved on the ancient monuments of Egypt, probably in connection with the fact of its preying on the eggs of the crocodile. To the monitors also belong the animal called scink (A. scincus, Merr., but not of Linn., Var. arenarius, Dum.), a small species, very abundant in Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, where it frequents rather dry and sandy soils. It is called Ouaran el hard by the Arabs. Its teeth are compressed, cutting, and pointed, the tail almost without ridge, and a great part of it rounded. Its habits are more terrestrial than those of the preceding, and it may be regarded as identical with the land-crocodile of Herodotus. The jugglers of Cairo pluck out its teeth, and then employ it in the performance of tricks. Many other monitors are found both in Africa and India. ^[24. The genera Varanus and HeMerma form a distinct family ( Varnniens) in the system of MM. Dumeril and Bibron. Of the former genus, four are Asiatic, two are from New Holland, one is from the Papous, one from Timor, and three are of African origin. Heluderma horridum (the sole species) is the only American member of the family. ]

The second subdivision of Baron Cuvier’s monitors consists of such as have angular plates upon the head, and large rectangular scales beneath the abdomen and around the tail. The skin of the throat is clothed with small scales, and forms a couple of transverse folds. There is a row of pores upon the thighs.

This subdivision corresponds to the genus Teyus of Merrem, and several minor groups may be indicated in it. For example, those called Dracaenae by Lacépède have the scales raised up into ridges, as among the crocodile tribe, and forming crests along the tail, which is compressed. An eatable species ( Mon. crocodilinus, Merr.) occurs in Guiana, where it inhabits holes in the vicinity of marshes. It is said to swim with difficulty, to run rather swiftly, to climb trees with facility, and to bite severely. It attains the length of six feet and is characterized by some scattered ridges of scales upon the back. Another and much smaller species (Drac. bicurinatα.) likewise inhabits South America. (See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 1.) The little group of safeguards (Sauvegardes, Cuv. the restricted genus Monitor of Fitzinger) have all the scales of the back and tail without ridges. Their teeth are dentated, although those of the back part of the mouth become rounded by use or age. Some have the tail more or less compressed, and the scales of the abdomen longer than broad. They dwell by the banks of rivers. Such is the very large variegated lizard (L. tequixin), well represented by Madame Me-rian at the end of her work on the insects of Surinam. It inhabits Brazil, Guiana, &c. where it attains the length of six feet. It runs rapidly, and plunges into the water when pursued, although it can scarcely be said to swim. It feeds on insects, reptiles, the eggs of poultry and of other birds, and is itself useful as an article of food. Others, distinguished by the name of Ameiva, scarcely differ from the preceding sections of the genus Teyus, except in the tail being rounded, and no way compressed, and furnished, as well as the abdomen, with transverse rows of square scales. The scales of the abdomen are rather broader than long. The species of this little group may be regarded as the lizards of America, that is, as representing in the new world the reptiles which we so designate in the old; but they differ in wanting the molar teeth, the majority have no collar, and all the scales upon the throat are small. Their heads also are more pyramidal, and they want the osseous plate above the orbits. Several different species have been confounded under the title of Laccrta ameiva. The most generally distributed is that named Teyus ameiva by Spix. (See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 2.) It is of a green colour, with vertical rows of white ocelli, bordered with black upon the flanks.

The genus Lacerta, Cuv., or lizards properly so called, forms the second principal group of the Lacertine family. They have the back part of the palate armed with two rows of teeth, and are further distinguished from the Ameivas and Safeguards by a collar beneath the neck, formed by a transverse row of broad scales, separated from those of the abdomen by a space, on which there are only minute scales, as on the throat. A portion also of the bones of the cranium projects over the orbits and temples, so that all the upper part of the head is provided with a bony buckler.

Lizards are remarkable for their lively movements, and light and elegant forms. Their colours are also often brilliant. They pass the winter in a state of torpidity, and are always active and vivacious in proportion to the power of the solar heat. They are often seen stretching themselves on rocks or stones, however heated, and brandishing from time to time their forked tongues, a motion which in some countries has induced the belief of their being venomous, an unfounded idea, we need scarccly say, no creatures being more innocent. They are by no means difficult to tame, but in a state of nature we have usually found them very timorous, although M. Bory St Vincent regards them as being as bold as they are beautiful. “Nous en avons vu plusieurs saisir bravement au museau des chiens d’arrêt qui les avaient surpris dans quelque pelouse sèche, et ne pas lâcher prise malgré les secouses violentes et les efforts que faisaient ces chiens pour se delivrent.” They are by no means devoid of intelligence, and, though shy and fearful, are decidedly inquisitive in regard to what takes place around them. When raising themselves as high as their little limbs permit, in order to enlarge their “visible diurnal sphere,” they often exhibit themselves to a quiet and concealed spectator in attitudes of great beauty. They frequently show themselves more alarmed for birds and quadrupeds than for the human race, and they will even acquire a certain degree of tameness when domiciled near [7:19:140]the dwelling of a gently-disposed lover of nature. They fear cats and children. Lizards change their skins, like most other reptiles, and the difference between the brightness and brilliancy of their old and new attire has caused the description by naturalists of many species which have no foundation in reality. Although belonging to the coldblooded classes, they are warmly attached to their females, and frequent battles take place among the males for the possession of their fair companions. The eggs are covered by a pale-coloured membranous skin, and are hatched by the heat of the sun, whether in the body of the basking parent, or after exclusion. The eggs themselves increase in size considerably, as the creature contained within develops its parts. The reptiles of this group are never voluntarily found in water. They dislike that element, and avoid it, being bad swimmers; nevertheless, when pursued down Steepish banks, we have seen them swim across small ditches to gain the other side and avoid persecution. One of the most singular attributes of these creatures consists in their extreme fragility. When running up a bank, or otherwise attempting to escape from danger, if even a light glove or handkerchief is cast upon them, several inches of the terminal portion of their body comes riggling off, and will twist about among the grass for a considerable period with great liveliness, while the body with its head and four legs proceeds upon its way rejoicing. The tail even appears to rest itself from riggling for a time, and if touched with a pin, or otherwise incommoded, will then resume its movements with such an apparent character of discomposure, as if it were expressing its dislike at the annoyance.

Although several anatomists, proceeding upon their too exclusive knowledge of the higher classes of creation, in which there is no reproduction of important parts, have doubted the extent and universality of this inherent power in reptiles, there is yet no fact in natural history more satisfactorily determined. When we refer to the satisfaction of the subject, we allude chiefly to the feelings of the experimenter, those of the creatures in question being, we fear, in such a crisis, but sparingly consulted. In numerous reptiles, the limbs, and a great portion of the posterior part of the body, may be cut off without more than a temporary inconvenience, the removal being not only speedy, but complete. Blumenbach, one of our highest modern authorities, has repeated ^[25. Specimen Physiologia: Compmarativae, ] the experiment alluded to by Pliny. ^[26. Historia Mundi, ] He destroyed with an iron point the eyes of the green lizard, and placing the poor creature in a vessel with some fresh earth, which he deposited in moist soil, he found, after the lapse of a brief period, that the organs of sight were entirely reproduced,—“in integrum restitutos.” Lizards and reptiles of the genus Scineus, of which the tail has been either intentionally or accidentally broken off, are found to reproduce it speedily. The newer portion is recognisable externally by the form and colour of the scales, and on dissection the vertebrae are found replaced by pieces of a more cartilaginous nature, which probably never acquire the hardness or consistency of bone. Many experiments have shown the facility with which the limbs and tail of water-newts, and other aquatic reptiles, may be reproduced. ^[27. On this very curious physiological subject the reader may consult the following works: Plateretti, Su Ie reprodudone idle garnit e delta coda dette Salamandre oqtsajuole. Scelt. de Oμusc. interes, vol. xxvii. p. 18. Spallanzani, Sopra le Teprodusioni animali, Fisica Animale e VegeUhile, 1768. Murray, Commentalio de redintegratione partium nexu suo solutarum vel amissarum, 1787. Bonnet, Sur la réproduction des membres de la Salamandre aquatique, Oeuvres d’Hist. Nat. et de Philos, t. v. p. 177. ] “Qu’il nous soit permit,” says M. Duméril, rather winningly, “de consigner ici one de nos expériences: nous avons emporté avec les ciseaux les trois quarts de la tête d’un triton marbré. Cet animal, placé isolément au fond d’un large bocal de crystal, où nous avions soin de conserver de l’eau fraiche à la nauteur d’un demi-pouce, en prenant la précaution de la renouveler au moins une fois chaque jour, a continué de vivre et d’agir lentement. C’était un cas bien curieux pour la physiologie; car ce triton privé de quatre sens principaux, les narines, la langue, les yeux, et les oreilles, c’était reduit à ne vivre extérieurement que par le toucher. Cependant il avait la conscience de son existence; il marchait lentement et avec précaution; de temps à autre, et à des grands intervalles, il portait le moignon de son cou vers la surface de l’eau, et dans les premier jours on le voyait faire des efforts pour respirer. Nous avons vu, pendant au moins trois mois, se faire un travail de reproduction et de cicatrisation telle qu’il n’est resté aucune ouverture ni pour les poumons ni pour les aliments. Par malheur, cet animal a péri au bout des trois premiers mois d’observations suivies, peut-être par le défaut de soins d’une personne à laquelle nous l’avions recommandé pendant une absence. Mais on a conservé le sujet dans les collections du muséum, et quand nous en parlons dans nos cours, nous le faisions voir à nu pour qu’on puisse constater la singularité du fait d’un animal qui a vécu sans tête, et surtout pour demontrer la possibilité et la nécessité, même chez les Batracians, d’une sorte de respiration par la peau.” ^[28. 4 Erpétologie Générale, ]

We may observe, that in all the tentative experiments which have been hitherto made upon this subject, it has been perceived that these renewals are favoured by warmth and retarded by cold. As an article of diet, lizards are scarcely ever used in Europe, unless in years of peculiar scarcity. Their flesh is said to possess a sudorific quality.

The species of this genus are numerous in many continental countries (from fifteen to twenty different European kinds being known to naturalists), but are few in Britain. Of the former, one of the most beautiful is the Ocellated lizard (Z. Ocellata, Daudin), well known in Spain, Italy, and the south of France. It likewise occurs in Barbary, and, generally speaking, over a great portion of the basin of the Mediterranean; but being extremely sensible to cold, it is not likely to extend into Kamtschatka, as some suppose. It may be kept alive within doors in Spain throughout the winter (it naturally then assumes the torpid state), but will perish if dug up from its retreat, and exposed to cold approaching to the freezing point. This magnificent reptUe sometimes attains the length, even in Europe, of two feet, although its more usual length is from twelve to fifteen inches. Its proportions are rather ample, that is, somewhat thicker than usual, yet it is by no means devoid of elegance; and although it can scarcely be said to be ornamented with those tints of azure, green, and gold, which Lacépède has lavished on it, with more of poetical fancy than precision, it yet is pleasingly adorned. The back is black, beset with numerous circles of green or yellow distributed in great profusion, and showing like pearly beads upon a darker ground. The head is beautifully marbled with green and black, as are also the upper portions of the thighs and feet. The tail is brow nish, and all the under parts are of a greenish yellow. “Le lézard dont il est question est innocent, mais hardi; il fuit au moindre bruit, non lâchement, s’arrêtant de distances en distances pour observer la cause de sa crainte, et si on le presse de trop près il se jette sur l’assaillant en faisant entendre un certain Soufflement qui rappelle en petit celui qui font entendre les oies en colère. Comme on en trouvait beaucoup aux environs d’une baronie de Saint Magne, où nous avons passé les premiers temps de notre jeunesse, et que nous en avons été souvent violem[7:19:141]ment mordus en leur faisant la petite guerre que l’enfance livre à tout ce qui fuit, nous pouvons affirmer que leur dent ne produit aucun mauvais effet après la douleur du moment. Il suffit d’avoir vu un seul grand lézard vert, pour s’étonner que Linné ait pu confondre cette espèce avec le lézard gris.” ^[29. 1 Dictionnaire Classique d’Hist. Nat. ]

It has been observed by the prince of Musignano (C. L. Bonaparte), that the Linnaean term agilis has been applied by the naturalists of different countries to that species of lizard which was most common or best known in their own. In this way several distinct kinds have been described under one name, and regarded as identical. The true L. agilis of Linn, is a northern species, which becomes rare in Italy, but is sufficiently common in France, and extends into Denmark and Sweden. Its history as a British reptile has been clearly illustrated only within a recent period by Mr Jenyns and others; for the so-called L. agilis of the generality of British authors ought not to be so named. ^[30. See Jenyns’s British Vertebrate Animals, p. 291; and Bell’s History of British Reptiles, p. 22. ] The actual species varies as usual in colour and markings; but the most common hue of the upper parts is sandy-brown, with obscure longitudinal fasciae of a darker brown, and a lateral series of black rounded spots, each marked with a yellowish-white dot or line in the centre. “It is more timid,” says Mr Bell, “and far less easily rendered familiar, than the beautiful green lizard (Z. viridis) of Guernsey and the south of Europe. This latter species may be readily tamed, and taught to come to the hand for its food, and to drink from the hollow of the palm of any one to whom it is accustomed. It will lie coiled up between the two hands, enjoying the warmth, and not offering to escape. But it is very different from the present species, which appears not to be susceptible of any such attachment. It will indeed attempt to bite any one who handles it, which I have never known to occur with Z. viridis. When in confinement it ceases to feed, conceals itself with extreme timidity when approached, and ultimately pines and dies.” Mr Bell has bestowed the English name of sand-lizard on this L. agilis.

Our only other British species is the common viviparous lizard (Z. vivipara, Jacquin, Zootoca vivipara, Bell ^[31. Mr Bell assigns as one of the generic characters by which this species differs from his restricted genus Lacerta, that the palate is toothless, while it is armed in that last named. ] ) confounded with the true L. agilis by many authors. “This agile and pretty little creature,” Mr Bell observes, “is the common inhabitant of almost all our heaths and banks in most of the districts of England, and extending even into Scotland; it is also one of the few reptiles found in Ireland. On the continent its range does not appear to be very extensive; it is not found in Italy, nor, I believe, in

France, and is very probably confined in a great measure to our own latitude. Its movements are beautifully gracile as well as rapid; it comes out of its hiding-place during the warm parts of the day, from the early spring till autumn has far advanced, basking in the sun, and turning its head with a sudden motion the instant that an insect comes within its view; and, darting like lightning upon its prey, it seizes it with its little sharp teeth, and speedily swallows it.” This species also varies greatly in its external aspect. The prevailing ground colour of the upper parts is greenish brown, with a dark brown dorsal line often interrupted; a broad fascia extends parallel with this on each side, commencing behind the eyes, and extending to a greater or less distance down the tail; and between these and the former are often one or more rows of black dots, and similar ones occur in many individuals in the broad lateral fascia. The under side of the body and base of the tail are orange, spotted with black in the male; in the female grayish brown without spots. In reference to Mr Bell’s excellent account of this reptile, we take leave to add, that although it is no doubt entitled to the character of an ovo-viviparous species, the young are not always born at once from the body of the mother, that is, already freed from the encumbrance of the egg. We have several times kept gravid females in our possession, and on two occasions the membranous eggs were deposited unbroken, and the young lay within them for from two hours till a day and a half before they made their appearance. Their movements, however, were visible through the walls of their prison from the moment they were laid.

The more limited genus Algyra of Cuvier has the tongue, teeth, and pores of the lizards; but the scales on the back and tail are ridged, those on the abdomen smooth and imbricated, and the collar is wanting. In the genus Tachydromus, Daudin, the scales on the back, and those beneath the tail and abdomen, are square and ridged; the collar on the neck is absent, as well as the pores on the thighs, but on either side of the anal aperture there is a vesicle opening by a pore. The body and tail are both much elongated. The species run with great swiftness. See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 3.

FAMILY III— IGUANIDAE. IGUANAS. ^[32. The great family of the Iguanidae is divided by MM. Dumeril and Bibron into forty-six genera, containing 146 species, the detailed descriptions of which occupy about 560 closely-printed pages in the work of those authors. (See Erpétologie Générale, tom. iv.). We regret that our restricted limits debar us from following their extended system, but we shall here present a tabular view of the genera and amount of species, partitioned in accordance with their geographical distribution. ]

In this family the general form, the lengthened tail, the free and unequal toes, resemble those parts in the lizard
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tribe, and the eyes, ears, and other characters are similar, but the tongue is thick, fleshy, not extensile, and, instead of being terminated by two filaments, is merely notched at the extremity.

Sect. L— No teeth on the palate. Agamians, Cuv. a. Tail surrounded by rings composed of large scales, which are frequently spiny. Stelliones, Cuv.

In the genus Cordylus of Gronovius, not only the tail, but even the back and abdomen, are furnished with large scales placed in transverse rows. The head, as in the common lizards, is provided with a bony buckler, and covered with plates. In several species the points of the scales of the tail form spinous circles, and there are also little spines on the sides of the back, on the shoulders, and outside the thighs. The last-named parts have a line of very large pores. The Cape of Good Hope produces several species, which have been long confounded in systematic works under the name of Lacerta cordylus, Linn. They are somewhat larger than the common green lizard of Europe, and like it feed on insects.

In the genus Stellio of Daudin, the spines of the tail are of medium size, the back part of the head is bulged by the muscles of the jaws, the back and thighs are here and there beset with scales of larger size, sometimes spiny, and little groups of spines surround the ears. The thighs want the pores. The tail is long and pointed. Only a single species seems distinctly known to naturalists,— St. vulgaris (L. stellio, Linn.), a reptile very common in Egypt, and throughout the Levant. It measures about a foot in length, and is of an olive hue shaded with black. It is the hoscordylus of the modem Greeks (hardun of the Arabs), and is not unfrequently named the rough lizard, in consequence of the unusually hispid appearance of the whole of its upper surface. The Mahommedans slay this species wrathfully, from a feeling that a peculiar downward inclination of its head is in mockery of their own reverential motions while engaged in prayer. The species called stellio by ancient writers was so named on account of its being marked by spots resembling stars, and was probably in no way allied to the genus to which in after times the title was applied.

The genus Doryphorus, Cuv. (a name too nearly resembling one already bestowed upon a group of insects), resembles the preceding in the absence of pores, but the body is not beset with groups of spines. (See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 4.) The azure lizard (Z,. azurea, Linn.) may serve as an example. The genus Uromastix, Cuv., may be described as composed of stellions, of which the hind head is not inflated; all the scales of the body small, smooth, and uniform, except those of the upper surface of the tail, which are large, spiny, and projecting. There is a series of pores upon the thighs. Stellio Spinipes of Daudin is a Uromas-tix. It is found in the deserts which encompass Egypt, and is supposed by Belon, although without sufficient proof, to have been the land-crocodile of the ancients. It measures from two to three feet, has an inflated body of a fine grass-green colour, with small spines upon the thighs, as well as on the upper portion of the tail.

b. Scales on the tail imbricated. Agamoe, Daud.

