U. acanthinurus and U. spinipes are common in Algeria, Tunis, and Egypt, where they prefer sandy and rocky localities. Their Arabic name is Dab. In Algeria they are sometimes called "lézards des palmiers," perhaps because they eat dates, besides berries, grass, and various flowers. Very large specimens attain a length of 18 inches. Like the other species of Uromastix they have no voice. The African species can change colour to a great extent. At a low temperature they are mostly grey or brownish black above, dirty white below. When it is warmer they change to lighter shades of brown or even to orange yellow and to green, with black or brown specks and vermiculations. A young specimen of U. acanthinurus has been observed to grow within twelve months from 90 to 150 mm. in length.

Moloch.–The mouth of this peculiar-looking creature is very small; the lateral teeth of the upper-jaw are implanted horizontally and directed inwards. The body is much depressed, and, like the short tail and head, is covered with small scales or tubercles intermixed with large spines. M. horridus, the only species, inhabits the sandy districts of Western and Southern Australia. Nothing is known about its habits except that it seems to live upon ants. Its extremely rough skin is, according to an accidental observation by Dr. Willey, highly hygroscopic. He happened to put a live specimen into a shallow dish with water, when, to his surprise, the water was sucked up as by blotting-paper.

Liolepis.–The body is depressed, without a crest, and is covered with minute granular scales. The tail is long, and has small keeled scales. There is a strong transverse gular fold, and a fold along the side of the body. The tympanum is distinct. Femoral, but no pre-anal, pores are present.

L. belli, the only species, about 18 inches long when full grown, is a native of South-Eastern Asia. The general colour is brownish, with pale black-edged spots along the back; the sides are marked with black and orange vertical bars; the under parts are orange, variegated with blue. Annandale remarks that this is perhaps the commonest lizard on the barren stretches of sand in Lower Siam, especially near the coast. It is exceedingly active and timid. Though its colour is brilliant, the green and grey eye-like spots which ornament its back, and the orange and purple stripes on its sides, are not conspicuous amidst the natural surroundings, the former harmonising with the shadows cast upon the sand by the scanty vegetation which it supports, and the latter being more or less concealed by the folds into which the skin that covers the ribs naturally falls. When the male is roughly handled and is unable to use its powerful jaws, it flattens its body in such a way that the stripes become most conspicuous. The female is unable to do this with such effect, as her ribs do not seem to be so mobile and her colours are less bright. Liolepis lives in holes in the ground, which often go down vertically for more than 2 feet before there is a bend in their course. Each burrow generally contains a pair of these lizards, which, according to the natives, are strictly monogamous.

Fam. 2. Iguanidae.–Pleurodont lizards with a short and thick, non-protractile tongue; almost entirely American, with the remarkable exception of two genera, Hoplurus and Chalarodon in Madagascar, and one, Brachylophus, in the Fiji Islands. Most of the Iguanidae are insectivorous, but some of the most striking forms are herbivorous, e.g. Iguana, Amblyrhynchus, and Basiliscus. In their general structure the Iguanidae closely resemble the Agamidae, from which they differ chiefly by the pleurodont dentition. The orbit is surrounded by bone, and the temporal fossa is bridged over by an arch which is formed by the junction of the squamosal chiefly with the postorbital, the jugal taking as a rule less share in the arch. Dermal ossifications are absent on the body.

There are about three hundred different species, which have been grouped into about fifty genera, representing arboreal, terrestrial, burrowing, semi-aquatic forms, and even one semi-marine species. Their external appearance varies consequently within wide limits.

Anolis is distinguished by the partial dilatation on the middle phalanges, which carry a series of transverse adhesive lamellae. In its general shape Anolis resembles slenderly built and long-tailed Lacertidae, which it may be said to represent in tropical and sub-tropical America, inclusive of the West Indian Islands. The males have a large gular appendage, which can be distended by the hyoid bones. Anolis is an expert climber, living in trees, or rushing about on fences or walls of houses in search of insects; most species can change colour to a great extent. More than a hundred species are known, of which we mention only one, very common in the Southern United States.

