REPTILIA

REPTILIA: REPTILES.¹

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

As in tracing the modifications of various organs, from the zoophical 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; 1st, 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, 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

¹ The natural history of reptiles is frequently treated of under the term HERPETOLOGY, from herpeton, reptile, and logos, discourse. The verb herpeton signifies to creep.

² See ANIMAL KINGDOM.

Reptilia. 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 seat 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.¹

A truly amphibious animal, according to the proper meaning of the term (which is derived from ἀμφο, on both sides, and βίος, 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.² 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 Batrachian 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-viviparous. 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 cells 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

¹ "Les muscles des reptiles conservent plus long temps encore leur irritabilité que ceux des poissons. Nous avons vu des crapauds, des salamandres, des tortues, des serpents, privés de la tête et dépouillés de leur peau depuis plusieurs jours, et maintenus humides, produire encore des mouvements 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 desséchée, manifestent des mouvements par la contractions et la retraction des membres, toutes les fois qu'on stimulait, en les piquant, les muscles des membres postérieurs." (Dumeril et Bibron, Erp. Zoologie, t. 41.)

² See Wilson's Illustrations of Zoology, vol. i.

Reptilia of chilly weather, being more than any other class of creatures under the influence of temperature,—“frigidæ æstuantium 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 pelvic 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.”¹

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 climate. 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 only does 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 Mexico occurs 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 Reptilia, 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, “présentent-ils des formes, des mouvements, et des propriétés beaucoup plus variées 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 unusual, 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.² 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 Achelous was 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

¹ Griffith's Animal Kingdom, ix. 182.

² 1852. 20.

Chelonia. 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.

4th, 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.²

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 Chelonia 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 I., 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 retourné," 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 lie in the same cavity with the other viscera. The thorax being immovable 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 Essai 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 Medicorum, exhibens synopsin Reptilium emendatam, cum experimentis circa venena et antidota Reptilium Austriacorum, 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 therapeutic experiments. Lacepede, Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares et des Serpens, 2 vols. 4to, 1788-90. The Abbé Bonnaterrre is the author of the text which accompanies the plates of reptiles in the French Encyclopédie, under the title of Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des trois Règnes de la Nature (Erptologie et Ophologie), 4to, 1789-90. L. J. M. Daudenbont composed Les Quadrupèdes Ovipares et les Serpens, in Dictionnaire des Animaux Vertébrés, tom. II, part. de l'Encyclop. Méthod. 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 Physiologie Specim. I. and II. 1797. Amphibiorum naturalis et litteraria Fasciculus primus, continens Renas, Calamitas, Bufones, Salamandras, et Hydros, in genera et species descriptos notisque suis distinctos, 1799. Fasciculus secundus, continens Crocodilos, Scincos, Chamæleones, Boas, Pseudo-boas, Elopas, Angues, Amphibolanas, Corallus, 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 Reptilien, als Prodrom einer Naturgeschichte 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, Nouvelle Classification der Reptilien, one small vol. 4to, 1826. Ritgen, A Classification of Reptiles, in Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. for 1828. Bory St Vincent, Résumé d'Erptologie, ou Hist. Nat. des Reptiles, 12mo, 1828. J. Wagler, Naturliches system der Amphibien, one vol. 8vo, 1830. We have also by the same author Icones et Descriptiones Amphibiorum, two fascic. folio, 1820, as well as some explanations and critical remarks on Söda'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 Müller, Beiträge zur Anatomie und Naturgeschichte der Amphibien, in Zeitschrift für 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 Erptologie Générale, ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles, of Messrs Dumeril and Bibron. The best and latest work on one class of REPTILIA, the Serpents, is Essai sur la Physionomie des Serpens of M. Schlegel, superintendent of the Museum of Natural History at Leyden, published in two 8vo volumes and a folio volume of plates, at the Hague in 1837. A partial translation of it, by Professor Trall, appeared at Edinburgh, 1843.

Chelonia. ed with skin. Their tympanic cavity and palatine arches are fixed to the cranium, and immovable. The tongue is short, and beset with fleshy filaments. The stomach is simple and strong, the intestines of medium length, and unfurnished with a cæcum. 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.¹

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 scarcely 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 hibernation 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 Linnæus, 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 (T. Græca, 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. It 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 archiepiscopal 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 hibernates 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 (T. Indica, Vosm.), first described by M. Perrault. It has been taken on the coast of Comorand, 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 moveable, 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 I., fig. 2.)

One of the best known of this group is the speckled tortoise (T. Europæa, 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 (T. lutaria, Linn.), commonly called the mud-tortoise. It is a small animal, with a flattish 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

Chelonia. 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 species, especially on even ground.

The painted tortoise (T. picta) likewise pertains to this genus. It is a beautiful little creature, with a smooth, rather flattish 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. longicollis, Shaw) form the genus HYDRASPI of Bell. There are also some peculiar species called tortues à bolte 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 I, 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 Florida. 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 resplendent 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 Tortugas 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 Indians, 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."

Chelonia. "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

Chelonia. 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 mollusca, fish, crustacea, sea-urchins, and various marine plants. All the species move through the water with surprising speed; but the green, and hawk-billed in particular, remind you, by the celerity and ease of their motions, of the progress of birds through the air."

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 Catcsby, "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-

Chelonia. hamata 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 oftener 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.¹

"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 (Ch. 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 persistent 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 (Ch. 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 I, 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 shell 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; but 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 peculiarly 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."

"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 fining or inlaying was first practised by Carvillus Pollio; from which we should presume that the Romans were ignorant of the art of separating the laminae 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 Velius Patriculus, who says, that when Alexandria was taken by Julius Cæsar, 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.

¹ One of the most remarkable modes of capturing turtles is that mentioned by Mr Salt. When that gentleman was at Mosambique he received a present of a fish of the genus Echeneis, 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 firmly that the latter might be drawn towards the boat and captured.

² General Zoology, iii. 91.

Chelonia, when triumphing for having happily finished the African war.¹

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 I., 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 Lacepede, 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, ly 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, Duméril. 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 (T. fimbria, Gm.), an animal of a very singular and rather repulsive aspect, first described by M. Bruguiere.² 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. triangulus, Forskal, Tr. Egyptiacus, 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.³

ORDER II.—SAURIA. SAURIAN REPTILES.

In this order the heart is composed, as among the Chelonians, 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 produced 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 scaly granules. 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.

¹ Journal d'Hist. Nat. 1792.

² Phil. Trans. 1x1. 268. The chief works on the Chelonian reptiles are the following. J. G. Walbaum, Chelonographia oder Beschreibung einiger Schildkraten, 1782. J. G. Schneider, Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Schildkraten, nebst einem Systematischen Verzeichniss der einzelnen Arten, 1783. J. D. Schoepf, Historia Testudinum iconibus illustrata. A. F. Schweigger, Monographia Testudinum (in the Archives de Kœnigsberg for 1812). Thomas Bell, F. R. S., Monograph of the Testudinata. J. Spix, Species Novæ Testudinum et Ranarum quas in itinere, &c., 1824. The various species are also enumerated by Mr Gray in his Synopsis Reptilium.

The Saurian order of reptiles was included by Linnæus under two genera, DRACO 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.—CROCODILIDÆ. CROCODILES IN GENERAL.

The Crocodilidae 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 Flavian 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 Crocodilidae 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.¹ 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 warm-blooded 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 Crocodilidae, we may here remark, that they are entirely foreign to Europe, and do not occur in New Holland, but are else-

¹ 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: αἰσθητικὸν ὅτι τὰς ἑξῶναις. "Enfin, nous réviendrons encore sur la circonstance, tout-à-fait particulière, qui permet à 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." (Erpétologie Générale, ill. 25.) See also Annales du Mus. ii. 30.

Sauria.
Crocodyli-
dae.

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:

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.¹ 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 palmated to the extremity of the toes; and there is a deep depression behind the eye.

G. longirostris, Cuv.; Crocodylus 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 formula is $\backslash frac\{28\}\{106\}\; =\; 106$. Its scales, as in all its congeners, supply excellent specific characters. This animal appears to attain a great size. Baron Cuvier received from Dr 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 (Crocodylus), which also frequents the Ganges. It feeds wholly upon fish, and is not regarded as dangerous to man, a fact confirmatory of Albin'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. temirostris. 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 chames, or temdach,—the common crocodile of the Nile; the biporeatus, or double crested; the acutus, rhombifer, galeatus, and cataphractus (Cuv.); to which are to be added the Gravesii and Journiei (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.; Temdach of the modern Egyptians; Lacerta 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 attack a high value to it, as, according to the testimony of Herodotus, did also some of the 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

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.¹ 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 mevis 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, 2dly, 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 Elian reports, that in the district of Tyntyrites, where they unsparingly destroyed the crocodiles, the inhabitants could bathe and swim in the river securely, whilst at Arsinoë 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. biporeatus, 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 I, 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 cuirassed 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.² 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 scaly bands common to the neck and back, which together form a cuirass as strong as that of any of the gavials or alligators.

¹ These seem all to be now regarded as varieties of the common Egyptian crocodile,—C. vulgaris, Cuv. and Dum. See Épéologie Générale, iii. 104.

² A specimen of a young individual was presented to the Paris museum as having been obtained from "le grand Gahac, rivière qui coule près de Sierra de Léone."

Sauria.
Crocodili-
dae.

There still remain two other true crocodiles, described by M. Graves,¹ and which he regards as new; the C. Gracilis and Journai 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 Gracilis 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 Journai 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 alligator is not so oblong as that of the true crocodile; 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.² 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 baited 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 belows. 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, bays, 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

¹ Ann. Gén. des Scien. Physiques, t. II, p. 343.

² An individual, however, was observed by Messrs Dunbar and Hunter in latitude 32$^\{\backslash circ\}$ north, in the month of December, while the weather was very cold.

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;¹ 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 sideways 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 sideways, body and head 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, alligator-gars 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.² 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

¹ 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 ayant 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'Observ. de Zoologie, tom. I.)

² "Une particularité notable, mais qui paraît 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 des aliments, comme les petits pierres qui se rencontrent dans le gésier ou l'estomac musculieux des oiseaux." (Erpétologie Générale, ill. 27.)

Sauria. glass gives way within its ponderous jaws as easily as if Crocodili- 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.¹

A. scelerops, Cuv.; Croc. scelerops, Schn. 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, pull 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 Crocodyliidae 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 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ 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.²

FAMILY II.—LACERTINIDÆ. LIZARDS IN GENERAL.

The members of this family are characterised by a slender extensible 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-

¹ See "Observations on the Natural History of the Alligator," by John J. Audubon, Esq. in Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, ii. 270.

² Erpétologie Générale, iii. 86-91.

Sauria. 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.),¹ 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 (L. Niloticus, 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 ocellated 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 (L. scincus, Merr., but not of Linn., Vor. 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.²

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 Dracææ 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. bicarinata) likewise inhabits South America. (See Plate II., fig. 1.) The little group of safe-

guards (Sauvages, 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 Merian 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 Lacerta ameiva. The most generally distributed is that named Teyus ameiva by Spix. (See Plate II., 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 scarcely 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 secoues violentes et les efforts que faisaient ces chiens pour se délivrer." 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

¹ The term Monitor is somewhat injudiciously applied to this restricted group, in as far as it does not contain the species originally so named, that is, the grande sauvesgardie d'Amérique,—Lacerta tequixin of Linn. and Shaw.

² The genera Varanus and Heloderma form a distinct family (Varanidae) in the system of M. Duméril 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. Heloderma horridum (the sole species) is the only American member of the family.

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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 cold-blooded 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 rigging 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 rigging 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 the experiment alluded to by Pliny.¹ 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 Scincus, 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.² “Qu’il nous soit permis,” says M. Duméril, rather winningly, “de consigner ici une 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 cristal, où nous avions soin de conserver de l’eau fraîche à la hauteur 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. Ué. Sauria. Lacertini-dae.

tait un cas bien curieux pour la physiologie; car ce triton privé de quatre sens principaux, les narines, la langue, les yeux, et les oreilles, était réduit 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 premiers 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 musée, et quand nous en parlons dans nos cours, nous le faisons voir à nu pour qu’on puisse constater la singularité du fait d’un animal qui a vécu sans tête, et surtout pour démontrer la possibilité et la nécessité, même chez les Batraciens, d’une sorte de respiration par la peau.”

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 sudoric 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 (L. 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 reptile 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 brownish, 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’assailant 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 violen-

¹ Specimen Physiologie Comparativa, p. 31.

² Historia Mundi, lib. xxix. chap. 38; and Élian, edit. Scheld. lib. v. 47.

³ On this very curious physiological subject the reader may consult the following works: Plateretti, Su le reproductione delle gambe e della coda delle Salamandre acquajuste. Scelt. de Opusc. interes. vol. xxvii. p. 18. Spallanzani, Sopra le reproductioni animali, Fisica Animale e Vegetabile, 1768. Murray, Commentatio de redintegratione partium necnon suo soluturum vel amissarum, 1787. Boanet, Sur la reproduction des membres de la Salamandre aquatique, Œuvres d’Hist. Nat. et de Philos. t. v. p. 177.

⁴ Erpétologie Générale, i. 209.

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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.¹

It has been observed by the prince of Musignano (C. L. Bonaparte), that the Linnæan 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.² 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 (L. 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 L. 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 (L. vivipara, Jacquin, Zootoca vivipara, Bell³) 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 graceful 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 II., fig. 3.)

FAMILY III.—IGUANIDÆ. IGUANAS.⁴

In this family the general form, the lengthened tail, the free and unequal toes, resemble those parts in the lizard

¹ Dictionnaire Classique d'Hist. Nat. ix. 339.

² See Jenyns's British Vertebrate Animals, p. 291; and Bell's History of British Reptiles, p. 22.

³ 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.

⁴ The great family of the IGUANIDÆ is divided by MM. Duméril and Bibron into forty-six genera, containing 146 species, the detailed descriptions of which occupy about 550 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.

Sauria. tribe, and the eyes, ears, and other characters are similar, but the tongue is thick, fleshy, not extensible, and, instead of being terminated by two filaments, is merely notched at the extremity.

SECT. 1.—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 modern 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 Mahomedans 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 II, fig. 4.) The azure lizard (L. 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 Uromastix. 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. Agama, 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. barbata, 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

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 (L. 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 Molluccas, 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, Duméril, 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 Agama 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 native 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 Bengal and other parts of the East, and is said to live on grain. (See Plate II., fig. 5.)

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

The genus ISTURUS 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 scaly like 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 extensive, 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 the 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 II., 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 modern 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

Sauria. last century, a Hamburg merchant greatly prided himself
Iguanidae. on the possession of a famous dragon, which he valued at
10,000 florins. It was however discovered by the penetr-
ating eye of the then youthful Linnæus to be a gross de-
ception, formed by a combination of the skins of snakes,
the teeth of weasels, and other absurd and heterogeneous
elements. "non Naturæ 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 coun-
try 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 ob-
serves to me, on the word dragon, as follows: Mr Jacob
Robart, botany professor 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 distend-
ed the skin on each side, till it mimicked wings. He let it
dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pro-
nounced 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 II., 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 un-
able 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. lineatus (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 natu-
ralists.

The genus SITANA, Cuv., possesses the teeth of the pre-
ceding; the limbs and body are covered with scales imbric-
ated 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. Ponticeriana), a small reptile of
a fawn-colour, with a range of large rhomboidal spots along
the back. (See Plate II., fig. 7.)

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. tuberculata, 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 draw-
ing it from its position. It seldom makes an effort to escape,
but stands staring at its antagonist, at the same time inflat-
ing 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 ex-
ceeding 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 Bahama 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 caught 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 remark-
able that this fat, which adheres to the inside of the abdo-
men, 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

¹ He was rather superintendent of the garden than professor properly so called.

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.¹

"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 camelon, as it walked along. The flesh of this creature is liked by many people, and frequently served up in fricasées 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 (Ig. 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.²

The naked necked iguana (Ig. nudicollis, 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 Guadeloupe, not India, as Laurenti supposes. (See Plate II., fig. 8.) Several other species are described by naturalists.

In the genus Ophryssa, 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 Basileiscus, 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 Istius.

The name of Basileiscus 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 omnem
Vulgus, et in vacuo regnat Basileiscus arena.

But the animals now known to naturalists under the name of Basileiscus, 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 maxillæ. 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 extensible 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 camelions. 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 camelon, 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 Anolis, 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 chagrinized 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 camelon in their power of assuming frequent and rapid alternations in the colour of their skin. Like these creatures, too, and the genus Polychrus, 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 Istius and Basileiscus. 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 III., 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-

¹ Griffith's Animal Kingdom, ix. 225.

Sauria.
Geckotidae. Geckotidae. Sauria.
tional 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 (L. 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 gular 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. Carolinensis), 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.

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 extensible; the jaws are furnished all around with a row of very small close-set teeth; the palate is toothless. The skin is chagriné above with very small granular scales, among which some larger tubercles are often dispersed; the under parts are covered by flatish 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.¹ 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.²

SECT. 1.—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 platydaetylous 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. fascicularis, 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. Egyptiacus, Cuv. Its tubercles are round and simple, more projecting on the sides.

The greater number of the platydaetylous 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-

¹ The following table exhibits a view of the geographical distribution of the Geckotidae, so far as known at this time:

² See Erptologie Générale, ill. 290.

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 lamellæ 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. larvis, 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 Lacerta rapicanda.

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. lobatus, Geoff., 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 abou burs, or father of the leprosy, because it is supposed to produce that dreadful malady by poisoning provisions with its feet. Haselquist 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. fimbriatus, 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 Lacépède's opinion, it connects together the cameloons, 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 camelon, 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."

An equally singular species of this section is the scolloptailed gecko (G. caudiverbera), 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. Feullé 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. porphyrius, 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

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 STENODACTYLUS 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 GYMNODACTYLUS, Spix, the toes are slender and bare, and the tail rounded. Example, Gym. geckoides, 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. platyrha, from New South Wales, described by White under the name of broad-tailed lizard.¹ It measures about six inches in length, and is of a brownish-gray colour, beset with tubercles. (See Plate III, fig. 3.)

rally 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.²

Authors of all ages have differed greatly in opinion regarding the causes of the change of colour in camelions. 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 mollusca, particularly the cuttle-fish tribe. But to recur to the camelion. 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 Linnæus 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.³

We may state briefly in regard to the geographical distribution of the camelions, 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 caméléons 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 une certaine analogie avec les leurs; ils étaient aussi immobiles que s'ils eussent été des imitations artificielles. Leurs yeux seulement, dont la prunelle brillait comme une 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 tête comme disloquée, lentement suivi de celui de la suivante et du déroulement de la queue, qui servait de cinquième point d'appui au caméléon, déterminait un tardif avancement de quelques lignes. Dans cet état de paix, au milieu du feuil-

This family consists solely of the genus CHAMELEO, distinguished by the following characters. The entire surface is chagrinéd 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, extensible, 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.⁴

Camelions 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 camelion," says Dr Shaw, "so far as I have been 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 gene-

¹ Voyage to New South Wales, pl. 32; and Naturalist's Miscellany, pl. 65.

² "All 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 Astrol, 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 Robian, the famous horse in Arisato, which, being conceived by flame and wind, never tasted grass, or fed on any grosser provender 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."

³ General Zoology, iii. 256.

⁴ For a summary on this subject, see a paper by Dr Spittal in the Edin. New Phil. Journ. for 1829, p. 292.

Sauris.
Chamaeleonidae.

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 parties de son corps des teintes diverses dues au sang, poussé vers la peau par la dilatation de ses vastes poumons. Le caméléon, rendu à lui-même, ne tardait point à reprendre sa couleur blanchâtre que la mort rembrunit. Du reste, le plus innocent de tous les animaux, ce caméléon 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'œil dans la bouche de son ennemi.

"On a imprimé, dans la plupart des livres d'histoire naturelle, qu'on ne trouvait des caméléons que dans les parties les plus chaudes des régions intertropicales. Ces animaux s'y plaisent sans doute, mais non seulement 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 baie de Cadix, où lorsque, pour les opérations de la siège, nous faisions abattre des pins sur la rive gauche du Guadalète, 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.¹

The best-known species is Cham. vulgaris, often called the African caméléon (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 caméléons found in books. (See Plate III., 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 Valsineri, "a questo lavoro delle sole zampe di dietro, come i gatti, quando nascondono e coprono le loro sozzure, non contenta della cavata terra vi ramassò e ammonticellò delle foglie secche, della paglia, e degli stecchetti avendovi inalzato sopra una collinetta di copertura.²

We shall here mention briefly a few of the most distinctly known of the other species of the genus. 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 (Cham. 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. chomelon, 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. bifurcatus of M. Brogniart.

FAMILY VI.—SCINCIDÆ.

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

In the genus Scincus, 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 Ophidians, especially those of the genus Anguis, with which they are likewise connected by several internal relations. The tongue is fleshy, little extensible, 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 official 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 odda by the Arabs. It was once held in high estimation as an article in the Materia Medica, its flesh being regarded as advantageous in leprosy 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. trivittatus is common at the Cape of Good Hope. To this group also belongs the galley-wasp of Jamaica (Sc. occidus, Shaw), a large reptile of nearly two feet in length. We are not acquainted with its modern history, and it possesses no poison apparatus, though Browne in his Natural History of Jamaica, informs us that it is reckoned the most venomous 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

¹ Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat., iii. 96.

² See a paper by Mr Gray, in the Philosophical Magazine, vol. ii. p. 209; and Erpétologie Générale, iii. 203.

³ Storia del Caméléonte Africano.

Sauria. 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 III., 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 subject are they to variation—the five-toed seps (S. pentadactylus, Lac. serpens, Linn.) inhabits the East Indies, while a four-toed species (S. tetradactylus), and a third with only three toes (S. tridactylus), both being viviparous, occur in the Isle de Crès. Another three-toed species (S. chalcides) is native to the south of Europe, and is named cecilia 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 termis 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, Lacép., 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 III., fig. 5.) A species from New Holland (B. lepidopoda, Lacép.), examined by Baron Cuvier, although its hind extremities showed themselves externally only under the form of a pair of small oblong scaly plates, 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 cariococca.

The genus called CHALCIDES 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 III., 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 (Chal. seps, Lac. seps, Linn.) has five toes, while another (Chal. tetradactylus) has only four. Others have the tympanum concealed, and conduct directly to Chirotes, and through it to the ophidian genus Amphisbæna. Examples, Chal. pentadactylus, which, as its name implies, is a five-toed species, and Chal. heterodactylus (Het. imbricatus, Spix), which has four toes to the front feet and five to the hinder. Chal. abdominalis, Thunberg, has four toes on each foot. Lastly, Chal. flavescens, Gray (Chal.