In the ordinary or restricted genus Agama, scales raised into points or tubercles beset different parts of the body, and especially the ears, with spiny projections, isolated or in groups. There is sometimes a row upon the nape of the neck, but not forming a compressed crest as in Calotes. The skin of the throat is loose, transversely folded, and susceptible of dilatation. A species from New Holland (Ag. barbota, Cuv.) is remarkable for its size and extraordinary formation. A series of large spiny scales, disposed in transverse bands, prevails along the back and tail. The throat, often much inflated, is furnished with long pointed scales, forming a kind of beard-like appendage; and similar scales beset the sides, and form two oblique crests behind the ears. There are yellow spots upon the abdomen, bordered with black. Another of this genus is the muricated lizard of Shaw (L. muricata), likewise a native of New Holland. In some the body is enlarged or inflated, so as
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to appear orbicular, as in A. orbicularis, a South American reptile, which, from its thickened form and broadened head, seems at first sight a connecting link between the frogs and lizards.

The genus Trapelus, Cuv., has the teeth and general form of Agama, but the scales are small and spineless. There are no pores on the thighs. T. Egyptius, Geoff., is a small species, in which the body is sometimes inflated. It can change its colour even more rapidly than the chameleon. This genus is not easily distinguished from some thick and slightly spined species of Agama, to which indeed the genera Leiolepis, Tropidolepis, and Leposoma, are nearly allied, and for the descriptive characters of which we may refer the reader to systematic works. The genus Calotes, Cuv., differs from Agama in being regularly covered with scales disposed tile-ways, often keeled and pointed, as well on the body as on the limbs, and tail, which is of great length. The scales on the middle of the back are more or less raised and compressed, forming a crest or ridge of variable extent. There are neither wattles nor pores upon the thighs, —characters which sufficiently distinguish them from the Iguanas proper. The best-known species is that called the galeot lizard (Z. calotes, Linn.), of a variable colour, but usually of a fine light blue, with transverse lines of white upon the sides. There are two rows of spines behind the ear, and a lengthened ridge along the back. Its eggs are fusiform, or spindle-shaped. This curious reptile is native to the East Indies, and is called chameleon in the Moluccas, though it scarcely changes its colour. It is said to wander about upon the roofs of houses in quest of spiders; and Lacépède observes that it is reported to prey even on rats, and to fight with serpents. When out of temper, its throat becomes so inflated as to give it a frightful aspect. If authors are correct, its distribution must be very extensive, as it is said to occur not only in the East Indies, but in Arabia and Barbary. It certainly, however, does not inhabit Spain, as some have said. In the genus Lophyrus, Dumeril, the scales of the body resemble those of Agama, and the palisade-like ridge upon the back is even higher than in Calotes. The tail is compressed. To this genus belongs Agarna gigantea of Khul, remarkable for the height of its crest above the neck. Two bony ridges continued from the muzzle terminate in a point on each side above the eye, and join upon the temples. It is a nati ve of India. In Lyriocephalus, Merrem, we find a species in which the bony crest above the eyes is even more marked than in the preceding, and terminates behind on each side in a sharp point. This strange reptile is found in Bengid and other parts of the East, and is said to live on grain. See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 5.

The preceding generic groups, from Agama downwards, are all more or less allied to the Agarnoe of Daudin. We now proceed to a brief consideration of certain genera, of which the relationship is more remote.

The genus Istiurus of Cuvier is distinguished by an elevated cutting crest, which extends to a portion of the tail, and is supported by the high spinal processes of the vertebrae. This crest is sealylike the rest of the body, and the scales of the abdomen and tail are small, and rather of a square form. There are no teeth on the palate, but those of the other parts of the mouth are strong, compressed, and without dentation. The thighs bear a row of pores. The skin of the throat is loose, but does not form a dewlap. To this genus belongs that very remarkable animal the Amboyna lizard (L. Amboinensis, Gm.), first described by Valentyn, and afterwards with great accuracy and an excellent figure by Dr Albert Schlosser in 1768. The back is spined, but the regular ridge only commences at the base of the tail, over a portion of which it extends, like a broad upright fin. The head and neck are green, varied by transverse whitish undulations; the back and tail are brown, with a slight cast of blue or purple; and the sides and abdomen are grayish, spotted by means of round white scales. It resides, according to Valentyn, in the vicinity of fresh waters, and is frequently observed on the banks of rising grounds as well as on the lowlier kinds of shrubs which vegetate near the water, but does not ascend the taller trees. When disturbed by the approach of man or beast, it instantly dives, and hides itself among the rocks or stones beneath the banks. When captured, it does not in any way defend itself, but seems stupified. It may be caught by a noose or snare, and its flesh is said to be white and sweet, although of a penetrating odour. It is highly esteemed as food by many, and is itself accustomed to prey both on insects and vegetable substances. It sometimes attains a length of nearly four feet.

The genus Draco, Linn., may be distinguished at a glance from all other Saurian reptiles, by the singular peculiarity of six false ribs, which, instead of conforming as usual to the shape of the body, extend from it at right angles, and supporting a produced portion of the skin, present the appearance of a pair of wings. They support the animal in the air, as it leaps from branch to branch, but have no propelling power, and so cannot raise it in the least degree. In relation to their other characters, these so-called dragons are of small size, and covered all over by imbricated scales, of which those on the tail and limbs are keeled. The tongue is fleshy, not very extensile, and slightly notched. Beneath the throat there is a long pointed dewlap, supported by the tail of the hyoid bone; and on its sides are two others of smaller size, sustained by the horns of the same bone. The tail is long; there is a small dentation on tile nape of the neck; and the thighs have no pores. Each jaw is furnished with four small incisor teeth, with a pair of long-pointed canines, and twelve triangular three-lobed grinders. The genus may be said to combine the scales and dewlaps of the Iguanas, with the head and teeth of the Stellions. See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 6.

All the known species of Draco inhabit the East Indies, and have derived their generic appellation from their supposed resemblance to the fictitious Dragons of antiquity. In all ages, and in most countries, the imagination of timid or fantastic men has produced a belief in the existence of fabulous beings, of monstrous forms and irresistible ferocity, which carried devastation into provinces, guarded the entrance to sacred places, or watched over “sunless heaps” of hidden gold. The heroic history of Greece, and the darker superstitions of the Germanic people, are alike pervaded by these fond beliefs. “Rendered celebrated,” says Lacépède, “by the songs of Greece and Rome, the principal ornament of pious fables imagined in more recent times, conquered by heroes, and even by youthful heroines, who were contending for a divine law, and adopted by a second mythology, which placed the fairies on the throne of the enchantress of old, the Dragon became the emblem of the splendid actions of valiant knights, and has enlivened modem as it animated ancient poetry. Proclaimed by the severe voice of history, everywhere described, everywhere celebrated, everywhere dreaded; exhibited under all forms, always clothed with tremendous power, and immolating his victims by a single glance; transporting himself through the midst of clouds with the rapidity of lightning, dissipating the darkness of night by the terrific splendour of his glaring eyes, uniting the agility of the eagle, the strength of the lion, and the magnitude of the giant serpent; sometimes presented under a human figure, endowed with an intelligence almost divine, and adored, even in our own days, in the great empires of the East,—the Dragon, in short, has been all in all, and everywhere to be found, except in nature.”

The existence of these animals has not been altogether discredited, even in modern times. About the middle of [7:19:144]last century, a Hamburg merchant greatly prided himself on the possession of a famous dragon, which he valued at 10,000 florins. It was however discovered by the penetrating eye of the then youthful Linnaeus to be a gross deception, formed by a combination of the skins of snakes, the teeth of weasels, and other absurd and heterogeneous elements, “non Natune sed artis opus eximium.” It is said that the great Swedish naturalist was obliged to flee the city to avoid the wrath of the enraged proprietor. A similar fraud seems to have been practised in our own country towards the close of the seventeenth century, and is thus related by Dr Grainger, from a note of Dr Zachary Grey, in his edition of Hudibras. “Mr Smith of Bedford observes to me, on the word dragon, as follows: Mr Jacob Robert, botany professor ^[33. He was rather superintendent of the garden than professor properly so called. ] of Oxford, did, about forty years ago, find a dead rat in the Physic Garden, which he made to resemble the common picture of dragons, by altering its head and tail, and thrusting in taper sticks, which distended the skin on each side, till it mimicked wings. He let it dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon; and one of them sent an accurate description of it to Dr Magliabechi, librarian to the Grand Duke of Tuscany; several copies of verses were wrote on so rare a subject; but at last Mr Robart owned the cheat; however, it was looked upon as a masterpiece of art, and as such deposited in the museum, or anatomy school, where I saw it some years after.”

We need hardly here observe, that the actual dragons, or Dracones of naturalists, are harmless animals, of small size though extraordinary forms, which inhabit chiefly the insular forests of the Indian Ocean. (See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 6.) In these umbrageous places they pursue their insect prey, descending but rarely to the ground, on which they walk with difficulty. According to Van Ernest, a Dutch naturalist, they couple among the branches, and the female deposits her eggs in hollow trees, under favour of a south exposure. We are doubtful regarding their amphibious propensities, as reported by M. Palisot de Beauvois, who remarked one in the kingdom of Benin, which he was unable to procure, because it was swimming in the water. Now Baron Cuvier states that “les espèces connues viennent toutes des Indes Orientales."

Three distinct species of Draco are described by M. Daudin, who was the first to discriminate their characters. D. Iineatus (volans, Linn.) has the body varied above with blue and gray, the wings brown, with longitudinal stripes of white. D. viridis is green, the wings gray, with brown bands. This is the species described by Seba under the name of winged dragon of America, and afterwards figured by that author as the flying dragon of Africa, in neither of which countries is it ever found. It is said by Bontius to be not uncommon in Java, where it will shoot from tree to tree for a distance of thirty yards, producing a perceptible noise by the vibration of its wings. With a view to render itself specifically lighter, it inflates its yellowish goitres when it flies. D.fuscus is brown above, paler beneath; the wings likewise brown. Eight species are now known to naturalists.

The genus Sitana, Cuv., possesses the teeth of the preceding; the limbs and body are covered with scales imbricated and keeled, the thighs are without pores, but the false ribs are not expanded. The species are distinguished by an enormous dewlap, which extends as far as the middle of the abdomen, and is more than twice the height of the body. We know not that there is any other described than the Pondicherry species (Sit. Ponticeriand), a small reptile of a fawn-colour, with a range of large rhomboidal spots along the back. See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 7.

Sect. 2.— Teeth on the Palate.

Genus Iguana, Cuv. Iguanas properly so called. These have the body and tail covered with small imbricated scales A row of spines or raised scales, compressed and pointed, prevails along the back; and beneath the throat there is a compressed and pendant dewlap, or gular pouch, of which the margin is supported by a cartilaginous production of the hyoid bone. The thighs bear a line of tubercular pores like those of lizards, and the head is covered with plates. Each jaw supports a range of compressed triangular teeth with dentated cutting edges, and there are moreover two small rows of teeth on the posterior margin of the palate.

The common iguana (I. Utberculata, Laur., Lac. iguana, Linn.) is naturally of a greenish-yellow colour above, mottled with pure green, the tail ringed with brown; the under parts of a paler hue. The scales of the dorsal crest are large and spinous, and there is a conspicuous rounded plate beneath the tympanum, at the angle of the jaws. The sides of the neck bear some pyramidal scales mingled with the others, and the anterior edge of the dewlap is dentated like the back. This species measures from four to five feet in length, and is extensively spread over many of the warmer countries of America, where it is held in high esteem as an article of diet, though by many regarded as by no means healthful. It dwells chiefly among trees, feeding on fruits, grain, and leaves, and is sometimes seen to enter the water. The female deposits her eggs in the sand. They equal in size those of a pigeon, have scarcely any albumen, and afford excellent eating. The common method of catching this reptile is by casting a noose over its head, and then drawing it from its position. It seldom makes an effort to escape, but stands staring at its antagonist, at the same time inflating its throat in a most extraordinary manner.

“Guanas,” says Catesby, “are of various sizes, from two to five feet in length; their mouths are furnished with exceeding small teeth, but their jaws armed with a long beak, with which they bite with great strength; they inhabit warm countries only, and are rarely to be met with anywhere north or south of the tropics. Many of the Bahama Islands abound with them, where they nestle in hollow rocks and trees; their eggs have not a hard shell, like those of alligators, but a skin only, like those of a turtle, and are esteemed a good food. They lay a great number of eggs at a time in the earth, which are there hatched by the sun’s heat. These guanas are a great part of the subsistence of the inhabitants of the Ballama Islands, for which purpose they visit many of the remote kayes and islands in their sloops to catch them, which they do by dogs trained up for that purpose, which are so dexterous as not often to kill them, which, if they do, they serve only for present spending; if otherwise, they sew up their mouths to prevent their biting, and put them into the hold of their sloop till they have catched a sufficient number, which they either carry alive for sale to Carolina, or salt and barrel up for the use of their families at home. These guanas feed wholly on vegetables and fruit, particularly on a kind of fungus growing at the roots of trees, and on the fruits of the different kinds of annonas. Their flesh is easy of digestion, delicate, and well tasted; they are sometimes roasted; but the more common way is to boil them, taking out the leaves of fat, which are melted and clarified, and put into a calabash or dish, into which they dip the flesh of the guana as they eat it. It is remarkable that this fat, which adheres to the inside of the abdomen, imbibes the colour of the fruit the animal eats last, which I have frequently seen tinged of a pale red, yellow, or sometimes of a purple colour, which last was from eating the prunus maritima, which fruit, at the same time, I took out [7:19:145]of them. Though they are not amphibious, they are said to keep under water above an hour. When they swim, they use not their feet, but clap them close to their body, and guide themselves with their tails; they swallow all they eat whole. They cannot run fast, their holes being a greater security to them than their heels. They are so impatient of cold that they rarely appear out of their holes but when the sun shines.”

“The guana,” observes Browne, in his Natural History of Jamaica, “like most of the tribe, lives a very considerable time without food, and changes its colour with the weather, or the native moisture of its place of residence. I have kept a grown guana about the house for more than two months; it was very fierce and ill natured at the beginning, but after some days it grew more tame, and would at length pass the greatest part of the day upon the bed or couch, but it went out always at night. I have never observed it to eat anything, except what imperceptible particles it had lapped up in the air; for it frequently threw out its forked tongue, like the cameleon, as it walked along. The flesh of this creature is liked by many people, and frequently served up in fricassees at their tables, in which state they are often preferred to the best fowls. The guana may be easily tamed while young, and is both an innocent and a beautiful creature in that state.”

The horned iguana of St Domingo (Jg. cornuta, Cuv.) is distinguished from the common kind by an osseous conical point between the eyes, and two raised scales upon the nostrils. The neck is not tuberculated. This species measures about four feet in length, and is frequently found on the hills of St Domingo, between Artibonite and Gonaives. It lives on fruits, insects, and small birds, which it seizes with surprising agility, and during the day it couches on trees and rocks to watch for its prey. During the night, and throughout the greatest heats of the hot season, it retires among the chambered rocks, or into the hollows of old trees, and there passes many months in a state of lethargy. This iguana is considered by the negroes as a great delicacy, and they accordingly search for it with avidity. According to the report of the colonists, its flesh resembles in flavour that of the roe-buck, and the maroon dogs make great slaughter among these reptiles. ^[34. Griffith’s einimal Kingdom, ix. 225, ]

The naked necked iguana (fg. nwlicollis, Cuv.) resembles the preceding species in its dorsal crest, but it does not possess either the large plates beneath the tympanum, nor the scattered tubercles on the sides of the neck. The upper part of the cranium is furnished with gibbous plates, the occiput is tubercular, and the dewlap or gular pouch is slightly dentated, and only on its anterior portion. Its native regions are Brazil and Guadaloupe, not India, as Laurenti supposes. (See Plate CCCCXXXI. fig. 8.) Several other species are described by naturalists.

In the genus Ophryessa, Boie, the scales are small and imbricated; a dorsal crest, not greatly projecting, is prolonged upon the tail, which is compressed. The teeth resemble those of the preceding genus, but there is neither dewlap nor pores. The supercilious lizard of the older authors ( Oph. superciliosa) may be named as an example. It is an American species, of a fawn-colour, with a festooned band of brown along the flanks, and measures from twelve to sixteen inches. It derives its specific name from a peculiar membranous ridge which occupies the region of the eyebrow.

The genus Basiliscus, Daudin, has the scales of small size, and the raised ridge on the back and tail is continuous, and supported by the spiny processes of the vertebrae, after the fashion of the tail in the Amboyna lizard, as already mentioned in our brief notice of the genus Istiurus.

The name of Basilisc as naturally recalls to mind the fabled stories of antiquity as that of Dragon. It was supposed to be the most poisonous and malignant of creatures, its very aspect being regarded as fatal to the unhappy beholder. It exercised its tyrannous sway amid the burning and desert sands of Africa, and obliged each meaner reptile to keep at a respectful distance.

Sibilaque effundens cunctas terrentia pestes,

Ante venena nocens, late sibi submovet omne Vulgus, et in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena.

But the animals now known to naturalists under the name of Basilisc, we are happy to say, are harmless creatures, of very innocent manners, although of most extraordinary aspect. They do not occur in Africa, as Lucan feigns, nor in India, as Seba alleges, but in South America, especially Guiana, as Daudin has determined. The best known is the mitred species (B. mitratus, L. Basiliscus, Linn.), distinguished by a membranous crest upon the occiput, somewhat in the form of a cowl or hood, and supported by cartilage. It is of a bluish colour, with two white bands, one behind the eye and another behind the maxillae. It measures from two to three feet in length, and feeds on grains.

In the genus Polychrus, Cuv. there is no dorsal crest, the head is covered with plates, and the tail is long and slender. The extensile skin of the throat is capable of being formed into a gular pouch at the will of the animal, and this genus possesses the power of changing colour like the cameleons. Their lungs are likewise very voluminous, filling up a great portion of the body, and subdividing into various branches. Their false ribs, too, like those of the cameleon, encompass the abdomen, and so unite as to form entire circles. The marbled lizard ( Lac. marmorata, Linn.) may be named as an example. It is of a red-dish-gray colour, marbled with transverse irregular bands of brownish red, sometimes mingled with blue. The tail is of great length. This species is frequent in Guiana.