A. carolinensis of the South-Eastern United States and of Cuba is beautiful golden green on the whole upper surface; the gular sac becomes vermilion when stretched; when flaccid, it is white with occasional red lines and spots. The under parts are white. In cold weather and in confinement this little lizard, which is scarcely 6 inches in length, appears dark brown, sometimes with a white line along the back. The changes of colour are very sudden. They are thoroughly arboreal, leaping from leaf to leaf like Tree-frogs.

In Anolis, Polychrus, Hoplurus, Chalarodon, Liosaurus, and a few others, the posterior ribs are much elongated and imbedded in the abdominal muscles, often reaching the medioventral line, a feature elsewhere known in the Geckos only.

Polychrus.–The body is laterally compressed, covered with small scales, but devoid of crests. The digits are likewise compressed, with keeled lamellae on the under surface and with four large scales at the base of each claw. Both sexes have femoral pores. The male possesses a small gular sac. A few species in Tropical America.

P. marmoratus in South America, where it is often called the Chameleon on account of its power of changing colour. The tail is nearly three times as long as the head and body, and is covered with keeled scales. The general colour of this arboreal creature, which reaches a length of 18 inches, is green, but the hues are very variable, and within a short time the creature can change into dull brown, with or without blackish spots and bands, or with whitish spots and black lines on the head and other parts of the body.

Basiliscus is remarkable for the high and erectile crests which are developed on the back and tail of the males. The toes are bordered on the outer side with small lobes. The limbs are long, the hind-limbs when stretched forwards reaching the tip of the snout. Several species in Central America and the adjoining countries to the south.

B. americanus reaches the considerable length of nearly 3 feet. The male has a crest on the top of the head, and this is produced backwards into a leathery lobe. The back is adorned with a very high crest; the folds and dark-coloured marks in which give, in the accompanying illustration, the impression that the crest is supported by spines. The long tail carries a similar crest. The general colour of the "Basilisc" is green and brown with dark cross-bars on the back. The crest of the male is said to be red. These creatures are very common amidst the luxuriant vegetation on the banks of the rivers of the Tierra Caliente of Mexico and in Guatemala. They lie upon the branches of trees, preferring those which overhang the water, into which they plunge at the slightest alarm. The high crests, being restricted to the male sex, are not essential to their swimming; they propel themselves by rapid strokes of the fore-limbs, letting the long rudder-like tail drag behind. The eggs, measuring 20 by 13 mm., are laid in April or May, and are hidden in a hole at the base of a tree. About one dozen make a set, and they are said to be hatched within a very short time. Owing to their being strictly herbivorous, these pretty and striking-looking creatures do not endure captivity in Europe, unless indeed their particular food can be procured.

Iguana.–The body and tail are laterally compressed and are covered with very small scales, while those on the top of the head are large. The neck and back carry a high crest, which is composed of separate, laterally compressed, soft spines. A similar but lower crest borders the anterior edge of the large gular sac, which is not dilatable. The lateral teeth are remarkable for their finely serrated or denticulated anterior and posterior edges. Both sexes have long rows of femoral pores. Only two species in Tropical America, absolutely herbivorous. Their delicate flesh is much esteemed as food.

I. tuberculata (Fig. 132), of South and Central America and the West Indies, reaches a length of 5 to 6 feet. The general colour of the upper parts is a mixture of green and blackish, frequently speckled with white or yellow, and there is usually a pale band in front of each arm. The flanks are marked with dark, light-edged bars. The under parts are pale greenish or whitish. The Iguanas live in the trees, and when there is danger they jump into the water whatever the height of the tree, coming down with violence. In going up some of the narrow, unfrequented creeks in the Mosquito country, according to Napier Bell,^[159] the voyager often encounters quite a shower of falling Iguanas, and runs some risk of getting his neck broken. Large specimens, 6 feet long, weigh perhaps 30 lbs. They burrow deep horizontal holes in the sloping side of a bank. About two dozen eggs, nearly 2 inches long, are laid in a hole, where they are hatched in the month of May.

Iguanas are often brought to the markets, either lashed lengthwise to a branch of the tree on which the specimen happened to be surprised, or tied up with the long tendons of their own toes.