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 Amphisbæna 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 III., fig. 7.) The only known species is the lumbriciform lizard of Shaw (Chir. lumbricoides,—canaliculatus of Lac.), 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 Amphisbæna. 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 extensible, 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, OR SERPENT-SHAPED REPTILES.

The exact lines of demarcation which separate the primary orders of the reptile race are somewhat difficult to draw, as in truth must always be the case wherever there are strong affinities of form and habits. Natura non facit saltum is a saying the truth of which the student of her manifold wonders must ever remember; and in our present department especially there are several very singular creatures, which so combine the characters of two contiguous orders that well-instructed naturalists differ as to whether they should terminate the one or commence the other. Thus Baron Cuvier's last Ophidian genus is Cæcilia, which Professor Bell regards as a Batrachian reptile, or rather as belonging to his separate class AMPHIBIA, which, after the example of Blainville and Latreille, he constitutes by means of the entire Batrachian order.¹ Thus also Lacerta apoda of Pallas, though furnished on each side with a small bone analogous to the femur, and pertaining to an actual pelvis concealed beneath the skin, is yet classed by the great French anatomist with the Ophidians, being, so to say, the "very head and front of their offending;"² while several systematic writers range our Anguis fragilis, and other snakes commonly so called, among the lizards. An American reptile, Anguis ventralis of Linn., now forms Daudin's genus Ophisaurus, the name of which (derived from ὄφισ, serpent, and ὄσπος, lizard) implies the peculiar combination now referred to. The Saurian genus Seps, described at the conclusion of our former order, is characterized by Cuvier as having an elongated body, "tout-à-fait semblable à celui d'un orvet" (Anguis); and, on the other hand, the same author enters upon his Ophidian order by means of the Anguina, or slow-worms, which he simply describes as "des seps sans pieds." These, and other

¹ Encyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology, part I. p. 91. These amphibian orders are as follows:—1st, Amphisœura, containing the Sirens and Proteans; 2d, Anoura, the frogs and toads; 3d, Urodela, the salamanders; 4th, Alouatta, the genera Menopoma and Amphiuma; and 5th, Apoda, the genus Cæcilia. "It is easy," adds Mr Swainson, "to perceive that this last passes into the first by means of the dipod Sirens, and thus the whole form a circular group more or less perfect in its connecting links." (Cabinet Cyclopædia, vol. exvi. p. 86.)

² See Signs Animal, II. 69.

examples which it would be easy to adduce, demonstrate the close connection which subsists between the Saurian and Ophidian orders.

It has indeed been customary to class among serpents whatever reptiles combined the absence of limbs with an extremely lengthened form of body; but a more rigorous observation will demonstrate that several species which, in accordance with that principle, will take their place as serpents, are yet in their prevailing organic structure removed from them in most essential points, the chief resemblance being that of the external and extremely lengthened form. Now this attenuated aspect, and absence of all the ordinary locomotive members, are likewise exhibited by several Saurian reptiles, and of course in an increased degree as they actually approach the serpent or Ophidian tribes; but the two characters just mentioned do not convert them from one order to another, being still held as it were in subordination to the general structure.¹

We commence our description of OPHIDIANS with the animals that have the general form of serpents; but yet differ from them anatomically so much that they cannot be considered as true SERPENTS; and have been judiciously separated from them by M. Schlegel. We divide Ophidians into the groups CÆCILIA, AMPHISBÆNA, ANGUIS, and SERPENS.

CÆCILIDÆ, OR BLIND WORMS.

The character of this group is fully given in the description of the only genus.

Genus CÆCILIA. Eyes extremely small, almost concealed beneath the skin, sometimes wanting. Skin smooth, viscous, furrowed by annular folds, apparently naked, but exhibiting in its thickness certain slender scales, regularly disposed on many transverse ridges between the wrinkles of the skin. Head depressed, anus nearly terminal, tail consequently short or almost wanting. Ribs too short to surround the trunk. Vertebrae articulated by facets like hollowed cones filled with gelatinous cartilage, as in fishes and some Batrachia; the cranium united to the first vertebra by two tubercles, also as in Batrachian reptiles. The orbits, covered by the maxillary bones, are only pierced by a very small hole; and the bones of the temples cover the temporal fossæ in such a way that the head exhibits superiorly nothing but a continuous bony buckler. (See Plate IV., fig. 1 d.) The hyoid bone, composed of three pair of arches, is so constructed as almost to lead to the belief that in early age there were gills. The maxillary and palatine teeth are ranged on two concentric lines, as in the genus Proteus, but are frequently sharp and curved backwards, as in true serpents. The nostrils open at the back part of the palate, and the lower jaw has no moveable pedicle, the tympanic bone being encased with the other bones in the buckler of the cranium. The auricle of the heart is not sufficiently divided to be described as double; but the second lung is rudimentary, as among the genuine Ophidians. The liver is divided into many transverse foliations.

We know nothing of the natural history or habits of the animals of this genus. They are said to dwell in marshy ground, several feet below the surface. They probably prey on worms and insects, although vegetable matters, mould, and sand, have been found in their intestines.

In certain species the muzzle is obtuse, the skin loose, the folds conspicuous, and there are two small hairs near the nostrils. To this section belongs Cæc. annulata of Spix, a Brazilian species of subterranean habits. It is of a blackish hue, with upwards of eighty annular folds, and circularly marked with white. The teeth are conical. Others have the folds more numerous, or rather in the form of serrated transverse striæ. Such is Cæc. glutinosa, Linn., from Ceylon, a blackish-coloured reptile, marked by a longitudinal band of white on either side, and characterized by 350 folds, which unite beneath in an acute angle. We have figured a nearly allied species from America, Cæc. bivittata of the French naturalists. (See Plate V., fig. 3.) Finally, a few have the folds almost effaced, the body long and slender, and the muzzle projecting. Cæc. lumbricoides, Daudin,² is entirely blind, of a blackish colour, two feet long, and not thicker than a quill. Baron Cuvier possessed the skeleton of a Cæcilia more than six feet long.³ There were 225 vertebrae, but the external characters were unknown.

AMPHISBÆNIDÆ, PROGRESSING EITHER WAY.

The lower jaw still continues, as among the preceding groups, supported by a tympanic bone, articulated directly to the cranium, the two branches of that jaw being soldered together anteriorly, while those of the upper one are fixed to the cranium and the intermaxillary bone. This formation both produces an equality of dimension between the head and the rest of the body, and also prevents that peculiar power of dilatation for which the genuine serpents are so remarkable. (See Plate IV., fig. 1 a.) Their general form, according to Cuvier, "leur permet de marcher également bien dans les deux sens," a fact, however, which that great observer does not seem to state as from the "ocular proof," and for the confirmation of which we have sought in vain in the work of any well-instructed traveller. The bony frame-work of the orbit is incomplete behind, the eye is extremely small, and the body is covered with circular plates. The windpipe is elongated, the heart placed far backwards, and the anus situate close to the extremity of the body. None of the known species is venomous. Of the two genera, the one is closely related to Chalcis and Chirotis, the other to Anguis and Acontias.

Genus AMPHISBÆNA, Linn. The entire body covered by circular ranges of plates. A range of pores anterior to the anus. Teeth of a conical form, numerous on the jaws, none upon the palate; only a single lung.

The species are South American reptiles, to which an ancient classical name has been with no great propriety applied. (See Plate IV., fig. 2.) The white one, Amph. alba, Linn., measures from a foot and a half to two feet in length, and is proportionably of a bulky form.⁴ It inhabits Brazil, where its native name of Ibriaram signifies "lord of the earth." It was first described by Marcgrave, who, however, states erroneously that it is venomous, and will wound either with head or tail. It preys on insects, and is often found near ant-hills. Another species, from Martinique (Amph. cæca, Cuv.), is stone-blind.

It may be observed in passing, that the genus Leposternon of Spix is composed of Amphisbænae, of which the anterior part of the body is furnished below with several

¹ "Un examen comparatif," observes M. Schlegel, "des objets m'a démontré que ces Sauriens anomaux, c'est-à-dire, à formes allongées et à extrémités rudimentaires, appartiennent toujours par l'ensemble de leur organisation à quelque espèce de l'une ou l'autre des familles de cet ordre, parmi lesquelles ils doivent être distribués. On ne peut nier, par exemple, qu'il y a un passage graduel des Seigneurs à l'Anguis et aux Acontias, par l'intermédiaire des Seigneurs brachypus, decroensis, serpens, seps, du Pygodactyle et du Bipes, — êtres moins différents entre eux par leur organisation que par leurs formes, et qui ne composent qu'une seule famille, celle des Seigneurs, de laquelle on ne saurait exclure ni les Ablephares ni les Gymnophthalmes. Le même passage graduel existe dans la famille des Lézards, des genres Lacerta et Tachydromus au Monodactyle; on y peut ajouter comme espèce anormale le Pygopus. On pourrait rapprocher dans la méthode le Tetradactyle, le Chalcis, le Pseudopus, et l'Ophisaurus. Viennent enfin la famille des Amphisbænes, — Chirotos, Leposternon, Amphisbæna, et celle des Typhlops, — Typhlops, Rhinophis, Uropeltis." (Physiologie des Serpens, i. p. 2.)

² Reptiles, viii. 92, 2.

³ Régne Animal, ii. 101, note.

⁴ Lacép. ii. pl. 21, 1.

Ophidian Reptiles. plates, which interrupt the ranging of the circular rings. They have no pores anterior to the anus, the head is short, and the muzzle slightly projecting. Example, Lep. microcephalus, Spix, — Amph. punctata of Prince Maximilian (Neuwied).

Genus TYPILOS, Schneider. Body covered with small imbricated scales (as in Anguis, with which group the species were for a long time combined). Muzzle advanced, furnished with plates. Tongue long and forked; eye in the form of a minute point, scarcely visible through the skin; anus almost terminal; one lung four times larger than the other.

These, as Cuvier remarks, are small serpent-like creatures, which bear a great resemblance to earth-worms. They inhabit the warmer countries both of America and the old world. Some have the head obtuse, and of equal diameter with the body. Such is T. braminus, Cuv., the punctulated slow-worm of Shaw, and Rondas talooloopam of Dr Russel.¹ It is a diminutive reptile, measuring about six inches in length, with the thickness of a hen's quill. It is of a cream-colour, powdered over with innumerable black dots. It is common in Vizagapatam, and, according to the author last named, is vulgarly reputed mischievous. It is described as moving with great swiftness; and a specimen immersed in spirits remained alive for more than ten minutes. Others (and these the majority) have the muzzle depressed and obtuse, and furnished anteriorly with several plates. Example, T. reticulatus.² A few have the front of the muzzle covered by a single broad plate. Such is T. subargenteus (Anguis lumbricalis, Linn. and Lacép.), the silvery snake of Brown.³ Finally, there are one or more peculiar species, in which the muzzle terminates in a small conical point, and the posterior extremity is enveloped by a horny buckler of an oval form. We here place T. Philippinus, Cuv., which measures about eight inches in length, and is entirely of a black colour. We presume that Dr Shaw's snouted slow-worm, Anguis nasuta (A. rostrata of Weigel⁴), though differing in colour, is nearly allied, and ought to be placed in the same genus.

ANGUIDÆ, OR SLOW-WORMS.

These still exhibit the bony head, the teeth, the tongue of Seps, and the eye is furnished with three eyelids. They correspond to the ancient unrestricted genus Anguis of Linnaeus, and are characterized externally by imbricated scales covering the whole body. The species now form four minor genera, of which the first three still exhibit beneath the skin certain small bones corresponding to those of the shoulder and pelvis.

Genus PSEUDOPUS, Merrem. Tympanum visible externally. A prominence on each side of the anus, containing a small bone analogous to the femur, and appertaining to a true pelvis hid beneath the skin. Rudiments of the anterior extremities barely manifested by an inconspicuous fold, containing no interior humerus. One of the lungs is a quarter less than the other. The scales are thick and imbricated, and between those of the back and belly are some smaller scales, which produce a longitudinal furrow on either side.

Of the species, the earliest known is P. Pallasii, Cuv., Lacerta opoda, Pallas, — discovered in the south of Russia by the naturalist last named.⁵ It measures from one to

two feet in length, and the colours are ferruginous above, pale yellow beneath. The scales of the back are smooth, those of the tail carinated. This species occurs also in Hungary and Dalmatia, and the specimen figured by Dr Shaw⁶ was procured in Greece by Dr John Sibthorpe, the professor of botany in the university of Oxford. M. Durville discovered another species (which bears his name) in the Archipelago.⁷ (See Plate IV., fig. 1.)

Genus OPHISAURUS, Daudin. No external appearance even of the hinder extremities, but the tympanum is still apparent, and the scales exhibit a plication or folding upon each side of the trunk. The smaller lung only equals a third of the greater.⁸

The best known species is Oph. ventralis, — Anguis ventralis, Linn., — an American reptile, common in the southern states of the Union. It is of a greenish yellow, spotted above with black. Its tail is longer than its body, and the creature itself is so brittle and easily broken, even in the living state, as to be known by the name of glass serpent. According to Catesby, "a small blow of a stick causes the body to separate, not only at the place struck, but at two or three other places, the muscles being articulated quite through the vertebrae."⁹

Genus ANGUIS, Cuv. No extremities visible externally. Tympanum concealed beneath the skin. Maxillary teeth compressed and hooked, — no teeth upon the palate. Body surrounded by imbricated scales, without plication on the sides. One of the lungs is a half less than the other.

The English slow-worm, Anguis fragilis, is common over a great part of Europe.¹⁰ It is very smooth, of a shining brownish-gray above, inclining to reddish on the sides, and bluish-black upon the under surface. It rarely measures more than a foot in length. It lives on insects and small mollusca, excavates circuitous holes in the earth, of several feet in extent, and with more than one issue. It is an innocent and gentle creature, remarkable for stiffening itself so much when seized as sometimes to break in two. Hence its specific name of fragilis.

Genus ACONTIAS, Cuv. No osseous pieces corresponding to the sternum and pelvis, the shoulder-blades and clavicles. Anterior ribs united to each other inferiorly by cartilaginous prolongations. Teeth small and conical: "Je crois," says Cuvier, "leur en avoir aperçu quelques-unes au palais."¹¹ Muzzle inclosed in a kind of mask. One lung of medium size, and another of very small dimensions.

To this genus belongs the speckled slow-worm of Shaw, Anguis Meleagris, Linn., a native of the Cape of Good Hope.¹² Its tail is much shorter and more obtuse than that of the British slow-worm. Its upper surface is spotted longitudinally with brown. Africa produces other species, one of which, according to Cuvier (Ac. caeus), is entirely blind.

We now reach Baron Cuvier's second great division, the OPHIDIANS, consisting of all those genera which exhibit no vestige of either shoulder or sternum, but have a great portion of the circumference of the body surrounded by the ribs. The vertebrae articulate by means of a convex facet at one end, entering into a concave facet of that which follows. (See Plate V., fig. 2 a and 2 b.) The third eyelid and the tympanum are wanting, but the osselet of

¹ Serpents of the Coast of Coromandel, p. 48, pl. 43.

² Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, p. 460, pl. 44, fig. 1.

³ Nov. Cos. Petrop. xix. plate 9, fig. 1. ⁴ General Zoology, iii. plate 86.

⁵ Of the cranium of this genus Cuvier has remarked, "C'est une vraie tête de Saurien."

⁶ Carolina, ii. plate 59.

⁷ Insectivora, Quadrupèdes Ovipares, ii. plate 19, 1.

⁸ Tylosaurus, ii. tab. 21, fig. 4. It is not found in the East Indies as both Seba and Shaw opposed.

⁹ Schenck, Physica Sacra, pl. 747, 4.

¹⁰ Berlin Transactions, iii. p. 190.

¹¹ Griffith's Animal Kingdom, ix. 307.

¹² Rigne Animal, iii. 430.

¹³ Rigne Animal, ii. 7.

Ophidian Reptiles. the ear exists beneath the skin, and its handle passes behind the tympanic bone. Several still manifest a remnant of the posterior members hid beneath the skin, or even showing themselves externally under the form of small hooks.¹ The first two genera are scarcely entitled to the designation of True Serpents; and Baron Cuvier has himself drawn a line between them and those which he names Serpents properly so called, although the two terms seem not particularly distinctive. The reptiles in question form the tribe Double Marcheurs of Cuvier.

We now arrive, "by lingering steps and slow," at the genuine serpents.

SERPENTES, OR TRUE SERPENTS.

The principal characteristic of the serpent race consists in an extremely elongated body, clothed with scales, destitute of limbs, and furnished with a tail, or caudal extremity. Locomotion is effected by lateral undulations, aided by the scales externally, and by the ribs within. Although the general form, viewed in relation to its transverse dimensions, is concentrated to an extremely small diameter, the different parts are capable of great enlargement, which admits in many cases of their swallowing bodies bigger than themselves. In conformity with this peculiar structure, even the bony portions of the head are not so knit together as in other animals, but, with the exception of the parts which protect the brain, are capable of a certain degree of separation. (See Plate IV., fig. 1 b.) The development of the tympanic bones, their mode of attachment, the mobility which they enjoy from not being fixed to the cranium by their lower extremity, and finally, the structure of the under jaw, the two branches of which are capable of separation in consequence of being united by elastic ligaments instead of symphysis, all combine to produce the vast swallowing powers of these reptiles. The entire absence of limbs is accompanied by an equal absence of those solid portions, such as the sternum and pelvis, which unite the limbs with the body. The ribs are free for the same reason, and thus readily admit both of the occasional enlargement of the intestinal cavity, and of that extreme pliancy of form for which all the species are remarkable, whether they creep, climb, or swim. To facilitate these various movements, the general envelope is minutely subdivided into numerous compartments, the scales of the lower surface being usually much larger than those of the upper, and subserving the place of feet, the ribs being attached to the lateral margin of the inner surface of these abdominal plates. The space of bare skin between the scales is greater among serpents than other reptiles, and on the throat this bare expanse forms a longitudinal cleft, known by the name of gular furrow.

The true serpents are closely connected to the Saurian order by the preceding genera Amphisbaena and Typhlops, which certainly form a passage from one of those great ordinal groups to the other. It is these connecting links that render precise definitions, drawn from a few apparent characters, so difficult, if not impossible. "Il est très facile," observes M. Schlegel, "de se faire une idée d'un serpent, lorsqu'on prend pour type une des espèces où tous les caractères de l'ordre se trouvent réunis; mais il est difficile de consigner des marques distinctives qui séparent d'une manière tranchée les Ophidiens des Sauriens."² Thus the gular furrow which characterizes all serpents except the genus Aerodorus, exists also among lizards, and several

other Saurian reptiles. A few Ophidians even exhibit vestiges of the hinder extremities analogous to what we may observe among the so-called apodal Saurians, although there is reason to suspect that the parts alluded to represent, in the latter the pelvis, in the former the actual extremities.³ Perhaps the characters deduced from the bones of the cranium would afford the best distinctions between the two orders, were it not that in these, too, certain species of the genera Typhlops and Uropeltis make a near approach to the true Ophidians. It may be well, however, to state briefly the distinguishing features in the cranial osteology of the latter order. The bones of the face in serpents never form a fixed mass perforated by the nostrils, and incased by sutures in each other; and the intermaxillary bone, trigonal, and compressed in its form, is always free, and to a certain extent moveable, that is, never soldered by sutures to the maxillaries on either side. The maxillaries themselves, when united to the anterior frontals, are so merely by a narrow attachment, always preserving a certain mobility; and the lateral margins of the nasal bones are free throughout their whole extent. No Ophidian reptile has thick conical teeth perpendicularly incased; they rather resemble hooks curved backwards, with sharp points; and we believe that all serpents, with the exception of the genus Oligodon, have the palate armed with teeth resembling those on the maxillæ, whilst in the Saurian order the palatine teeth exist only in the form of small irregular asperities.

From the preceding brief sketch, it may be inferred that the most peculiar character of serpents consists in their mode of locomotion, and their extraordinary powers of deglutition. These conditions modify their entire organization, for the former determines the general shape of the body, and the latter that of the internal parts. On examining the position of the intestines, we find that these organs, which in the majority of other vertebrated beings occupy several spacious cavities, are in the Ophidians inclosed within a long and narrow cylinder. It is obvious that this disposition cannot prevail without great changes in the form of the viscera; and the disturbance alluded to is even destructive of bilateral symmetry. We thus find the heart sometimes far removed from, at others closely approached towards, the head, according as the stomach is more or less extended; it is thus also that most frequently there is only a single lung, sometimes extending in front of the heart, but usually placed behind that organ, and almost always terminated by a species of sack of greater or less extent, and serving as a reservoir of air. The liver, for the same reason, assumes a narrow ribbon shape, extending from the heart to the pylorus. The gall-vessel, that it may not be interrupted in its functions by the repletion of the stomach, is removed from the liver, and placed in the same curve of the duodenum as that which receives the pancreas and the spleen. The stomach resembles a lengthened narrow cylinder. Then follow the intestines, of which the numerous inflections are filled with fat, and which, after descending in a straight line, terminate in the cloaca. The lower portion of the abdominal cavity not being sufficiently spacious for the reception of the rest of the organs, there thence results an anomalous disposition of the kidneys, testicles, and ovaries. "La verge enfin, et un organe sécréteur, sont logés dans la queue." These peculiar forms, however, of the majority of the internal parts of serpents exercise no influence over their functions; for, on more minute investigation, we find

¹ Naturalists, as we shall afterwards take occasion to notice, differ in their views regarding the exact nature of these outward appendages. They are described by M. Mayer in the twelfth volume of the Academiæ Naturæ Curiosorum of Bonn.

² Étude sur la Physiologie des Serpents, par H. Schlegel, La Haye, two vols. 8vo, 1837. Of this the most recent and complete work on our present department with which we are acquainted, we have availed ourselves largely in the following treatise.

³ We have exhibited these parts as they exist in the genus Boa. See Plate V., figs. 1, 1 a, and 1 b.

Ophidian Reptiles. that they vary not only in distinct species, but in different individuals of the same species.

The disposition of the external organs, on the contrary, present much more constant forms; but these parts are modified by the habits of the species, whether arboreal, terrestrial, or aquatic. The mode of locomotion is, however, very uniform, the movement being nearly the same which aids a serpent while gliding on the surface of the ground, traversing the depths of lakes and rivers, or climbing around the umbrageous branches of forest-trees. The lateral undulations of the body suffice for these progressions; and it is chiefly the sea-snakes that make use of their tails, which are expressly organized for that special purpose, acting as a scull. The degree of rapidity depends in a great measure on the nature of the surface in which the motion is exercised. Serpents drag themselves along with difficulty over glass or any polished body, but make their way with great alacrity over any earthy irregular surface, or through tangled vegetation. For the exercise of these movements, it is of course necessary that the bones and muscles should be fitly disposed; and every one who has examined a properly prepared serpent must have been struck at once by the multiplicity and uniformity of its parts. The ribs and vertebrae are almost all alike in their formation, and it is only towards the caudal extremity that the bones diminish in bulk.