The genus Anolius, Cuv. combines with the form of the preceding a very peculiar and distinctive character, the skin of the toes being enlarged beneath the ante-penultimate joint, into an oval disk, transversely striated on the under surface, which aids the animal in climbing, which it is otherwise enabled well to do by means of its crooked claws. The body and tail are moreover chagrined with minute scales,' and the majority bear a dewlap or goitre-like expansion beneath the throat, which they not only inflate, but cause to change both in form and colour, in accordance with their various moods of love or anger. Indeed several of the species at least equal the cameleon in their power of assuming frequent and rapid alternations in the colour of their skin. Like these creatures, too, and the genus Polychms, the ribs form entire circles. The species are peculiar to America, and several of them are even naturally of familiar habits, frequenting the vicinity of human habitations.

In some there is a crest upon the tail, supported by the spiny processes of the vertebrae, as in Istiurus and Basiliscus. Such is the great crested Anolis (An. velifer, Cuv.), which measures about a foot in length. The crest extends over one half of the tail, and is supported by from twelve to fifteen rays; the dewlap reaches to beneath the belly. (See Plate CCCCXXXΠ. fig. 2.) It is found in the Antilles.

In others the tail is round, or only slightly compressed. The species of this section of the genus are numerous, and have been frequently confounded under one or two specific names. They inhabit the warmer parts of con[7:19:146]tinental America and the West Indies, and change colour with surprising facility, especially in warm weather. They feed on insects, and scarcely equal the size of the gray lizard of Europe. They capture their prey with great alacrity; and the different individuals are said to fight fiercely when they meet each other. We may mention as an example the red-throat lizard, called by Catesby the green lizard of Jamaica (Z. bullaris, Linn.). Its muzzle is short, speckled with brown, the eyelids projecting, and the prevailing colour a grassy green. It is common in Jamaica, where it frequents hedges and trees, but does not enter houses. When approached or angered it protrudes its gu-lar pouch, which speedily becomes as bright as a cherry. This peculiar change may be regarded as a kind of menace, to deter its enemy from closer quarters. It is incapable of inflicting the slightest injury by its bite or otherwise. Another species is Catesby’s green Carolina lizard (An. Caro-Iinensis), which is of a beautiful golden green, the muzzle flat and elongated. This kind is said by Catesby to be very common in Carolina, where it frequents houses, and becomes in a manner familiar, so as to sport about tables and windows, catching flies with great dexterity. It is seen chiefly in summer, retreating in winter into hollow trees, where it assumes the torpid state. Sometimes, when tempted by delusive sunshine, it re-appears, and on the return of chilly weather becomes enfeebled by the cold and dies. Its colour changes frequently from green to brown, according to the temperature.

FAMILY IV—GECKOTIDAE.

This family consists of what may be termed the nocturnal lizards, all of which bear a strong resemblance to each other. Baron Cuvier regards them as constituting a single genus, divisible according to the form and structure of the toes, as after mentioned.

The genus Gecko may be characterized as consisting of Saurian reptiles, of not so lank a form as those of the preceding genera. They are rather of a flattened shape, especially about the head; the feet are of medium size, and the toes of nearly equal length. Their gait is heavy and crawling. Their eyes are large, and the pupil extremely contractile under the influence of light, so that they usually keep themselves concealed throughout the day in dark or sombre places. Their eyelids are very short, and withdraw entirely between the eye and the orbit, which bestows on these animals a very peculiar physiognomy. Their tongue is fleshy, not extensile; the jaws are furnished all around with a row of very small close-set teeth; the palate is toothless. The skin is chagrined above with very small granular scales, among which some larger tubercles are often dispersed; the under parts are covered by flat-tish scales scarcely so small, and imbricated. The pores on the thigh are not here regarded as a generic character, being absent in some and present in others. The tail is marked by circular folds, as in the genus Anolis; but when mutilated, it has been noticed to renew itself without these folds. This genus is numerous and widely spread, occurring both in the old world and the new. ^[35. The following table exhibits a view of the geographical distribution of the Geckotidir, so far as known at this time: ] The dull and doleful aspect of the geckoes, and a certain resemblance which they bear to toads and newts, render them liable to the imputation of poisonous properties,—an assumption without proof, and altogether against analogy.

The majority of the species have the toes enlarged for a greater or less extent, and furnished beneath with regular folds upon the skin, which, by some peculiar action, enable them to adhere to smooth surfaces, to ascend perpendicular walls, and even to creep in a reversed position along a ceiling. The claws are retractile in different ways, and preserve their points and cutting edges; and these characters, combined with the contractile nature of the pupil, has induced a comparison of the geckoes among reptiles to the feline tribes among carnivorous quadrupeds. The claws, however, vary in the different species, and in some are altogether wanting. It is in accordance with the particular structure of the toes in different species that the geckoes have been subdivided into several separate groups, which some authors regard as constituting so many distinct genera. ^[36. See Erpitologie Giitirale, iii. 290. ] Sect. L—Platydactyli. Toes widened throughout, and furnished beneath with transverse scales.

In certain species of this section of the genus the nails are entirely wanting, and the thumb is very small. They are rather ornamental in their aspect, covered over by tubercles, and adorned by lively colours. They occur in the Isle of France. Some have no pores upon the thighs: such are G. inunguis, Cuv., of a violet colour above, white beneath, with a black line along the sides; and G. ocellatus, Oppel, of a gray hue, covered with brown spots, with white centres. Some possess the pores, as G. Cepediensis, a yellowish-red coloured species, marbled with blue, and marked with white along the sides.

In other platydactylous geckoes the nails are wanting only on the thumbs, and on the second and fifth toes of all the feet, and there are no pores upon the thighs. To this little group belongs the wall-gecko, a European species (G.ftscicularis, Daud.), called Terrentola by the Italians. It is of a deep-gray colour, with a rough head; all the upper parts beset with tubercles, each of which is formed of three or four others of smaller size. It is a creature of a most unseemly aspect, which hides itself in the holes of walls, or beneath heaps of stones, and moreover covers its body with dust and ordure. It, however, delights also in sunshine, and is said not to occur in damp or very sombre situations. In winter it lies inert, but not torpid. It inhabits the countries around the Mediterranean, and ventures as far north as Provence and Languedoc. A nearly allied species occurs in Egypt and Barbary,—G. Aegyp-tiacus, Cuv. Its tubercles are round and simple, more projecting on the sides.

The greater number of the platydactylous species want the nails only on the four thumbs, and have a range of pores anterior to the anus. G. guttatus, Daud. has a reddish coloured body, spotted with white, and beset by round-

Generic Groups.

Europe.

Asia.

Africa.

America.

Australasia and Polynesia.

Locality

Unknown.

ToUl

Species.

Platydactylus......

......1

5

5

2

3

I

∣7

Heinidaetylus......

.......1

5

I

1

3

1

12

Ptyodactvlus......

......O

O

2

1

O

1

4

Phyllodactvlus....

......O

O

1

3

3

1

8

Splieriodactylus...

......O

O

O

3

O

O

3

Gymnodactvlus...

......O

3

2

2

2

O

9

Stenofiactylus......

.......O

O

1

O

1

O

2

—

_

.

—

——

——

—

Totals.............

......2

13

12

12

12

4

55 [7:19:147]ed slightly projecting tubercles. The scales on the under part of the tail are square and imbricated. Seba describes this as a Ceylonese species, and adds, that the name of gecko is applied to it on account of its cry resembling that word. It is believed to occur throughout the Indian Archipelago. A belief prevails in the native country of this and other species, that an acrimonious fluid exudes from the lamellae of the feet, and remaining on fruit, or other edible vegetation, is productive of injury to those who swallow it. A species is described by Bontius in his history of Java, under the name of Indian Salamander; and that old author states that the Javanese are said to hold it up by the tail until it discharges a foam or sanies from the mouth, with which they poison their arrows.

Sect. 2.—Hemydactyli. Base of the toes furnished with an oval disk, formed beneath by a double row of scales en chevron; from the centre of this disk the second joint springs, and bears the third or nail at its extremity.

All the known species of the hemydactylous division have five nails on each foot, and a range of pores on each side of the anus. The scales beneath the tail are in the form of broad bands, like those of many serpents. A grayish red kind ( G. Verruculatus, Cuv.) occurs in the southern countries of Europe. The body is beset with small, conical, slightly rounded tubercles, and circles of the same surround the tail. A nearly allied species (G. mabuia, Cuv.) is widely spread over the warmer parts of the new world, where it often enters dwelling-houses, occurring apparently identical both in Bengal and Pondicherry. Cuvier presumes it may have been transported thither accidentally in ships. A species more peculiar to India is G. marginatus, Cuv. of which the body is margined, and the tail flattened horizontally, with its edges sharp and slightly fringed.

Sect. 3.—Thecadactyli. Toes enlarged throughout their entire length, and furnished with transverse scales, which are divided by a deep longitudinal furrow, wherein the claw may lie entirely concealed.

Such as are clearly known do not want the claws except upon the thumbs. They have no pores upon the thighs, and the scales upon the tail are small. As an example, may be named the smooth, or, as it is sometimes called, the perfoliated gecko ( G. loevis, Daud., Stellio perfoliatus, Schneid.). The tail of this species in the natural or normal state is long, and surrounded by the usual fold; but it is easily fractured, and the reproduced portion often assumes a bulbous form, with a tapering termination, not unlike a small turnip with its root. In this accidental condition it was formerly described as a distinct species, under the title of Locerta rapicauda. Sect. 4.—Ptyodactyli. Toes dilated only at the tips, and striated below. The dilatation is cleft, and the nail placed in the fissure. The whole of the toes are furnished with curved claws.

In some the toes are free, and the tail rounded. Such is G. Iobatus, Geoft., sometimes named the house-gecko. It is smooth, or at least both scales and tubercles are very small, the general colour reddish-gray speckled with brown. This species is common in houses in many of the countries on the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean. It is known in Cairo by the unlovely name of aboυ burs, or father of the leprosy, because it is supposed to produce that dreadful malady by poisoning provisions with its feet. Has-selquist relates that he saw at Cairo two women and a girl at the point of death, in consequence of their having eaten some cheese over which this creature chanced to crawl. He likewise mentions a man who, having laid hold of a gecko, his hand became instantaneously covered with red inflamed pustules, which were as itchy as those produced by the stinging of a nettle. Cats are said to eat these reptiles; and they are driven from the Egyptian kitchens by the odour of garlic. The house-gecko feeds on insects, and its eggs are equal in size to a small nut. Its voice resembles that of a frog.

In others the tail is bordered on both sides by a membrane, and the feet are semi-palmated. Baron Cuvier is of opinion that they are probably aquatic. The species are truly singular in their external aspect. Such is the fimbriated gecko ( G.flmbriatus, Cuv.), of which the form is much depressed, and the tail bordered by a lateral margin, which is also visible on the sides of the body, where, however, it becomes fringed or slashed. It is a native of Madagascar, where it is erroneously held in great dread. In Lacepède’s opinion, it connects together the cameleons, geckoes, and water-newts. It measures eight or nine inches in length; and lives in trees, leaping from branch to branch. The colours of this species, like those of the cameleon, are very changeable, at least on the upper surface, the under portion being usually of a bright yellow. “These changes,” says Dr Shaw, “we are informed, have been observed in the living animal by Mons. Bruyeres in its native country, viz. Madagascar, where it is not very uncommon, and where, though a harmless animal, it is held in great abhorrence by the natives, who consider it of a poisonous nature, and fly from it with precipitation, pretending that it darts on their breast, and adheres with such force by its fringed membrane, that it cannot be separated from the skin without the assistance of a razor. The principal cause of this popular dread of the animal is its habit of running open mouthed towards the spectator, instead of attempting to escape when discovered. Its chief residence is on the branches of trees, where it lives on insects, holding itself secure by coiling its tail, short as it is, half round the twig on which it sits. It chiefly appears in rainy weather, when it moves with considerable agility, often springing from bough to bough. On the ground it walks but slowly, the fore-legs being shorter than the hinder.” ^[37. General 2οοlegy, ]

An equally singular species of this section is the scolloptailed gecko ( G. Cuudiverbera), which has no fringe upon the body, but a very peculiarly indented margination on each side of the tail. It is of a blackish colour, measures above a foot in length, and was found by M. Feuille in a fountain of the Cordilleras. Some confusion exists in systematic works between this species and that figured by Seba under the name of Salamandra aquatica ex Arabia. Sect. 5.—Spheriodactyli. Toes terminated by a small cushion without folds; the claws retractile.

Such species as have the cushion double or notched in front are natives of the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies. Example, G. porphyrias, Daud. More frequently the cushion is rounded and simple, as in the species called the spitting gecko (G. sputator, Lac.), a small reptile, pleasingly marked by transverse bands of brown upon a reddish ground. It inhabits houses in St Domingo. A lizard described by Sparman under the same specific name, if not identical with the species just named, no doubt pertains to this genus. It is said when disturbed by a near approach to eject from its mouth a black and acrimonious fluid into the face of the spectator, causing an inflammation of the skin, which, however, is allayed by rubbing the part affected with camphorated spirits of wine.

Finally, there are Saurians which, with all the characters [7:19:148]of the geckoes, exhibit no enlargement of the toes, although their claws, five in number, are nevertheless retractile. They at present compose three genera, as follows:

In Stenodactvels the tail is round, the toes striated beneath, and dentated on the edges. Sten. guttatus is an Egyptian species, of a gray colour, sprinkled with whitish spots; the skin smooth. In Gymxodactylus, Spix, the toes are slender and bare, and the tail rounded. Example, Gym. gechoides, Spix. In Phyllurus, Cuv., the toes resemble those of the preceding; but the tail is flattened horizontally, and shaped like a leaf. The only known species is Ph. platura, from New South Wales, described by White under the name of broad-tailed lizard. ^[38. Voyage to South Wales, Naturalist’s Miscellany, ] It measures about six inches in length, and is of a brownish-gray colour, beset with tubercles. (See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 3.)

FAMILY V—CHAMAELEONIDAE. CAMELEONS.

This family consists solely of the genus Chamaeleo, distinguished by the following characters. The entire surface is chagrined with small granular scales, the body is compressed, the dorsal edge narrow; the tail is rounded and prehensile. There are five toes on each foot, arranged as it were in two groups, three in one, and two in the other, in some measure resembling the foot of a scansorial bird; but the toes of each group are connate, or enclosed within the skin, as far as the claws. The tongue is fleshy, cylindrical, extensile, and of great length. The teeth are trilobed. The eyes are large in themselves, but almost entirely covered over by the skin, except a small opening opposite the pupil; and each eye has the power of movement independent of the other. There are no external ears, and the occiput rises in a pyramidal form. The first ribs unite with the sternum, and the succeeding ones meet each other so as to form a circle around the abdomen. The lungs are of vast extent, and according to their state of collapse or inflation, greatly affect the form and aspect of the animal. This, with its long power of abstinence, may have given rise to the common belief that it feeds on air. ^[39. “AU which considered,” says Sir Thomas Brown, in his Vulgar Errors, “severer heads will be apt enough to conceive the vulgar opinion of this animal to be not much unlike that of the Astarni, or men without mouths, in Pliny; suitable unto the relation of the mares in Spain, and their Subventaneous conceptions from the western wind; and in some way more unreasonable than the figment of Rabican, the famous horse in Ariasta, which, being conceived by flame and wind, never tasted gross, or fed on any grosser pro-vender than air; for this way of nutrition was answerable unto the principles of his generation; which being not airy, but gross and seminal in the chameleon, unto its conservation there is required a solid pasture, and a food congenerous unto the principles of its nature.” ]

Cameleons are insectivorous reptiles, of which the slow pace, the extraordinary form, the awkward movements, the vivacity of eye, and the marvellous rapidity of tongue, have excited the wonder of mankind from the earliest ages. Their change of colour, by no means so marked or sudden as supposed, has nothing to do with the hue of the objects by which they are surrounded, but bears relation physically to the degree of light or obscurity to which they are exposed, morally to the state of their own feelings of fear or anger, and physiologically and directly to the action of the lungs upon the circulating system. “En effet,” says Cuvier, “leur poumon les rend plus ou moins transparents, contraint plus ou moins le sang à refluer vers la peau, colore même ce fluide plus ou moins vivement, selon qu’il se remplit ou se vide d’air.” “The general or usual colour in the chameleon,” says Dr Shaw, “so far as I have bcen able to ascertain from my own observation of such as have been brought into this country in a living state, are from a bluish-ash colour (its natural tinge) to a green and sometimes yellowish colour, spotted unequally with red. If the animal be exposed to a full sunshine, the unilluminated side generally appears, within the space of some minutes, of a pale yellow, with large rounded patches or spots of red brown. On reversing the situation of the animal the same change takes place in an opposite direction, the side which was before in the shade now becoming either brown or ash colour, while the other side becomes yellow and red; but these changes are subject to much variety, both as to intensity of colours and disposition of spots.” ^[40. 3 General Zoology, ]

Authors of all ages have differed greatly in opinion regarding the causes of the change of colour in cameleons. The phenomenon, though remarkable, and strongly exemplified in these creatures, is by no means peculiar to them, but occurs, as we have noted in the course of this article, among many others of the reptile race, especially in such as, the general envelope not adhering closely to the muscles, receive a portion of air beneath the skin. It is also observable in many mollusea, particularly the cuttle-fish tribe. But to recur to the cameleon. Aristotle and many other authors have maintained that the change of colour only took place when the animal inflated itself. Pliny repeats the opinion (which has since prevailed) that it assumed the colours of the bodies by which it was surrounded, with the exception of red and white. Wormius was among the first to maintain that the changes in question were due to the emotions of the reptile. Solinus assigns as the cause the reflexion of the luminous rays. Kircher supports the theory of volition and emotion. Goddard adopts the same explanation, with the addition that the colours at the same time bear a relation to neighbouring bodies. Hasselquist and Linnaeus refer to the pigmentum as the cause. Finally, the majority of modern authors who have written on the subject (and their name is legion) have sought to explain the phenomenon either by the modifications of the respiratory system, by these modifications combined with the state of the pulmonary' circulation, or by the transposition of the various layers which are believed to exist in the pigmentum. ^[41. For a summary on this subject, see a paper by Dr Spittal in the Edin. New Phil. Journ. for 1829, p. 292. ]

We may state briefly in regard to the geographical distribution of the cameleons, that Africa is their characteristic country. Of the fourteen species known to naturalists, the whole occur there or in the adjacent islands, especially Madagascar; three species, however, are not exclusively African, Cham, dilepis, Leach, being found in Georgia, Cham, vulgaris in the south of Europe, and Cham, bifidus in continental India, the Moluccas, Isle of France, and New Holland. They are thus entirely unknown in America.