Metopoceros cornutus of Hayti is closely allied to Iguana, but the male has three conical horn-like scales on its head. The general colour of the whole animal, which grows to more than one yard in length, is dull black.

The following two genera, each containing one species only, are restricted to the Galapagos Islands. Darwin^[160] gives a long and vividly written account of their habits.

Conolophus subcristatus.–Fully grown specimens are a yard long. Their shape is stout, the head and fore part of the body appearing especially heavy. The head is covered, or rather paved, with large cobble-stone-like scales. On the neck is a low crest of recurved spines, while the median line of the back appears simply serrated. All the teeth are trilobate. A gular sac is absent. The coloration is striking. The head is lemon-yellow; the back is red, merging into dark brown on the flanks. The belly is dark yellow with a tinge of reddish brown.

This lizard was found by Darwin on some of the Galapagos Islands. On James' Island it was so common that the party found it difficult to pitch their tent, on account of the ground being undermined by the many burrows of the reptiles. They feed during the daytime upon the succulent cactus and the leaves of various trees. The perfectly harmless creatures are, or were, eaten by the inhabitants.

Amblyrhynchus cristatus is closely allied to Conolophus, of which it may be said to be an aquatic modification. The top of the blunt head is covered with low, conical, broad-based scales. Over the neck, back, and tail extends a continuous crest of low, recurved, spiny scales. All the teeth are trilobate. The body and even more so the tail are laterally compressed. The general colour is dark brown above, paler and inclining to whitish below. Younger specimens have pale grey spots and blackish cross-bands on the back and sides. Total length up to 4 feet. The remarkable feature of this Iguanoid is its semi-marine life. It inhabits the rocky and sandy strips of coast of most of the Galapagos Islands, feeding upon certain kinds of algae, which it has to dive for, since these plants grow below tide-marks.

Phrynosoma ("Horned Toads").–The body of these little creatures is much flattened and broadened, devoid of a dorsal crest, but covered with larger and smaller, strongly keeled scales. The head is bordered posteriorly by conspicuous osseous spines. The under parts are covered with small, very regular scales. Both sexes have a long row of pores on the under surface of the thighs. The general colour of the upper parts is a mixture of yellow, grey, brown, and black, the larger spiny scales causing the animal to look as if it were sprinkled with the dried husks of seeds, for instance those of Buckwheat. The object is concealment, by close adaptation to the arid, sandy localities which are the home of "Horned Toads." About one dozen species inhabit the western half of the United States and Central America. All the species are viviparous, almost the only instance among Iguanidae.

Ph. cornutum has five spikes on each side of the head: one postorbital, three temporal, and one occipital, the latter being by far the largest. The sides of the lower jaw project in the shape of prominent ledges, and are protected by a series of small spines. The ventral scales are keeled. The under parts are yellowish, frequently with a few brown spots. This species, which grows to a length of 5 inches, ranges from Illinois through Kansas and Texas to Northern Mexico.

Ph. coronatum, an inhabitant of California, has an additional smaller spine between the two large occipitals. The scales of the belly are quite smooth.

These peculiar-looking and interesting creatures recall some of the extinct Dinosaurs in the curious configuration of their head: small miniatures indeed. In order to be kept in good health, and to be observed properly, they require, above all, warmth, sunshine to bask in, sand to burrow in, and proper food. The latter consists of all kinds of small insects, the necessary variety of which is best procured by making sweepings with a butterfly-net in a meadow. They take green-flies, house-flies, ants, smooth caterpillars, small moths, meal-worms, wood-lice, etc. The food is snapped up very quickly by a flash of the tongue, which can be turned out, almost like that of a frog, but only to the extent of half an inch. Water in the shape of dew, or drops, is absolutely necessary. When in good condition, they defaecate regularly every alternate day.