As all the vertebrae of serpents carry two ribs, the usual distinctions of cervical, dorsal, and lumbar do not exist. As the scaly plates or scuta of the abdomen have each two ribs as their levers, their number corresponds to that of the vertebrae, and the ribs are double that of the scuta. This number varies not only with the species, but the individuals, and to so surprising an extent that we not unfrequently find a difference in the same species, amounting to thirty or even fifty vertebrae. The number of vertebrae of the body, properly so called, rarely exceeds 300, and is never fewer than 100; the vertebrae of the tail, on the contrary, are sometimes reduced to five, although in other cases they amount to from 150 to 200. The ribs are more numerous in serpents than in any other class of created beings, several having above 500,—that is 250, or upwards, on each side of the spinal column. We here figure the skeleton of the common ringed snake of England,—Tropidodonotus natrix. (See Plate V., fig. 2.)

The muscles exhibit various modifications in the different species. In some they are remarkable for their considerable size, and for the extraordinary development of tendons, especially among the venomous kinds. This organization is necessary for the production of that force and energy with which their undulating movements are often executed. The muscles which produce these effects are situated along the sides of the back, and on the anterior face of the vertebrae; but as the ribs likewise exercise the function of locomotive organs, the numerous muscles which are attached to these parts greatly facilitate the lateral movements. The muscles of serpents being greatly interlaced, it becomes difficult to describe them singly, and their comparison with analogous parts in their higher orders is by no means easy. These anatomical details, however, are not to be expected in the present publication. We therefore refer the reader to the works of Home,¹ Hübner,² Duges,³ Duvernoy,⁴ Meckel,⁵ and Schlegel.⁶

The muscles of serpents, as of other reptiles, preserve their irritability for a long time after what we may regard as the actual death of the animal; for these creatures, although deprived of their head, and divested of their skin, will continue to exhibit muscular movements for several

weeks, if kept in a moist condition. Swammerdam, in his Bibliotheca Naturæ, has proved, both by his figures and descriptions of frogs, that even at that early period (1666), peculiar galvanic effect was demonstrated in the muscles of these reptiles which at a future period gave rise to so much important discoveries regarding the phenomena of voltaic electricity.

A few words may be said regarding the supposed vestiges of the hinder extremities observable in certain serpents. Several species exhibit on each side of the anus a small hook or crotchet, half concealed by scales. The existence of these parts has been long recognised, but we believe it is to Professor Mayer of Bonn that we owe a more precise knowledge of their nature. The only Ophidian genera in which they have been hitherto precisely observed are Tortrix, Python, and Boa. They are most developed among the Boas, and the huge size of these reptiles admits of a more satisfactory examination. (See Plate V., figs. 1, 1 a, and 1 b.) These vestiges, then, consist of an assemblage on each side, of three principal osseous pieces, and of two small accessory portions attached at the point of articulation of the tibia and tarsus. The terminal bone, which alone appears externally, is in the form of a crotchet, covered by a hard and scaly skin. When a longitudinal incision is made in the flesh, we find that the interior piece, which is the most developed, more or less S-shaped, and comparable to the tibia, is prolonged with its free extremity into the abdominal cavity. The middle portion, on the contrary, which seems to represent the tarsus, is thick, short, slightly arched, and completely concealed within the flesh. This apparatus is moved by flexor and extensor muscles of a sufficiently simple structure. The use of these vestiges of the posterior members is still unknown. Their feeble development debars the idea of their contributing in any way to locomotion. Certain observers maintain that they are prehensile organs, which give firmness of position on whatever bodies are embraced by the circumvolutions of the tail and trunk; or that they may even subserve the generative process. They exist in both sexes.

When in a state of entire repose, the majority of serpents love to roll themselves into a spiral mass, with the head in the centre, slightly raised above the other portions. Possessing the power of bending their bodies in all directions, except directly backwards, we at the same time frequently find them simply extended on the ground or herbage in a sinuous curve. To produce progressive motion, they merely unroll the body, and bending it into successive lateral sinuities, bring into play the numerous points of contact presented by the anterior extremities of the ribs, and thus push along with great facility. These reptiles are frequently observed to raise the anterior portion of their body into an erect position, supporting themselves on the tail and part of the abdomen, as if with a view to survey the scene around them. The body itself is then usually quite stiff and straight, although some assume a more curved attitude, besides exhibiting a peculiar swelling or enlargement of the neck. When suspended perpendicularly from the branch of a tree, the great Boas exhibit scarcely any sign of life or motion. They descend simply by dropping themselves downwards, their peculiar form and great elasticity of structure preventing their receiving any injury from the fall; and when they reach the ground, this rapid movement, so far from proving hurtful, aids by its impulsion their terrestrial progress.

The majority of serpents (both of the innocent and the colubriform venomous kinds) defend themselves against the

¹ Phil. Trans. vol. x.; and Lectures on Comp. Anat.

² Ann. des Sciences Nat. vol. xii.

³ Vergl. Anat. vol. iii. p. 130, et suiv.

⁴ De Organis motoris Boa canina.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Physiognomie des Serpens, vol. I. p. 18.

attack of their enemies by darting upon them, with the head elevated, so as to enable them to bite with greater energy. A few, such as the Najas, raise a considerable portion of the anterior of the body, so as to assume a very singular position. Most of them give utterance to a sharp hissing sound as a prelude to battle; and they also produce a peculiar blowing, by forcing the air rapidly through the nostrils. Several species throw themselves upon their prey with a great and sudden bound, usually seizing it by the throat; while others encircle it by a tortuous embrace, thus pressing it to death by sinewy folds. The venomous kinds make use of the same means to obtain their food as they do to defend themselves from threatened danger. Quietly stretched along the earth, they will attack indifferently whatever incommodes them; but knowing the potency of their poisoned fangs, they are satisfied by the infliction of a murderous bite, without recourse to muscular pressure.

As snakes swallow their food entire, and without mastication, their teeth serve merely to wound and retain their prey, or to instil into it the envenomed fluid. This deadly matter is the product of certain glands of the head. These are of two kinds; the one composed, like the salivary glands of quadrupeds and birds, of numerous small granules, which secrete a fluid analogous to saliva, and destined to prepare the food for digestion; the other, of a very different nature, forming a thick sack, of which the interior is divided into numerous compartments, and distilling a liquid which, by its fatal effects on the principle of life, becomes a dreadful instrument of destruction. The salivary glands are common alike to all Serpents, but scarcely a fourth of the entire species are provided with those which secrete the poison. The teeth which conduct this fatal fluid into the wound are hollow and pierced at each extremity. They are always situate towards the anterior end of the maxillary bone, are covered by the gums, which there form a kind of sheath, and are always kept bent when in repose. The rest of the teeth, and the whole of those of the innocuous kinds, are solid, with the exception of the hollow which contains the nutritive organ of the tooth. Although these large anterior fangs are characteristic of the poisonous kinds, we yet find a considerable number of innocuous species, of various genera, which have the jaws armed with one or two teeth larger than the others, and usually furrowed by a cleft extending along the anterior face. These grooved teeth are always situate at the base or posterior extremity of the maxillaries, and it is but seldom that we perceive a second on the middle portion of the jaw. Their sole function is believed to be the pouring into their wounded prey an abundant supply of saliva secreted by the posterior part of the salivary glands, which are most voluminous in the region occupied by the teeth in question. The organization of these posterior glands entirely resembles that of the ordinary salivary ones; and recent observation has demonstrated, that the bite of species belonging to the genera Dryopsis, Dipsas, and others with furrowed teeth, is followed by no fatal results, at least to the human race.¹

In studying in detail the teeth of the Ophidian reptiles, we may perceive a gradation from the solid to the hooked teeth. Each tooth in fact consists, in its earliest development, of a kind of lamella with curved margins, so as to open as it were on its anterior face. In the so-called solid teeth, this opening has become filled by the union of the margins at an early period; it continues open for a longer time in the hooks of the most venomous kinds, but in the completed state they exhibit only the two orifices destined for the entrance and emission of the poison,—the lower one

continuing to preserve the character of a longitudinal cleft. In other poisonous species we find analogous fangs, but with a continuing vestige of the groove which formerly united the two orifices. Finally, the furrow in the lengthened posterior teeth of certain innocuous species, is nothing more than the permanence of the groove now mentioned.

The solid teeth occur indifferently in all Ophidian reptiles; but their number, form, and position, vary in the different species. With the exception of the genus Oligodon, which is unprovided with palatine teeth, there are always four rows of teeth in the upper jaw (see Plate IV., fig. 1 c), and two in the lower. Intermaxillary teeth are not observable, except in the genus Python, and occasionally in Tortrix scytale,—the number rarely exceeding four (see figure last referred to). These solid teeth are usually all of equal length; but in the Boas they enlarge towards the extremity of the muzzle (fig. 11), while the reverse is the case in several species of Coluber, Tropidonotus, &c. The Lyconotus exhibit some teeth more largely developed than the others at the anterior extremity of the maxillaries; those of Dryopsis and Psammophis are rather unequal, several being even greatly elongated towards the centre of the jaw; those of certain species of Dipsas, Homalopsis, &c. are often furrowed; while other genera, such as Xenodon, Coronella, and several kinds of Homalopsis, have the base of the maxillaries armed with a strongly developed tooth of a solid structure. The number of teeth, in general, obviously varies in relation to the development of the maxillaries, and of the dental bone of the lower jaw.

The poison-gland, which forms so peculiar a character of the noxious kinds, is enclosed in a thickish tendinous envelope, hard and tenacious to the touch, and diminishing backwards into the form of a narrow ribbon, by which it is attached to the articulation of the lower jaw. Anteriorly this envelope is also restricted to a canal-shaped space, which stretches along the maxillaries, and then descends towards the orifice already mentioned, of the anterior face of the base of the hooked fang. (See Plate IV., fig. 10.) Among the poisonous serpents properly so called, this canal is folded when the fangs are in a state of repose, but easily extends in conformity with the movement of the maxillary bones. The interior of the poison-gland is subdivided into a great number of minute cells, produced by very slender partitions, which cross each other at an angle more or less acute. To this peculiar structure, so dissimilar to that of the salivary glands, is due the secretion called poison, from its fatal effect when mingled with the blood of any living creature. It is true, that the bite of even the most innocent animal may sometimes produce the most disastrous results, by a concurrence of peculiar circumstances, such as the temperature of the climate, the psychological or pathological condition of the creature bitten, or the rabid fury of that which has aggressed, and for this reason the bite of innocuous serpents may have sometimes proved deleterious even to the human race; but the poison of the injurious kinds holds its noxious qualities in its very nature, although the circumstances just alluded to may render more deadly its destroying powers.

The poison of snakes, when fresh, may be described as a transparent limpid fluid, of a greenish-yellow colour, slightly gluey, viscous, adhering to other objects when dried, and evaporating without burning when exposed to fire. It sinks in water, and when mingled with it by shaking, produces a troubled and somewhat whitish appearance. It partakes greatly of the nature of mucus; and when placed in contact with any re-active substance, we discover that it

¹ The glands in the head of serpents have been discussed in numerous publications. See, among others, Ranby, Phil. Trans. No. 401, p. 377; Tiedemann, Mém. de l'Acad. de Munich, 1813, p. 25; Cloquet, Mém. de Mus., vii. p. 62; Demoulin ap. Magendie, Journ. de Physiol. iv. p. 274; Meckel, Archiv, i. 1; and Duvernoy, Ann. des Sciences Nat. xxvi. and xxx. Various observations bearing on the subject will also be found in the well-known writings of Redi, Mead, Fontana, and other physiologists.

Ophidian Reptiles. is neither acid nor alkaline; there is nothing peculiar in its odour, and when applied upon the tongue it produces a sensation resembling that of fresh fat. Our recorded notices on the subject are, however, somewhat contradictory. Dr Mead and his associates, in certain experiments on the poison of the viper, inform us that that fluid, "when diluted with a little warm water, was very sharp and fiery when tasted with the tip of the tongue, as if the tongue had been struck through with something scalding or burning; this sensation went off in two or three hours; and one gentleman who would not be satisfied without trying a large drop undiluted, found his tongue swelled, with a little inflammation, and the soreness lasted two days." The Abbe Fontana, on the contrary, describes it as of no particular acrimony of taste, but rather resembling oil or gum; and Dr Russel makes the same statement regarding the poison even of the Cobra de Capello, a species much more venomous than any viper. The accounts of its effect upon the stomach, when taken internally, also show that doctors differ. It is long since Celsus said, "nam venenum serpentis non gustu sed in vulnere nocet." Boerhaave quotes the well-known case of Jacob Sozzi, who, at the court of the Duke of Tuscany, is alleged to have taken three drams of this poison, without experiencing any bad consequences; while Fontana affirms, that although its internal effect is not like that of a bite or puncture, it cannot be swallowed with impunity. On this point the older authors, as Dr Shaw informs us, also disagree. Matthiolus asserts, that even when sucked from a wound it has proved fatal; while others confirm the prevailing opinion of ancient writers, and the experience of Cato's soldiery, that it is harmless when so received. The practice, indeed, of the Paylli and Marmarides of old,

Tame, at whose voice, spell-bound, the dread Cerasates lay,

probably proceeded upon this principle of suction. These Paylli were African tribes, and were employed, according to Lucan, by Cato, for the recovery of such of his men as had been bitten by serpents during their march among the Libyan deserts. The heroic Roman is also said to have assured his followers, who feared to drink, even in "a dry and desert land," of the translucent fountains, lest they too should be infected by serpents, that, however noxious might be the bite of these envenomed reptiles, yet the poison must lose its effects when mingled with so pure an element.

And now with fiercer heat the desert glows,
And mid-day gleamings aggravate their woes;
When, lo! a spring amid the sandy plain
Shews its clear mouth to cheer the fanning train.
But round the guarded brink in thick array
Dire Aspics roll'd their congregated way,
And thirsting, in the midst, the dreadful Dipsas lay.
Blank horror seized their veins, and at the view
Back from the fount the troops recoiling flew.
When, wise above the crowd, by cares unquell'd,
Their awful leader thus their fears dispell'd:
Let not vain terrors now your minds enslave,
Nor dream the serpent brood can taint the wave;
Urged by the fatal fang their poison kills,
But mixes harmless with those bubbling rills.
Dauntless he spoke, and bending as he stood,
Drank with cool courage the suspected flood.

The poison of the viper, according to Boerhaave, is rendered inactive by digestion in the stomach and bowels, so that it will not afterwards exert its fatal influence on the blood; "for a whole ounce of this venom taken by the mouth will not kill an animal, while at the same time a small needle only dipped in the same fluid, and taking up perhaps not more than the hundredth part of a drop, when thrust into the blood of a living creature, almost infallibly destroys."¹ The following is Bruce the traveller's well-

known but extraordinary narrative. "I will not hesitate to aver that I have seen at Cairo (and this may be seen daily, without trouble or expense) a man who came from above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy-birds are kept, who has taken a cerastes with his naked hand from a number of others lying at the bottom of the tub, has put it upon his bare head, covered it with the common red cap he wears, then taken it out, put it in his breast, and tied it about his neck like a necklace; after which it has been applied to a hen, and bit it, which has died in a few minutes; and, to complete the experiment, the man has taken it by the neck, and beginning at the tail, has ate it as one would do a carrot or a stock of celery, without any seeming repugnance."

This opinion, however, that the poison of snakes may be taken internally without producing any troublesome effects, has been recently contradicted by the experience of Dr Hering, at Surinam. This traveller took at different times various doses of the poison of a rattle-snake (Crotalus mutus) mixed with water, and suffered from its effects for upwards of eight succeeding days. These manifested themselves by pains in the larynx and other parts of the body, by an increased secretion of mucus in the membranes of the nose and oesophagus, and by frequent diarrhoea, accompanied by pain in the rectum. To these symptoms were added several others of a rather curious kind, attributable to the influence which this poison seemed to exercise even over the moral faculties.

By far the most deleterious effect, however, of this subtle fluid is produced by its mingling with the blood, through the medium of an inflicted wound. It then shows its morbid influence with a rapidity often frightful, and usually proportioned to the quantity of the poison instilled, and to the abundance with which the wounded part is furnished with those vessels which bear the stream of life. For this reason, of course, the bite of a large snake is more dangerous than that of a small one; and so also a wound in the tongue, or in any vein, is almost always mortal, while it not unfrequently happens, that when a hard or callous part is bitten, no injurious results are found to follow. Cold-blooded animals are much less affected by the bite of a snake than are quadrupeds or birds; and in the majority of invertebrated tribes it produces no effect whatever. Generally speaking, however, the smaller the victim, the more deadly are the consequences of a wound. In Europe, the human race seldom suffers fatally from the bite of a viper; and it is supposed that the poison of several would be required to kill a bullock or a horse. So at least say many modern writers; yet we cannot help remembering what Boerhaave tells us regarding a viper, which, "being enraged by the members of the Tuscan Academy," and then suffered to bite the nose of a strong bull, the ponderous creature died in a very short time. A small quadruped dies rapidly from an infliction of the slightest wound. In tropical countries, however, where the poisonous species are often of considerable size, and their venom is both more abundant and in a state of higher concentration, the effects are fatal both to man and beast. The activity of the poison, in truth, increases with the temperature of the climate.

Various experiments have been tried, with a view to ascertain the strength of this animal poison in different species of serpents, and the best means of arresting its fatal influence. The observations of Laurentius, Fontana, Russel, Davy, and Lenz, are familiar to the student of physiology, but less satisfactory in their results than might be desired, from the modifying effects of special circumstances. To obtain well rectified general inferences, it would be necessary that numerous experiments should be tried with serpents of corresponding size, existing under similar circum-

¹ See Shaw's General Zoology, iii. p. 371.

Ophidian Reptiles. stances, and in relation to victims of the same constitution; and by repeating these experiments with various kinds of serpents, and taking the average effect of each kind as a result, we might in a measure ascertain the different characters of these animal poisons, of which we have as yet but a meagre knowledge.

The effect of a serpent's bite usually manifests itself without delay. A sharp pain is felt in the part pierced by the fangs, although the puncture is extremely minute, and scarcely a drop of blood may flow; swelling follows, and inflammation soon declares itself. The progressive effects upon other parts of the system are exhibited by a general feebleness; walking becomes painful, and respiration laborious and constrained; the patient suffers from ardent thirst, followed by nausea, vomiting, glimmering of the sight, and other symptoms, which, combined with acute bodily pains, often deprive the victim of his senses. Livid spots sometimes surround the wound, the dread precursors of that fatal gangrene which, spreading more extensively, ere long puts a period to existence. "His strength is poured out like water, and all his bones are out of joint; his heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of his bowels. His strength is dried up like a potsherd, and his tongue cleaveth to his jaws, and he is brought unto the dust of death." Then, instead of the bloom of youth, the power of manhood, or the pride of beauty, we behold but a bloated corpse, the sad repulsive remnant of humanity. It may be remarked, however, that the poison of these subtle reptiles seems to deprive us of life under a considerable variety of aspects. A lethargic torpor without pain is said to follow the bite of the asp; and hence, we presume, its preference by that luxurious queen for whom Antony "lost the world." The fact, though doubted by medical observers, seems in a great measure confirmed by the examples adduced by Captain Gowdie, as recorded by Dr. Russell.¹ Lucan of old has distinguished the poisonous serpents that infested the march of the Roman army over the deserts of Libya by the various symptoms which they produced; but his dreadful catalogue should perhaps be regarded rather as a piece of poetical embellishment than as a historical relation. Yet it seems now believed, that however the symptoms may vary, the nature and action of the poison is the same in all, and is in most cases to be counteracted by the same means. The virulence of the bite even of individuals of the same species probably varies according to the season of the year, just as their manners and external aspect also vary, as so beautifully described by Virgil:—

Potquam exhausta palus, terreque ardore dehiscunt;
Exiliit in siccum, et flammanlia lumina torquens
Sævit agris, asperque siti, atque exterritus, æta.
Ne mihi tum molles sub dio carpere, somnos,
Neu dorso nemoris libeat jacuisse per herbas:
Cùm positis novus exuvis nitidusque juvenis,
Volvitur, aut catulos tectis aut ova relinquens,
Arduus ad Solem, et linguis meste ore tristis.²

The excessive rapidity with which death was frequently produced by the bite of venomous serpents induced Dr. Mead to conclude that its fatal influence affected the nervous rather than the circulating system. But the experiments of Fontana go far to demonstrate that the venom of the viper is perfectly innocent when applied to the nerves only; but that it acts immediately upon the blood, and through the medium of that fluid destroys the irritability of the muscular fibre, and so produces death.

In further illustration of this singular subject, we may here give a brief account of the effect produced by the bite of some remarkable salt-water snakes belonging to the

Ophidian Reptiles. genus Hydrus (Hydrophis of our present treatise). Soon after the opening of the bar in the month of October 1815, reports prevailed at Madras that a great shoal of sea-snakes had entered the river, and that many natives while crossing had been bitten, and had died in consequence. A reward was offered for each of these creatures captured and carried to the superintendent of police. Pandauls were erected opposite to the two principal fords, and skilful natives, under the direction of Dr. McKenzie (to whom we are indebted for the information), were provided with cau-de-luce and other remedies, and ordered to afford immediate aid to those who might be bitten. Many were bitten accordingly (the snakes seeming in no way loathe to expedite the result), and all exhibited the symptoms usually consequent upon the action of a powerful animal poison; but none died. We shall state a couple of cases, with the mode of treatment. A native woman, while crossing near the custom-house, was seen, on emerging from the water, to shake off something from her foot. This to several spectators appeared to be a water-snake. The woman, after advancing a few paces from the river, fell down, and was immediately carried insensible to the pandaul. On examining her feet, two small but distinct wounds were perceived on the ankle of the right leg; her skin was cold, her face livid, her breathing laborious, her pulse scarcely perceptible. A ligature was immediately placed above the wound, which had been previously enlarged with a lancet, and a piece of the carbonate of ammonia well moistened with pure nitric acid applied, while thirty drops of the cau-de-luce were administered nearly at the same time in a glass of water. In five minutes more a similar dose was poured down the throat, which seemed rather to increase the spasmodic affection of the chest; but the pulse at the wrist became distinct, though feeble. A third dose was repeated in three minutes more, on which she uttered a scream, and began to breathe more freely. Ten minutes had now elapsed since she had been carried to the pandaul, and in about three minutes more a tea-spoonful of the cau-de-luce was given, which almost immediately produced violent nausea, and a profuse perspiration. When a little salt was put into her mouth, she declared it was not salt, but sugar; and this the natives deemed an infallible sign of still-continued danger. She soon, however, entirely recovered, and merely complained for three or four days of a numbness in the limb above the wound. Another case was that of a Lascar, who was bitten by a snake while in the middle of the river. He advanced a few paces after quitting the bank, and then fell down in violent convulsions. When brought in, his breathing was laborious, his skin cold and clammy, his countenance livid, and his pulse feeble at the wrist, but distinct at the temples. A quantity of froth and foam was ejected from between his closed teeth. He too recovered, after a similar mode of treatment; but he complained for many days that he had no left leg. On another occasion a large healthy chicken was exposed to the bite of a Hydrus major, four feet long. It was bit in the foot, and in about ten minutes began to droop, and to show a slight convulsive flutter of both wings. In three minutes more it became convulsed, and at the end of seventeen minutes from the infliction of the wound it suddenly dropped down dead.³

Dr. Russel has figured and described forty-three of the most common serpents of Hindustan, and of these he found only seven that were provided with poison-fangs. He informs us that a quantity of warm Madeira taken internally, with an outward application of cau-de-luce on the punctures, was generally successful in curing the bite of even the most venomous species. He also states that the me-

¹ In his work on the Serpents of the Coast of Coromandel.
² Asiatic Researches, vol. xiii., p. 329.