These reptiles dwell habitually among shrubs or trees. “Nous avons observé,” says M. Bory de St Vincent, “des cameleons en liberté, fixés sur les rameaux des arbustes, qu’ils tenaient fortement serrés entre leur doigts, à peu près comme le font les perroquets dont le pied présente one certaine analogie avec les leurs; ils étaient aussi immobiles que s’ils eussent été des imitations artificielles. Leurs yeux sculement, dont la prunelle brillait comme one pierre précieuse au milieu d’une globe blanchâtre percé d’un petit trou étincelant, roulaient en tout sens, et tandis que l’un regardait par devant, l’autre observait les objets situés en arrière. Quelquefois le mouvement anguleux d’une pâte comme disloquée, lentement suivi de celui de la suivante et du déroulement de la queue, qui servait de cinquième point d’appui au cameleon, déterminait un tardif avancement de quelques lignes. Dans cet état de paix, au milieu du feuil[7:19:149]lage des lentisques, sa couleur était d’un blanc assez pur, tirant sur le jaunâtre. Saisi, il se gonflait d’abord et ne faisait nul effort pour éviter le danger; sans doute il en sentait l’inutilité; mais bientôt on voyait circuler sur toutes les partiés de son corps des teintes diverses dues au sang, poussé vers la peau par la dilatation de ses vastes poumons. Le cameleon, rendu à lui-même, ne tardait point a reprendre sa couleur blanchâtre que la mort rembrunit. Du reste, le plus innocent de tous les animaux, ce cameleon changeant, qui ne cherche jamais à mordre, vit de mouches qu’il guette; lorsque celles-ci passent à sa portée, son corps, sa tête, ses membres demeurent immobiles; mais il a calculé la portée de sa langue, il la lance comme un trait; et l’animal ailé, malgré son agilité et la promptitude de son vol. se trouve collé au bouton visqueux qui le rapport en un clin-d’oeil dans la bouche de son ennemi.

“On a imprimé, dans la plupart des livres d’histoire naturelle, qu’on ne trouvait des cameleons que dans les parties les plus chaudes des régions intertropicales. Ces animaux s’y plaisent sans doute, mais non sculement ils dépassent les tropiques, ils s’élèvent encore beaucoup au nord dans la zone tempérée, puisque nous en avons trouvé fréquemment dans le midi de l’Espagne. L’espèce de Barbarie; y est aussi commune autour de la baic de Catlix, où lorsque, pour les opérations de la siège, nous faisions abattre des pins sur la rive gauche du Guadalete, nous en trouvions communément entre les rameaux dont se formaient la cime de ces arbres. On en voit dans quelques maisons, qui demeurent fort longtemps, sans remuer, suspendus à des ficelles sur lesquelles on les a placés comme objets de curiosité; les chats en sont assez friands, et ceux qu’on tient en captivité finissent ordinairement par les griffes de ces tigres domestiques.” ^[42. Diction. Class. d’Hist. Nat., ]

The best-known species is Cham, vulgaris, often called the African cameleon ( Lac. Africana, Gm.), an ill-selected name, in as far as several other kinds occur in Africa, and the species in question spreads from the south of Spain through many intermediate countries into India. The hood is pointed, and raised into a ridge on its anterior portion, the dorsal ridge is dentated as far as the middle of the back, the inferior one as far as the anus. The granules of the skin are equal and closely set. In the female the hood is of smaller size, and the dentations of the ridge less strongly marked. It is to this species, which measures about a foot and a half in length, that our preceding quotations apply, and that is also referred to in most of the general observations on cameleons found in books. See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 1.

The female deposits her eggs to the number of thirty, in an excavation which she hollows in the ground, and afterwards covers over with loose earth, “servendosi,” says Va-lisnieri, “a questo lavoro delle sole zampe di dietro, come i gatti, quando nascondono et cuoprono Ie loro sozzure, non contenta della cavata terra vi ramassé e ammonticello delle foglie secche, della paglia, e degli Stecchetti avendovi inal-zato sopra una collinetta di copertura. ^[43. Isloria del Carneleonte Afaicano. ]

We shall here mention briefly a few of the most distinctly known of the other species of the genus. ^[44. See a paper by Mr Gray, in the Philosophical Magasine, vol. ii. p. 209; and Erpilolagit Générale, iii. 203. ] Cham. tigris, Cuv., has the hood or helmet small, and is distinguished by a compressed dentated wattle beneath the end of the lower jaw. Its body is beset with black points, and the granules are fine and equal. It inhabits the Seychelle Islands. An allied species ( ClMm. verrucosus, Cuv.) has larger granules mingled with the others, and there is a series of parallel warts on the sides of the back. It is a native of the Mauritius. Cham, pumilus, Daud., has the hood directed backwards, and scattered warts upon the sides, limbs, and tail; and beneath the throat are numerous compressed finely-toothed wattles, which vary in different individuals. It occurs in the south of Africa, the Isle of France, and the Seychelles. Cuvier is of opinion, that Cham. Seichellensis of Khul is merely the female of this species. The Senegal kind, Cham, planiceps, Merr. (Lac. chameleon, Gm.), has the hood flattened, almost without ridge, and horizontally of a parabolic form. It occurs in Barbary, and has likewise been seen in Georgia. Cham, pardalis, Cuv., from the Isle of France, is marked irregularly with black round spots, bordered with white. A peculiar species from the Moluccas is distinguished by two large compressed prominences projecting in front of the muzzle. It is the Cham, bifurcus of M. Brogniart.

FAMILY VI._SCINCIDAE.

Distinguishable by their short legs, their unextensile tongue, and their scales of equal size, which cover the body and tail like tiles.

In the genus Scinccs, Daud., the legs are rather short, the body of almost equal size with the tail, without any occipital enlargement, crest, or dewlap, the scales uniform, shining, and disposed like those of a carp. Some of the species assume a fusiform or spindle shape, others are nearly cylindrical, and more or less lengthened, resembling certain serpents, especially those of the genus Anguis, with which they are likewise connected by several internal relations. The tongue is fleshy, little extensile, and but slightly cleft; and the jaws are furnished all around with small close-set teeth. The toes are free.

A few have teeth upon the palate. Of these is the common or officinal scink (Sc. officinalis, Schn., Lac. scincus, Linn.), which measures six or eight inches in length. The tail is shorter than the body, and the proportional length considerable from the snout to the shoulder. The general colour is a silvery yellow hue, with transverse blackish bands. It is very abundant in Libya, Syria, Arabia, and Egypt, and is frequently imported from Alexandria into Europe. It frequents rather dry and sandy soils, and is remarkable for the extraordinary rapidity with which it burrows, vanishing almost instantaneously, and seeming, as Bruce has well expressed it, “rather to have found a hole than to have made one.” This is the reptile called el adda by the Arabs. It was once held in high estimation as an article in the Materia Medica, its flesh being regarded as advantageous in leprous and many other cases. A much larger species (Sc. Cyprius) occurs in the Levant, and some of the Mediterranean Islands, Sc. rufescens is widely spread over India, and Sc. trivitta-tus is common at the Cape of Good Hope. To this group also belongs the galley-wasp of Jamaica (Sc. occidua, Shaw), a large reptile of nearly two feet in length. We are not acquainted with its modern history, and doubt its poisonous properties, though Browne, in his Natural History of Jamaica, informs us that it is reckoned the most vene-mous reptile in the island, and that it is believed no creature can recover from its bite. The author, however, justly regards this as a popular error.

Other species of this genus have no teeth upon the palate. Such is Sc. Ocellatus, Schneid., well known in the southern countries of Europe, the Mediterranean Islands, Egypt, &c. The West Indies, the Moluccas, and New Holland, produce analogous kinds, some of them remarkable for their size.

The genus Seps of Daudin differs from the preceding in having the body so elongated as to resemble that of a serpent (a conformation well expressed by the names Lacerta
[7:19:150]

serpens, Anguis quadrupes, &c. which certain species bore); their legs are extremely small, and the two pairs placed at a great distance from each other. (See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 4.) The lungs in this genus begin to exhibit an inequality of size. Indeed, we may here observe, that in the few remaining groups of Saurian reptiles with which we are still to be engaged, there is a manifest approximation to the true serpents or ophidian race, in the diminution of the feet, the entire disappearance, in certain species, of either the anterior or posterior pair, and the elongated form of the body. Indeed, on the one hand, Lacerta apoda of Pallas is actually now classed with the Ophidians (being placed at their head), although on each side of the anus there is a prominence containing a small bone analogous to the femur, and pertaining to a true pelvis concealed beneath the skin; while on the other, certain systematic writers range our Anguis fragilis, and other snakes usually so called, among the Saurian reptiles. But to return to our remaining genera, which may really be said to hold their legs and feet by a precarious tenure,so subjectare they to variation—the five-toed seps («S. Pentadactylus, Lac. serpens, Linn.) inhabits tile East Indies, while a four-toed species (S. Mradactylus), and a third with only three toes (S. tridactylus), both being viviparous, occur in the Isle de Crès. Another three-toed species («S. chaleides) is native to the south of Europe, and is named cecella by the Italians. It dwells in meadows, feeding on spiders, slugs, &c. and runs rapidly by means of a snake-like wriggling motion, without using its feet. It is also viviparous. A more peculiar kind, known under the name of serpent-lizard («S, monodactylus, Lac. anguina, Linn.), occurs at the Cape of Good Hope. Its legs are nothing more than small footless undivided appendages. This is the vermis Serpentiformis ex Africa of Seba, said by some authors to be found “in great plenty in the water and about the rocks in Table Bay.”

The genus Bipes, Lacep., makes a still nearer approach to the serpents, as its name indicates. It scarcely differs from Seps, except in the entire absence of the fore-legs. It forms as it were the stepping-stone to Anguis. (See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 5.) A species from New Holland (B. Iepidopoda, Lacep.), examined by Baron Cuvier, although its hinder extremities showed themselves externally only under the form of a pair of small oblong sealyplates, was yet found on dissection to possess a femur, tibia, peroneum, and four metatarsal bones without phalanges. To this genus likewise belongs an African species, the Anguis bipes, Linn., and another of larger size from Brazil, described by Spix under the name of Pygopus Cariocoeca.

The genus called Ciialcides by Daudin is likewise characterized by a long and serpent-like body, but there are four legs (as in Seps), and the scales, instead of overlapping like tiles, are rectangular, and form transverse bands, which do not encroach upon each other. See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 6.

Certain species have a groove on each side of the body, and the tympanum still very obvious. Of these, an East Indian kind( Chol. seps, Lac. seps, Linn.) has five toes, while another ( Chul. tehadactylus) has only four. Others have the tympanum concealed, and conduct directly to Chirotes, and through it to the ophidian genus Amphisbwna. Examples, Chal. Pentadactylus, which, as its name implies, is a fivetoed species, and Chab Iwterodactylus l∕lei. imbricatus, Spix), which has four toes to the front feet and five to the hinder. Chab abdominalis, Thunberg, has four toes on each foot. Lastly, Chal flavescens, Gray (Uiab monodactylus, Daudin), is distinguished by five anterior and three posterior toes, so reduced in size as to resemble small tubercles, and so ill defined by nature (to our perceptions, though no doubt wisely formed in relation to the end in view) that zoologists still differ as to their exact amount. The species alluded to is native to Guiana.

The genus Chirotes, Cuv. resembles Chalcides in its verticillated scales, and is allied to Amphisbwna by the blunted form of its head; but it is distinguished from the former by the absence of the hind legs, and from the latter by the presence of the fore ones. (See Plate CCCCXXXII. fig. 7.) The only known species is the lumbriciform lizard of Shaw ( Chir. Iumbricodes,—CanaliculatusofLae.), a native of Mexico and first described by Lacépède. It has two short anterior feet (each with four toes, and the rudiments of a fifth), well organized interiorly, and attached to a small sternum by means of shoulder-blades and clavicles; but the head, vertebrae, and the general skeleton, closely resemble those of the genus Amphisbaena. It is of a flesh colour, and measures eight or ten inches long, with a circumference like that of the little finger. It is surrounded by about 220 semi-rings upon the back, and as many on the abdomen, which meet upon the sides in alternation. The tongue of this species is but slightly extensile, and terminates in two little horny points. Its eye is extremely small, and the tympanum invisible outwardly, being covered by the skin. On dissection Baron Cuvier could detect in this reptile only a single large lung, with the vestige of a small one, as in serpents. It preys on insects.

Order III—OPHIDIA. OPHIDIAN REPTILES.

This great division is distinguished by the absence of legs and other external members, and includes all manner of snakes and serpents. The expected completion of the Erpétologie Générale of MM. Dumeril and Bibron would have enabled us to present a more satisfactory sketch of their history and habits (which have been greatly embroiled by many modern authors), than we can otherwise attain to; but the French writers just named have not as yet published the result of their labours among the ophidian tribes. In the mean time, we think it advisable to delay their consideration to a future time. Therefore see in this work the term Serpents.

Order IV—BATRACHIA. BATRACHIAN REPTILES.

We now proceed to the fourth order of the class Reptilia, the Batrachia, a name derived from Bαrjaxof, a frog, and expressive of a general resemblance which very distinctly marks the majority, although in truth many resemble lizards, and a few have more the appearance of eels or serpents. This tribe is one of the most singular in nature; for, besides the naked body and remarkable sanguineous circulation, they possess another peculiarity, which is regarded by many naturalists as sufficient to constitute them a distinct class rather than an order, viz. the change of form which they undergo in their progress from the young to the adult state.

In this concluding order are ranked all those reptiles which have neither the carapace of the Chelonia nor the scales of the other orders. ^[45. A curious link, we perceive, has recently been discovered in South America, between the Batrachia and the Chelonia, which is nothing less than a frog furnished with a carapace and plastron. ] Their bodies therefore are naked; their head is without any distinct neck or division; their toes are always distinct and without claws; they have no external organs of reproduction, and usually undergo metamorphoses. This change of form constitutes the Ba-trachia the principal step in the transition between terrestrial and aquatic vertebrata or fishes, and is one of the most singular phenomena presented by animal life. Bred [7:19:151]after the manner of fishes, from spawn-like ova., they possess for a time the essential characters of the finny race; and yet, on the lapse of a few brief weeks, their pisciform appearance vanishes, and leaving the water, they crawl or leap about upon the earth, or climbing the stems of forest trees, they dwell among the umbrageous branches. In some the transition state, if we may say so, continues permanent, the gills existing simultaneously with feeble lungs, and a tail being combined with short external members. Of the structure of these curious animals more will be said hereafter.

The ovum or egg of these reptiles is a round mass of transparent nutritive jelly, in the centre of which appears a small black globule. By degrees this shapeless globule exhibits the appearance of a head and tail, and in this state it emerges from its prison, and moves about briskly in the water. It is provided with a long fleshy tail, and a small horny beak, and has no other visible member, except two feathery tufts on the sides of the neck, which float loosely, and without protection, in the surrounding fluid. These, however, are mere temporary organs; for they serve the purpose of respiration only until the proper gills are formed, and then shrink or disappear. ^[46. This change or conversion from external to internal gills is not very satisfactorily described by physiological observers. “Dès le moment où les Batraciens sortent de l’oeuf, ces branchies sont apparentes au dehors, elles représentent des espèces de franges ou de panaches colorés situés sur les parties latérales du cou, et attachés sur les bords des fentes qui correspond à la gorge; elles persistes sous cette forme, dans tous les Batraciens qui conservent leur queue, tant que leurs poumons ne sont pas assez développés pour servir uniquement à la respiration. Dans les Grenouilles et autres genres voisins sans queue, le premier état ne dure que pendant un temps très court. Bientôt l’animal prend one autre forme, celle d’un têtard à ventre énorme confondu avec la tête et avec une longue queue. Les branchies sont alors cachées, et contenues dans une cavité; l’eau arrive dans la bouche par les orifices des narines, étc. (Erpétologie Générale, i. 182.) ] The true gills or branchiae are contained within the body, three or four in number on each side, constructed on a plan similar to those of fishes; the water entering by the mouth, and escaping in some species by two openings, and in others by one only. Retaining their aquatic constitution, the tadpoles (as in this intermediate state they are often called) rapidly increase in size and activity tor some weeks. In the mean time the legs, of which no trace was at first apparent, have commenced their growth. The hind ones are the first to make their appearance externally, although the anterior pair are as soon developed, and may be seen at an early period folded beneath their transparent covering. The animal at this period wears a very ambiguous appearance, partaking both of the form of the frog and lizard, and swimming as well by the inflection of the tail as by the irregular impulse of the feet. ^[47. It appears that the great Lord Bacon had not practised his inductive philosophy so far as young frogs are concerned, for in his Sylva Syivarum he makes mention of their being sometimes observed with tails, in such years as have been more than usually pestilential or unhealthy; and he then draws tire conclusion that the appearance of such tailed reptiles, “argueth agreat disposition to putrefaction in the soile and aire. ] At this time the beak falls off, and the true jaws, which originally were hid under the skin, appear. The eye, too, which had been seen only through a transparent spot in the tadpole’s skin, appears complete and prominent. This interval is also employed in acquiring the faculty of respiring atmospheric air. The animal every now and then rises to the surface and takes a mouthful of air, which is received into the newly formed lungs, and then discharged. When the necessary internal changes are at length completed, the tail, which has now become a useless member, diminishes and disappears. The gills, too, have by this time shrunk, their function being superseded by the lungs, and the animal emerging from the water, begins a new mode of existence as a perfect reptile.

During its aquatic state the tadpole lives principally on vegetable food, but in its perfect form much more upon various insects; and there is a remarkable and corresponding change in its digestive organs, which assume the character of those of a carnivorous creature. Most of the Batrachia, we may also remark, are oviparous, whilst not a few of them are ovo-viviparous. It should, moreover, be observed, that most of the species of this group, during their aquatic condition, possess the extraordinary power of suffering the privation of a part, or the whole, of one or more of their members without vital injury, and of afterwards renewing them as if no loss had been endured; a property of which we have already made mention in our summary account of lizards, and to which we may again briefly return in our notice of the aquatic salamander

We shall now take a nearer view of the vascular and respiratory systems of these animals. The circulation, in the tadpole state, is in every respect analogous to that of fishes: the blood is transmitted from a simple bilocular or two-lobed heart to the branchial arches, and, after aeration by the water, returns, and is circulated through the system. The transition from this condition to that which the vascular organs present in the perfect reptile state is very striking. Originally three or four branchial trunks pass off from each side of the heart, and terminate in the minute network of the gills; from this network the returning vessels take their origin, one from each of the gills, the first of which goes to the head, and the other two conjoining, convey the blood to the rest of the system, as in fishes. But in addition to these vessels, there are some small undeveloped ones, which effect a communication between the vessels which go to the gills and those which return from them; as also another which, given off from tile heart, unites with the aorta, to be distributed to the as yet rudimentary lungs. After the metamorphosis is begun, the branches which connect the arteries of the gills with the returning veins are greatly enlarged, so that a part of the blood flow’s continuously through them without proceeding to the gills at all, and the proper branchial vessels relatively diminish; and the last-named trunk, which was the smallest of all, becomes the largest, and an increased proportion of blood is sent to the lungs. By a continuance of these changes, the branchial vessels are finally obliterated, and the communicating branches, at Arstonlysecondary and irregular, now constitute part of the continuous and permanent system of circulation.