They love to bask in the broiling sun, heating themselves well through; and in the afternoon, long before sunset, when the sand is warmed up to 40° C., or fever-heat, they prepare to go to bed. For this they select a dry and soft spot, and within a few minutes manage to dig themselves in flat, literally sinking into the sand by pushing themselves forwards, and by shovelling the sand upon their backs with peculiar motions of the fringed sides of their flat bodies. Sometimes the spines of the head remain sticking out, looking like dry thorns scattered over the sand. To prevent the latter from getting into the nostrils, these are provided with closely-fitting valves. Thus they remain concealed during the night, and not until the sun is well up do they leave their hiding-place, first peeping out, and then raising their head and neck, letting the sand roll off between the spines. Still half concealed, the back covered with little pebbles, seeds, or bits of dry leaves, they wait for a long time before they feel lively enough to sally forth. Although mostly slow and deliberate in their movements, stalking about with arched back, and raised upon the fore-limbs, they can run fast enough for a few yards before they stop again and nod in a ridiculous way. When they see themselves observed, they shut their eyes and slowly sink down. On cool and dull days they do not appear at all, and during part of the cooler season they require artificial heat until they are ready to hibernate. Unless they are allowed to hibernate, they will keep on feeding through the winter, but in that case are sure to die in the following spring.

Fam. 3. Xenosauridae, with Xenosaurus grandis in Southern Mexico as the sole species, seems to connect the Iguanidae with the Anguidae. According to Boulenger, its affinity to the former is shown by the T-shaped interclavicle, the absence of symmetrical bony shields on the head and of osteodermal plates on the body. Affinity to the Anguidae is indicated first by the short tongue, which has a narrow, feebly incised, retractile anterior part, covered with flat papillae; secondly, by the teeth, which, instead of being hollow at the base, are solid; lastly, by the palatine bones, which are widely separated.

X. grandis, scarcely one foot in length. The body is depressed, covered above with minute granules and tubercles, below with smooth scales. A distinct fold of skin extends from the axilla to the groin, recalling the more strongly developed lateral fold of some of the Anguidae.

Fam. 4. Zonuridae.–This family, comprising four genera with about one dozen species in South and Tropical Africa, and in Madagascar, likewise seems to connect Iguanidae and Anguidae. It is distinguished from the former by dermal ossifications, which roof over the supratemporal fossa; from the latter by the tongue, the hollow teeth, and, in Zonurus at least, by the occurrence of dermal ossifications on the trunk and tail. The tongue is short, villose, scarcely protractile, entire, or but feebly nicked at the tip. The Zonuridae may therefore be defined as pleurodont African lizards with a short tongue, and with a bony roof to the supratemporal fossae.

Zonurus.–The whole head, back, and tail are covered with bony scales, the horny covering of which forms very sharp spikes, especially on the tail. The body is depressed. The ear-opening is large. South Africa, in dry and rocky localities; one species, Z. tropidosternum, in Madagascar.

Z. giganteus s. derbianus, with strong spikes on the occiput, neck, and tail. General colour yellowish brown. Total length about 15 inches.

Chamaesaura of South Africa closely approaches the Anguidae by its snake-shaped body, extremely long tail, and vestigial limbs. In Ch. aenea both pairs of limbs are still present and pentadactyle, but are very small; in Ch. anguina the limbs are reduced to little styliform stumps; and in Ch. macrolepis they are altogether absent. The scales of the body and tail are strongly keeled and imbricating, but are devoid of dermal ossifications. Total length up to 2 feet.

Fam. 5. Anguidae.–Pleurodont lizards with osteoderms, and with the tongue composed of two distinct portions, of which the anterior is thin, emarginate, extensible, and retractile into the posterior thicker portion. The supratemporal fossa is roofed in by dermal bones. The whole body is protected by bony plates underlying the imbricating scales. The teeth vary much in shape, but they are always solid, the new teeth not growing into the base of the old ones, but between them. The limbs are in a very unstable condition, there being in the family a general tendency to reduce and lose the limbs. The shoulder- and pelvic-girdle however remain, although sometimes merely vestigial. The tail is long, very brittle, and easily reproduced. All the Anguidae are strictly terrestrial, and live on animal diet. Some Anguis, at least, are viviparous. The distribution of the seven genera, with some forty species, is very scattered. The majority, chiefly Gerrhonotus, inhabit Central America, a few occur farther north and south–two, Anguis fragilis and Pseudopus pallasi, in Europe, and one in the Himalayas and in Burmah.