³ Geor. lib. iii., 1. 432.

Ophidian Reptiles. dicine called the Tanjore pill was equally efficacious. Each pill contains three-fourths of a grain of arsenious acid. On comparing the effects of the poison of five of the oriental species on brute animals, with those resulting from the rattle-snake and European viper, Dr Russel remarked that they all produced morbid symptoms nearly the same, although they might differ in the degree of their deleterious power, and the rapidity of its operation.

The tongue of serpents is remarkable for its great extensibility. It is protected by a rather firm skin, becomes very slender towards the anterior extremity, where it divides into two slender filaments, and is capable of being withdrawn into a kind of sheath, which opens in front of the glottis. The position of these parts varies in the different species, being placed, for example, very near the muzzle in the genus Hydrophis, but much further backwards among both the terrestrial and the tree serpents. The tongue of the Ophidians in general, though extremely similar to that of certain Saurians, such as Monitor, Tejus, and other genera, yet differs in the far greater simplicity of the harder parts by which it is supported; for we find, in place of a hyoid bone, composed of several pieces, merely a simple cartilaginous thread attached to the internal face of the general integument of the gular region, with its two extremities prolonged greatly backwards. This cartilage is sometimes, as in Boa, intimately united to the muscles of the throat, of which it intersects the fibres, its posterior extremity being then attached to the skin on the sides of the neck; but in the majority of cases, the horns of the hyoid are free, closely approached, and prolonged into the cavity of the chest, even as far as the heart. The tongue of these reptiles seems in truth, by its construction, to be a genuine organ of touch, and serving neither for taste nor deglutition, being during the latter act inclosed within its sheath. A little notch-like aperture at the end of the muzzle, which exists in most serpents except the aquatic kinds, admits the protrusion of the tongue without the necessity of opening the mouth. This movement is usually made very leisurely, although with extreme rapidity when the individual is excited either by fear or passion.¹

The use of the tongue in serpents is not exactly known. Its narrow and cylindrical form would render it unapt to aid the process of mastication, even were the teeth of a nature to perform that process. They are continually lancing it into the air, and may possibly in this way also gather moisture from grass or other herbage. It is, however, believed that they never drink. "On ignore," says M. Schlegel, "si les serpents boivent, et s'il est juste d'opiner pour la negative; toutefois on n'a jamais aperçu des fluides dans ceux dont on a examiné l'estomac."² Other authors, however, are of a somewhat different opinion. "Tout au plus," say MM. Dumeril and Bibron, "cette langue fort longue sert-elle, comme on l'a observé quelquefois, à faire pénétrer un peu de liquide dans la bouche, car nous avons vu nous-même des couleuvres laper ainsi l'eau que nous avions placée auprès d'elles dans la cage où nous les tenions renfermées pour les observer à loisir."³

The alimentary canal of the Ophidians is remarkable for its great simplicity.⁴ The œsophagus and stomach form a continuous canal, to the special parts of which it is difficult to assign precise limits. The pancreas, according to M. Schlegel, is always placed "dans la première courbure qui fait l'intestin à partir du pylore," and varies in different species both as to size and form. The spleen is of an oval or somewhat globular shape, of a rather firm consistence, and frequently concealed among the lobes of the pancreas, with which it is sometimes intimately united. The liver in

Ophidian Reptiles. assumes a long ribbon-shaped form, more slender at either end, sometimes imperfectly divided into a couple of lobes, and extending along the œsophagus and stomach, from the heart as far as the pylorus. The hepatic canal descends from its interior face towards the pancreas, to conduct the bile into the small intestine. The gall-bladder, which is abundantly supplied, discharges its fluid by a short conduit, which joins the hepatic canal at an angle more or less acute. The kidneys, remarkable for their lengthened form and symmetrical position, are divided into a great number of small lobes, adhering to each other by means of the cellular tissue.

Digestion, notwithstanding the activity of the gastric juice, is sufficiently slow in serpents. It would appear, in fact, that the juice in question exercises its influence chiefly in the regions near the pylorus; for it has been found that an animal withdrawn from the abdomen of a snake is always decomposed towards its lower extremity, while the portion lying nearer the œsophagus continues unconsumed. Indigestible portions, such as hair, feathers, &c., are said to be sometimes ejected by the mouth; and, according to M. Dieperink, when a serpent in a wild state is pursued soon after it has swallowed a considerable prey, it will disgorge it to facilitate the means of escape. In regard to the digestive faculty of serpents, one of the most remarkable characters consists in the strong absorbing power of the intestines. When we examine their fecal remains, we find that these exhibit as it were a dry extract of the entire prey, of which the parts incapable of liquefaction remain not only unaltered, but occupying precisely the same relative positions which they held in the living animal. If, for example, a rat has been swallowed, we find, in what at first appears a dry and unformed heap, the muzzle, the long hairs upon the cheeks, the down which covers the thin cartilage of the ears, the hair, of various length and colour, which has clothed the back, abdomen, and especially the tail, and finally the nails, in a perfectly entire state. All fleshy or softer substances have been completely absorbed; and the earthy salts, which, by their union with the gelatine, give consistence to the bones, still indicate by their colour the position formerly occupied by these osseous portions. The most complete natural analysis has been effected by means of dissolution, compression, and absorption,—and of this the desiccated mass already mentioned is the sole residuum.⁵ The infrequent meals of serpents are thus in a measure compensated by the great profit which they derive from each.

The mode in which these reptiles swallow their food is sufficiently simple. They commence by getting the head within their throat, and while the teeth of one jaw adhere to the prey, the other jaw makes a forward movement, and, fastening its teeth, draws the object inwards, till, by this alternate action of the jaws, and chiefly of the under one, deglutition is effected. The jaws, as we have already hinted, are capable of a certain separation from each other even at their basis, and an abundant supply of saliva being at the same time poured out upon the victim, a body larger in bulk than the snake itself is sometimes swallowed; and as in this case the process is slow, and but a small portion can enter the throat at a time, the reptile reposes for a considerable period, even till, with distended mouth, it seems gorged with putrefaction, presenting a hideous and disgusting picture of gluttony and sloth. When the venomous kinds swallow their prey, they do not use their poison-fangs, but lower these beautiful and highly-finished instruments of destruction into the hollow of the gums,—"sheathing them as a sword."

¹ See Helmann, Über den Tottinn der Schlangen.

² Physiognomie des Serpents, l. 97.

³ Exp. Gla. l. 135.

⁴ The digestive organs are described by Duvernoy in Ann. des Sciences Nat., and by Meckel in his Vergl. Anat.

⁵ Exp. Génerale, l. 145.

The heart of Ophidian reptiles is usually of an elongated form, and is remarkable for its distant position from the head.¹ It is composed of two spacious auricles, separated from each other by a membranous division; the ventricle, on the contrary, is imperfectly divided into two rather narrow cavities by a partition which takes its origin from the base of the heart, and loses itself amid the fleshy fibres of that region. The walls of the auricle, although fleshy, are slender,—those of the ventricle are of considerable thickness, especially on the left side of that portion which extends in the form of a conical appendage beneath the left auricle. Each auricle communicates with the ventricle by means of a broadish opening, susceptible of being closed by a valve. The right auricle receives all the veins, which form, with the exception of the left jugular, prior to passing through the wall of the auricle, a kind of sac of greater or less extent, which, in addition to the ordinary tunics, exhibits a distinct muscular coat. Two large valves serve to close the common entrance of the veins into this auricle. When the blood has attained the right chamber of the ventricle, it is driven into the pulmonary artery, of which the embouchure offers two valves; comprised at its base in the common trunk of the aortas, this artery curves itself beneath the left aorta, and approaches the lung, of which it margins the posterior face before entering the interior of that organ. A single pulmonary vein, piercing the lung behind the artery of the same denomination, carries the oxidized blood into the left auricle, which is of a conoid form, and less spacious than the right one. This oxidized blood, after having passed into the left cavity, is pushed towards the right side, where we find the embouchures of the two aortas, of which each exhibits a pair of semicircular valves, even when these openings are united into one.

We shall now devote a few lines to the respiratory organs. When we observe a serpent in a state of repose,—

"as on the grassy herb
Fearless, unfear'd, he sleeps,"—

we may see that its body alternately dilates and contracts by the play of the ribs, and that this movement is repeated slowly, yet at regular intervals. But we may also perceive that the nostrils are closed for a longer, and consequently an unconforming period, during one of which the body is contracted and dilated perhaps thirty times. It results from this observation that the lungs of Ophidians, besides their ordinary function, fulfil that of serving as reservoirs of atmospheric air, which, though replenished only by a single inspiration, contain a quantity sufficient to admit a continuous oxidation of the blood by the contraction of the lungs. When the oxygen is totally absorbed, expiration takes place, and a supply of fresh air is drawn in. The configuration of the lungs undergoes many modifications in the different races of Ophidian reptiles. The form is usually that of a simple conical sac, extending from the heart toward the lower regions of the stomach, where it ends in a membranous pouch. The trachea, composed of numerous demi-rings united anteriorly by a membrane, terminates in the origin of the lungs by an oblique opening. The latter organ is divided more or less completely into two bronchi in Boa, the majority of Tortrix, the genus Dipsas, and others; and in these we may perceive the vestige of a second lobule of the lung, sometimes half as large as that on the other side. A singular peculiarity is observable among the sea-serpents. In Hydrophis colubrinus, for instance, the tracheal pipe is prolonged into the hypochondriac region, where it terminates in a membranous sac, extending to within a couple of inches of the anus; but in place of a membrane uniting the rings of the trachea, it is the lung itself that envelopes that tube throughout its whole length.

The small size of the brain in serpents is obvious in all, and becomes very conspicuous in relation to the size of the head, when we select for observation any of those species in which the organs of manducation are strongly developed. The two hemispheres are prolonged by restriction into the olfactory lobule, so that the latter part is borne as it were upon a pedicle. We observe the optic lobules on their posterior face, and passing beneath the hemispheres towards the eye, to form the optic nerve. The cerebellum is a very small organ, situated behind the optic lobules almost uniform with the spinal cord, or offering but an inconsiderable enlargement. The grand sympathetic nerve is interlaced at so many points with the par vagum, that it is next to impossible to trace its origin with any certainty.

As to the intellectual faculties of these reptiles, we know that Satan found

"The serpent, subtlest beast of all the field;"

and we doubt not that, even in our own days, they may be placed at least upon an equality with the Saurian and Chelonian orders. The reproductive power with which their separate parts are said to be endowed has probably been the subject of some exaggeration; and it seems certain that when the tail or other important portion has been destroyed by mutilation it is altogether incapable of being reproduced. The sense of smell is believed to be by no means acute in these reptiles. The nostrils vary in the different genera in respect to form, size, and position. It may, however, be stated as a constant rule, that the purely aquatic species have the nostrils small, directed upwards, and for the most part susceptible of being closed by means of a valve, while those of the terrestrial and arboreal kinds are usually lateral and open. Among the burrowing serpents these openings are almost always of an orbicular form, and of very small dimensions. In the genera Trigonocephalus and Crotalus there is a cavity on each side of the muzzle, behind the nostrils, of which the use is still unknown. The eye is probably defective in the power of distant vision, though sufficiently acute for all the ordinary purposes of a serpent's life. It is covered over by the external skin, of which, however, the tunics in that quarter are extremely thin and diaphanous, and present themselves under the form of a hemispherical lamella adhering to the scaly plates which surround the orbit. There is thus no apparent eyelid to the visual organs of serpents, a slight edging of the skin forming their only protection.¹ The supposed absence of this part was presumed by the ancients, and has been recorded in the writings even of modern anatomists of the greatest skill. But more recent researches, undertaken by M. Cloquet, and verified by Baron Cuvier and M. Dumeril, have demonstrated that the eye of Ophidians is provided with a single lid, large though immovable, and incased in a projecting frame, which forms around the orbit a series of scales, variable in number, though usually amounting to seven or eight. When the general covering is renewed, we find that a delicate coating of the eye is likewise thrown off as a portion of the exuvie. The structure of the ear in serpents seems to demonstrate that these creatures are dull in their sense of hearing.

The general envelope of Ophidian reptiles forms a kind of cuirass, which enables them to withstand the influence of the elements and the effects of external accidents. To conform to the movements of the body, and the occasional enlargement of its parts, this covering, we need scarcely say, is composed of a multiplicity of separate compartments, of which the smaller are called scales, the larger plates. These parts are composed of much thicker layers of the integument than the intervening portion, which consists of a delicate skin, seldom visible except when the body is more

¹ "Nous avons déjà dit qu'il n'y avait pas de paupières apparentes dans les serpents, et que ces animaux semblent, par cela même avoir l'œil fixe, et être toujours éveillés." (Exp. Gén. I. 102.)

Ophidian Reptiles. than usually distended, and for this reason almost always colourless, being unsubjected to the influence of light. In certain species of the genus Tropidonotus, however, the mucous membrane of the neck is so tinted as to exhibit a beautiful vermilion red between the scales; and the scales themselves in many species exhibit colours, both fixed and iridescent, of great brilliancy:—

"With barnished neck of verdant gold, erect
Amidst their circling spires."

The general tinting depends in a great measure upon the condition of the epidermis, and is always freshest and purest immediately after the casting of the slough or superficial skin. The total amount of longitudinal rows of scales is almost always an unequal number, there being a single range rather larger than the rest along the centre of the dorsal region, with an equal number on either side; but to this rule Herpetodryas carinatus forms an exception (the only one perhaps throughout the order), there being a double central row of scales along the back. The form of the scales is greatly varied, some being rounded on the margins, others truncated at the extremity, or prolonged into a sharp point. The greater number are what naturalists call imbricated, that is, lying slightly over each other like the tiles of a house; but almost all sea-serpents have the scales of a hexagonal form, with the epidermis very thin.

The median line of the lower parts is usually covered by a range of broad scaly plates, of much larger dimensions than the ordinary lateral and dorsal scales; and the caudal plates are generally different from those of the abdomen. The latter form a single uniform range from the anus to the throat, where they disappear. They are sometimes narrow, as in the genera Boa, Tortrix, &c., and in such cases resemble the scales of the back; but in the far greater number they are so broad as to encroach even on the flanks, and thus occupy a large proportion of the circumference of the body. The plates beneath the tail do not form a single central range, except in Boa, Eryx, and a few other Ophidians, the majority of the order having the part in question provided with a double row of plates. We may add that the terminal plates of the abdomen also not unfrequently partake of this divided character.

The head of Ophidian reptiles is rarely clothed with scales of a character similar to those of the body. They are larger, and of a more determinate and symmetrical form; and as they offer distinctive characters of easy application, they have received from M. Schlegel various names, in accordance with the position they occupy, such as vertical, occipital, superciliary, frontal, rostral, labial, ocular, frenal, temporal, mental, and gular.¹

The system of coloration which prevails among these insidious creatures is very varied, and admits of numerous exceptions to any general laws which we might attempt to establish in its illustration. In numerous species there is a beautiful accordance between the tinting of the body and the colour of the places they inhabit; thus many tree-serpents are of a uniform greenish hue, exactly similar to that of the foliage by which they are overshadowed, while several kinds of Dendrophis and Dryiophis seem rather to imitate the small and leafless branches. In the genus Dipsas the colours recall to mind those of the mossy trunks of ancient trees; fresh-water snakes are usually of a sombre uniform hue; while the marine species partake of those clearer tints of green and blue which beautify the pellucid billows of the up-heaving sea. Such as dwell in dry and desert lands are often to be scarcely distinguished from the parched sand by which they are surrounded; while others, which affect a more varied soil and richer vegetation, are adorned with the gay and gorgeous colour-

ing of flowers, or the metallic splendour of the mineral kingdom. Several have their bodies encircled by alternate bands of crimson and black upon a pearly-white or delicate yellow ground, and present an aspect as richly adorned as any we can discover throughout the entire range of the animal world. Among the more beautiful may be mentioned Coronella venustissima and coccinea, Lycodon formosus, several species of Tortrix and Heterodon, the majority of the genus Elaps, Naja lubrica, Dendrophis ornata, and Dipsas macrorhina. Numerous other species are equally remarkable, both for the splendour and diversity of colour by which they are adorned; but as these bright hues are subject to numerous causes of variation, from age, sex, and season, it results that among no order of created beings is the always uncertain character of colour to be less depended on than among the subjects of our present dissertation. It seems, however, established as a general law, that the younger individuals have the liveliest and most distinct tints, and that these in more aged examples are not unfrequently effaced, or fade away, as we find in Coluber canus and melanurus, Homalopsis buccata, Xenodon severus, and others. The power of speedy and spontaneous change of colour does not, however, seem to be a possession of the Ophidian order, as it is of so many of the Saurian tribes. Yet a few of the arboreal serpents have been occasionally observed to modify their living tints from time to time.

The natural colours of these creatures can scarcely be judged of from specimens imported to our cabinets from foreign climes. The spirit in which they are preserved is not the spirit of beauty. Black, brown, ochry-yellow, and several other tints, do not altogether lose their lustre; and Calamaria arctiventris and brachyorrhos, Tortrix maculata and xenopeltis, Coronella rufula, Lycodon Hebe and subcinctus, Coluber constrictor, Esculapii, and melanurus, and several kinds of Naja, Homalopsis, and Vipera, may be named among those which are most easily preserved.

In discussing the various branches of natural history, it is the practice of authors to state the uses of each particular tribe of animals to the human race. We fear that in relation to our present subjects a single paragraph may suffice. Serpents certainly confer benefit by destroying other injurious creatures, such as small mammiferous vermin, worms, insects, and mollusca of various kinds. They were formerly used in medicine, though that practice, we believe, is now confined to the ignorant and superstitious; yet it has been recently stated that Dr Marikrosky, of Rosenau in Hungary, has employed the gall of serpents with success in epileptic cases.² It is well known that the flesh of the viper has been highly esteemed, both by ancient and modern physicians, as a restorative and strengthening diet. This idea, as Dr Shaw has well observed, seems to have originated from the reptile casting its skin, a natural process, viewed by the vulgar as a renovation of youth; and a snake being made the emblem of health, and consecrated to Esculapius, may have depended on the same idea. The flesh of the viper was used by the ancients in leprosy and other cases. "The Greek physician Craterus, mentioned so often by Cicero in his Epistles to Atticus, cured, as Porphyrius relates, a miserable slave, whose skin in a strange manner fell off from his bones, by advising him to feed on vipers' flesh in the manner of fish. Antonius Musa, physician to Octavius Cæsar (Augustus), is said by Pliny to have ordered the eating of vipers in the case of otherwise incurable ulcers, which by this method were quickly healed; and Galen says that those who are afflicted with elephantiasis are wonderfully relieved by eating vipers' flesh dressed like eels."³ According to Lopez, the Negroes of the coast of Congo eat roasted adders, and regard them as delicious

¹ See Physiognomie des Serpens, l. 60.
VOL. XIX.

² Hufeland, Journ. Ann. 1831, cah. 10.

³ General Zoology, lii. 372.

food. It is well known that the credulous Sir Kenelm Digby, with a view to recover his wife, the Lady Venetia, from consumption, caused her to feed on capons fattened with vipers. The flesh of the viper is still used in Italy and Spain as a remedy in consumption. But we need not detain our readers with more of these, at best, ambiguous views. To proceed with our natural history.

In European countries the copulation of serpents usually takes place, in fine weather, during the months of April and May, and three or four months elapse before the eggs are laid. Incubation is effected within the body of the female; for, on opening an egg immediately after exclusion, we almost always find a fetus more or less developed, sometimes entirely formed. In the latter case, the so-called shell is merely a delicate membrane, through which the young can force their way, even at the moment of parturition. In the greater number of species, however, the eggs are composed externally of a resistant covering resembling parchment, the young being very imperfectly formed at the period of deposition, and requiring sometimes a month or more before they are hatched. It is merely this difference in the times of final exclusion that constitutes the distinction between the viviparous and oviparous kinds, these being otherwise essentially the same. All Ophidians are in truth oviparous; and those naturalists are in error who compare this seemingly viviparous generation to that of mammiferous animals, in which the young are nourished by the placenta of the mother. According to M. Herholdt,¹ the conditions most favourable to the development of these embryos are humidity, produced by a feeble vegetable fermentation, with a proportional temperature (between + 20° and + 6° R.), and under circumstances likely to favour absorption and evaporation through the external tunic of the egg. Hence their love of dunghills, or heaps of leaves piled up in places open to the sun.

The supposition entertained by many is incorrect, that poisonous serpents always produce living young, and that the innocuous kinds as constantly deposit eggs. This diversity in the generative process does not seem to bear any relation to the organization of the species; at least we find the two modes exemplified in nearly-related species of the same genus. Thus the harmless Coronella laevis produces young as lively as those of the common viper; Boa murina is also viviparous; while the deadly Najas and several others lay eggs. The number of young ones varies in different species. M. Schlegel did not find above ten in several kinds of Calamaria, from twenty to twenty-five in the genus Coluber, and above thirty in Trigonoccephalus atrox. The offspring usually differ from their parents in being of more lively colours, with the head blunter and rounder, the eyes larger, and the scales and other appendages of the epidermis less raised. They are, however, furnished with teeth exactly like those of their respective parents, and of which they do not fail, when occasion offers, to make speedy use. The venomous kinds instinctively elevate and depress their poison-fangs, as if ready from the first to defend themselves against that persecution to which their race is subjected. The European kinds are known to change their skins about five times every summer; that is, once a month from the end of April to the beginning of September. They are capable of long-continued abstinence, independent of the lethargic state into which the northern species fall in winter. A Boa constrictor sent from Surinam to Holland fasted continuously for six months. The age to which serpents attain is to us unknown.