The respiration of the Batrachia, after they have arrived at their permanent mode of existence, is not less singular than their circulation; and this chiefly in two particulars,— as it regards the lungs, and the function of the skin. If we take a frog, for example, ^[48. See Roget’s Bridgetrater Treatise, ii. 330. ] and watch its respiration, we cannot readily discover that it breathes at all; for it never opens its mouth to receive air, and there is no motion of the sides to indicate that it respires; and yet, on any sudden alarm, we see the animal blowing itself up, as if by some internal power, though its mouth all the while continues closed. We may perceive, however, that its throat is in frequent motion, as if the frog were economizing its mouthful of air, and transferring it backwards and forwards between its mouth and lungs; and if we direct our attention to the nostrils, we may observe in them a twisting motion at each movement of the jaws; for it is through the nostrils that the frog receives all the air which it breathes. The jaws are never open but for the purpose of eating; and the sides of the mouth form a sort of bellows, of which the nostrils [7:19:152]are the inlets; and by their alternate contraction and relaxation, the air is swallowed and forced into the windpipe, so as to inflate the lungs. The tongue also contributes its share in carrying on this function. This organ is remarkable in its connection, being fixed very differently in these from what it is in most other animals. Its root is not situated deep down the throat, but is attached superficially at the fore-part of the lower jaw; it is remarkably long, and instead of inclining forward, is turned backwards, extending down the throat, and so acts as a valve, affecting the entrance and exit of air from the lungs. If the mouth of the frog be forcibly kept open, it is suffocated, because it is deprived of the power of swallowing the required air; and if the nostrils be closed, it in like manner can no longer breathe. Hence the frog and allied genera may be said rather to swallow air than to inhale it. Respiration, again, is not carried on, as in most animals, by the chest, but by the compression of the muscles of the abdomen; and if these are in any way injured or destroyed, the breathing ceases, and the individual speedily dies. Nor is the function of respiration in the Batrachia confined to the lungs; for the blood which circulates through the capillaries of the skin is likewise aerated by communication with the atmosphere. This kind of respiration, closely connected with the extraordinary perspiration for which these animals are celebrated, is of such importance to them, that if impeded by covering the skin with oil or other unctuous substance, death will take place almost as soon as if the lungs were removed; and, on the other hand, the animal may be supported by it alone, for a considerable time, if the temperature be not too high,—a physiological fact which, we apprehend, goes a great way to account for the extraordinary power possessed by many of these creatures (to which we shall afterwards allude), of enduring, without detriment, a long protracted burial, enclosed in wood or stone

The reproductive act in these reptiles, somewhat intermediate between what occurs in terrestrial animals and fishes, is so remarkable that it must not be passed by. We shall borrow our illustration from what occurs in the frog, the genus by much the best known in the order. The embraces of the male occur only once a year, and in spring. As soon as the sun’s influence is felt in their wintry resorts, the black spongy knob at the base of the thumb of the male augments in size, and his abdomen swells. On finding his mate, he mounts on her back, extends his arms round her chest, and so locks the fingers of his hands into each other, that, from the peculiar structure, they cannot be separated. The two animals are thus inseparably joined, and so live and swim together for fifteen or twenty days, or even for a month. If; under these circumstances, the thumbs be cut off, the junction is at an end; but if the animal be decapitated, the grasping apparatus still performs its mechanical office. During the period of this long embrace, the spawn, as in fish, escapes in long floating cords or chaplets, of a gclatinous fluid, crowded with the ova, which is bedewed with the milt of the male. When the spawning is completed, the male frog is able to dismount, the fingers Speedily regaining their flexibility, and the thumbs their ordinary form. The reproductive power is very great, the ova amounting to from 600 to upwards of 1000. Swammerdam once reckoned 1100 from a single individual, and Montbeiliard 1300.

It is remarked that these animals live to a great age, if fortunate enough to escape the attacks of their enemies; an instance will be given in the sequel, of an individual whose history was traced for forty years. Their foes, however, are very numerous. A number of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and fishes, live habitually at their expense. Serpents, pikes, vultures, and storks, destroy an immense number of them. Without the intervention of the last-named birds, Egypt, in particular, would swarm with frogs. In several countries, certain species are sought after by man; and they are considered by competent judges as an agreeable and wholesome food. The Batrachia have no weapons either of offence or defence. Taken as an order, they are certainly as harmless to man as any tribe of animals; and, as has been well remarked, though the forms of many of the species offend our notions of beauty, and their love-songs have gained them the character of “horrible musicians,” there is certainly nothing to justify the aversion and distrust with which they are so usually regarded.

The Batrachia generally feed upon the larvae of aquatic insects, on worms, small mollusea, flies, &c., and always choose a prey which is living and in motion. Dead and motionless animals are rejected by them. To obtain their prey, they often remain fixed in one situation, with wonderful patience, watching till they believe it is within their reach, and then darting at it with great rapidity, they at the same time protrude their lengthened tongue, bedewed all over with a viscid fluid. If we watch a frog when an insect has approached sufficiently near it, we are surprised to observe the insect suddenly disappear without our being able to perceive what has become of it. This arises from the frog having darted its tongue upon its victim with such extreme quickness, and again withdrawn it with the adhering insect, that it is scarcely possible for the eye to follow it in motion. Thus from the nature of their food, so far from being prejudicial, they are very useful in gardens, by extensively destroying those small slugs, &c. which are so detrimental to plants of every kind.

FAMILY RANIDAE. ^[49. Although the patronymic termination in Wtc is not classically correct in cases where the primitive has a feminine termination, we nevertheless follow in this matter the suggestion of Mr Kirby, and the example of Mr Macleay, who regards it as preferable to any other yet devised, as well on account of uniformity, as euphonia gratia. See Horn Entomologica;, p. 23. ] FROGS IN GENERAL.

All the members of the frog family (corresponding to the great genus Rana of Linnaeus), have in their perfect state four extremities and no tail. Their head is flat, their muzzle rounded, their mouth very large. In the greater number the tongue is not attached to the deeper part of the throat, but to the edge of the lower jaw, and thence proceeds backwards, and down the throat. Their front feet have only four toes, and their hind five, sometimes exhibiting the rudiments of a sixth.

We cannot better bespeak a favourable conslderation for this despised group than in the words of an enthusiastic naturalist. “We shall have considerable difficulty,” says the eloquent Lacépède, “in assigning to frogs the place which they should occupy in the minds of our readers, such as it really is in nature; but it is not less true, that if toads had never existed, if we had not before our eye this horrid object of comparison, which caricatures by its resemblance, as it defiles by its approach, the frog would appear to us as agreeable from its conformation, as distinguished by its qualities, and interesting from the phenomena it exhibits at the different periods of its existence. We would behold it as a useful animal, from which we have nothing to fear, whose instinct is harmless, which unites an elegant form with supple and slender limbs, and is adorned with pleasing colours, rendered more vivid from the kind of natural varnish with which the animal is constitutionally provided. And who can regard with pain a being whose form is light, whose movements are nimble, whose attitudes are graceful? Let us not deprive ourselves of an additional source of pleasure;
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and, in our peregrinations through the smiling fields, let us not regret to see the banks of rivulets adorned by the colours of these harmless creatures, and animated by their light and lively gambols. Let us contemplate their little manoeuvres; observe them in the midst of stilly lakes, the solitude of which they diminish without troubling the repose; see them exhibit, under sheets of water, the most agreeable tints, cleave the bosom of the tranquil stream, and vary its silvery surface with many a circling furrow.”

In summer these Ranidae are usually found in humid places, in grassy meadows, and on the banks of streamlets, into which, when approached, they usually leap and dive. They swim admirably, by means of their webbed hind feet. Frequently at the close of warm rains they spread themselves through the country, and are so numerous as to be crowded and pressed against each other in places where they had never been observed before. To this appearance is owing the popular belief of rains of frogs, which undoubtedly is usually a mistake; but raised by a hurricane, and thereby transported to a great distance, such an occurrence is yet, we believe, quite within the range of possibility. As soon as the summer is over, and the weather begins to get cold, these reptiles lose their natural activity, and give over feeding. When the cold becomes more considerable, they protect themselves from its rigour by sinking into the mud in deep water, in the holes of fountains, and even in the earth. The quantities which sometimes thus collect in one place are so considerable, that they have been known to cover the soil to a foot in depth, and thousands may be taken in a few minutes. Hearne informs us, in his voyage to the Icy Sea of North America, that he many times found under the moss frozen frogs, whose legs might be broken without their exhibiting any sign of life, but which resumed their energy with returning warmth.

Genus Rana, Laurenti, Cuv. Frogs proper. This first genus of the Ranidae has the body slender, the hind feet very long, and more or less webbed; their skin is smooth; their upper jaw is furnished all round with a row of minute sharp teeth, and there is an interrupted transverse range in the middle of the palate. The males have on each side, beneath the ears, a fine membranaceous bag, which they expand with air when they croak. They leap and swim admirably. See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 1.

The skeleton of the frogs does not present any trace of ribs; and the breast-bone, very large, with collar-bones attached, is merely cartilaginous. The cranium is almost prism shaped, flattened above, and very broad behind, and is less round than in the toads. The vertebrae are ten in number. The muscles have a considerable resemblance in arrangement to those of man, and are very strong, very irritable, and very sensible to the action of galvanism. The muzzle in frogs is somewhat more acute than that of toads; and the nostrils are visible at the summit. Their orbits are large, and are directed upwards; the eye is large and brilliant, and surrounded by a bright golden circle. The lids are three in number, and all horizontal; the upper one is a mere projection of the skin; the lower is more mobile; and the third, which is quite transparent, moves from below upwards, and is most of all in action. We have already dwelt so fully on the habits of the whole group, that little requires to be added in this place. It is, however, a curious circumstance, that these animals, like many other inhabitants of the water, can become habituated to the very high temperatures of thermal springs. Thus Reaumur mentions that he had known one found alive in water about 111° Fahrenheit; and Spallanzani mentions an example of this kind where, in the baths of Pisa, they were exposed to a temperature of 138°.

The power of voice in frogs, commonly called croaking, is exercised by the different species in very different degrees; a remark which is also applicable to the genus Bufo in their more limited range of expression. It is more particularly during the time of rain, and in hot days, in the evening and morning, that they indulge in their harmonious concert. The noise which they make becomes sometimes insupportable. It is principally the males which croak; their voice being stronger in consequence of the two sacs which they possess on the sides of the neck, and which swell out under the effort. As for the female, she has only a slight swelling in her throat, and produces but a feeble note. During the feudal regime in France, when all the castles were surrounded by water, it is said that it was the business of the serfs to attack the frogs, and prevent them from disturbing the morning repose of the lordly inmates.

It is rather remarkable that these creatures should be so much esteemed as delicious food in some countries, and so much despised and even abhorred in others. The ancients appear not to have discovered the nutritive virtues of frogs, nor their value in the science of gastronomy. In the sixteenth century, however, they were served up at the best tables on the continent. In Britain this kind of aliment is held in detestation, whilst in France and other European countries a very great consumption takes place. They are captured in various ways; either with lines, or small nets, or by means of a rake. Sometimes they are pursued at night, and with torches, the light of which attracts them. In Vienna, where they are rather favourites, they are fattened in froggeries constructed for the express purpose. Though one species of frog is called par excellence the edible, yet several others partake of this distinction. In Germany all parts of these animals are eaten, the skin and offals excepted. In France it is the hinder quarters alone which are used. They are dressed like fish, with white sauce, and in wine, or they are fried or even spitted. A foreign species of great size, to be afterwards mentioned (A. grunniens), which abounds in the West Indies, is often domesticated there for the use of the table. The flesh is white and delicate; it is fricasseed like fowl; and two frogs make a good dish. Nor is it frogs proper alone which are used in this way. The abhorred toads are habitually eaten by the negroes, both in Africa and America; and there seems to be little doubt that even in Paris the thighs of these animals are constantly sold for those of frogs.

We now proceed to a rapid sketch of the most remarkable species.

R. esculenta, Linn. The edible frog, green frog, or common frog of France. The colours of the green frog vary so much, that different individuals might almost be taken for a diversity of species. It is often of a beautiful green colour, spotted with black, with three yellow stripes on the back, and the belly yellowish. This description generally holds good in the environs of Paris. Those in the rivers and ditches of Lombardy have the back of a uniform green colour. Another variety, which has been observed in Holland, has the lips black, round black spots on its sides, and the belly entirely white; in Provence it has a reddish belly; and in the neighbourhood of Beauvois, sombre green, with transverse brownish spots upon the limbs, is found to be the prevailing hue. It varies in size from two to three inches, measured from the snout to the end of the body. It abounds in all dead and still waters, and is pre-eminent for its croaking powers. It is very common in France, Italy, and Germany; but is rare in Britain. It supplies, in the former countries, a very wholesome and agreeable food. It deposits its ova in small bundles, in the pools. This species seldom removes far from the margin of some quiet streamlet, into which it plunges on the least noise. It swims in the same manner as man, with its head above the surface. It may be often seen amusing itself among aquatic plants, darting after insects on the wing, mounting upon the umbrageous leaves, or squatted on the bank, with its snout projecting as if to court the rays of the sun, in which it delights, even during the most scorching days. It is indeed [7:19:154]most agile in this kind of weather, and leaps with the greatest liveliness. It feeds solely upon living objects, and will swallow no animal whose motions do not prove it to be in life. Its voracity is so extreme, that it may be captured with almost anything which is made to move, and will dart at a hook when baited with a rose or poppy leaf. With the warmth of autumn the gaiety of the green frog ceases; and as winter becomes severe, it entirely disappears, plunging deep into the mud to secure an asylum from the cold. Here they often crowd together, as if for the purpose of keeping each other warm.

R. temporaria, Linn.; Rflusea terrestris, Roes. The common frog of Britain. The red frog of the French. This species, the most common in Britain, and also abundant throughout Europe, has the same elegant and slender form as the preceding, and differs from it merely in its colour, which is often of a russet hue, like that of decayed leaves, varied in front with black spots between its brilliant eyes and upper lip. These spots sometimes assume the form of whiskers passing down the neck. It is of the same size as the preceding, and is met with from early spring-time till towards the close of autumn, leaping in woods and meadows, sheltering itself beneath hedges, and penetrating into cottage-gardens, where it ought to be protected, as waging deadly war with destructive snails and insects. It proves quite as good eating as the green frog, and in France is often placed upon the table. It is by no means so great a croaker as the preceding species; and those accustomed to the latter think it does not croak at all. It is most generally found upon land in the summer season; and while the green frog rarely abandons the immediate neighbourhood of still or gently flowing waters, this species is often found in brushwood, remote from the banks of streams. At the approach of winter it retires into fountains and ponds of pure water, usually, it is alleged, avoiding miry places. Nor does it bury itself in mud like its congener; for numbers of these frogs may be taken during the winter by making holes in the ice. It lays its ova at a later season than the green frog, and the development of its tadpole is slower. Like the preceding, it presents many varieties of colour, which it would be tedious here to name.

Under the appellation of R. cultripes, Cuv., may be noted a frog which occurs in the south of France, bespeckled with black spots, its feet extensively webbed, and especially remarkable for having a vestige of a sixth toe, armed with a homy and cutting nail. The spotted frog (fli. punctata, Daudin) occurs in the neighbourhood of Paris, though not very common. It rarely exceeds an inch in length. Its gray colour is relieved by a number of green spots over the body, and a black spot behind the eye, and it is said to change its colour when alarmed. Its toes are only partially webbed. The folded frog ( R. plicata, Daudin) is found in the most southern parts of France. It is of the same diminutive size as the last, of a brown colour above, and gray beneath; the fingers quite free, the toes semi-palmated. lt is particularly distinguished by having two folds of the skin on each flank; and there are four large brown spots on the chest and arms. Our knowledge of the brawling frog (R. clamitans, Bosc) is due to the indefatigable Bosc, who discovered it in the marshes near Charlestown, United States. It is about two inches long, of a dull ash colour, spotted with black, the upper lip green. Its vivacity is extreme, and it is by far the most lively of all known frogs, so that it is extremely difficult to catch it if it once makes its escape. It does not remove far from water, and when hunted, shoots into the stream with a sharp cry. Its continual croak is almost insupportable.

The bull-frog of the Americans, P pipiens, Linn., is one of the largest species of the genus, being three or four inches broad, and six or eight long; and when measured with extended legs, its entire length is about eighteen inches. The hind limbs are long, stout, and deeply palmated. It is of a dull green colour, varied with black, and relieved by a coppery yellow circle which surrounds the tympanum, and marks the situation of the ear. It abounds in Carolina and Virginia, remaining at the entrance of its hole, near some fountain, into which it precipitates itself on the least alarm. Catesby affirms that it utters sounds very much resembling the bellowing of a bull, and with greater force when at the bottom of the water. During the summer evenings, and in dry weather, it makes indeed a most astounding noise. It is exceedingly partial to young ducks and goslings, which it swallows whole, and will proceed to a considerable distance from its home in search of prey. As the voracity of this species is proportioned to its bulk, it is rare to find more than a single pair in each marsh. This frog is very difficult to catch; it is only during the night, and when it removes a little from its haunt, that it is possible to procure an individual. When on level ground it makes leaps of from six to eight feet in length. Baron Cuvier justly remarks, that several species go under the general name of bull-frog in America.

The grunting frog, R. grunniens, Daudin, is of the same large dimensions as the preceding, and inhabits the Floridas and the West Indies, where it has been accurately observed by M. Moreau de Jonnès. It is vulgarly designated a toad, because it frequents shady and humid places, and not the vicinity of waters, as the other frogs. In its habits it is nocturnal, and its strength is so great that at a single spring it can clear a wall five feet high. It is very torpid during the dry season, but resumes its vivacity when the rains set in. It is this frog which is often domesticated in the West Indies for the use of the table, and becomes tolerably familiar; the flesh is white and delicate, and two frogs form a very good dish. The argus flog of Shaw, R. ocellata, Linn., is often mistaken for the preceding. It inhabits Pennsylvania and Carolina, and was first figured by Seba. It is one of the largest of the genus, equalling if not exceeding the bull-frog in size, and being stronger; it is of a pale reddish-brown colour, striped with chestnut; the feet are unwebbed, and each joint is furnished with a kind of tubercle. The laughing frog, R. ridibunda, Gmel., according to Pallas, is common about the Ural and the Caspian Sea. It is of great size, weighing half a pound. It always keeps in the water, and in the evening utters its croakings in a way that resembles a horselaugh. The paradoxical flog, R. paradoxica, Linn., the jackie of the French, is remarkable for the great size of its tadpole state in proportion to the adult animal. The loss of its enormous tail, and of the envelopes of its body, induces a great diminution in bulk; its length in the tadpole state being seven or eight inches, while that of the body when transformed is only three. Thus many of the first observers were led to the conclusion that it was the frog which was metamorphosed into the tadpole, or, as they declared, into a fish. This species is green, spotted with brown, and is especially recognised by irregular stripes of a brown colour running along the limbs. The male has a gular sac, and the hind foot is provided with a supplemental toe. It inhabits Guiana. Our readers will bear in mind that in the preceding list we have not attempted more than to give a specimen of the distinctive characters and habits of some of the best-established species. Many more have been described and catalogued in systematic works.