Gerrhonotus has a pair of deep longitudinal folds, each of which extends from the region of the neck along the side of the body towards the tail. The four limbs are well developed and pentadactyle. The teeth are conical. Many species, mostly in Central America. G. coeruleus has the widest range, extending from Costa Rica to Vancouver. It is also one of the largest species, reaching a length of more than one foot. The tail is nearly twice as long as the rest of the body. General colour above brown with blackish bars and spots, especially on the more yellowish flanks; under parts whitish with a greenish tinge, often with brown spots arranged in longitudinal rows.

Ophisaurus s. Pseudopus is closely allied to the previous genus, being possessed of the same kind of deep lateral folds; the limbs are, however, reduced to a pair of tiny spikes, half concealed at the sides of the anal cleft. The teeth are conical, and in the adult have somewhat flattened crowns. The body and tail are very long and snake-like, but the head is that of a typical Lizard.

O. apus s. Pseudopus pallasi, the Glass-Snake of the Balkan Peninsula, South Russia, Asia Minor, and Morocco, grows to more than one yard in length, of which about two-thirds belong to the tail. The general colour is brown above, paler below. Young specimens are olive-grey with dark brown cross-bands on the back. O. gracilis inhabits the Eastern Himalayas and Burmah, the others live in North America.

The "Glass-Snake" inhabits bushy localities, where it can hide under the fallen leaves and in the sand; it cannot climb, and avoids the water. Its movements resemble those of a snake, but are far less graceful, owing to the stiff armour in which the whole body is encased. The food consists chiefly of snails, the shells of which are crushed, and of mice, but nothing comes amiss which can be mastered, namely insects, worms, small lizards, young birds, and vipers. The prey, when caught, is rapidly twisted round and round, or shaken until it is giddy or stunned, whereupon the Glass-Snake proceeds to chew it with its powerful jaws, and then to swallow it in pieces. Although it can bite so well, it never does so when caught, but resorts to the much more disagreeable defence of twisting itself around one's hand and arm, and besmearing them with its disgustingly stinking excrements. Those who have observed Glass-snakes praise their tameness, and the intelligent way in which they hunt about in search of their food. They lay eggs under moss and leaves, and the young seem to require many years to grow up.

Anguis, with only one species, A. fragilis, the "Slow-worm" or "Blind-worm," is devoid of a lateral fold. Limbs are entirely absent. The whole body is covered with smooth roundish scales, with a substratum of dermal ossifications. The teeth are curved backwards, fang-shaped, and have a very faint longitudinal groove on their anterior surface. The ear-opening is very minute, more or less hidden by surrounding scales. The eyes are perfectly well developed, provided with movable lids, and it does not speak well for the power of observation of most people that this creature should generally be known as the "Blind-worm." The whole skin is shiny, metallic, quite smooth, brown above, blackish below. But the coloration is subject to much individual variation. Old specimens are sometimes adorned with blue specks. The very young are exquisitely beautiful, the upper surface being silvery white, with a median and two more lateral lines of deep black; the under parts are black. The iris is yellowish red. Very large specimens measure more than one foot in length, more than half of which belongs to the tail. One in the British Museum is 425 mm. = 17 inches long.

The Slow-worm is viviparous, i.e. the young are fully developed, and burst the transparent, soft, yellowish eggs immediately after these are laid. This takes place in the months of August or September, about one dozen making a litter. The little creatures are at first about one inch and a half long, and as thin as an ordinary match. They eat the smallest of spiders and delicate insects; later on earth-worms, which they bite into and then suck out before devouring them. When six weeks old and well fed they are about 3 inches long, but it is at least four or five years before they are mature. The little ones carefully avoid the hot sunshine, and the adults are likewise rather partial to the shade, although strictly diurnal. Their chief food consists of earth-worms and slugs. For the night they retire under moss, leaves, stones, or into the ground. In the autumn the Slow-worms dig passages or burrows, which often serve as the winter-quarters of many specimens, as if there were no other place available, or rather as if the spot selected were by far the best with regard to safety, dryness, and warmth.