Destitute of the power of long-continued locomotion, serpents never attempt to travel far from the places of their birth; and thus, even in our own days, they still represent more accurately than do the other classes of the animal kingdom the positions in which they may be supposed to have been originally placed.

One of the most curious general facts in the distribution of serpents is their apparent absence (at least so far as the land species are concerned) from the numerous islands of the vast Pacific Ocean,—a circumstance not altogether to be accounted for by the isolation of these various groups, seeing that those of the Indian Archipelago particularly abound with serpents. Another fact seems still more firmly established, that the reptiles of the New World are all specifically different from those of the Old,—a peculiar feature in the history of their class, in so far as some quadrupeds and birds are common to both countries. At the same time it may be borne in mind, that it is only the species of very northern portions of the two continents which are in any case identical, and that as these northern portions are almost, if not entirely, destitute of reptile life, the field is greatly narrowed, so far as that form of existence is concerned. The snakes of South America are in general very distinct from those of the northern portions of the New World, although a few are identical. Several of the southern species inhabit the West Indies and the warmer parts of the United States, where they form what may be termed climatic varieties. Other species more characteristic of a large extent of North America, reach as far south as Mexico and the Antilles. America in general, especially its equatorial districts, is almost as rich in snakes as the Indian islands. It is otherwise with New Holland, where these reptiles are by no means numerous, but where the species are peculiar to the country. The serpents of Japan seem, without exception, to belong to a particular species not hitherto observed in other quarters of the world. The numerous islands of the great archipelago of the Indian Ocean produce in several instances identical species, and these, moreover, are not unfrequently the same as those of Malacca, Bengal, Hindustan, and Ceylon. If we may judge from the few known species, the serpents of Madagascar may be regarded as peculiar to that vast island. Africa, compared with other great equatorial continents, cannot be said to be very rich in these reptiles. Its southern portions produce species entirely different from those of Europe and of other countries; but these species have a wide range in Africa itself, being in many cases spread over all its intertropical regions, and even its northern parts. These comparatively northern countries, in addition to some peculiar species, produce several others which likewise inhabit the shores of both sides of the Mediterranean. Many of our European serpents are found over a large portion of temperate Asia,—a region which appears to produce but a small proportion of peculiar species.

The geographical distribution of families and genera,—these being viewed as representing various leading forms,—affords an equally curious subject of observation. We may notice, in the first place, that the venomous sorts are distributed, with the exception of a few islands, over whatever countries produce serpents of any kind. These venomous species bear no determinate co-relation, as is often supposed, to intense heat; for they occur in cold and temperate countries equally with innocuous kinds. But their aggregate number is much more limited than that of the latter; for while we reckon the total number of known Ophidians at 263,² we do not find above fifty-seven

¹ Oversigt. 1830, p. 4.

² We here follow the computation of M. Schlegel, who probably proceeds upon the idea, that the actual species have been nominally multiplied by the misapplication (and duplication) of various names. The amount must have been considerably greater in Humboldt's opinion, as that illustrious writer incidentally states that equatorial America produces 115 serpents out of the 320 which form the Ophidian order. Daudin, even in his time, described about 313 supposed species, of which 80 are regarded as venomous and 233 as in-

Ophidian Reptiles. of these endowed with injurious attributes,—that is, the proportion is not much more than one to five. This proportion, however, is not maintained throughout the various countries of the globe,—the venomous kinds seeming to be comparatively more numerous in open sterile countries. Of this, Africa and New Holland furnish examples,—the venomous species of the former continent being to the innocuous kinds as one to two or three, while of the ten species (or thereabouts) of ascertained New Holland species, not fewer than seven are venomous. In general, the number of individuals of each species is much more limited among the venomous kinds, as these live in an isolated manner, and rarely multiply so as to become abundant. Local circumstances sometimes favour an exception to this rule, as in the case of the Trigonocephalus lanceolatus of Martinique and St Lucia, and that of the Dalmatian Viperus ammodytes. The sea-snakes, all of which are poisonous, are likewise of a gregarious nature.

Excepting the anomalous group called Tortrix, there does not seem to exist any genus of serpents which is spread over all countries capable of maintaining reptile life; and this restriction seems to illustrate the intimate relation which subsists between the organization of these beings, and the countries they inhabit. For example, the Colubers properly so called, which are destined to dwell in countries which are either well wooded, or marshy with abundant vegetation, have not yet been observed in New Holland, and are so rare in South Africa that only a single species has been found there, and that of a somewhat anomalous nature, in so far as its characters exhibit an approach to those of species which dwell by preference in sandy deserts. A similar observation applies nearly to the genus Coronella, composed of species which inhabit marshy plains, or such as are covered by brushwood. None of these occur in New Holland (which is noted for its frequent want of water), while the South African kinds differ from the typical species of the genus. The tree-serpents are characteristic of equatorial countries, inhabiting of course only those portions which fulfil the conditions of their existence,—that is, are well wooded. The three genera which compose the family are found both in the Old and New World; but it is noticeable that the species of the genus Dipsas of America do not attain to so great a size as the majority of those of India; while the genus Dryophis in America forms a true geographical division of the group, in so far as the dental system and muzzle are less developed, and the pupil of the eye is orbicular. The fresh-water snakes, comprised in the genera Tropidodonotus and Homalopsis, occur abundantly in countries rich in permanent lakes, and watered by continuous rivers. They are thus well known in Asia, America, and even Europe, but are extremely rare in Africa, and unknown in New Holland. The genus Homalopsis, indeed, which contains the essentially aquatic species, does not occur in Africa, but predominates in the New World, so rich and unrivalled in its mighty reservoirs of water.

The geographical distribution of the Boas exhibits some facts worthy of record. The whole are peculiar to warm countries. The genuine species are confined to South America; their analogues in the ancient world being the Pythons of India, although in the latter country we also find several serpents very similar to Boas, but of very small size, and of which none exists in the Western World, except a single representative in the island of Cuba. The genus Acrochordus forms a limited group, entirely confined to the East Indies. Of the venomous serpents, it is chiefly the vipers, and perhaps a few rattle-snakes, which make their way into temperate or colder countries, the majority of the genera occurring in intertropical regions. Of the colubriform venomous serpents, the genus Elaps is the only one which occurs in both worlds; and it is not improbable that the American species will be found to constitute a geographical group, distinguished by their peculiar coloration, and certain small distinctions even in form. The Indian species of the genus last named are longitudinally striped, instead of being ringed with red and black, while those of New Holland present some anomalous features. The genus Bungarus is proper to the East Indies, where also are found certain Najas, although the majority of these prefer a drier and more sandy soil,—a circumstance which explains their greater predominance in Africa and New Holland. The fact does not seem to admit of easy explanation, that salt-water serpents should be found almost exclusively in the Indian seas, from Malabar to the great Pacific Ocean. In regard to the venomous kinds properly so called, of the three genera of which that division is composed it may be observed, that one, Viperus, is proper to the ancient world; that another, Crotalus, is confined to the new; while a third, Trigonocephalus, occurs in both. These last-named reptiles dwell in great forests or in well-wooded countries, and for that reason are not observed either in Africa or New Holland, where they are replaced by vipers; but it may be mentioned that the viper of New Holland is an anomalous species, while such as inhabit Europe equally depart from the typical form, and tend towards that of Trigonocephalus. In the genus just named two divisions may be established,—one composed of species with the head clothed with scales, and which inhabit more particularly tropical countries; another formed of species with the head covered by scaly plates, and which extend into temperate regions.

The preceding are a few of the most general facts in the distribution of Ophidian reptiles. We shall now notice some of those peculiarities which distinguish particular continents,—and, first, of Europe. We here find no species of the genera Calamaria, Heterodon, or Lycodon, no genuine tree-serpents, no species of Homalopsis or Boa. We never meet in Europe with any salt-water serpents, nor with any of the colubriform venomous kinds; and the poisonous tribes in general are represented merely by a few vipers. That the entire order of Ophidian reptiles has its great centre of dominion in sultry regions, is made manifest by the fact,

nocuous, which gives a greater proportion to the former than they are at present entitled to. Nearly 400 different kinds of serpents are believed to exist in the Paris Museum, although we know not with what degree of critical accuracy that enumeration has been made; but several Ophidians, not true serpents, are included in the lists of others, which are excluded in the enumeration of Schlegel.

We do not ourselves possess the means of ascertaining the total number of reptiles now known to naturalists; but the following table exhibits the amount (as in 1834) in the National Museum of Paris, compared with the number described in the works of three principal writers on the class in question:—

We may conclude this note by observing, that the unfortunate Wagler, in his Naturliches System der Amphibien, 4 vols., Munich, 1830, with folio atlas of plates, has described no fewer than 248 genera of the reptile race.

that the temperate and northern parts of Europe produce no peculiar species, that is, no species which do not occur equally, if not more abundantly, in the southern districts of the continent, where we likewise find several kinds native to the neighbouring countries of Asia and Africa. Limits, however, may be assigned to several species, and this circumstance naturally gives rise to some curious observations. The common viper, for example, inhabits all the central parts of Europe, and is even spread over temperate Asia as far as Lake Baikal. It is well known in Sweden, spreads westwards into Britain, is frequent in Jura, Islay, and some others of our western islands, but is unknown in Ireland. The western boundary, however, of the great mass of individuals of this species may be stated to be the river Seine, while the Alps appear to form its southern limit.¹ In the southern portion of western Europe our viper is replaced by another species called the asp (Vipera aspis), which spreads from Trieste over Italy into Sicily, through Switzerland and over France, passing beyond the Seine towards the Pyrenees, and into Spain. The southern parts of the east of Europe produce a third species of this genus, Vipera ammodytes, which we find to spread from Styria as far as the south of Hungary, and into Greece, Dalmatia, Sicily, and probably likewise Calabria. This distribution of so nearly-allied species seems modified by, if not dependent on, the nature of the territories which each inhabits. The first prefers, in general, heathy lands and places of a rather moist and wooded character, the second affects a dry and arid country, while the third rejoices in a rocky region. No local or climatic varieties of these vipers have been yet observed; but it is otherwise with several other snakes, which have a widely extended distribution over Europe; for example, Coronella leavis, and Tropidonotus natrix and viperinus. These species, of which the former two inhabit almost the whole of northern and central Europe, the last not extending further than the fiftieth degree of north latitude, occur equally in the south of Europe, where they form well-marked local varieties. Thus, in Spain, Trop. viperinus has the back longitudinally rayed; and a corresponding character occurs in Sardinia in relation to a species common in that island, while the Sicilian individuals present some slight additional disparities. Coronella leavis forms in Italy a peculiar climatic variety, of a paler hue than usual, which extends as far north as Marseilles. Coluber Esculapii, which inhabits the south of Germany, is also found in Dalmatia, Italy, and Provence. Col. viridiflavus has been observed over all the south of Europe, Greece, Hungary, Dalmatia, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and as far north as France and Switzerland. Col. hippocrepis occurs in Spain and Sardinia, while Col. leopardinus is a native of Sicily, Dalmatia, and Greece; but, so far as known, neither of these kinds is met with in Italy. Neither has Pammophis lacertina, so common in Dalmatia, in Spain, and a large portion of France, been ever found either in Italy or the adjacent islands. The southern countries of Europe produce several serpents which are not characterized by a great extent of distribution. Such are Xenodon Michahellis of Spain, and Pammophis Dahlii of Dalmatia (the latter, however, which approaches the tree-serpents in its slenderly elongated form, being found also in Greece), and Tortrix eryx, confined to Greece as a European species, but elsewhere well known amid African and Asiatic deserts.

A careful and more extended study of the distribution of animal life in Africa would be found to illustrate many curious relations both in descriptive zoology and physical geography. No other continent furnishes more striking proofs of the connection between the natural characters of

a country and its animal inhabitants. Thus, after acquiring some knowledge of the physical constitution of Africa, we might almost predicate the prevailing features of its natural history. The leading character of this continent is the presence of vast sandy plains or deserts, and elevated plateaus, of which the vegetation is either entirely extinguished, or held by a precarious tenure. Acted upon continually by a burning sun, the flat unvaried surface is altogether unfit for the production of those vapours which, in a state of atmospheric condensation, produce our refreshing showers of frequent moisture, and the more stormy accessories of hail and snow. The great mountain ranges being few and far between, the intermediate regions possess no perennial fountains of refreshing water, no "clouds of morning dew," to clothe their arid wastes with verdure. Hence the absence of that mighty power which in America slumbers amid the most unpeopled wilderness, and makes, when aided by the hand of man, the "desert blossom as the rose." It results from the fact of so large a portion of Africa being destitute of rivers, and consequently of forests and other lowlier vegetation, that we there find but a small number of those animals which inhabit woods and fresh waters, while such as are fitted to scour over vast plains occur in great abundance. Hence the absence of stags and the existence of vast troops of antelopes; hence also the scarcity of squirrels and other wood-haunting Rodentia, and the increase of certain swift-footed terrestrial kinds. The characters of reptile life exhibit an equal conformity with the spirit of these observations. Africa produces perhaps a greater number of land-tortoises than all other portions of the world combined; but the fresh-water kinds, with the exception of a single Emys, and one or two species of the genus Trionyx, are nearly unknown, while frogs and toads are also few in number. The same observation applies in reference both to the aquatic serpents and the wood-loving kinds. The genera Dryiophis and Homalopsis are entirely wanting, and not more than one or two species are known of each of the genera Dipsas, Dendrophis, and Tropidonotus. In so vast a continent, however, in spite of its prevailing character of aridity, there must be numerous exceptions; and we know how far-flowing are the waters of the Nile and the Niger, how lofty and continuous the mighty mountains of Abyssinia. Many an unbragacious river, we doubt not, still rolls its crystal waters directly towards the all-absorbing sea, or fills up the glassy depth of unimaginated lakes, whose beautiful shores are haunted by many unknown forms of existence.—

Fair creatures, to whom Heaven
A calm and sinless life, with love, hath given.

Our knowledge of African snakes, however, is still insufficient to admit of any accurate geographical sketch of their distribution being laid before our readers, for we have no data on which to assign limits to the majority even of the best-known species. Egypt and Abyssinia, Algiers, a part of Senegambia, the coast of Guinea, and the Cape,— these are the chief points from which any precise knowledge has been derived. Yet we may hazard the assertion, that Africa in general is much poorer in reptiles, particularly serpents, than either Asia or America. The number of genera is equally circumscribed; and the same observation applies to our present class as has been made in relation both to the higher animals and plants of Africa, to wit, that the species of certain genera are very numerous, and that several different kinds often inhabit the same places. Towards the southern extremity of the continent we meet with four species of the genus Coronella, as many of the genus Noja, and three Vipers. The other genera which

¹ It is indeed alleged to have been met with, though sparingly, in the valley of the Po, and as far as the Florentine territory.

Ophidian Reptiles occur there have each only a single representative. These reptiles belong almost without exception to species peculiar to the African continent. Lycodon Horstokii and Naja rhombeata occur on the coast of Guinea, which produces likewise Psammophis moniliger,—but a local variety, resembling that which is found in Egypt. In Senegambia we find three species of tree-serpents, of the genus Dendrophis, which differ from those of the Cape, but of which one (Den. picta) is spread over a vast extent of the Asiatic world, as far south-eastwards as New Guinea. The inter-tropical countries of Africa produce Python bivittatus, characterized by an equally great extension, as it is found both in Java and the Chinese empire. Viperus arietans of the Cape is found as far north as Abyssinia, where it forms a variety of a paler hue. Northern Africa produces several serpents of species different from those of other parts of that continent. Such are Tortrix eryx and Vipera cecis, which elsewhere inhabit as far south as Hindustan,—the Cerastes, a species of Dipsas, and several kinds of Coluber. Other species, such as Naja haje and Psammophis moniliger, differ more or less from their southern representatives. The Mediterranean countries of Africa nourish several kinds which occur in the south of Europe; and this analogy between the two continents is very striking when we compare, not the serpents alone, but the zoological productions in general, of Barbary, with those of Portugal and Spain. No serpents have been yet observed in the islands situate within the radius of Africa, and it appears certain that they do not exist in the Canary Islands.

The great island of Madagascar, of which the natural productions are as yet but slightly known, appears to be zoologically allied to Africa chiefly by the species of its western side; and although the eastern slopes of its great mountain chain exhibit features of an Asiatic character, its totality presents a very distinct and peculiar complexion. With the exception of Tropidonotus schistosus, all the known serpents belong to particular and elsewhere undiscovered species. For example, the Lanogaya, an anomalous and very remarkable species of Dryiophis Herpetodryas Goudotii and Rhodogaster, and Dipsas Gaimardii, are all peculiar to Madagascar. The Mauritius produces a very beautiful species, Coluber miniatus, and a small Boa (B. Dussmieri) of an extremely attenuated form. From the Seychelles Islands we know of no serpent but a species of the genus Psammophis.

With the exception of its two magnificent Indian peninsulas, Asia is not so productive as might be expected of the reptile race. The temperature of a vast portion of the loftier and central, and a fortiori of the northern districts, is subjected to a low temperature during many months of the year. We know that Northern Asia, Siberia more especially, produces several animals of the higher orders, identical with some which inhabit the more rigorous parts of Europe; but the alleged identity of the Siberian species of Tropidonotus and Viperus may possibly require confirmation. A curious Ophidian, peculiar to the southern countries of Siberia, is Trigonocephalus halys, intermediate organically between the vipers of Europe and those species of its own genus which have the head furnished with scaly plates. The deserts to the south of the Caspian Sea, which are prolonged on the one side into Hindustan, on the other by means of the Iran, into Arabia and Syria, thus connecting with the desert tracts of Africa, produce a few species common alike to corresponding portions of both continents. We are still in almost total ignorance of the snakes of the great plateaus and other portions of Central India.

The reptiles of Japan present this peculiarity, that while the Batrachian and Chelonian orders exhibit several species identical with those of Europe (Rana esculenta and temporaria, Hyla arborea, Emys vulgaris, &c.), the Saurian and Ophidian groups seem to consist of species alto-

gether unknown in Europe. However, we know as yet but in part, for the Japanese species hitherto collected comprise, in addition to the genus Hydromphis, merely three species of Coluber, two of Tropidonotus, and a single Trigonocephalus.

The island of Ceylon, though not extremely remote from the coast of Coromandel, produces several serpents not known in continental India, such as Tortrix maculata, Calamaria seytale, Lycodon carinatus, and two species of Trigonocephalus,—Trig. hypnale and nigromarginatus. It is along the Ceylonese shores that we first perceive certain species of the genus Hydromphis, those singular snakes which dwell exclusively in the sea, and occur from the island in question over all the intertropical marine waters east of Malabar, and as far as Polynesia. The number of Ophidian species which inhabit the Gangetic Peninsula, without spreading into the great islands of the Indian Archipelago, is limited. Such, however, are Tortrix eryx, Coronella Russelii and octolineata, several species of Coluber and Lycodon, Dipsas trigonata, several kinds of Tropidonotus, Elaps trimaculatus, and some vipers. The great islands themselves, with their smaller dependencies, are regarded by M. Schlegel as presenting a most interesting field for the study of zoological geography, and the observation of those local races, constituted by the diversities observable in apparently identical species placed in different localities. These islands are of the first rank as to size, situate within the tropics, covered by an abundant vegetation, and inhabited by innumerable tribes of living creatures of every class and kind. They are separated from each other by seas of no great breadth, yet sufficient to present, as matters are now constituted, an insurmountable barrier to the migration of the majority of species. Now when we find the same creatures inhabiting many different and distant islands having no communication with each other, we may reasonably infer that each insulated tract of land has borne its own inhabitants since the relations of our earth's surface became as they now exist, and that the individuals of each species form in every island a family group, which will exhibit, when compared with the corresponding species in other islands, certain modifications produced by the disparities of their position. Experience has proved the accuracy of this assumption. It has not unfrequently happened, that the same species has been discovered to inhabit Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Timor, the Celebes, the Philippine Islands, and continental Asia, and in each locality has been observed to present some constant though extremely slight distinction. Now it would never do to regard these as so many distinct species. They are only local or climatic varieties, the origin of which may be obscure or incomprehensible (as are many things besides), but which we doubt not would show their identity, by each recognising the individuals of their kind, and by breeding together, could they be transported from one to another of their sea-girt isles. Innumerable examples of these climatic differences might be adduced, were we to extend our observations throughout the vast range of the animal kingdom; but here a few examples from the reptile races must suffice. The Najas from the isles of Sunda constantly differ in several characters from those of Bengal and the Philippine Islands. Tortrix rufa from the Celebes is distinguishable from individuals of the same species from Bengal and Java, by the uniform tint of the back, and by two small spots upon the occiput. Calamaria oligodon of Java exhibits in Sumatra a difference in the dorsal tinting, and forms in Ceylon and the Philippine Islands a third local variety of great beauty. Analogous differences exist between the individuals of Coronella baliodeira of Java and Sumatra. Lycodon Hebe of Java is smaller in size, and not so pale in colour, as that same species in Bengal, while those from Timor are still more diminutive, and of darker hue. The

beautiful Coluber melanurus inhabits Java, Sumatra, and the Celebes; but the individuals from the last-named locality have the nape of the neck constantly adorned by an angular black mark. Herpetodryas oxycephalus is of a beautiful grass-green colour in Java; but this pure tint becomes embrowned in Borneo, and in Celebes appears almost black upon the dorsal region. Dendrophis picta inhabits almost all the intertropical countries of the Old World, from Senegal to New Guinea, but varies considerably at distant points of such a vast and surprising distribution. Dryiophis nasuta of Bengal and the Mariannas has in Java the abdomen rayed with yellow. Dryiophis prasina, common in the isles of Sunda, exhibits a local variety in the Celebes; and Tropidonotus quincunciatus, a species widely spread through India, has in Java the spots confluent, so that the dorsal portion seems rayed with black. Trop. chrysargos of Sumatra bears a different aspect from that species in the Celebes, while both vary from the individuals found in Java. Homalopsis Schneideri, which is spread from India to New Guinea, exhibits several varieties in different regions. The great Python bivittatus occurs in China, the isles of Sunda, both the Indian peninsulas, and Ceylon, and is, moreover, distributed across Africa as far as Senegambia. In this vast extent of territory it exhibits some considerable variations, which, when the extreme differences merely are regarded, and the intermediate links kept out of view, have caused it to be described, in its different aspects, as distinct species, all however referable, in Mr Schlegel's opinion, to one and the same. Elaps furcatus and bivirgatus exhibit a different distribution of colours in Sumatra from what they do in Java; but it may be stated as a general fact, that almost all the known serpents of the former island have been found also in the latter. Indeed a considerable number of these insular Ophidians occur likewise both in Hindustan and Bengal.