Genus Ceratophris, Boie, Cuvier. This genus is distinguished by the great size of the head, by the skin being rough, and engrained in whole or in part, and by a membranous or horn-like prominence on each eye-lid. (See Plate CCCCXXXIΠ. fig. 2.) In certain species the tympanum is hid beneath the skin. The species are found in South America and Asia. The horned flog, C. varius, Boié, Rana cornuta, Seba, is certainly one of the most singular of [7:19:155]the Batrachia, having an aspect exceedingly deformed. This arises not so much from the general shape of the animal, as from the extraordinary structure of the upper eyelids, which are so formed as to resemble a pair of strange sharp-pointed horns, while the width of the mouth exceeds that of its congeners, and equals half the length of its body. Seba, in fact, describes it as having two sharp horns on its head, within which its eyes are situated; and Schneider more accurately, as a pair of accuminated callous processes, of a conical shape, placed upon the eyelids. The colour is grayish yellow, striped with brown. The body is rough, with pointed spines. The head is very large and thick, and the tongue proportionably so. Baron Cuvier assigns five species to this genus, from the works of Seba, Daudin, Spix 1 and Prince Maximilian. In Mr Gray’s catalogue an additional one is furnished by Mr Wagler, the habitat of which is Asia.

Genus Dactylethra, Cuv. The south of Africa, according to Cuvier, produces a group of Batrachians which resemble the frogs in their teeth, their smooth skin, their pointed toes, those of the hind feet being deeply webbed, and the inner three having their extremity enveloped in a conical nail, which is black; their head is small, and their mouth not very large. The tongue, attached deep in the throat, is fleshy and large; their tympanum not apparent. These numerous distinctive characters have induced the baron to constitute a new genus under the above name, from 3αxrua)j3jα, a thimble. The smooth toad, crapaud lisse of Daudin CPipa bufonia of Merrem), belongs to it.

Genus Hyla, Laurenti; Calamita, Schn. The tree-frogs of the English,— Rainettes of French authors. The Hylae were first separated from the frogs and toads by Laurenti, and his arrangement is now universally followed. They differ from the other genera in having all the extremities of their toes enlarged, and rounded into a kind of disk or cushion, usually covered with a viscid humour, which enables them to attach themselves firmly to foreign bodies, and to climb trees. (See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 3.) Trees, in fact, constitute their abode during the whole of summer, and there they hunt for food. They, however, produce their ova in water, and shelter themselves in the mud during winter. They have a gular pouch, and are good croakers.

The disks with which the toes of the tree-frogs are provided are simply fleshy, and in the form of lentils. Examined with the microscope, they appear like porous sieves, from which a glutinous fluid slowly exudes; they are usually somewhat concave, and are sometimes furnished with a distinct fold. By means of this apparatus the species can attach themselves to smooth surfaces; they can leap from branch to branch, and can traverse twigs when agitated by the wind. They may be regarded as among the most nimble of their kind. They are, however, more tranquil than many, and watch most patiently for prey. In the day time, and especially when the sun’s heat is great, they are said to shelter themselves among the thick foliage, putting themselves in motion on the approach of evening, and then sporting with delight. The croaking of these animals is similar to that of the proper frogs, but stronger, though not quite so sharp. It is most frequently heard in wet weather; but on a beautiful summer evening the traveller is sometimes surprised by a vast group of these hoarse musicians, assembled on the tops of the highest trees. They feed on the insect tribes. Late in the season they retire to the water, where they pass the winter in a kind of lethargy, and remain there till the spawning season has elapsed. Some Indian species deposit their eggs on the under side of leaves hanging over water; and General Hardwicke has observed them place their ova on a leaf which stood over a pail of water, so that the young dropt into the fluid beneath. There is not a single species of the tree-frog in the British isles; they occur, however, frequently in the more favoured climes of Europe, and superabound in warmer regions. The number of ascertained species is not inferior to that of the frogs proper. They are among the most interesting of the race, and many of them are very beautiful.

H. Arborea, Cuv. ; R. Arborea, Lin. Common tree-frog. In beauty of colouring, as well as in elegance of form, and general agility of movement, the tree-frog exceeds every other European species. It is found in France, Germany, and Italy; but more towards the south than north. It avoids dry situations and mountainous forests, and delights in humid woods, in hedges bordering on marshes, and in parks and gardens ornamented with water. Its principal sojourn during the summer months is the upper parts of trees, searching for insects, which it catches with extreme alacrity, stealing softly upon them, as a cat towards a mouse, and seizing them with a sudden spring of frequently more than a yard in height. It often suspends itself by its feet, or by a single foot, or even by its abdomen and drawn-up toes from a twig, or the under portion of a leaf, thus continuing beneath the shade. It is among the smallest of European frogs. Its colour is green above, more or less bright; its belly whitish, and covered with numerous small tubercles; a dark violet-coloured streak runs along the flanks; and the limbs are reddish. The body is smooth above, and rather short and plump; the hind legs are very long and slender. The fore feet have four toes, the hind five, and all of them terminate in dilated flattish tips. The surface of the abdomen is very remarkable, being so granular, adhesive, and elastic, that it enables the animal to adhere almost to anything, even, it is said, to polished glass, at whatever inclination, or in whatever position it is placed. The spawn is deposited towards the end of April, and the perfect animal appears in August, when it ascends the neighbouring trees, and assorts with its parents. Being very noisy on the approach of rain, this species is considered as an excellent barometer; and in the German Ephemerides there is an account of one which was kept in a state of domestication for seven years, and gave the greatest satisfaction from being peculiarly weather-wise.

The Zebra hyla, H. calarnita, Gray, Calamita maxima, Schn., appears to be one of the largest of these slender-bodied fi ι ogs, a specimen described by Seba having attained the length of five inches. It is a native of Carolina and Virginia. It is of a rufous-brown colour, striped with chestnut bands; all its feet are webbed, and the toes orbicular. The Merian hyla, H. Meriana, Gray, Rana Meriana, Shaw, first depicted and described by Maria Merian, in her Surinam, merits a distinct notice. It is about three times the size of the common hyla; and on each side of the neck has a remarkable protuberance, resembling an obtusely conical inflated pouch; its hind feet are distinctly webbed. It is of a brownish-green colour above, and is variegated with patches of yellow. It is found sometimes on trees, and sometimes in water. Mad. Me-rian states that they have external ears, and that the balls on their toes facilitate their progress over the soft marshes which they frequent. The H. tibiatrix, Laurenti, is an American species, and is said by Seba to croak in a melodious manner during very hot weather after the setting of the sun, while in the cold and rainy season it is silent, concealing itself at the bottom of the waters.

H. lateralis, Catesby, has been observed in Carolina, and also, it is said, in Surinam. It is usually found attached underneath the leaves of trees, concealing itself, and lying secure from birds and serpents, its most dangerous foes. They are sometimes found in vast heaps, the bushes and woods being completely covered with them; and their croaking may be heard at the distance of whole leagues. They make prodigious leaps, and hence in the United States are called the crickets of the savannahs, their cry [7:19:156]also resembling the noise made by that insect. H. Iinctoria, Cuv. jR. tinctoria, Lin. or Dying Hyla, has a singular property assigned it, apparently on good authority. It is said that by its means the American Indians partially change the plumage of their parrots from green to red. With this object in view, they pluck out the green feathers when the bird is young, and rub the wounded skin with the blood of the hyla, after which the feathers spring up of a fine red or yellow colour. It inhabits Surinam and Guiana, frequenting the woods nearly the whole year, concealing itself in clefts of trees, and under the bark in cold nights, and resorting to water only for the purpose of reproduction. Cuvier has enumerated, as among the largest and most beautiful, the H. bicoor of Daudin and Spix; it is of a celestial blue colour above, and of a rosy tint below. He has catalogued several additional species; and Mr Gray’s list is very extensive, including some species from New Holland.

Genus Bufo. The generic characters of this group, which includes the toads, are, a body thick, short, dumsy, and generally covered with warts and pimples, with a glandular pad behind the ears, from all of which distils a milky fetid humour; there are usually no teeth; the hind feet are frequently short, and hence the species rather crawl than leap; and they are generally found at a considerable distance from water. By Linnaeus they were incorporated in the same genus with the frogs, and so close is their resemblance, that that arrangement is still sometimes followed. Toads have in all times and places been regarded as disgusting animals, and sometimes even as objects of horror. They are usually believed to be venomous, and are consequently subjected to proscription and extermination. It will be found, however, on examination, as has been observed by a noted naturalist, that these animals are comparatively harmless, that the study of their organization involves much interest, and that their history presents a crowd of facts equally curious and important. A slight sketch of the structure and habits of these despised animals having already appeared in our general remarks on the order, we shall here allude only to a few distinguishing traits.

The European toads are stated to have only eight vertebra, and some as few as seven. Though generally described as wanting teeth, yet some species have them on the gums, large and curved. The tongue is not forked, as in most of the frogs; nor do they possess the gular pouches, which give to the frogs their peculiarly resounding voices. The glandular cushion-like body behind the ears, sometimes stated as the most distinct mark of the genus, is considered by Schneider as nothing· else than the parotid gland, well known in man as the seat of that disease called the mumps,— with what degree of accuracy we are not prepared to say. The toads, in general, are heavy sluggish animals in comparison with frogs, and sometimes even crawl with difficulty.

The cuticular excretion usually regarded as so offensive is possessed by frogs as well as toads; but is much more abundant in the latter. It is alleged that the toad can at will increase the secretion of this viscous humour, and cause it to distil like dew from all its pores. The most important use, as previously suggested, is probably connected with respiration; the one usually assigned is, that it defends the animal from the heat of the sun and the dryness of the air. This abundant perspiration must, of course, maintain the species at a low temperature; and Adanson states the fact to be so well known, that the negroes in traversing the burning sands of Senegal are in the habit of applying a live creature of this kind to the forehead for the purpose of cooling it. These reptiles have the power of emitting another secretion, which is regarded as a weapon of defence and offence. It is discharged from the lower gut, is shot forth in a small stream, and often occasions apprehensions from its supposed venomous nature. When toads are surprised and alarmed, instead of seeking safety in flight, they make a dead halt swell out their body, making it hard and elastic, and distil this humour from its surface in augmented quantities. They also make efforts to bite, without however, inflicting any injury. The direct application of the fluids proceeding from the common toad to the human skin is innocuous, and the idea that it confers a poisonous quality upon vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms, is entirely groundless.

The process of spawning in the toad is carried on much in the same way as in the frog. In the latter the ova appear imbedded in a glary continuous mass, which has been compared to a cord or chaplet: in the toad two of these cords appear together, the united length of which would extend to about twenty feet. Ten or twelve days after deposition, the eggs acquire double their volume; the tadpoles issue forth about the twentieth day, and acquire their gills two or three days after.

Though the taste is not likely to become prevalent, there is no doubt that toads have been made familiar pets. Mr Pennant gives a curious account of one having lived in a kind of domestic state for the space of more than forty years, and of having been, in a great degree, reclaimed from its natural shyness and desire of concealment On the approach of its master, and on the lighting of the candles at night, it left its retreat, and came to demand its regular evening meal. It grew to a very large size, and attracted many curious visitors. It was often brought to table, and fed upon various insects, which it seized with avidity, without being embarrassed by the presence of company. Its favourite retreat was beneath the steps of the house-door; and it had all the appearance of surviving many additional years, when it was attacked and destroyed by a raven.

But the most curious trait in the history of the toad, is its alleged power of being encased and buried for a long period of time without food or respiration, and of reviving again when reintroduced to light and air. Not that the toad is singular among the Batrachia for this faculty, for its congeners are likewise celcbrated on account of it. Nor would it appear to be confined to this order, for similar stories are told of serpents, and even of fish, insects, &c. The attention of the French academy was directed to this subject about the year 1771, from its having been stated, that upon pulling down a wall of a mansion belonging to the Duke of Orleans, and which was forty years old, a toad which proved to be alive, was found in it, its hind feet being actually entrapt and imbedded in the mortar. Stimulated by the interest which this story excited, M. Herri-saut, in presence of the academy, enclosed three toads in as many boxes, surrounding them with a thick coating of plaster, and deposited them in an apartment of the academy. Here they were left untouched for eighteen months, when, on being examined, two of them were found alive, and the third dead. The former were re-enclosed, and on a second examination some months after, were found dead. The animals were completely impacted and imbedded, without leaving any space for surrounding air. Notwithstanding the apparently conclusive nature of these experiments, the possibility of such long endurance was still denied by many,— the more so, as the fact was as inexplicable as extraordinary. Dr Edwards, however, performed somewhat similar experiments in Paris in the year 1817, by shutting up toads effectively in plaster, when he found that they lived for a long period; and additional light was thrown upon the subject by that observer discovering, that when the plaster was made impervious to air, as by sinking the whole mass in water, the toads speedily perished. From this it follows, that owing to the porosity of the plaster, a portion of air still penetrates to the imprisoned toad, sufficient to maintain its vital functions in that low state in which we often see these reptiles during hybernation, or when completely frozen. The importance, under these circumstances, of the cuticular re[7:19:157]spiration already mentioned, is obvious. Analogous phenomena are observable in other classes of the animal kingdom. Thus, the reviving powers of the Rotifer redivivus, though so astonishing, are now undisputed; and no one doubts Franklin’s anecdote of the apparently dead flies, which he took from a fresh-drawn bottle of Madeira, and revived in the sun. Many drowned insects, to all appearance dead, are made to renew their vital powers when sprinkled over with dry warm sand, or pounded plaster; and it appears that in like manner, a certain feeble life, capable under altered circumstances of quick and strong increase, lingers long in many reptiles.

The great majority of the instances of imprisoned toads and frogs is said to have occurred in growing trees, hard wood, coal, and in sandstones and other rocks not of a very dense or impenetrable consistence. The fact has been long and frequently alleged, and the difficulty of accounting for it forms the chief ground of the prevailing scepticism. The wonder produced is forcibly though quaintly expressed in a Latin inscription written in letters of gold, framed with a coat of arms, and hung over a mantle-piece of sandstone, formerly in Chillingham Castle. In this sandstone there was a deep excavation, believed for ages to have been the living tomb of one of these creatures. We give a translation of a part of this document.

Hither, Stagyrite!

If you would see a phenomenon more wonderful than Euripus, Come hither;

Let seas ebb and flow as they may, and let him be a lunatic Who despoils the moon of her honours.

Behold here a novelty, such as neither Africa presents to thee, Nor the Nile with her fabulous sands;

A fire and pure flame Existing, though shut out from vital air.

From the dark recesses of the cut rock which you see,

The hands of the obstetrical stone-cutter gave light

To α living toad!!

In illustration of this alleged phenomenon, we shall adduce but a single recent instance out of many. On the 25th of July 1832, four men made affidavit, “that they were astonished, on splitting a large block of millstone grit on Stain-more, more than a ton weight, by a living yellow frog springing out of a cavity in the centre of the said solid rock, where it had been as closely imbedded as a watch in its outer ease, without any communication with the surface nearer than eight inches. This frog was conveyed to Brough, Westmoreland, and given to Mr Rumney, surgeon, in whose possession it now (Jan. 21, 1833) continues in a healthy living state.”

We have already mentioned, that however disgusting may be their qualities in the apprehension of many, toads are eaten greedily by savage tribes, and not seldom, though unwittingly, by the more fastidious inhabitants of the gay and splendid capitals of Europe. We now proceed to allude more particularly to a few of the species.

The common toad fB. vulgaris,—Rana bufo, Linn.) is of a russet or brownish-gray colour, sometimes olive, and even blackish. It is covered with numerous round tubercles on the back, and with smaller ones beneath. The hind feet are semi-palmated. It is found throughout Europe (most abundantly in its western parts), and is common in this country. It usually sojourns in obscure and sheltered places, and passes the winter in holes which it finds or makes for itself. It spawns in water in March and April; the ova are very small and numerous, suspended in two cords of transparent jelly. The tadpole is blackish, and remarkably small when it loses its tail and acquires its feet. The branchial aperture is on the left side. This toad is long lived, fifteen years being assigned as not unfrequent. Its cry has a distant resem blance to the barking of a dog, and during summer it croaks feebly.

Many toads possess a strong disgusting smell. Of this kind are the rush toad (Rana bufo calamita, Gmel.), of which the colour and size much resemble those of the common toad, the cushions behind its ears being somewhat less. Its hind feet are not at all webbed, and it has a pouch or sac under its throat. Its pace differs from that of most of the toad tribe, as it runs nearly after the manner of a mouse, with the body and limbs somewhat raised. It is chiefly a nocturnal animal. The ova are contained in two cords; and the evolution of the ova is so speedy, that the tadpoles liberate themselves in the space of five or six days. During spring it frequents places overgrown with reeds, and croaks loudly. When handled or irritated it pours forth its cutaneous exudation, and squirts its other fluid to a distance of three or four feet, and thus diffuses an intolerable odour, resembling the smoke of gunpowder, but stronger, and so permanent, that if it fall upon furniture it cannot be got rid of for months. Analogous to, if not identical with the preceding, is B. calamita of Laurenti, the natter-jack of British Erpetologists,— mephetic toad of Dr Shaw. In general appearance it resembles our common toad, but the eyes are more projecting, with the eyelids greatly elevated above the crown, and there is a line of bright yellow along the middle of the back. This reptile was first remarked as British by the late Sir Joseph Banks, in Lincolnshire, and has since been met with on many heaths near London, as well as in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Except during the spawning season, it appears to affect dry and sandy districts. It is of much more active habits than the common toad, its pace “being a kind of shuffling run.” ^[50. Jenyns’s British Vertebrate Animals, 303. ] It never leaps. The brown toad, Β. fuscus, Laurenti, is also distinguished by an offensive discharge; but in addition to the gunpowder-smoke smell, and overpowering it, there is an extremely strong odour of garlick or onions, which produces the same effects upon the eyes as do these vegetables. The whole of the skin of this animal is nearly smooth, and the hind limbs are long and deeply webbed. It leaps well, and prefers the neighbourhood of water. Its ova are deposited in a single cord, which, however, is thicker than the double one of the common toad. The tadpole of this species arrives at a great size before it attains its complete form, so that, according to Roesel, it is considered by the country people as a kind of fish, and is eaten accordingly. The variable or green toad, B. variabilis, Cuv., Rwna variabilis, Gmel. and Pallas, B. viridis of Schneider and Shaw, is a third species, likewise characterized by a most disagreeable smell, resembling that of the rank and deadly nightshade, but more powerful, and soon contaminating any close apartment. This kind is a native of Germany, the south of France, and other parts of Europe. It derives its specific name from the tints of its colour undergoing striking changes as it sleeps or wakes, or is exposed to sun or shade. It is called the green toad from its spots being of that colour. Pallas’s account of it is as follows: The general colour is pale or whitish, becoming in hot sunshine entirely gray; when asleep the spots only appear gray, and when torpid the general hue is flesh-coloured.