Fam. 6. Helodermatidae.–Pleurodont, poisonous lizards of North America. The teeth are fang-like, recurved, with slightly swollen bases, rather loosely attached to the inner edge of the jaws. Each tooth has a groove on its anterior and posterior surface, and a series of labial glands which secrete the poison open near the bases of the teeth of the lower jaw. The skull has strong postorbital but no postfronto-squamosal arches. The pre- and post-frontals are in contact, separating the frontal from the orbit; the premaxillaries are fused into one; the nasals and frontals remain separate. The limbs are short, but strong and well developed. The tongue is villose, with an anterior smooth portion, which is bifid and protractile, resembling the tongue of the Anguidae and of Aniella. The skin of the upper surface is granular, with many irregular bony tubercles, which give it an ugly warty look. The under parts are covered with flat scales.^[161]

Heloderma, the only genus, with H. horridum in Mexico and H. suspectum in New Mexico and Arizona, reaches about 2 feet in length. The animal, stout, depressed, thick-tailed, looks rather repulsive when it squats down in its usual lethargic way. The whole skin is blackish brown and yellow or orange, these two "warning" colours being distributed unevenly, except on the thick, peculiarly-shaped tail, where they are arranged in alternate rings. The specific differences are rather imaginary. The New Mexican form is supposed to be more orange and yellow than black, with a somewhat smoother skin and with shorter toes and tail.

The "Gila Monster" inhabits dry localities, spends most of the daytime in concealment between the roots of trees, and crawls about in the evening in search of worms, centipedes, frogs, and the eggs of large lizards. Frogs are probably paralysed or killed by the bite which, although not so dangerous as that of poisonous snakes, is effective enough to produce severe symptoms even on man, and a few cases of death of people who had been bitten are on record. In captivity they are very partial to eggs, which they break and then lap up. During the dry and hot season they aestivate.

Fam. 7. Lanthanotidae.–Lanthanotus borneensis, of which only two specimens are known, one in the Vienna Museum, the other in the Sarawak Museum, was described by Steindachner as the type of a distinct family, near the Helodermatidae. Boulenger,^[162] after examination of the Sarawak specimen by means of a sciagraph, has come to the conclusion "that the affinity of Lanthanotus to the Helodermatidae is fully confirmed." The teeth of Lanthanotus show, however, no traces of grooves; poison-glands are probably absent, and there are no osteoderms. The skin is covered with wart-like tubercles, each with a horny, peeled scale. The eyes are very small, the ears are concealed. The general colour is reddish brown above, yellowish, with brownish bands, below. Total length about one foot, a little more than half of which belongs to the roundish tail.

Fam. 8. Varanidae.–Pleurodont Old-World Lizards, with a long, deeply bifid and protractile smooth tongue. They reach a large size, and the neck is relatively much longer than that of other lizards. The limbs are well developed. The skin is covered with very small juxtaposed scales and tubercles above, while the ventral scales are squarish and arranged in transverse rows. Osteoderms are entirely absent. The tail is very long, often laterally compressed. The teeth are large and pointed, dilated at the base. The premaxilla is unpaired and dorsally extends backwards to the likewise unpaired nasal. There is a pair of small supra-orbital bones, easily lost during maceration. The orbit is open behind, the jugal being short and not meeting the postfrontal; the postorbital forms a slender arch with the supratemporal. The vomers are long and diverge posteriorly. The palatines, pterygoids, and ectopterygoids enclose on either side an oval infra-orbital foramen. The Varanidae contain only one genus, Varanus, with nearly thirty species in Africa, Southern Asia, and Australia, but not in Madagascar.

Varanus.–The name of "Monitor" bestowed upon these creatures has a curious origin, owing to a ridiculous etymological mistake. The Arabic term for Lizard is "Ouaran"; this has been wrongly taken to mean warning lizard, hence the Latin Monitor, one of the many synonyms of this genus, e.g. Hydrosaurus and Psammosaurus. Many of the "Monitors" are semi-aquatic, others inhabit dry, sandy districts, while others are at home in well-wooded localities. They are all rapacious, taking whatever animals they can master according to their size, which in some species amounts to 6 or 7 feet.

V. niloticus inhabits the whole of Africa, except the north-western part. It reaches a length of more than 5 feet. The colour of the adult is brownish or greenish grey above, with darker reticulations and yellowish ocellated spots on the back and limbs. The under parts are yellowish with blackish cross-bands. The ground-colour of the young is black above with yellow lines on the head and neck, and with yellow spots on the back and limbs; the tail has black and yellow bars.