It is a singular circumstance, that the two most remarkable species of the genus Trigonoccephalus (Trig. punicus and rhodostoma) have hitherto been observed only in Java; while Trig. viridis, so common in India, Bengal, Sumatra, and Timor, does not occur in the first-named island. The genus Bungarus, on the other hand, which inhabits Ceylon, Hindustan, and Bengal, does not occur in any other of the great eastern islands, except Java. In the Celebes we find many peculiar forms of animal life, combined with others well known elsewhere. Among the serpents we find there a beautiful species of Herpetodryas (Herp. dipsas), and Dipsas irregularis, which also occurs in Amboyna. Several species are absolutely the same as those of Java and Sumatra, although a few form permanent local varieties, which exhibit some slight disparities of colour. Such are Tortrix rufa, Coluber melanurus, Herpetodryas oxycephalus, Dryiophis prasina, Dipsas dendrophilus, and Tropidonotus chrysargos. Of the Moluccas our knowledge is extremely slight, being confined chiefly to the island of Amboyna. We there find three or four serpents, likewise known as Javanese species; but it does not appear that the isles of Sunda produce Lycodon modestus, Boa carinata, Dendrophis rhodopleuron, or Python amethystinus. Timor is in some measure intermediate in its productions between Java and the Moluccas. Its Python is perhaps different from that of Amboyna, and it produces a singular Homalopsis (H. leucobalia). Lycodon Hebe is there of a deeper tint than in Java; and Coluber radiatus is represented in Timor by Col. subradiatus,—a species analogous, but not the same. New Guinea and the adjacent islands produce several new species. We know little of the reptiles of the Philippines, though a few have been collected in the environs of Manila, in the island of Luçon; and these clearly establish the curious fact, that the species of that island bear a strong analogy to those of Ceylon,—not a few being identical. The Noja of the Philippines belongs to the ordinary variety

of N. tripudians, as it occurs in India, and which always differs in some measure from the same species from the isles of Sunda.

The vast insular continent of New Holland is as yet but slightly known, most of its ascertained productions having been sent only from a few limited localities; but the anomalous and extraordinary character of its productions may even now be fairly inferred. The snakes seem peculiar, and almost all belong to the venomous division. No water species have as yet been seen there. It has already been observed, that the innumerable islands of the great Pacific Ocean are believed to be unproductive of serpents. The Mariannas, however, form an exception to this general rule, and Dampier mentions green serpents as inhabitants of the Gallipagos.

A few brief notices of the serpents of the New World may terminate the geographical department of our subject. On comparing the species of the two great continents of America with each other, we observe some interesting parallels. The rattle-snake, Crotalus horridus, so common over a large extent of South America, is represented in the northern territories by Crot. durissus, as is Coronella venustissima by Cor. coccinea. This kind of comparison, however, applies but to a few species, for the majority of kinds produced by one of the continents differ from those of the other. Thus, the genera Tortrix, Dipsas, Dendrophis, Boa, have as yet been found only in South America, or as far north as the Antilles, while Tropidonotus, on the contrary, is not found in the southern continent, though frequent in the northern, from which it likewise extends to parts of the West Indies. A small number, however, of southern species are found also in North America, such as Calamaria melanocephala, Lycodon celtia, Coronella celtia, Herpetodryas cursor, Dryiophis Catesbyi, Elaps corallinus, Homalopsis carinicauda; while in like manner Heterodon platyrhinus, and Herpetodryas astivus, which may be regarded rather as northern species, have been ascertained to inhabit Brazil. The following species of North American reptiles also inhabit the Antilles; Calamaria striatula, Coronella coccinea, Heterodon platyrhinus, Coluber constrictor, Herpetodryas astivus and cursor, Tropidonotus bipunctatus, fasciatus, and saerita. Those next named also occur in the Antilles, although their proper country is South America; Calamaria melanocephala, Coronella regina, Lycodon celtia, Dendrophis liocercus, Dryiophis Catesbyi and aurata, Dipsas annulata, Homalopsis angulata, Boa constrictor and cenechria, and Elaps corallinus. The species peculiar to these West Indian islands are very few in number, the most characteristic being Psammophis Antillensis, Trigonoccephalus lanceolatus, Dendrophis Catesbyi, and Boa melanura. On comparing the snakes of Guiana with those of Brazil, we find many species common to both countries, several, however, forming local varieties more or less distinct, as in the cases of Herpetodryas lineatus and Olfersii, Coluber poecilostoma, &c. Certain species are peculiar to one or other of the countries above named,—for example, Calamaria bodia, Xenodon typhlus, Coluber corais, Herpetodryas Boddaertii, Dendrophis aurata, Dryiophis Catesbyi and argentea, Homalopsis plicatilis, Elaps lemniscatus and Surinamensis, &c. have never been seen except in Guiana; while Calamaria Blumii, Coronella Merremii, Xenodon Scholtii and rhinostoma, Lycodon formosus, Herpetodryas serrata, Homalopsis carinicauda and Martii, are found only in Brazil. Other species, again, appear as it were to represent each other in these parts of South America, so that we may place in parallel, Coronella venustissima, Dipsas Mikani, Wegeli, leucocephala, and Nattereri, and Trigonoccephalus Jararaca, of Brazil, with Coronella venusta, Dipsas nebulata, Catesbyi, macrorhina, punctatissima, and Trigonoccephalus atra of Guiana. The other parts of South America are too little known to admit of any detailed comparison; but it

Ophidian Reptiles. may be observed, that of the species discovered in Chili, several are entirely new, and distinct from such as exist on this side the Cordilleras.¹

Notwithstanding the interest of the subject, we must now bring our general observations to a close, and proceed with a brief systematic sketch of the principal genera and species, referring the reader to M. Schlegel's work (and to those of the other Erpetologists here quoted) for more minute details. In conformity with the views of the author just named, we preserve the ancient subdivision of venomous and non-venomous kinds. The constant character of the former consists in being provided with a gland of a cellular structure, which secretes a very deleterious poison. Maxillary teeth, called fangs, of much greater length than the others, hollow interiorly, and furnished with openings at either extremity, for the entrance and exit of the poison, are the potent weapons with which these insidious reptiles inflict their fatal wounds. It is difficult, if not impossible, to assign to these serpents any certain character of external distinction, although there is something in their general aspect which points them out, even to the uninitiated, as dangerous neighbours. Their natural habits also offer this distinction, that the venomous kinds are almost always either terrestrial or marine, although Trig. viridis is slightly arboreal, and certain species of Naja occasionally occur in fresh water. But the colubriform venomous kinds so greatly resemble the innocent species, that professed naturalists have sometimes combined them with each other. Their most common characters consist in a thickish rounded muzzle, and a short, thick, conical tail. The marine serpents may be recognised by their flattened tails.

The constitution of the following families bears relation rather to the habits of life than the organic structure of the species they respectively contain. We follow the classification of M. Schlegel.

FIRST PRIMARY DIVISION. NON-VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

Family I.—Burrowing Serpents.

Genus TORTRIX. Body cylindrical, of nearly equal dimensions throughout; head small, obtuse, and covered by imperfectly developed plates; eyes small; nostrils narrow; gape not widely cleft; teeth short and conical; tail short. (Plate V., fig. 6.)

The species of this genus (which in M. Schlegel's work includes also Eryx and Xenopeltis of other authors) inhabit the warmer countries of both the Old and New World, preferring dry and sandy districts, in which they form narrow excavations. T. eryx occurs over a vast extent of territory, from Egypt to Hindustan, and is met with in the southern parts of Europe. The ground colour of the dorsal region is a beautiful red with numerous confluent spots, and bands of blackish brown; the under parts are yellow, the whole covered by small scales. The muzzle is obliquely truncated at the end. Length about two and a half feet. Abdominal plates 195, caudal twenty. Six other species are known, of which T. seytale is American, and, of all undoubtedly Ophidian reptiles, makes the nearest approach to those ambiguous genera Typhlops and Amphisbaena.²

Family II.—Worm-like Serpents.

Genus CALAMARIA. Body small and cylindrical, terminated by a short conical tail. Head uniform with the body. Plates in the muzzle few in number.

The majority of the genus have the lower surface of a fine vermilion hue, a colour frequent among reptiles which

inhabit low and moist abodes. They seldom exceed a foot in length, and are found in both the Americas, in Africa, Southern Asia, New Holland, and the Indian Archipelago. There are eighteen described species, of which one of the most curious is Cal. lumbricoida of Boie.³ Its body, though sometimes several feet long, does not exceed the thickness of a swan's quill. The colour is blackish-blue above, bluish below, with blackish spots, and a yellow ray along the sides. The scales are smooth, square, and disposed in thirteen rows. Abdominal plates from 190 to 217, caudal from sixteen to twenty-three. Eighteen species are known.

Family III.—Terrestrial Serpents.

Genus CORONELLA. Body somewhat pentagonal, thickening towards the centre. Head distinguishable from the neck, sometimes very broad at the base, depressed, the muzzle short, obtuse, and slightly truncated. Scales smooth, and disposed in from seventeen to nineteen longitudinal rows. Abdominal and caudal plates about 180 + 40.

The species of this genus are very alert in their movements, and defend themselves, when attacked, with great energy and perseverance. They are dispersed over almost all parts of the world (preferring plains and humid places), but have not as yet been observed in Japan or New Holland, and are rather rare in Asia. Specimens from South America are very frequent in collections. Cor. laevis is a well-known European species, which occurs in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and, from Sparrmann's description, appears to be among the number of the few Ophidians which inhabit Sweden.⁴ It is of a shining bay colour, ornamented by irregular black marks, which form a peculiar design upon the head. The under surface is yellowish, marked with square black spots. There are twenty-one rows of scales, and the plates are 175 + 55. This species is viviparous, that is, the young are hatched within the body of the mother. When attacked, it attempts to escape with great celerity, and when foiled in that intention, it fights with energy, bites furiously, and will scarcely allow itself to be taken alive. It cannot be lifted by the end of the tail (at least with impunity), as many serpents may, as it possesses the power of bending its body upwards, and wounding the hand of its captor. However, its bite, though disagreeable, is in no way dangerous. It is an excellent swimmer, but does not enter the water willingly. It is very fond of mice. About fourteen other species are known to naturalists.

Genus XENODON. General form heavy, head broad, muzzle short and truncated, body thick, abdomen flattened. Upper jaws provided posteriorly with a solid, elongated, compressed tooth. Scales smooth, and dispersed in rather oblique ranges, especially on the neck, which is capable of expansion. Plates of the head short and broad.

Of this genus the species are eight in number, and of these the individuals are by no means abundant. They are of large size, sometimes measuring from three to four feet in length, and, being thick in proportion, present a somewhat formidable aspect. They are usually characterized by a grayish-blue tint, and occur chiefly in Java and intertropical America. None have been as yet found in Africa or New Holland, but Xen. Michahelles inhabits the south of France and Spain.⁵ This species is distinguished by its short conical head, terminated by a prominent rostral plate. It has twenty-seven rows of scales, and 216 + 60 plates.

Genus HETERODON. Head not very distinguishable from the general form, which is slightly pentagonal, and almost of equal thickness throughout. Abdomen somewhat angular, and narrower than in Xenodon. Tail very short, and furnished beneath with divided plates. Rostral plate al-

¹ See Physiognomie des Serpents (distribution géographique), l. p. 195, et seq.

² Erpetologie de Java, pl. 22.

³ Figured by Wagler under the title of Rhinichthys Ayassii. Icones, pl. 25.

⁴ Museum Adolph. Fried. pl. 6, fig. 2.

⁵ Nouv. Schædel. Allmand. xvi. 180, pl. 7, f. A, B.

ways prominent, sometimes prolonged into a small upturned trunk. Three species are known.

All the species are natives of the New World. The prevailing colour is red, ringed or spotted by a deeper hue. Their manners are unknown, but it is presumed that they inhabit a dry and sandy soil. We shall here name only the harlequin snake of America (Het. coccineus), which inhabits Louisiana and the southern states.¹ The ground colour is a bright yellow, tending more or less to brown upon the back, which is adorned with above twenty broad round or oval spots, of a purplish-red colour, bordered with black. Its brilliant tints are effaced soon after death. "This beautiful snake," says M. Audubon, alluding, we believe, to our present species, "is rather rare in the United States, where I have observed it only in the south. It glides through the grass with ease, and ascends to the tops of bushes, and among the branches of fallen trees, to bask in the sun. Children are fond of catching it on account of its beauty. It feeds principally on insects, such as flies, and small Coleoptera."² This seems the species described by Herrera in his History of the West Indies, as inhabiting Mexico and the Floridas, where it is known by the name of Madre de Hormigas, on account of its frequenting the society of ants.

Genus LYCODON. Form usually thin, sometimes extremely slender. Anterior maxillary teeth longer than the others. Vertical and anterior frontal plates small and shortened, the occipitals rather long.

The species inhabit both the Old and New World. The prevailing tint is of an earthy hue, passing more or less into brownish or ochry-yellow, the majority of species being ornamented by a collar of a clearer colour. Several kinds are ringed with black, white, and red. The abdominal plates usually amount to 200, the caudal vary from fifty to a hundred. We know little of the habits of these reptiles, of which above a dozen species have been collected in different parts of the intertropical world.

Genus COLUBER. This genus, as originally established by Linnæus, contained all the Ophidian reptiles with subdivided caudal plates. The venomous kinds were afterwards removed, and the genus itself partitioned into several groups; but even then the genus Coluber properly so called continued to contain a vast amount of species. MM. Boie and Schlegel restricted it still farther; and although it is difficult to apply the distinctive notes of these writers, the genus is natural in itself, when we seek to recognise it rather by the general bearing and physiognomy of the species, than by means of isolated characters.

It contains all those innocuous serpents of considerable size, which hold, as it were, by the form and proportion of their particular parts, a central position among the other Ophidians. Their bodies, less contracted than those of the fresh-water kinds, are yet by no means so slender as those of the arboreal species. Their head is not so lengthened as that of the latter, but is less broad than that of the aquatic sorts. The tail, modified in accordance with the nature of the species, varies in its form, as these resemble or recede from the conterminous groups in their mode of life. It is thus that certain species of the genus Coluber are closely connected with Tropidomotus, or even Homalopsis, while others are linked with Herpetodryas, Psammophis, Coronella, or Xenodon. The muzzle is usually broad, thick, rounded, rather short, the nostrils lateral, open, and oblong. The head is always laterally angular, from whence results the lateral position of the eyes, of which the pupil is orbicular in form. The body varies in proportional thickness in the different species, but is usually compressed, and slightly

pentagonal. The abdomen is generally broad, convex, Non-venomous Serpents. rarely angular, and is covered by numerous plates, more closely set together than in other serpents, and sometimes amounting to nearly 300. The tail is almost always cylindrical and pointed, generally of medium length, rarely slender and elongated, occasionally short and conic, its inferior portion furnished with divided plates. 12 sp. are known.

Almost all the countries of the earth, of which the nature of the soil and climate is not altogether opposed to the existence of the Ophidian order, are inhabited by the genus Coluber. Only a single species, however, has been found in Southern Africa, and not one has yet occurred in New Holland. Their habits are what may be termed terrestrial, that is, they rarely enter water of their own accord, although several climb among shrubs and bushes with some celerity in search of prey. Several kinds occur in Europe, and those from intertropical countries measure in some instances from seven to eight feet. They are rarely adorned with brilliant colours, brown being the prevailing hue. Of some the markings are uniform, while others are spotted or longitudinally rayed. Of the European species, one of the best known and most extensively distributed is Col. Esculapii, which sometimes attains to the length of from four to five feet. The colour of the upper parts is olive-brown, beneath yellowish, or marbled with gray, with a paler collar. Abdominal plates 228, caudal seventy-nine.³ We have notes on the history of this species from MM. Host and Lenz. It is described as being extremely active in its movements, climbing trees with facility, but avoiding contact with water. It is oviparous, and feeds on lizards, frogs, and small birds, but takes no nourishment in captivity. When attacked, it defends itself with great determination; but when captured, becomes tame in a few days. In the museum of Vienna, several specimens of this Esculapian snake are preserved alive; and their manners are so gentle that children make playthings of them, and handle them for hours at pleasure.

The ancient Greeks adored the god of medicine in various places under diverse forms, but frequently in the guise of a serpent, as an emblem of sagacity, and an animal endowed with so many sanatory qualities, that several Hellenic peoples regarded the creature itself as the very Deity. It was especially so with the inhabitants of Epidaurus (a flourishing city of Peloponnesus), who in a sacred grove, the favourite abode of serpents, erected a magnificent temple in honour of these by us abhorred reptiles. The Roman people, when terrified by a great pestilence, which ravaged the capital (in their year 401), sent an embassy to Epidaurus in search of this imaginary god, whom they might have found in sufficient abundance near at hand. They entertained these slimy deities in the island formed by the Tiber, and where we may still see their figure sculptured in marble in the gardens of St Bartholomew.⁴ Chandler tells us, in his Travels, that the environs of Epidaurus still abound in harmless serpents.

The only other species we shall here notice is Coluber quater-radiatus, remarkable as being the largest of the Ophidian reptiles of Europe. According to Metaxa (in his Monograph of the Serpents of the Environs of Rome), it sometimes attains the length of seven feet. It occurs in Italy, the south of France and Spain, Dalmatia, Hungary, &c. Its prevailing colour is an ochry-yellow passing into brown, and somewhat deeper on the under surface. Two lines of darker brown run along the flanks, and a blackish line passes from the eye to the corner of the mouth. This species, in spite of its great size and formidable aspect, is

¹ Catesby's Carolina, pl. 60.

² Jacquin, Collectus, iv. 356, pl. 25 (Fem.), 27 (Mas).

³ Metaxa, p. 37;—and Aldrovandus, Serp. pl. 240. The above is not the species called Col. Esculapii by Linnæus, who misapplied the title to one of the coral snakes of America, Coronella renutissima of modern authors.

⁴ Ornithological Biography, vol. i. p. 278; and Birds of America, pl. 52.

Non-venomous Serpents. extremely gentle in its manners, and does not attempt to bite even when seized in its native haunts. It is very common in the fields near Tivoli, but is usually found on hillsides. There is a passage in Pliny¹ which relates that the Boas of Italy sometimes attain to so great a size that the entire body of an infant was found in the interior of one slain during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. The species just noticed is certainly the largest of all the Roman serpents, but its natural attributes in no way favour the reception of this preposterous story.² The largest species of the genus is Coluber corais of Surinam. There are twenty-seven different species described by M. Schlegel.

Genus HERPETODRYAS. This genus was established by the late M. Boë for the reception of certain species of Coluber (Col. carinatus, &c.), which combine the aspect and physiognomy of the preceding genus (to which they are closely allied) with the lengthened form and much of the habits of the arboreal serpents. Their colours are usually of a uniform greenish hue, sometimes passing into brown, or occasionally longitudinally rayed. The tail is generally long and slender, a character which, combined with the narrow and very angular abdomen, announces their arboreal disposition. Their manners are wild and distrustful, and they inhabit the warmer regions of both the Old and New World, with the exceptions, so far as yet known, of Africa and New Holland. We shall here name only Herp. carinatus, a Brazilian species, also common in Surinam. It is remarkable for having two central rows of dorsal scales, so that the total number of rows forms an equal number, a character unique in the Ophidian order. It varies greatly in its external markings.³ Schlegel describes nineteen species.

Genus PRAMMOPHIS. This little group may also be regarded as a dismemberment from Coluber, and brings us into still closer contact with the genuine tree-serpents. They offer an anomaly in their dentition, in as far as their posterior teeth, and those of the centre, are usually longer than the others, and furrowed. The head is elongated, the vertical plate very narrow. Some have the body thin and long drawn out, while others are more compact like Coluber. The species occur in India, Africa, and America; and Pram. lacertina is an European example well known in Dalmatia.⁴ They all prefer sandy soils, and prey chiefly upon Saurian reptiles. Green and brown are the prevailing colours, although several are longitudinally rayed, or have the head adorned by linear figures. Schlegel mentions eight species.

Family IV.—Arboreal or Tree-Serpents.

The members of this family are characteristic of the great forests of the tropical countries of Asia and America. They are rare in Africa, still more so in New Holland, and Europe produces only a few anomalous species. Their form is in general extremely elongated, they pass the greater portion of their time in trees and bushes, and prey both on birds and lizards.

Genus DENDROPHIS. Body compressed; abdomen (and sometimes the tail) angular, and furnished with very broad plates; scales narrow and elongated. Tail very slender. Head lengthened. Eye large, the pupil orbicular. (See Plate IV., fig. 5.)

These reptiles inhabit both the western and eastern world, but are rare in New Holland, and unknown in Europe. They climb trees with great facility, and are extremely quick in their general movements. They are frequently adorned by lively colours. Nearly a dozen species are known to naturalists. Schlegel has ten species.

Genus DRYIOPHIS. Muzzle slender and projecting. General form greatly elongated, the body compressed, the abdomen convex. Eye of moderate size.

The species of this genus are among the most remarkable of the innocuous serpents, their shape being so extraordinarily lengthened out, that many measure nearly five feet in length, and are yet no thicker than the little finger. Hence their Anglo-American name of coach-whip snakes, of one of which, first described by Catesby, it was absurdly believed by the Indians, "that it will by a jerk of its tail separate a man in two parts."⁵ The tail, of extreme slenderness, always measures half the length of the whole body; and the muzzle is often drawn out in the form of a pointed proboscis. These reptiles inhabit the torrid zone, or the countries near the tropics, in Asia and the two Americas. Although unknown in the continent of Africa, a species (D. langaha) occurs in Madagascar. The genus admits of a geographical division,—those of the ancient continent being characterized by grooved maxillary teeth, and the pupil of the eye elongated horizontally, while such as inhabit America have the teeth less developed, and the pupil orbicular. We may briefly notice Dryiophis nasuta (the Passeriki of Russel),⁶ a remarkable species of a beautiful grass-green colour above, the lower surface paler, and marbled with red. A white or yellow ray extends from behind the eye to the commissure of the lips, and another very distinct one passes along each side of the abdomen and tail. The muzzle is very sharp, and is terminated by a moveable fleshy appendage. (See Plate IV., figs. 7 and 9.) This kind occurs over a great extent of India and the great eastern islands, and is frequent in the environs of Vizagapatam. It lives in trees, and its manners are described as being even ferocious. Its bite, however, is attended by no other bad consequences than the pain of the wound; but the common people deem it dangerous, as directing its attacks chiefly at the eyes of the passers by. There is an Indian whip-snake (probably not of this genus) common in the Concan, where it is described as concealing itself among the foliage of trees, from which it darts at cattle grazing below, generally also aiming at the eye. A bull which was thus wounded at Dazagon tore up the ground with extreme fury, and died in half an hour, foaming at the mouth. This habit of the reptile is truly singular,—for it seems to proceed neither from resentment nor from fear, nor yet from the impulse of appetite, but seems, "more than any other known fact in natural history, to partake of that frightful and mysterious principle of evil, which tempts our own species so often to tyrannize for mere wantonness of power."⁷

The species already named as a native of Madagascar, Dryiophis langaha, Schlegel, partakes of those anomalous attributes which characterize so many animal products of that extraordinary island. It measures between two and three feet in length, and is of a beautiful reddish-brown colour above, the under surface being of a deep though lively yellow, spotted with brown, especially beneath the tail; but its most peculiar character is seen in the muzzle, which is prolonged into a fleshy appendage of half an inch in length, covered with small scales, and of variable form, being in some cases sharp-pointed, in others compressed and enlarged, or leaf-shaped. This curious reptile seems to have been first (we believe inaccurately) described by M. Bruguières,⁸ and has since been banded about through various genera.⁹ It is classed by M. Schlegel (we presume after due examination),¹⁰ among the innocuous, that is, the non-venomous kinds,—although the natives of Madagascar

¹ Lib. viii. c. 14.