The obstetric toad, B. obstetricus of Laurenti, is a small grayish reptile which inhabits France, and affords an example of a very curious instinct. The process of spawning is not conducted by this species in the water, but on land, and there the male assists the female to get rid of her eggs, which amount to about sixty. These he attaches in small bundles to his thighs by means of an adhesive fluid, and for weeks carries them about with great care. When the young are ready to escape, he seeks some stagnant wa[7:19:158]ter, and there deposits them in safety, the tadpole soon issuing forth, and swimming immediately. The prickly toad, ' B. spinosus of Daudin, which derives its name from strong projections on its tubercles, seems also to possess a singular peculiarity. It is never met with on the surface of the soil, and is only procured by means of the plough. The country people are persuaded it never leaves its retreat voluntarily; and Daudin suspects that it deposits its ova in the earth, in humid places, near the subterranean sources of water.

Most of the toads of tropical climates are remarkable for their great size. Of this we give an instance in the marine toad, Rana marina, Gmel., a native of South America, the length of whose body extends to nearly a foot. It is also remarkable for its post-aural projections, which are an inch long, and oval shaped. The feet are not webbed; the toes are terminated with round knobs, and furnished with short claws resembling the human nails in miniature. There are many other recorded species of toads proper, on which, however, we cannot dwell; and we now proceed to several genera which have recently been separated from the group.

Genus Bombinator. This genus differs from the other toads only in having the tympanum, or sort covering of the ear, hid under the skin. Rhinella of Fitzinger (Oxyr-hyncus of Spix) is distinguished by a prolonged muzzle. (See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 4.) M. Gay has lately informed us (Ann. des Sc. Nat., Avril 1836, p. 224), that in Chili there is a genus allied to Rhinella, consisting of several agreeably coloured species, which are always viviparous. In the same locality he made a similar remark regarding several species of snakes. To these two genera succeed the Otilopha of Cuvier, which has also an acute snout, and on each side of the head a projecting crest extending to the gland called parotid. In the genus Breviceps of Merrem (part of Fitzinger’s genus Engystoma), neither the tympanum nor parotids are apparent; the body is oval, the head and mouth are remarkably small, and the feet scarcely at all webbed. (See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 5.) We shall here introduce a very few species belonging to these genera.

To the genus Bombinator belongs B. bombinus (Rαnα bombina, Gmel.), which is the smallest and most aquatic of the European toads. It is gray or brown above, blackish blue with orange spots beneath. The hind feet are completely webbed, and nearly as long as those of frogs, so that it leaps nearly as well as they do. It affects morasses. Of the genus Rhinella, Spix has depicted and described five species, most of which, according to Cuvier, it is difficult to distinguish from the proper toads. The mitred toad of English writers, the margaritifera of Gmelin, is usually adduced as a type of the genus Otilopha. It is a native of Brazil, and about the size of the common toad; it is rufous brown above and whitish beneath, beset with numerous small tubercles of a bluish or pearly cast, whence the French name crapaud perlé; but its principal characteristic is the subtriangular form of its head, the sides of which, beyond each eye, project into an angular protuberance. From the nose likewise an elevated white line runs along each side of the head, over the shoulder, to the sides; the fore feet are unwebbed, the hind are partly so. Genuine specimens of the genus Breviceps present animals not a little singular in their forms. Such are the short-headed and the indistinct toad of British authors, the Rana breviceps and R. systoma of Schneider. They are oval-shaped like eggs, with scarcely any projecting head; and one of them has actually been called the headless toad. (Rana acephala, Schn.). The shortheaded toad is a very small animal, about half the size of the common toad; the head is completely blended and incorporated with the thorax, and the surface is rather wrinkled than tuberculous. It is a native of Africa, li. systoma comes from the East Indies, and has a thick rounded body, with a head so lost in the general outline that the mouth is scarcely apparent; the legs, too, are peculiarly short, and appear almost as if imbedded in the wrinkled skin of the sides.

We now advance to tile genus Pipa, which is universally distinguished from the toads. Its generic characters are the following: The body is flattened horizontally; the head is broad and triangular; the tongue is so adherent that it appears to be wanting (it is often said to be so); the tympanum is hid beneath the skin; the small eyes are placed toward the margin of the lower jaw; the extremities of all the fingers are divided into four small points; and finally, the male has an enormously sized larynx, like a triangular osseous box, which encloses two moveable ossiculi which occasionally close the branchiae. Of this genus, that well-known and most singular animal commonly called the Surinam toad (Pipa Surinamensis, Laurenti,— Ranapipa of Linnaeus), may be taken as a type. It seems to have been introduced to the notice of naturalists at the close of the seventeenth century, and was first described by the celebrated Ruysch. It is one of the most uncouth and hideous of nature’s creatures, and is especially signalized for some of the most extraordinary phenomena regarding the growth of its young which are to be found throughout the range of the animal kingdom. The size of the Surinam toad considerably exceeds that of our common species. The mouth is very wide; the hands are tetradactylous; the fingers long and slender, and each divided at the tip into four distinct processes, all of which, when narrowly inspected with a glass, are found to be again subdivided in nearly a similar manner. The web of the hind feet reaches to the tips of the toes. The male is rather larger than the female, sometimes attaining the length of seven inches. The back is studded with granules, which are somewhat more numerous and larger on the female; the skin round the neck, in both sexes, forms a kind of loose wrinkled collar. The general colour of both is a dark blackish brown. This reptile has been long celebrated for the manner in which its young are perpetuated; and on this account it has become the object of much attention. It was for a time supposed that the ova issued from the deeper seated parts of the back, and were then enclosed in small cells on its surface till they were regularly hatched. Later observations in correcting this mistake have demonstrated a not less peculiar history. The precise truth was first made known by Dr Fermin, who had an opportunity, during his residence at Surinam, to investigate the creature’s structure in a more satisfactory manner than had previously been practicable. His account is, that the female Pipa spawns at the brink of some stagnant water, and that the male immediately collects and amasses the heap of ova, and after impregnation deposits them with great care on the back of the female, where they are received into cellules which at this period are open for their reception, but speedily close upon them. They are there retained to the time of their second birth, which happens in somewhat less than three months. During this period the cells gradually enlarge, till the young emerge from the back of the parent in a completely formed state. During the time of their concealment, however, they undergo the usual change which is effected upon their congeners, being first hatched from the ova in the form of a tadpole; and then, after gradually acquiring their perfect shape, losing their tail, and so forth, they are extruded from the cellules. This strange process has since been examined and verified by Camper, Spallanzani, Blumenbach, and other naturalists, and is now established as a phenomenon equally true as extraordinary. Fermin found the brood he observed amount to seventy-five, and the period of their extrusion as young Pipas occupied five days. When they had made their escape, the female, having rubbed the epidermis from her back on some hard substance, returned to land. This [7:19:159]species lives in the fresh waters of South America, and sometimes in obscure houses in Cayenne and Surinam, where it is called tedo and cumeu. According to Seba and Madame Merian, the negroes of the colonies use its flesh as food.

Spix has figured another species, P. curururu, nearly resembling the above, which affects the bottoms of lakes in Brazil. That author assures us that the female does not receive and hatch its young in the alveola on her back. Another kind is preserved in the Paris museum,—a true Pipa, according to Cuvier, from the Rio Negro. It is quite smooth, and has a narrower head than the common species. The baron names it Pipa loevis.

FAMILY SALAMANDRIDAE. NEWTS OR SALAMANDERS.

We have now reached a group of which the name has been celebrated from remote antiquity, and the history encompassed by fables in every age. “It was on the fortunate soil of ancient Greece, in the bosom of a wise and warlike nation, where imagination, favoured by a happy clime, exaggerated even the wonders of creative power, that the reputation of the salamander originated.” ^[51. Griffith’s Animat Kingdom, ix. 4C4. ] It was among that fanciful people that an obscure and changeful reptile was as it were consecrated to posterity by a fantastic but immortal name.

But the times of superstitious fiction regarding the once famous salamander are now for ever passed and gone, and it is only to be regretted that they have not carried along with them the ignorant prejudice which still remains respecting a few harmless reptiles. “The daughter of fire,” with her “frame of icy crystal,” is now nearly forgotten; and for unchanging love and unflinching courage, other and more fitting emblems have been long invented. The ancient story of the salamander enduring fire and extinguishing flame is now recognised only as an idle tale; and scarcely less so its faculty of poisoning vegetables, and its other pernicious powers. These gross errors being swept away, more room is left to investigate whatever is instructive in the history of those once widely abused, but really interesting creatures.

As the salamanders resemble in many respects the foregoing genera of the order, many of the details which have previously been stated equally apply to them. This remark relates also to the extraordinary metamorphoses they undergo, but with some striking variations. We here find examples of a species of reproduction not uncommon among fish, and met with, as already mentioned, among certain lizards. We allude to that mode of birth known under the name of oνo-viviparous. The mode we have been hitherto contemplating resembles that of birds in being strictly oviparous. The ova or eggs are extruded from the parent, and under the influence of heat the young are in due time hatched. In the salamanders, however, another stage intervenes. When the ova have arrived at the state in which, in the other Batrachia, they are wont to be expelled, in these they are retained for some time after their development has begun. The eggs are, in fact, never laid, but are hatched in the interior of the parents; so that they bring forth living offspring, although originally contained in eggs. These eggs, by a natural process, are deposited in certain bags, which are called ovidtwts. In the salamander there are five of these, each of which contains six, or eight, or more young, and there they are nourished by a peculiar fluid, and do not issue forth till they have undergone their metamorphoses, that is, have acquired their feet and other organs. They are deposited in or near marshes.

In our general remarks on the Batrachia, we traced, in a few words, the changes which take place in the respiratory system of this group. We saw that being first exercised in water, it was for a time precisely analogous to that of fishes; and that terminating on land, it perfectly corresponded with that of land animals. In the salamanders there is this peculiarity,—that while one section of them ere long become terrestrial in their structure and habits, another division continues aquatic for life. But so far as respiration is concerned, the same complete metamorphosis takes place in these latter as in the former; their gills vanish, regular lungs are completed, and yet the aquatic salamander, water-newt, or triton as it is sometimes called, continues a constant inhabitant of the water. The species are in fact habitual inmates of that element, and yet inhale the vital breath of heaven; and in this respect completely correspond to the cetaceous or whale tribes, with whose peculiarities, on a scale so greatly more gigantic, naturalists have been long acquainted. Like them they must regularly come to the surface, inflate their lungs, descend to their weedy homes, and after a time return again for air,—repeating this process as often as their exigencies may require. Peculiar characters distinguish the circulating system of the Cete, as compared with that of other Mammalia; and we have little doubt that parallel features occur among the tritons, although we are not aware that this point has been as yet investigated.

When speaking of toads, we took occasion to make a few remarks on the cuticular secretion, for which they, in common with other Batrachia, are remarkable. The salamanders have on this account been still more celebrated; and there seems no reason to doubt that the fable of their withstanding the effects of fire has originated from this peculiarity. The humour is in them found to possess more concentric virtue, having withal a more offensive odour, and a more acrid taste. Count Lacépède says, that if a drop of it come in contact with the tongue, it produces the sensation of burning; so that it really proves a defence against many animals which would otherwise devour them. It is more especially when they are irritated and alarmed, and particularly if exposed to fire, that they distil the secretion in quantities, and envelope themselves in a damp covering, which, for a brief period, might possibly prevent their being consumed. Hence, then, may have originated the ancient opinion that these animals could live not only on land and in water, but also in fire; and from the slender germ of that same peculiarity has no doubt spread the monstrous statement of Pliny, that these creatures infested the herbage of a country to such a vast extent as even to cause the extinction of entire nations!

Another remarkable peculiarity of the salamanders, more especially of the aquatic kind, which has been successfully elucidated by Spallanzani, is common to them, and in some measure to the tadpole state of the other Batrachia. We allude to that surprising power whereby, when repeatedly deprived of even an important portion of their body, that portion is as frequently renewed. This property is not unknown among some of the lower orders of creation, but in none is it more striking than in these reptiles. Thus, in the triton, the whole limb may be removed, and by and by we find it completely restored, and furnished with perfect bones, muscles, nerves, &c. In other instances an eye has been extracted, and speedily a new and perfect one is found to have supplied its place. These renewals are more complete than such as take place among the true lizards, formerly alluded to.

The salamander group are distinguished by the following peculiarities. They have an elongated body, four feet, and [7:19:160]a lengthened tail, which gives them a general resemblance to the lizards. Their head is flat, and the ear entirely hid in the flesh, without any apparent tympanum, there being only a small cartilage over the external aperture. Both jaws are furnished with numerous small teeth, and two similar rows occur upon the palate. The tongue resembles that of frogs, but there is no third eyelid. They have a skeleton with fourteen dorsal vertebrae, and remarkably small rudiments of ribs, but without any osseous sternum; the pelvis is simply suspended from the spine by ligaments. They have four fingers and five toes. As we have already stated, they respire like the preceding genera. The arms of the tadpole are developed before the legs, contrary to what happens in the animals already reviewed.

Salamanders are divided into the terrestrial and aquatic. We commence with the former.

Genus Salamandra, Laur. Terrestrial salamanders. (See Plate CCCCXXXIΠ. fig. 6.) In their perfect state these reptiles have a round tail; they remain in water only during their tadpole state (which is brief), or while in the act of reproduction. Their ova are enclosed in oviducts.

These salamanders, though not unfrequent in Europe, and in warmer regions, seem never to have been observed in Britain. They take up their abode in damp ground, and amidst brushwood, in ditches and shady places, in subterranean caverns and among old ruins. They are feeble, timid, stupid creatures, which live on worms, snails, flies, and other insects, and apparently on rich mould. They appear almost entirely deaf and dumb, and show no dread either of man, or of other animals stronger than themselves. If thrown into water, they immediately attempt to escape from it. They are capable of enduring most serious mutilation without apparently suffering from it; if, however, they are plunged into vinegar or alcohol, or are sprinkled with salt or tobacco, they are killed in a moment. We may now enumerate a few of the species. The spotted salamander, S. maculosa, Laur., of the usual length of six or eight inches, sometimes more, is one of the largest, and most widely spread through Europe. It is of a shining black colour, with two bright yellow stripes on its flanks, and of a livid blue colour beneath. It has conspicuous glands (parotids) behind its occiput, and along its sides are rows of tubercles, from whence, when alarmed, a milky humour flows, bitter to the taste, of a strong smell, and injurious to the life of very small animals. Its tail is of a roundish or cylindrical form, tapering to the extremity. It affects humid places, and retires into subterranean holes, under large stones and roots of trees. The brain of this reptile is said to be so small as not to equal the diameter of the spinal marrow, and its perceptive powers are proportionally dull. The black salamander, S. atra, Laur., is not above half the size of the foregoing; it is black, and devoid of spots above, and of a yellowish hue beneath. It is rare in France, but is found in the Alps, and is abundant in the mountainous regions of Southern Germany. (See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 6.) The - ∕iz- nereal salamander, S. funebris, is six or eight inches long, of a deep-brown colour. It was observed by Bory St Vincent in the hottest and dampest parts of Andalusia. This species issued in dozens from their retreats at night, and Speedily advanced towards destruction near the bivouac fires, by which they were attracted. Into these they would apparently have themselves advanced, had not the soldiers cast them amid the flames, where they remained for a few moments as if unhurt, thus far supporting their incombustible reputation. We need scarcely add, however, that they very speedily died roasted, as any other small animal would have done under a similar predicament.

Among the foreign salamanders a great number inhabit North America; and these are said to be destitute of the occipital glands. Palisot and Bosc have each described a new species. Thunberg has also discovered one in Japan, to which the natives ascribe medicinal virtues of the most valuable kind. The spectacled salamander, S. perspicil. lata of Savi, has only four toes on the hind feet. It is black above, and yellow spotted with black beneath, with a yellow line between the eyes. It is found in the Apennines.

Genus Triton, Laur. Aquatic salamanders. We now turn to the aquatic group, commonly called newts, which have a tail always compressed vertically, and pass a great portion of their lives in water. (See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 7.) These are the animals experimented on by Spallanzani, and so celebrated for their reproductive powers. Another faculty scarcely less singular, is that which M. Dufay has recognised them as possessing,—we mean their power of remaining frozen for a length of time in ice without mortal injury. Their ova are fecundated by the milt being mixed with the ambient water, and penetrating with it into the oviducts. After a certain sojourn there, the young issue in long gelatinous cords, from which they do not effect their escape till several days after their extrusion. The branchiae continue for a longer or shorter period in different species. Few have been accurately observed in Europe, and doubts remain about their specific determination, because they change their colours with their age, and differ according both to sex and season. The crests and other ornaments of the males, also, are only fully developed during spring. If winter surprises them still wearing gills, these parts are then maintained throughout the colder season, and even continue to increase.

The following are species which have been accurately characterized. The marbled salamander, S. marmorata, Lat. {Triton Gesnerii of Laurenti), has the skin chagrined, pale green above, spotted with large irregular brown blotches, and hrown spotted with white beneath. A red line runs . along the back, which in the male forms a kind of crest, marked with black spots. The crested triton, S. cristata, Lat., has the skin chagrined, brown above spotted with black, and orange beneath similarly spotted; the flanks are spotted with white. The crest of the male is high, acutely serrated, and embroidered with violet during the love season. This is our great water-newt ( T. palustris, Flem. and Jen.), by no means uncommon in Britain during summer in ponds and ditches, and sometimes found in autumn out of water, in damp and shady situations. M. Bibron, who lately read a paper on these tritons to the London Zoological Society, stated that he had found this and the preceding species indigenous to Britain; and that the distinguishing characteristic consists in this, that in the crested species the upper lip is so largely developed that it overlaps the under one posteriorly when the jaws are closed, a condition never present in the marmorata. The spotted triton, S. al pestris, Bechst., has a chagrined skin, and is slaty and brown coloured above, and orange or red beneath; whilst S. punctata, Lat. ( T. punctatus, Bonap.), has a smooth skin, light brown above, pale reddish beneath, and spotted everywhere with black. The crest is festooned, and its toes somewhat enlarged, but not webbed. This is the common (or smaller) water-newt of Britain. It is subject to considerable variation, and is often found on land. A third British species is the striped eft, T. vittatus of Gray. Finally, T. palmata, Lat., is brown on the back, black and brown on the head, lighter on the flanks, and spotted with black. The male has three small crests on its back; the toes are dilated and webbed, and the tail terminates in a slender membranaceous fin. North America is rich in aquatic salamanders; but our knowledge of these, as of many European species, is too obscure to admit of their precise classification. Baron Cuvier has well remarked, that a good monograph of this interesting group, with accurate plates, is a great desideratum.