V. salvator ranges from Nepal to Ceylon, Cape York, and Southern China, inclusive of the Malay Islands and the Philippines. This is the largest species, specimens of 7 feet in length being on record. The general colour is dark brown or blackish above, with yellow spots or ocelli. The snout and chin have transverse black lines on a lighter ground. A black band, bordered with yellow, extends from the eye along the side of the neck. The under parts are yellow.

Mr. Annandale has favoured me with the following observations:–"Varanus salvator is common in Lower Siam, where it is equally at home on land, in water, and among the branches of trees. The eggs are laid in hollow tree-trunks. When in the water the lizard swims beneath the surface, the legs being closely applied to the sides, and the tail functioning both as oar and as rudder. Their food is very varied. In the states of Patalung and Singora, in which the Siamese practise a form of tree-burial, these great lizards are accused, probably with justice, of eating the flesh of the corpses in the aërial coffins. I have disturbed a large Monitor devouring the body of one of its own species, which had evidently been dead for some days. Another, which was chased by some men, dropped from its mouth a small flying squirrel (Sciuropterus); a third, which I dissected, had lately swallowed a small tortoise, the hard shell of which had been broken into innumerable fragments. The stomachs of several others contained nothing but dung-beetles, for which Varanus may often be seen hunting, turning over the dung of elephants and buffaloes with its fore-feet. The Malay name of these lizards is Biawak."

According to Mason and Theobald^[163] all the Varanidae and their eggs are highly esteemed for food, and are sought for in hollow trees with the aid of dogs. If not wanted at once, the wretched creature has its fore-feet bent over its back, a few of its toes are broken and the sinews drawn out and tied into a knot, rendering the animal helpless. The Karens, who are extravagantly fond of the flesh, steal up the tree with a noose at the end of a bamboo, and often noose them while leaping for the water, or catch them in a boat which is brought under the tree. The head, the natives say, is venomous, and they discard it altogether, but the flesh of the other parts, which smells most odiously, is deemed preferable to that of fowls.

Sir J. G. Tennent^[164] gives the following account of V. salvator:–

"The 'Kabara-goya' of the Singhalese is partial to marshy ground, and when disturbed upon land will take refuge in the nearest water. From the somewhat eruptive appearance of the yellow blotches on its scales, a closely allied species, similarly spotted, obtained the name of Monitor exanthematicus, and it is curious that the native appellation of this one, Kabara, is suggestive of the same idea. The Singhalese, on a strictly homoeopathic principle, believe that its fat, externally applied, is a cure for cutaneous disorders, but that taken inwardly it is poisonous. The skilfulness of the Singhalese in their preparation of poisons and their addiction to using them are unfortunately notorious traits in the character of the rural population. Amongst these preparations the one which above all others excites the utmost dread, from the number of murders attributed to its agency, is the potent kabara-tel, a term which Europeans sometimes corrupt into cobra-tel, implying that the venom is obtained from the hooded-snake; whereas it professes to be extracted from the Kabara-goya.

"In the preparation of this mysterious compound, the unfortunate Kabara-goya is forced to take a painfully prominent part. The receipt, as written down by a Kandyan, was sent to me from Kornegalle by Mr. Morris, the civil officer of that district; and in dramatic arrangement it far outdoes the cauldron of Macbeth's witches. The ingredients are extracted from venomous snakes by making incisions in the head of these reptiles and suspending them over a basin to collect the poison as it flows. To this, arsenic and other drugs are added, and the whole is boiled in a human skull, with the aid of three Kabara-goyas, which are tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads directed towards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss so that the fire may blaze. The froth from their lips is then added to the boiling mixture, and so soon as an oily scum rises to the surface, the kabara-tel is complete. Before commencing the operation of preparing the poison, a cock has to be sacrificed to the demons.

"This ugly lizard is itself regarded with such aversion by the Singhalese that if one enter a house or walk over the roof, it is regarded as an omen of ill-fortune, sickness, or death; and in order to avert the evil, a priest is employed to go through a rhythmical incantation."