² Quadrupedes Ovipares, ii. 163, pl. 7, fig. 1.

³ Wagler, Serp. Braz. pl. 7 and 12.

⁴ Langaha Madagascarensis, Lacép. Quadr. Ovip. ii. 499;—Langaha nasuta, Shaw, Gen. Zool. iii. 571, plate 127;—Amphibana nasuta, Schneider, Illust. Amphib. ii. 151.

⁵ Physiognomie des Serpents, ii. 143.

⁶ Fleischman, Nee. Gen. pl. 2.

⁷ Carolina, ii. plate 54.

⁸ Indian Serpents, plate 12 and 13.

⁹ Quarterly Review, xii. 183.

¹⁰ Journal de Physique, xxiv. 132, plate 2.

Non-venomous Serpents. are said to hold it in great dread, from the belief of its being a highly poisonous species.¹ Schlegel has 7 species.

Genus DIPSAS. Head thick, broad, obtuse; the body vigorous, but much compressed. Pupil of the eye usually vertical. (Plate V., fig. 7.)

This genus comprises all those tree-serpents which, resembling the Colubers (and so far differing from the two preceding genera) in the bulkier proportion of their parts, are distinguished by their compressed bodies and more slender tails. Both the size and colours differ greatly according to the species, some of which do not measure more than fourteen inches, while others extend to five or six feet. South America and the East Indies are their characteristic countries, although a somewhat anomalous species is found in Egypt and Dalmatia. The genuine Dipsas dwell habitually in trees, concealing themselves amid dense foliage, from whence they dart upon their unsuspecting prey. The largest species known to naturalists is Dip. dendrophila, a Javanese reptile, which sometimes measures seven feet in length. The ground-colour is a beautiful lustrous black, with steel-blue reflections, paler on the under surface; and the body is encircled by from forty-five to fifty transverse narrow bands of a fine golden yellow.² Dip. fallax is, we presume, the sole European species,—if the reptile so named really pertains to our present genus.³ Its habits offer great disparity, at least M. Cantraine found it in Dalmatia in the month of December, creeping slowly among the ruins of an ancient castle. It had previously been found in the Levant by Olivier, and was more recently observed in the Morea by M. Bory St Vincent. Fleischman informs us that it lives under stones, stirs abroad only in the early morning and towards evening, avoids water, and feeds on insects, lizards, and mice. Twenty-five species of this genus are described by M. Schlegel.

Family V.—Fresh-water Serpents.

The members of this group are more or less allied to Coluber in their organization. They inhabit the water, or at least frequently enter into that element, and prefer the banks of rivers and the shores of lakes to situations more remote from moisture. It does not follow that all snakes endowed with analogous instincts and manners belong to this group, because the majority of the Boas, and almost all the Colubers, nearly correspond in their habits of life, and are yet very dissimilar in their structure. In this family there are combined those serpents which, having many mutual relations in their form and physiognomy, constitute a very natural assemblage, though by no means distantly separated from all other subdivisions. It is composed of two genera, of which the first exhibits, with few exceptions, nothing remarkable in its organization,—while the second is characterized by several singular features.

Genus TROPIDONOTUS. Head broad, body rather bulky, abdomen broad and convex, tail short.

The majority of this genus inhabit Asia, especially the Indian Archipelago. Southern Africa produces only a single species; Europe two, which occur on both sides of the Mediterranean basin. The same restricted number is found in Japan, and several are native to North America. None is known to inhabit either South America or New Holland. Certain species are widely distributed, while others are confined within narrow limits. They usually occur along the shady, wooded banks of lakes and rivers, where they prey on frogs and fishes. They swim with great dexterity, and are capable of continuing for a length of time beneath the surface. Although they can both creep

and climb with considerable swiftness, they usually prefer Non-venomous Serpents. to escape from threatened danger by plunging into water. Many species never remove from the close vicinity of that element; others inhabit plains subject to inundation; and a few are found to dwell in moist umbrageous forests, even on the sides and towards the summits of high mountains. Certain species are gregarious; while some are solitary, dwelling in the deserted holes of small quadrupeds. Such as inhabit temperate climates fall into a lethargic state in winter. The whole are oviparous; but the eggs of many, even when newly laid, contain young in a state of considerable advancement. Schlegel describes nineteen species.

The first species we shall notice is Tropidonotusatrix (Coluberatrix, Linn., Natrix torquata, Ray), the best-known and most generally-diffused of European serpents, and one of the few which inhabit the cold and cloudy climate of Britain. We have exhibited its osteology on Plate V., fig. 2. It is subject to great variation of colour, but the prevailing tint is a pale ashy-blue tinged with green, and relieved by a series of black spots or bands. The under surface is dusky blue, with mottlings of yellowish white. The collar is white or yellow, bordered posteriorly by deep black; and the plates of the head are extremely regular in their form. The length ranges from two and a half to four, or occasionally five feet. The female is always the larger. This reptile has been studied and described by a host of European writers. It is not characterized by any wildness or ferocity, is easily tamed, and rarely bites even when seized. "Il m'est cependant arrivé," says M. Schlegel, "qu'étant encore très-jeune, et m'étant approché du bord d'un bois, où une société nombreuse de ces serpents s'était établie pour faire leur ponte, un Tropidonotus d'une taille énorme m'attaqua avec fureur, tandis que plusieurs autres s'échappaient dans les trous dont la terre était percée."⁴ The ringed snake, as our present species is generally named, prefers to take possession of the subterranean dwelling of a mouse or mole to commencing an excavation for itself. Being fond of warmth and shelter, it often approaches human habitations, and readily lays its eggs in dunghills. Yet it is often met with in the remotest wilds, or in thick umbrageous forests, and sometimes at a height of several thousand feet above the level of the sea. But on the whole it prefers the vicinity of tranquil waters, where it dives frequently in search of fishes, as well as of frogs and other batrachian reptiles. Although it possesses the power of remaining under water for nearly half an hour, it is not organized for a continued abode in that element; and when frequently forced from shore, its swimming powers become exhausted, and it is "found drowned." It is extremely voracious, and will swallow a great number of frogs at a meal. It hibernates, in cold and temperate countries, from the month of October or November, seeking profound excavations, where frost can scarcely enter. It leaves its retreat in March or April, according to the region it inhabits, and casts its skin once a month till the end of August. In that month also it lays its eggs, to the number of two dozen or more. As the species pairs in April, it follows that these eggs take five months to be developed in the oviducts, though they are hatched in about three weeks after deposition. Their form is oval, and they measure about an inch and three lines in length. The young, when first visible, measure from six to eight inches. This species abounds over all France and Germany. It does not inhabit the maritime parts of Holland, but is common in Guelderland and the province of Drenthe. It is well known in Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia, as well as in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and extends over a great portion of temperate

¹ Gen. Zool. iii. 572.

² Wagler, Icones, i. pl. 8.

³ It is the Turboptis fallax of Fleischman's Dissertation, pl. 1.

⁴ Physiol. ii. 304.

Non-venomous Serpents. Asia, as far as Lake Baikal. It is a common species in England, where it occurs in woods and hedges, as well as in marshes. Mr Jenyns informs us, that it is particularly abundant in the fens of Cambridgeshire, where it sometimes attains a great size.¹ We shall merely add, that it is eaten in several continental countries. Col. viperinus, another European species, pertains to this genus; as do also a considerable amount of exotic kinds, which we cannot here so much as name.

Genus HOMALOPSIS. Body bulky, head very thick, muzzle short and rounded; eyes and nostrils small, and opening upwards; form usually cylindrical, sometimes slightly compressed; abdomen broad and convex; tail short, conical, robust.

This genus inhabits the great fresh waters of the inter-tropical countries both of Asia and America, although it seems less extended than the preceding, being seldom seen beyond the tropics. A Bengal species occurs also in Java, and a few are found identically the same in both the Americas. The majority attain a considerable size; but though as thick as a man's arm, they rarely exceed the length of four feet. Their heavy inelegant forms, small insidious eyes, and large gaping mouths, confer upon them a peculiar and repelling physiognomy; yet they are quite innocuous, in spite of the malignity of their aspect, a proof that we should never judge from appearance. These are the most truly aquatic of all the fresh-water serpents, passing almost their entire lives submerged, and feeding chiefly on fish. They are endowed with great muscular strength and strong powers of locomotion in their favourite element. Their colours are usually dark and lugubrious,—a schistose gray, brown, olive, or a blackish hue prevailing over the upper surface; while a yellower tint, with large square spots, is frequent on the abdominal region. We are acquainted with few details regarding their habits of life; and the species are rare in collections, probably in consequence of their fish-like activity in the water rendering their capture difficult. They are distributed over a variety of genera by different naturalists; and M. Schlegel describes fourteen species, among which are included Hom. herpeton (Erpeton tentaculatus, Lac.), a serpent remarkable for two fleshy appendages covered with scales, which extend from the termination of the muzzle. (See Plate IV., fig. 4.) The abdominal plates are scarcely broader than the other scales, and each is surmounted by a couple of ridges. Its native country is unknown.

Family VI.—Boas.

This family, according to M. Schlegel's views, comprehends the greater number of those species which modern naturalists have comprised under the genera Boa, Python, and Acrochordus. It is one of the most natural of the entire order, and has been too often erroneously separated, merely on the consideration of a few unimportant characters. We here find species, some of them the largest of the Ophidian race, distinguished by a prehensile tail, and a body possessing the power of twisting itself around other bodies with great force and facility. The surface is encompassed by numerous small scales, which advance upon the head and encroach on the abdomen, so that the former part never exhibits the regularly-formed plates of the Colubers, while those of the latter are unusually narrow. The

vertical position of the nostril and small-sized eyes announce a combination of aquatic with terrestrial habits of life. The first genus, that of Boa properly so called, is characterized by simple plates beneath the tail; the second, Python, peculiar to the ancient world, exhibits the sub-caudal plates divided, a supernumerary bone on the upper margin of the orbits, and intermaxillary teeth; the third, Acrochordus, is destitute of anal hooks, and has the surface entirely covered over by small granular unimbricated scales. All these generic groups have many characters in common, both in habits and organization, and we shall here point out a few of their generalities.

The term Boa, according to Pliny,² is derived from Boa, because the young of these reptiles are wont to nourish themselves on cow's milk.³ We are farther informed by that credulous author, of the great Boa slain in the Vatican, within the abdomen of which was found an entire infant. Linnæus applied the name to all serpents provided with simple sub-caudal plates. It is obvious that his genus, founded on a character of such slight importance, while it excludes the Pythons, necessarily brings together several heterogeneous groups. The defect in the modern arrangement of these reptiles arises chiefly from the practice of viewing a single and often subordinate character, and ruling, as it were, the forms of nature in simple accordance with its absence or existence. We thus find the Pythons almost always separated from the Boas, and placed in the genus Coluber, while the Acrochordus, estranged from both, comprise two distinct genera, sometimes placed among venomous serpents, sometimes classed with the innocuous kinds. "Nos temps," says M. Schlegel, "fertiles en invasions de toute sorte, ont vu démembrement la famille des Boas en autant de divisions génériques que l'on en compte d'espèces, qui elles-mêmes sont multipliées sans le moindre fondement de vérité. Il n'est pas rare de voir la même espèce distribuée en deux ou trois genres différents, et ces genres placés au hasard parmi d'autres Couleuvres ou parmi les vipères." The opportunities enjoyed by the author just named, of studying the various species, has led him to the belief that these are much less numerous than generally supposed. He thinks that the majority of such as exist in nature are now in some measure known, and that they do not amount to more than fifteen, including Acrochordus. Various anomalies exist among the species when compared among each other. Some are spread over a vast tract of territory, while others are confined within narrow limits. They are all, however, inhabitants of countries either situate beneath the equator or near the tropics. They occur in both the Old and New World, but none is found in Europe, North America, or Japan. The South American species are frequent in collections; those of the (so-called) more ancient countries of the earth are rather rare. Some are oviparous, others produce their young alive. The Boas usually attain, in truth, to an enormous size, although their actual dimensions have been greatly exaggerated. Thus at the very name of Boa constrictor the imagination is filled "with folds voluminous and vast," although the species really so called scarcely ever exceeds ten or twelve feet in length. The largest Ophidian reptiles in the world are Boa murina and Python Schneideri and bivittatus; but it may be greatly doubted whether the first named, which is the most gigantic of all, ever exceeds twenty-five feet in these degenerate days, and we have no sufficient

¹ British Vertebrate Animals, p. 206. Figured in Bell's British Reptiles.

² Annales des Mus., ii. 280, pl. 50; Guérin, Iconog. Reptiles, pl. 20, fig. 3.

³ Hist. Nat. 8-14.

⁴ Quant aux véritable serpents, il n'en est pas qui marchent réellement, de même qu'il est évident qu'aucun ne peut sucer ou opérer le vide dans la bouche, et que, par conséquent, c'est un préjugé de croire que plusieurs de ces animaux, comme les Boas et les Couleuvres, puissent téter les vaches; outre l'absence des lèvres charnues, le défaut de la voile du palais et de l'épiglotte, qui rendraient la succion impossible, il est évident que les crochets acérés et recourbés en arrière, qui garnissent leurs mâchoires et leur palais, s'accrocheraient comme des hameçons aux tétines des mammifères et qu'ils ne pourraient s'en détacher." (Exp. Gén. l. 135.)

Non-venomous Serpents. reason for supposing that it was ever any larger in former times.¹ The recitals of our travellers have been too often drawn, not from their own observation (by no means accurate at the best), but merely from the popular belief of ignorant and superstitious natives. The Pythons of the Old World seldom exceed from eighteen to twenty feet in length; and we can easily believe that one even of that extent being met by a benighted traveller in some lone- some forest glade, or murky meadow, might be afterwards described as something super-serpentine. Who in early life (how few at any period) ever caught a trout of two pounds or a pike of ten, without at least supposing that the one weighed four, the other fifteen? Yet who fears the innocuous finny race, and how greatly must doubt and dismay increase the seeming dimensions of a huge lugubrious reptile, weaving its way through some "wild wood, dingle or bushy dell," and dimly seen in sombre twilight hours, by snatches of only four or five yards at a time? The same exaggeration prevails regarding both the size of their natural prey, and its mode of capture. The lamented Boë, who made numerous observations on the Pythons of Asiatic countries, states that they particularly attack only the smaller kinds of quadrupeds, although individuals of unusual size sometimes swallow a young pig, or that species of deer called muntjac. But the larger mammiferous animals, and the human race more especially, need entertain no reasonable expectation of attack; and Prince Newwed confirms this statement of the lamented naturalist of Kiel, so far as concerns the great species of the New World, which prey chiefly on birds and reptiles.

Boas are said to be by no means difficult to tame. M. Dieperink of Paramaribo informed M. Schlegel that he was in the practice of keeping by him several different kinds of live Boas, all of which lived in perfect harmony, both among themselves and with other domestic animals. Professor Reindwardt, however, was witness at Java to a spectacle which proved that these great serpents are not always as merciful as they are strong. A native of the island having brought to the Baron Van Der Capellen a huge Python, and being desirous to make it leave a panner in which it was contained, the monster rose upon him suddenly, and inflicted a severe wound, at once laying open the fore-arm throughout its entire extent. It may be as well, then, upon the whole, not to allow the serpents of this family to sleep at large in the bed-chambers of any other family where there are small children.

The members of our present group seize their prey suddenly by ambuscade, usually lying in wait for it in the vicinity of water. They fix upon it with their teeth, and then, if of tolerable size or strength, entwine their folds around it, pressing out the breath of life, or even bruising the body, and breaking the bones in pieces. To aid this act of butchery, some of the species are said to keep their tails twisted around a tree, to which they drag their reluctant victim,—making use at the same time of the hard and gnarled trunk to give a still stronger stringency to their dreadful coils, while the faint-hearted prey

Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit.

Non-venomous Serpents. When the animal attacked is of smaller size, it is merely Non-venomous Serpents. mouthed, always head foremost, covered with saliva to hasten putrefaction and aid deglutition, and afterwards swallowed at leisure. These gigantic reptiles are endowed with great muscular force, which, however, they rarely exercise in a state of captivity. They seem extremely lethargic when imported into Europe; many of them, if not gentle in their manners, at least cannot be induced to bite by any provocation; their movements are very slow, they rarely eat, and the majority indeed die after a few months' confinement, without having tasted food.

The following curious, and we doubt not accurate, account of the swallowing powers of one of the great Asiatic serpents, has been recorded by Mr Macleod. He calls the species Boa constrictor, which, as it was captured in Borneo, it could not be. It belonged, we presume, to the genus Python, and measured sixteen feet in length by about eighteen inches in circumference. We shall make no apology for the size of the ensuing extract, as it so clearly illustrates the peculiar manners and the mode of deglutition of these Boa-like serpents.

"The live stock for his use during the passage, consisting of six goats of the ordinary size, were sent with him on board, five being considered as a fair allowance for as many months. At an early period of the voyage we had an exhibition of his talent in the way of eating, which was publicly performed on the quarter-deck, upon which he was brought. The sliding door (of his cage) being opened, one of the goats was thrust in, and the door of the cage shut. The poor goat, as if instantly aware of all the horrors of its perilous situation, immediately began to utter the most piercing and distressing cries, butting instinctively at the same time with its head towards the serpent, in self-defence. The snake, which at first appeared scarcely to notice the poor animal, soon began to stir a little, and turning his head in the direction of the goat, he at length fixed a deadly and malignant eye on the trembling victim, whose agony and terror seemed to increase; for, previous to the snake seizing his prey, it shook in every limb, but still continuing its unavailing show of attack, by butting at the serpent, which now became sufficiently animated to prepare for the banquet. The first operation was that of darting out his forked tongue, and at the same time rearing a little his head; then suddenly seizing the goat by the fore leg with his mouth, and throwing it down, it was encircled in an instant in his horrid folds. So quick, indeed, and so instantaneous was the act, that it was impossible for the eye to follow the rapid convulsion of his elongated body. It was not a regular screw-like turn that was formed, but resembling rather a knot, one part of the body overlaying the other, as if to add weight to the muscular pressure, the more effectually to crush his object. During this time he continued to grasp with his fangs, though it appeared an unnecessary precaution, that part of the animal which he had first seized. The poor goat, in the mean time, continued its feeble and half-stifled cries for some minutes, but they soon became more and more faint, and at last it expired. The snake, however, retained it for a considerable time in his grasp after it was apparently motionless. He

¹ Unable as we are either to confirm or contradict, from personal experience, the reported observations of travellers regarding the supposed dimensions of these huge reptiles, we are under the necessity of stating the different opinions which prevail upon the subject, however irreconcilable these may sometimes seem with each other. The following quotation rather favours the idea of their great size and unexampled voracity. "In the Dutch colonies of the East Indies, André Cleyer purchased of the hunters of the country an enormous serpent, in the body of which he found a deer of middle age, altogether entire, with its skin and limbs. In another individual of the same species, also examined by the traveller, a wild he-goat was found, with its horns; and a third had evidently swallowed a porcupine with its quills. He adds, that a pregnant woman also became the prey of a reptile of the same genus in the island of Amboyna; and that this kind is sometimes kept for the purpose of attacking the buffaloes in the kingdom of Aracan, on the frontiers of Bengal. We need hardly be astonished at this, when Prince Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, one of the governors of Brazil, in the seventeenth century, assures us that he himself was an eye-witness of stags, and other equally voluminous mammifers, and even of a Dutch woman" (usually a considerable mammifer), "being devoured in this manner, in that region of South America where he commanded." Griffith's Animal Kingdom, ix. 295.

then slowly and cautiously unfolded himself, till the goat fell dead from his monstrous embrace, when he began to prepare himself for swallowing it. Placing his mouth in front of the dead animal, he commenced by lubricating with his saliva that part of the goat; and then taking its muzzle into his mouth, which had, and indeed always has, the appearance of a raw, lacerated wound, he sucked it in as far as the horns would allow. These protuberances opposed some little difficulty, not so much from their extent, as from their points; however, they also in a very short time disappeared, that is to say, externally; but their progress was still to be traced very distinctly on the outside, threatening every moment to protrude through the skin. The victim had now descended as far as the shoulders; and it was an astonishing sight to observe the extraordinary action of the snake's muscles when stretched to such an unnatural extent,—an extent which must have utterly destroyed all muscular power in any animal that was not, like himself, endowed with very peculiar faculties of expansion and action at the same time. When his head and neck had no other appearance than that of a serpent's skin, stuffed almost to bursting, still the workings of the muscles were evident, and his power of suction, as it is erroneously called, unabated; it was, in fact, the effect of a contractile muscular power, assisted by two rows of strong, hooked teeth. With all this, he must be so formed as to be able to suspend, for a time, his respiration; for it is impossible to conceive that the process of breathing could be carried on while the mouth and throat were so completely stuffed and expanded by the body of the goat, and the lungs themselves (admitting the trachea to be ever so hard) compressed, as they must have been, by its passage downwards.

"The whole operation of completely gorging the goat occupied about two hours and twenty minutes; at the end of which time the tumefaction was confined to the middle part of the body, or stomach, the superior parts, which had been so much distended, having resumed their natural dimensions. He then coiled himself up again, and lay quietly in his usual torpid state for about three weeks or a month, when, his last meal appearing to be completely digested and dissolved, he was presented with another goat, which he killed and devoured with equal facility."