We have now to conclude the present article with a few brief notices of certain very remarkable genera, some of [7:19:161]which differ considerably from all the members of the two preceding families, while others are by no means remotely allied to the salamanders. They are all aquatic; and while some lose their gills at so early a period as to have misled observers into the belief that they never at any time possessed these organs, others retain them throughout their lives, even after the development of internal lungs,—thus exhibiting, as we observed at the commencement of our treatise, the only truly amphibious animals of the vertebrated kingdom.

a. No apparent branchiae. Genus Menopoma, Harlan; Alrranchns, ejusd. We have here a form resembling that of the salamanders. The eyes are obvious, the feet well developed, and there is an orifice on each side of the neck. Besides the range of delicate teeth around the jaws, there is a parallel range upon the anterior portion of the palate. The only species known is the great salamander of North America (N. gigantea, Barton), called Hellbender in the United States. It measures from fifteen to eighteen inches in length, the colour of a blackish blue, and dwells in the rivers of the interior, and the great lakes. ^[52. Annals of the Lyceum of Nev York, ] See Plate CCCCXXXIII. fig. 8.

Genus Amphiuma, Garden. The species of this genus have also an orifice on each side of the neck; but the body is much lengthened, and the legs and feet but slightly developed. Their palatine teeth form two longitudinal rows. Amph. tridactylum, Cuv. is distinguished by three toes to all the feet. ^[53. Μim. dit Mus. Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, ] Another species, Arnph. didactylum, (Amph. means, Garden and Harlan), has only two toes. The body is long and cylindrical, the head depressed and obtuse; the tail compressed, with a sharpened ridge above, but blunt below. The fore feet are formed like tentacu-la. The colour is blackish gray above, and pale beneath, without spot or stripe. The observed size varies from six inches to two feet. This species inhabits ponds in the vicinity of New Orleans, and is met with in other parts of the southern states. It is sometimes found deeply sunk in mud, lying concealed like an earthworm, even at the depth of several feet. It is greatly dreaded, though without any reason, by the negroes, who name it the serpent of Congo.

b. Branchiae apparent and persistant. Genus Axolotus. The only known species of this genus, which we may name Ax. pisciformis (the specific title bestowed by Shaw), so entirely resembles the larva state of an aquatic salamander, that it is even yet regarded by some as an incompleted reptile. It was so regarded by Baron Cuvier in his contribution to Humboldt’s Voyage , ^[54. 3 Reehcrches sur tes Reptiles douteux, ] and even in his latest work he yielded rather to the opinion of others than his own conviction. “Ce n’est encore qu’avec doute que je place l’axolote parmi les genres à branchies permanentes, mais tant des témoins assurent qu’il ne les perd pas, qui je m’y vois obligé.” ^[55. Rfane Animal, ] The species in question measures from eight to ten inches in length, and is of a gray colour, spotted with black. It has four toes to the anterior feet, and five to the hinder, and there are three long tufted branchiae on each side. (See Plate CCCCXXXIV. fig.

1.) It inhabits the lake on which the town of Mexicostands, and is naturally subjected at times to a low temperature. The specimens brought home by Mr Bullock were from an elevation of 8000 feet. That collector informed us that at certain seasons they stock the markets, and are eaten in great quantities by the peasants. Sir Everard Home has published an account of their anatomical structure. He is decidedly of opinion that they are not larvae, but completed reptiles. ^[56. Phil. Trans, ] Genus Menobranches, Harlan; Ntcturus, Rafinesque. Here there are only four toes to each foot. (See Plate CCCCXXXIV. fig. 2.) There is a single range of teeth on the intermaxillaries, and another, parallel, but more extended, on the maxillaries. The best-known species is M. lateralis ( Triton lateralis, Say), a large reptile, which sometimes attains the length of two or three feet, and inhabits the great lakes of North America. ^[57. Annals of the Lyceum of Nrv York, ] Genus Proteus, Laurenti. Distinguished by having three toes to the anterior feet, and only two to the hinder. The only known species is P. anguinus (Strenanguina, Schneid.), an animal resembling an eel with legs, of a pale rose or flesh colour, and measuring from ten to twelve inches in length, with a diameter seldom exceeding half an inch. The muzzle is depressed and elongated; both jaws are furnished with teeth, and the tongue is free in front, but not very moveable. The eye is excessively small, and covered over by a kind of tegument. The ears are also covered over more substantially, as among the salamanders. Besides the internal lungs, there are three feathered gills or branchiae on each side of the posterior portion of the head. The skeleton resembles that of the salamanders, except that there are many more vertebrae, and fewer rudiments of ribs. The osteology of the head, however, is entirely different, and approximates that of the siren. The heart, composed of a single ventricle and auricle, is placed between the fore legs, and the lungs have the form of simple slender tubes, terminated by a vesicular dilatation. This truly remarkable reptile is found occasionally in a noted and romantic lake called Zirknitz (the Lugea Palus of the ancients), about six German miles from Labac, in the duchy of Carniola. From this lake, as extraordinary as its slimy inhabitant, the waters retire during the summer season by numerous subterranean outlets, leaving the ground lit for pasture and the cultivation of millet. In the month of October they return again with great force, springing out of the subterranean passages from a vast depth, till the lake is amply filled. It is situated in a hollow or valley, surrounded by rocky and wooded hills, in which are great caverns, and is supplied by rivulets running into it from the adjoining mountain regions. According to M. Schreibers, to whom we owe the first correct account of the proteus, ^[58. Phil. Trans, ] its proper locality is Lake Sittich, one of several which communicate with that already named. Its more characteristic abode is probably among the subterranean canals which are known to connect together those peculiar lakes of Car-niola. All its characters, in fact, present the aspect of a subterranean animal. It has a pale, bleached, ghost-like aspect, and its small, opake, skin-covered eyes bear but small resemblance to the brilliant visual organs of other reptiles.

We come, finally, to the genus Siren, Linn., in which the posterior legs are entirely wanting, and the anterior pair furnished with four toes. We have it in our power to state several particulars in the history and structure of a species of this genus from personal observation,—a mode of acquiring knowledge which, however desirable, has by no means been granted us in regard to the majority of the groups discussed in this exposition of the reptile race. We never, like Colonel Bory St Vincent, tossed a salamander into the fire,—we never, like Mr Waterton, rode on the back of an alligator,—we never waded waist deep, with Mr Audubon, among hundreds of these huge reptiles,—we never sailed, like Wordsworth’s Highland boy, in a turtle’s

[7:19:162]

shell,—and our practical experience, even of green fat, is far from extensive ;—but we have watched a siren from the , far west; and as the history of the species in question cannot fail to throw light on the nature and attributes of others to which it is related, and as it is in itself a very extraordinary and interesting reptile, we shall make no apology for the length of the following observations.

The Gardenian siren (Siren lacertina, Linn.), so named in remembrance of Dr Garden, by whom it seems to have been first observed, in its general form and aspect bears a great resemblance to an eel, but is at once to be distinguished from a fish by its anterior arms. The fine specimen long preserved alive by Dr Patrick Neill of Edinburgh was originally transmitted by Dr Farmer of Charlestown, South Carolina, to Dr Monro. It measured one foot five inches in length, and about four inches in circumference. (See Plate CCCCXXXIV. fig. 3.) Its colour was deep blackish brown, rather paler beneath, where it was partially tinged with a bluish hue, and marked all over with numerous small, irregular, pale, ashy-brown spots, not very perceptible except on a rather close inspection. The muzzle was blunt, depressed, sub-rounded or slightly square, and considerably narrower than the hinder portion of the head. The nostrils, which are inconspicuous, are placed near the anterior angle of the upper jaw. The head is broad and flat. The eyes are dim, of an obscure blue, and there is no very obvious distinction of colour between the iris and pupil, both appearing as if seen through a semi-transparent membrane. The gills consist of three fleshy peduncles, which increase in size from the first to the last. They are beautifully branched from beneath and along their lateral and terminal edges, and these little branches are divided and subdivided into still more minute ramifications. This elegant fringe-work forms the true gills, the central and fleshy stalks serving merely as their support. Beneath, and rather in advance of these bodies, are three vertical clefts, through which the water is ejected backwards from the interior of the mouth upon the gills, though with a much more languid and less perceptible action than in fishes. These clefts or branchial perforations are sustained and kept in separation by four arches, which Garden, Ellis, and Camper appear to have mistaken for gills, although both Linnaeus and John Hunter took a more accurate view of the matter. ^[59. See Phil, Trans, lvi. 191 and 307. ]

The general surface of this siren is very smooth and shining; and if there are any scales, as some have said, they are not apparent to the naked eye. Towards the tail its form becomes thin and compressed, and that part is margined for several inches both above and below, as well as around its terminal point, by a narrow membrane or fin, which no doubt greatly aids its movements through the water.

The earliest notice of this singular reptile appears to have been communicated by Dr Garden to Linnaeus through the medium of Mr Ellis in the year 1765. He described the simultaneous existence of lungs and gills, and concluded that it was a perfect animal, chiefly because there did not exist in Carolina any species of salamander, or other aquatic creature, of equal size, of which it could be regarded as the larva. It was in consequence of the information received regarding this species that Linnaeus, though with hesitation, founded his order of Amphibia meantes, of which the most peculiar character consisted in there being “bran-chiae et pulmones simul.” The great Swedish naturalist appears to have been particularly interested by the peculiarities of the siren; for in his reply to Mr Ellis, acknowledging receipt of Dr Garden’s “very rare two-footed animal with gills and lungs,” he observes that nothing had ever exercised his thoughts so much, nor was there anything he so greatly desired to know, as the real nature of so extraordinary a creature.

Although Ellis and Hunter wisely regarded the siren as a perfect animal, the propriety of this opinion was by no means universally admitted. Pallas, not perceiving that such metamorphoses as he supposed were rendered impossible by the absence of any germ of the hinder extremities, even in the skeleton, still insisted that the siren was nothing more than the larva of a four-footed salamander. ^[60. Tabula Affinitatum Animalium, ] A similar opinion was maintained by Hermann, ^[61. Tiistaria Amphibiorum, ] Lacepede, ^[62. Nov. Cumm. Petrup. xix. 438. ] and Schneider. ^[63. Hist. Hat. des Quadrupèdes Ovipaires, ] About twenty years after the original discovery of the animal, Camper (in 1785) examined a specimen in the British Museum, the condition of which was so bad that he was unable to detect the lungs; whereupon he took up and promulgated an entirely new view, according to which, without reference to the existence of feet, he declared that the siren was a flsh. Gmelin, of course, immediately classed it with the eels, and it thus became the Jfu- raena siren of his edition of the Systema Naturoe! Whatever may be thought of Dr Garden’s skill as an anatomist, Camper’s conclusion was certainly somewhat precipitate, in the face of so great an authority as that of John Hunter.

In the year 1800, Baron Cuvier received a young siren from M. de Beauvois. The great French anatomist, whose splendid labours have thrown such a flood of light on so many obscure subjects of zoological science, was not likely to lose the opportunity of settling this still disputed point. In his first observations, ^[64. Bulletin des Sciences, !al. ] and in an after and more ample memoir, ^[65. Recherches Anatomiques, Recueil d Observations de Zoologie, ] he has, we think, successfully shown that both the proteus and siren are perfect, that is, completed animals, belonging to different genera of Batrachian reptiles, but quite distinct from either lizards or salamanders in any of their progressive stages. Yet the opposite opinion (so tenacious is error) does not continue without adherents. In an elaborate essay by two Italian authors, Sig. Configliachi and Rusconi, in which the siren is incidentally mentioned, these naturalists infer from analogy, that as the canal of the nostrils is not so perforated as to open into the interior of the mouth, so it must be incapable of respiring atmospheric air, and would speedily die if removed from its liquid element. ^[66. Del Prutco Anguinu di Laurenti Munugraphia, ]

Now, the value of the living siren observed by Dr Neill for six or seven successive seasons, consisted in this,—that it demonstrated de facto, what had been previously a matter of mere logical inference on the part of the anatomist. During the long period of its confinement no change whatever took place, either in its general aspect, or in the form or structure of the feet and gills. Had it been a larva, it would assuredly have lost these last-named organs during the time of observation. But the most curious result regarding this specimen was obtained accidentally, and happily illustrates the very point on which it was most desirable to obtain information. It is thus related by Dr Neill: “Although I certainly would not have made the experiment of the fragility of the siren, by throwing it on the ground, and although I would have hesitated to keep the animal out of the water for several hours, while I knew that respectable naturalists doubted if it would live more than a few minutes out of that element, yet it so happened that the creature on one occasion made of its own accord an experiment (if it may be so called) illustrative of both points. The water-box itself (in which the siren dwelt) was ten inches deep: it was placed on a plant trellis or shelf, close by the lower end of the sloping roof-sash of the green-house, and thus stood nearly three feet from the ground. At that pe[7:19:163]riod the box happened to leak; and the gardener therefore filled it up with water between seven and eight o’clock in the evening, at which time the siren was seen safely lodged in the box. The door of the green-house was locked as usual over night, and before it was opened in the morning, the siren, to the great surprise of the gardener, was; found lying on a footpath which passes round the exterior of the greenhouse. I was speedily apprized of the circumstance, and on examining the spot, we could most distinctly trace, by a shining giaze, derived from its skin, the passage of the animal through an edging of heath (Erica herbacea), and across a narrow flower-border, to a hole which he had scooped out under the brick-wall of the green-house, in escaping from within. The foundation of this wall, it may be remarked, had intentionally been made shallow, or near to the surface, for the purpose of permitting the roots of some shrubs, planted in the conservatory style within, to penetrate to the exterior border. We possess no data for fixing with certainty the number of hours during which the animal had been out of the water. The box, as already mentioned, being leaky, was filled near to the brim between seven and eight in the evening; it seems likely that this filling up had disturbed the animal, and that it had been enabled partly to crawl and partly to glide over the margin, while the water yet stood high, or early in the night; for the water had subsided five or six inches before morning. The escape of so much water had formed, of the soil below, a kind of sludge, probably somewhat analogous in character to the ‘ stiff clay’ of its native swamps, in which it is said sometimes to burrow; and this must have greatly facilitated the first underground operations of the siren. Still, however, as the excavation made was not less than eight inches in depth, and nearly three feet in length, for the ascending aperture on the outside sloped at an angle of about 30°, it seems reasonable to conclude that the siren must have been several hours hard at work in forming so extensive a tunnel for itself. In further proof of its exertions, it may be observed, that a considerable part of the dark-coloured epidermis, or covering of minute indistinct scales, was worn off its snout, and the skin of the upper part of the back was in different places ruffled. The morning was very cold, and the mercury in a register-thermometer kept in the green-house had been as low as 33° Fahrenheit at one period of the preceding night. The animal was observed about seven a. m. lying doubled, or with the body bent round, but not coiled, on the footpath. He was exceedingly benumbed, being just able to show signs of life when lifted by the gardener. Considering the evidence of long-continued active exertions during the night, it seems reasonable to ascribe his almost torpid state when found, to the freezing cold which he had encountered when he had made his way fairly to the outside. When first restored to the watery element, the animal breathed hard, rushing to the surface, and opening his mouth with a wide gape to inhale air. He soon after sunk down, and let several strings of air-bubbles es-cape. The branchiae were doubtless to a certain degree dried, and thus obstructed; and it evidently took some time before they could freely perform their accustomed office. When, however, I again examined him several hours afterwards, he seemed perfectly contented to remain wholly under water; and on being touched, appeared as lively and as well as ever. The decorticated portions of the back and snout showed us the colour of the true skin below, which was of a pale leaden hue.” ^[67. Jameson’s Journal, January—April, 1828. ]

During the first year and a half of the siren’s captivity at Canonmills, his box (filled with moss and water) was placed in a green-house, which merely excluded the severity of winter. He was very sluggish all this time, exhibited few signs of appetite, and from October to May entirely declined food. In the spring of 1827 he was placed in a hot-house intended for the culture of tropical plants, where the temperature was generally about 65°. He there became much more lively, and soon began his song, which, unlike the delusive voice of the ancient sirens, differed little from the croaking of a frog. He then devoured small earthworms with some avidity, and continued the practice without any lengthened intermission till his death in October 1831, after a captivity of nearly six years and a half, during which long period no structural change took place, nor was the slightest tendency to any such change discernible. The death of this reptile was occasioned, we doubt not, as Dr Neill supposes, by the drying up of the fimbriae of the branchial apparatus, consequent on its having again escaped from its watery reservoir. Though truly amphibious, the siren may certainly be regarded more as an aquatic than a terrestrial creature. Dr Mitchell, indeed, seems to think it most probable that the air-sacs called lungs do not perform any direct respiratory function, but are mere receptacles of air, performing only an auxiliary service, by occasionally furnishing the gills with atmospheric air. ^[68. See New York Med. and Phys. Journ. for June 1824; and Dr Neill’s additional notice in Εdin. Ners Phil. Journ. xii. 298 (1832). ]

We observed that the siren breathed air rather through the mouth than the nose, and expelled it in the same manner when put into the water, from which it may be inferred, that the nasal organ is in a rudimentary state (in the pro-teus it is said not to exist at alD, so far at least as concerns the act of respiration. The eyes of the siren are dim and motionless; and we did not perceive that an increase of light caused any appearance of contraction or other change. Yet the sight must be tolerably acute, as in pressing a fly downwards under water with the point of a hair pencil, on the side of the vessel in which the reptile lay, it made a catch at the insect almost the moment it touched the surface, and immediately snapped it in two. ^[69. Illustrations of Zoology, Siren. ]

Besides the species to which the preceding history and observations apply, two others are known to naturalists as inhabitants of the southern states of North America, viz. the Siren striata of Le Conte, and the Siren intermedia of that author. ^[70. See Annals of the Lyceum of Ners York, vol. i.; and Harlan’s American Herpetology, p. 6. ] (T.)
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