Captain Robinson, renowned as a hunter of tigers on foot in the old days of muzzle-loading rifles, has told me the following unique use to which these large lizards are put by ingenious thieves in India. In order to be able to get over a wall too high for climbing without assistance, the thief provides himself with a strong lizard, ties a rope round its waist and lets the animal go, when it at once scales the mud wall by its strong and sharp claws, and jumps down on the other side. The weight of the lizard, which, moreover, holds vigorously on to the ground, and the friction of the rope on the top of the wall, are sufficient to help the man over!

It is a sight, never failing in its attraction to the visitors of the Zoological Gardens in London, to see one of the big Monitors fed with an egg. The lizard knows the treat well that is in store for it. It raises itself up high in expectation, then examines the egg with the long tongue, takes it up gingerly and swallows it entire, crushing it by the contraction of the muscles of its gullet. On one occasion it was given a rotten egg which burst in its mouth, and the lizard refused for a long time to take another.

V. gouldi is common in Australia and in New Guinea. It reaches a length of about 4 feet. Its colour is brown above with yellow spots on the back and limbs, and with yellow rings on the tail. Two yellow streaks separated by a black band extend from the temples along the side of the neck. The under parts are yellowish, sometimes with black spots.

Fam. 9. Xantusiidae.–Three Californian, or West-Indian genera, with less than half-a-dozen species. Pleurodont with a short tongue and with the supratemporal fossa roofed over by bone. The tongue is scarcely extensible, with oblique overlapping folds which converge towards the median line, and with scale-like imbricate papillae towards the tip. The skull possesses complete postorbital and postfronto-squamosal arches, the latter meeting the parietals and roofing over the supratemporal fossa. The palatines are in contact with each other, and there are no infra-orbital fossae. There are no osteoderms; the body is covered above with small granular scales, below with larger scales. The eyes are devoid of movable lids. The tympanum is exposed. Femoral pores are present. Limbs and tail well developed. Xantusia and Lepidophyma.

Fam. 10. Tejidae.–American Lizards with a long and bifid tongue. The greater portion of the tongue is covered with scale-like papillae; the anterior forked and pointed ends are smooth. The teeth are solid and implanted almost upon the edge of the jaw, being therefore intermediate between the acrodont and pleurodont condition. The shape of the posterior teeth shows several modifications; they are conical or tricuspid, or molar-like in the adult Tejus; in Dracaena they are transformed into large, oval crushers. The palatines are in contact anteriorly. The infra-orbital fossae are surrounded by the palatine, pterygoid, and ectopterygoid bones, the maxillary being excluded from the fossa, as in Varanus (see Fig. 138, p. 542). The skull has no supra-temporal arch. Osteoderms are absent; the body is covered with small scales, or the skin is simply granular above; the under surface is covered with larger scales, generally arranged in transverse rows.

This large family, which comprises nearly forty genera with more than a hundred species, exhibits great diversity of form. Some are inhabitants of forests and are arboreal, while others are strictly terrestrial, preferring hot and sandy plains, or they dwell below the surface and are transformed into almost limbless and blind-worm-shaped creatures. The range of the family extends over the whole of the South American continent, over the West Indian Islands, and through Central America into the warmer parts of the United States.

Tupinambis ("Teju").–The skin of the back is smooth, covered with small scales; with large scales on the top of the head. The skin on the neck is generally thrown into two irregular transverse folds. The long and narrow tongue is capable of being telescoped into a sheath at its base. The lateral teeth are compressed and tricuspid in the young, but the later generations of teeth have obtuse crowns in the adult. T. teguixin is the largest member of the whole family; it reaches a length of a yard, most of which, however, belongs to the tail. The general colour is bluish black, with pale or whitish-yellow spots on the back, flanks, and tail, combining into more or less transversely arranged bands. The limbs are black, with many and tiny yellow dots. The ground-colour of the under parts is reddish yellow, with irregular black bars. This species inhabits the greater part of South America, east of the Andes, from Uruguay to the West Indies. T. nigropunctatus is confined to the Continent, and lacks the dark cross-bands on the belly, which is uniformly yellowish or speckled with black.