As the vessel, which was sailing from Batavia to England, approached the Cape of Good Hope, this gigantic reptile began to droop, as was at first supposed, from the increasing cold. It refused to kill some fowls which were presented, and died before reaching St Helena. On dissection, the coats of the stomach were found to be "excoriated and pierced by worms!" Nothing of either goat remained except a single horn. During a prior captivity of some months at Whidah, in the kingdom of Dahomey, Mr Macleod had enjoyed opportunities of observing snakes "double the size of the one just described." These killed their prey in the same manner; but from their superior bulk were capable of swallowing much larger animals than either goats or sheep. Governor Abson, who had resided for nearly forty years at Fort William, a settlement of the African Company, used to describe some desperate struggles which had taken place between these great serpents and various wild beasts, as well as smaller cattle. A negro herdsman was once seized by the thigh, but the monster, in attempting to entwine itself around him, got en-

tangled by a tree, and the man being armed with a knife, had presence of mind to inflict several severe gashes on the neck and throat, which enabled him to disengage himself from the dreadful coils which were closing fast around him. But he remained lame for life, in consequence of the wound and heavy pressure inflicted by the jaws.

The natural colours, which are various in this family, disappear speedily after death. Some are brown upon a yellowish ground, others exhibit a uniformly greenish hue, red prevails among certain species, while a few are nearly black. Almost all are more or less spotted; and it has been observed that, unlike the smaller tribes of serpents, these markings continue equally, or rather more distinct, as the individual increases in years. The body of the Boas is thickest at the middle, tapers towards either end, and is always considerably compressed. The abdomen is broad, and slightly convex or keeled. The tail is shaped like the body, but is more slender, not very conical, and usually terminates in a blunted point. It is always prehensile, that is, possesses the power of rolling inwards upon itself, or forming convolutions around other bodies. The scales in general are rather small, and as they encroach considerably on the under surface, it follows that the abdominal plates are narrower than usual. There are sometimes from sixty to seventy ranges of scales, and about two hundred and fifty abdominal plates. The number of these, however, is greater in the Boas of the ancient world than among the American species, which moreover differ in several other respects; while the genus Aerodchordus is distinguished from all its congeners by the small granular scales which clothe the entire surface, and of which a double series prevails along the median line of the abdomen, forming a kind of projecting ridge or keel.

The head of the Boas is always distinguishable from the trunk, being thick, rather lengthened, conical, depressed, and terminated by a muzzle for the most part elongated, and truncated at the point. The eyes are placed at some distance from the nostrils, and are lateral in the terrestrial species, of which the head is flattened above, and more or less angular on the sides; but the more aquatic kinds have the eyes rather vertical. These organs are always small in our present family, and, excepting Aerodchordus, have the pupil horizontally elongated. The nostrils are broad, closely approached to the end of the muzzle, and in some are placed upon its summit. They open upwards in the genus just named, and assume a tubular form. All the species are provided with palatine teeth, nearly as much developed as the maxillary ones; but there are no intermaxillary teeth except among the Pythons. The glands of the head are less developed in this family than among the majority of Ophidian reptiles.

Genus Boa. No intermaxillary teeth. Space between the orbits formed solely by the frontals properly so called. Sub-caudal plates simple. (See Plate IV., figs. 8-11.)

This restricted genus includes the largest of Ophidian reptiles, and although composed chiefly of South American snakes, it also contains three Asiatic species, which, though of much smaller size, cannot be regarded otherwise than as a geographical division.

Boa constrictor, Linn., is a middle-sized species, which rarely exceeds the length of ten or twelve feet.³ It is of a reddish tint, elegantly marked by irregular reticulations of

¹ Macleod's Voyage of the Alcestis, p. 290.

² This is the prevailing character of these parts, although we find in this, as in many other cases, a difficulty in seizing upon single determinate features of constant application. Thus we sometimes meet with several divided plates in the sub-caudal region of these so-called Boas.

³ The true B. constrictor is often confounded with the more gigantic B. marinus, and its dimensions have in consequence been greatly exaggerated. We doubt if any existing species ever attains to the alleged size of the so-called B. constrictor. Mr Swainson, however, who has travelled in South America, and is himself a zealous student of the facts of zoology, both as recorded in books and as existing in nature, states that the young individuals frequent in our menageries are mere pignies in comparison to the

brownish black, and other hues, and is subject to a great variety of aspect, so far as colour is concerned. It is, however, well characterized by the small smooth scales which cover both head and body, and of which there are sixty-seven rows. The head is heart-shaped, and the tail short. Abdominal plates 243, caudal fifty-eight. This species is native to the intertropical countries of South America, and not only have its size and voracity been greatly exaggerated, but many traits have been applied to it which truly belong only to the Pythons of the ancient continent. Thus the very name of Deria, bestowed upon it by Lacépède, is borrowed from what Bosman relates of the worship accorded by the negroes to certain African reptiles. It is met with in Surinam and Brazil, in woody districts, being sometimes seen suspended from the branch of a tree, sometimes concealed in the hollows of rocks, or beneath an ancient trunk. It is feared by no one, is often killed with a short walking-stick, and is commonly known by the name of Jiboya. It feeds on small and middle-sized mammalia, such as mice, rats, agoutis, pacas, and capybaras, as well as on various reptiles. A hunter, however, assured the Prince of Neuwied, that his dog on one occasion would have fallen a victim to a Boa of this species, had he not contrived to shoot it during the combat. The true constrictor does not enter the water. The Brazilians take it by means of gins, and employ its skin for making boots and saddle-cloths. They also use its fat. All engraved representations of this species, having been made from ill-prepared museum specimens, are worse than indifferent.¹

The rat-eating Boa, B. murina, Linn. (B. Anaconda, Daud.² B. aquatica, Neuw.³), is the largest Ophidian reptile of America, and probably the most gigantic of known species. It is distinguished in Brazil by the title of Cucuruba, and passes a great portion of its time in the water, either swimming about in various directions, or floating lazily with the current. It dives with great dexterity, can remain for a length of time beneath the surface, and is said to prey on fish as well as quadrupeds. It is tenacious of life, and is killed by the natives either with bow or musket in the water, or with sticks when met with on shore, where its movements are somewhat sluggish. Both its skin and fat are used for various purposes, and its flesh is eaten by the Botocudes. M. Fermin measured one which had attained the length of twenty-three and a half feet; and the Prince of Neuwied was assured by the natives that it is often much longer, although he himself never saw one above twenty feet. This species exhibits less varied markings than the preceding. The general hue of the upper parts is sooty brown, with two rows of orbicular blackish spots along the back. The under surface and sides are of an ochry yellow, the latter marked with a double row of irregular eye-shaped spots, which confound themselves with numerous squarer spots upon the belly. The nostrils are vertical, the eyes also directed upwards. The head is of

an elongated form, with a rounded muzzle. Abdominal plates 250, caudal sixty-six. Non-venomous Serpents.

The other species of this genus are B. cenchria, canina (Plate IV. figs. 8-11), hortulana from South America; B. Dussumieri, from a small island near the Mauritius; B. carinata, from the Moluccas and New Guinea; B. conica, from Bengal; and B. melanura, from the island of Cuba. Schlegel describes nine species.

Genus PYTHON. Several intermaxillary teeth. Upper portion of the orbit formed by a particular bone incised among the three frontals, and named super-orbital by Cuvier. Sub-caudal plates usually divided. Lips hollowed out in front. Plates of the head larger and more regular than in Boa. (See Plate IV., figs. 1 b, 1 c, and 3; and Plate V., fig. 5.)

This genus was established by M. Daudin for the reception of the great serpents of the ancient world. Brown, black, and yellow, are their prevailing colours. Certain of the species equal (some say exceed) the Boas of America in size, for example the Ular-sawa (Python bivittatus, Khul.—Col. Javanicus, Shaw). This species is of a yellowish tint, relieved by a pattern of broad alternate brown spots. The top of the head is margined by two rays of the ground colour. The flanks are variously adorned by black and white, and the under surface is marked by deep square spots. There are sixty-three ranges of smooth small scales, 270 abdominal and seventy caudal plates. This great reptile is spread, according to M. Schlegel, over a vast extent of territory, being known to occur from the western coast of Africa, over the whole of intertropical Asia, as far east as China and the island of Java. It is said to attain the length of twenty-five feet, and individuals of twenty feet in length have been seen and described by trustworthy naturalists. A fine specimen lived for some time in Holland, and was observed to be slow in its movements, mild in its temper, and never inclined to bite even when provoked. It was kept in a large box enveloped in woollen cloths, where it lay in continued tranquillity, and suffered itself to be drawn out for frequent exhibition without manifesting any signs of anger or impatience. We suspect that the senses of this, and of other large tropical snakes, are so far benumbed by the change of climate in Europe as to produce stupefaction rather than tameness. The specimen in question was presented with food every eight days, which, however, it often refused for several successive times. It was most easily excited to eat by the sight of a live rabbit, into the head of which it would fix its teeth, and then, placing it within a fold of its body, deprived it almost instantly of life. After the commission of this murder, it was in no hurry to swallow its victim, but sometimes licked it for a while, occasionally taking two or three hours to effect the final deglutition. This is supposed to be the Pedda-poda of Dr Russel, called rock-snake by the Anglo-Indians.⁴

We do not happen to know to what extent this or any

adults, "which have been often found to exceed forty feet in length" (Cabinet Cyclopædia, vol. exvi. p. 143). Yet he does not state this as a result of observation, or as connected with his own knowledge as well as belief. A single specimen of such gigantic reptile would be the wonder of Europe, and would make a fortune for its owner. A Dutch friend of Mr Waterton's killed a Boa (he does not say of what species) twenty-two feet long, with a pair of stag's horns in its mouth. It had swallowed the stag, but could not swallow the horns (at which we are not much surprised), and so had to wait in patience with that uncomfortable mouthful till its stomach had digested the body, "and then the horns would drop out." It was in this expectant plight that the Dutchman found it, as he was going in his canoe up the river, and sent a ball through its head (Wanderings in South America, third edit. p. 209). The large serpent bagged by Mr Waterton, after "a sharp fray in the den, the rotten sticks flying on all sides, and each party struggling for superiority," measured rather more than fourteen feet in length. It was of the kind called Conaonara, a rare species, and so much thicker in proportion to its length than any other snake of the forest, that an individual of the extent just stated "is as thick as a common Boa of twenty-four." Its jaws are so extensible, that Mr Waterton, after skinning his specimen, could easily get his head into its mouth.

¹ See Scheuchzer, Bibliotheca Sacra, pl. 746, fig. 1;—Lacép. Quad. Orép. ii. pl. 16, fig. 1;—Daudin, Reptiles, v. pl. 92, fig. 1. There are various figures of our B. constrictor in Seba's Thesaurus, and from these Laurenti seems to have composed such species as Constrictor formosissimus, Rex serpentum, divinolequus, and several others.

² Reptiles, v. 161, pl. 63.
³ Numerous nominal species have arisen from the superficial observance of different varieties of this Python. See Russel's Serpents, pl. 20, 23, 24, and 29; and Daudin's Reptiles, v. pl. 64, fig. 1, and pl. 59, fig. 4.

⁴ Abild. livrais ii. pl. 6, and Betr. p. 226.

other species of Python may have attained in ancient times, but it is probably from some misconceived view of our present species that the marvellous traditions regarding almost immeasurable serpents have been derived. Who has not read of that enormous reptile which spread dismay even through a Roman army? It is thus related by Valerius Maximus, from one of the lost books of Livy, by whom it is said to have been recorded at greater length. "And since we are on the subject of uncommon phenomena, we may here mention the serpent so eloquently and accurately (!) recorded by Livy, who says, that near the river Bagrada in Africa, a snake was seen of so enormous a magnitude as to prevent the army of Atilius Regulus from the use of the river; and after snatching up several soldiers with its enormous mouth, and devouring them, and killing several more by striking and squeezing them by the spine of its tail, was at length destroyed by assailing it with all the force of military engines and showers of stones, after it had withstood the attack of their spears and darts; that it was regarded by the whole army as a more formidable enemy than even Carthage itself; and that the whole adjacent region, being tainted with the pestilential effluvia proceeding from its remains, and the waters with its blood, the Roman army was obliged to move its station; he also adds, that the skin of the monster, measuring 120 feet in length, was sent to Rome as a trophy." The learned Frienshemius, having had the advantage of living a thousand years or two after the historian of the Punic war, has given a still more circumstantial account of this bloody broil in his Supplementa Liviana. He there informs us, that "it caused so much trouble to Regulus, that he found it necessary to contest the possession of the river with it, by employing the whole force of his army; during which a considerable number of soldiers were lost, while the serpent could neither be vanquished nor wounded, the strong armour of its scales easily repelling the force of all the weapons that were directed against it; upon which recourse was had to battering engines, with which the animal was attacked in the manner of a fortified tower, and was thus at length overpowered. Several discharges were made against it without success, till its back being broken by an immense stone" (we admire detailed accounts of ancient actions), "the formidable monster began to lose its powers, and was yet with difficulty destroyed, after having diffused such a horror among the army, that they confessed they would rather attack Carthage itself than such another monster." Probably such another was not then at hand, and we believe has never been seen since; but the anecdote itself holds out great encouragement to modern travellers. It is, we doubt not, to Python bivittatus that Bosman and other writers refer, when they mention the religious veneration with which some great African serpents are regarded by the natives. But we must conclude our imperfect notice of this genus by stating, that of the remaining species, P. Schneideri (Plate IV., fig. 3, and Plate V., fig. 5) is found in Malacca, Java, Sumatra, and Amboyna; P. amethystinus, in Saparua, a small island opposite Amboyna (a nearly identical kind being found in Timor, Samoa, and New Ireland); and P. Peronii in New Holland.

Genus ACROCHORDUS. Head rounded, eyes extremely small, rather vertical, pupil orbicular, nostrils tubular, nearly terminal, opening forwards or upwards. Tail strongly prehensile, and, in common with the trunk, compressed. Anal hooks wanting. Whole body covered with small scales, and the abdomen furnished with a kind of keel beset with scales. Teeth as in the Boas proper.

The anomalous reptiles of our present genus may be said to combine the characters of the Boas and sea-serpents. Their dentition resembles that of the former, while the

position of the eyes and nostrils, the compact closure of the mouth, compressed form of the body, the existence of the abdominal crest, and absence of anal hooks, assimilate them to the latter. They are, however, easily distinguished by being destitute of poison-fangs. Want of attention to the latter character, and some confused and contradictory data furnished by foreign naturalists, have caused several errors in the arrangement of the species, which are very few in number. They inhabit the intertropical countries of Asia, are extremely aquatic in their propensities, and are externally distinguished by a somewhat sombre colouring,—brown and a yellowish hue being the prevailing tints. The Javanese species, Acrochordus javanicus, is of a deep earthen-brown colour, irregularly marbled. Its form is thick, the head short and obtuse, the tail slender in proportion to the other parts. It attains a total length of eight feet, with the thickness of a man's arm, and was first described by Hornstedt, from a specimen taken in a large pepper-ground near Sangasan in Java. Ac. fuscatus is also of a brown colour, but with paler bands upon the sides, the general form much more slender, and the dimensions considerably less.¹ It is more extended in its distribution than the preceding, being found in Pondicherry, New Guinea, Sumatra, Java, and Timor. It forms (it is said erroneously) the genus Chersydru of Baron Cuvier,—the great French naturalist having been informed by M. Leschenault that the snake in question was extremely poisonous, and dwelt in the beds of the rivers of Java. The accuracy of the former assertion has been since disproved. No other species are distinctly known.

SECOND PRIMARY DIVISION.—VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

Family I.—Colubriform Venomous Serpents.

The poisonous species here assembled, although provided with envenomed fangs, so nearly resemble the Colubers in their general external forms as to be easily mistaken for them by an inexperienced eye. They also partake in some points of the features of the sea-serpents, but are distinguished by wanting the flattened tail; while from the concluding family of venomous serpents properly so called, they are kept apart by the bulkier proportions, thick triangular heads, vertical pupils, and carinated scales, which characterize the species last alluded to. At the same time it must be admitted, that those rigorous and distinct demarcations which so many lovers of nature desire to establish, but which so few can find, occur as seldom here as in other departments of zoology,—several species in each family showing a strong tendency of transition towards another.

The reptiles of our present family have a more slenderly elongated form than those of other poisonous groups. Their trunk is in general a good deal drawn out, sometimes cylindrical, or slightly compressed. Their tail, like that of all poisonous species, is rather short, conical, and rounded at the extremity. Their head, almost always of nearly equal dimensions with the neck, is small, short, and obtuse at the extremity. The eyes are rather small, sometimes vertical, the pupil always orbicular. The nostrils, always lateral and rather open, are pierced in a large plate on each side of the muzzle. The scales are not numerous, of medium size, and always smooth,—except in Naja hamachates, in which they seem surmounted by a keel. The abdomen is constantly convex, and furnished with plates of greater or less extent, according to the species. But what particularly characterizes this family is, that all the genera of which it is composed have the crown of the head covered by nine plates,

¹ Act. Stockh. 1787; and Journ. de Physique, 1788.

² Shaw, Gen. Zool. iii. pl. 130.

Venomous Serpents. modelled after the type of those of Coluber. The poison apparatus is much less developed than among other venomous kinds; but the fangs, though short, are strong. The species inhabit the warmer countries of both the New and Old World, but do not occur in Europe. They form three generic groups, as after mentioned.

Genus ELAPS. Body slender and cylindrical, of nearly equal size throughout, and usually encompassed by fifteen rows of broad, smooth scales. Head elongated, and not strongly distinguishable from the trunk.

This genus was established by Schneider,¹ and now contains all those slender-bodied venomous kinds, which by their elongated forms remind us of Tortrix and Calamaria. They attain to no great size, seldom reaching three or four feet in length, and scarcely exceeding a finger's thickness in diameter. Their colours are often bright and beautiful, a combination of red and black being frequent among them. They prefer countries covered by an abundant vegetation, concealing themselves amid the herbs of the meadows, or the loftier luxuriance of the forest; and with this circumstance we may connect the fact, that only a single species is found in Africa, all the others occurring in tropical America, New Holland, the Indian Archipelago, and Bengal,—the latter country, however, producing likewise only a solitary instance in Elaps trimaculatus. Their agility is by no means great, and they prey chiefly on other reptiles,—birds being probably too active, quadrupeds too large, and fish too aquatic for creatures of slowish movement, small size, and terrestrial habits. We cannot here detail the species, of which eleven are described by M. Schlegel, but must rest satisfied by referring, as examples, to a few figures, such as E. Corallinus (Nova Acta, x. pl. 4), E. Surinamensis (Seba, ii. pl. 86, fig. 2), E. collaris (Erpétol. de Java, pl. 15), E. trimaculatus (Russel, Ind. Serp. i. pl. 8).

Genus DENDRASPI. The only known species of this genus was first described by Professor Traill in Jameson's Edinburgh Journal. From his dislike to institute a new genus from a single species, he proposed for it the name of Elaps Jamesoni, as it most nearly approached that genus of poisonous reptiles. His specimen was sent to him from South America; but since that, M. Schlegel has received several specimens from Western Africa, of which it is certainly a native. From its narrow abdomen and habit of a tree snake, M. Schlegel suggested to Professor Traill the generic name of Dendraspis, which has been adopted, and the specific name remains.

Genus BUNGARUS. Form more robust than that of Elaps. Head broad, depressed, rounded terminally, and towards the sides; abdomen convex; tail robust; dorsal line furnished with a row of hexagonal scales larger than the rest; sub-caudal plates simple.

To this genus belong the Bungarus pamma of Russel (Ind. Serp. i. pl. 3), B. annularis, Daudin, and the Geedi Paragoodoo of the former author, B. semifasciatus of Khul and Ceylon. Both species inhabit India, as well as Java and Ceylon. The natives of India, who are said generally to exaggerate the noxious character of their serpents, assert that the bite of the latter produces immediate death, although Dr Russel's experiments go to prove that it is seldom fatal to chickens in less than half an hour, or to dogs in a shorter period than an hour and a half. A Geedi Paragoodoo was made to bite a large dog on the thigh, near the groin, where it held fast for more than twenty seconds, but the fangs scarcely penetrated farther than the skin. The dog howled much when first wounded, but on being set at liberty walked about for a time without manifesting any peculiar symptoms. In ten minutes, however, he drew up the wounded leg, continuing to stand on the other three; in a quarter of an hour he crouched, and

howled again, and the thigh became paralytic, though the poor creature was still able to raise himself: in twenty-five minutes both thighs were paralytic; and in the course of the second hour he became greatly disordered, grew apparently torpid, lay panting on one side, and died in about two hours, without convulsions. Another dog of smaller size expired in one hour and ten minutes, after being strongly convulsed for some minutes prior to its death.

Genus NAJA. General form robust; body not cylindrical, but thickening in the middle, and tapering towards either end; tail lengthened and conical; abdomen broad and convex; head well distinguished from the trunk; eyes large and lateral; neck capable of inflation.

This genus contains the famous hooded or spectacle-snakes called cobras de capello by the Portuguese, the majority having the power of raising the anterior ribs, so as to produce a peculiar disk-like inflation of the neck or upper portion of the body. The species are peculiar to the ancient world,—if New Holland, which produces two, and was unknown to the ancients, may be classed therein. M. Schlegel describes ten different kinds, many of which, however, are arranged in separate genera by other writers, but which that author regards as forming an uninterrupted series, closely connected with each other, and of which the foremost exhibit the announced generic characteristics in great strength and precision, while the others gradually depart from the type, and form a passage to the vipers.

The hooded snake, commonly so called (Coluber naja of the older writers, Naja tripudians of the recent systematists), is one of the most noted as well as noxious of the Indian reptiles. Its general length is from three to four feet, and the diameter of its body about an inch and a quarter. The inflated portion is marked above by a large conspicuous patch, closely resembling the figure of an old-fashioned pair of spectacles. The usual colour of the upper parts is pale ferruginous brown, the under being of a bluish-white occasionally tinged with yellow. The terminal portion tapers gradually, and ends in a rather slender sharp-pointed extremity. In India this dreaded species is more universally known than any other. It is frequently exhibited as a public show, and being carried about in a covered basket, is made to assume a kind of dancing motion (a modification, we presume, of some natural and instinctive movement) for the amusement of the public. Raising itself up on its lower extremity, and moving its head and body alternately from side to side, the insidious creature seems pleased by keeping time with the measured melody of "flutes and soft recorders." We presume that a love of music is natural to certain serpents; and that this fact was observed of old in Palestine, is probable from the expression of the inspired Psalmist, who compares the ungodly to the deaf adder, which "stoppeth her ears, and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer." Chateaubriand relates that he was an eye-witness, on the banks of the Genesee, to the fact of a native appeasing the wrath of a rattle-snake (which he even caused to follow him) merely by the music of his flute. The dancing snakes of India are usually, though not universally, deprived of their poison-fangs. "When the music ceases," says Mr Forbes, "the snakes appear motionless; but if not immediately covered up in the basket, the spectators are liable to fatal accidents. Among my drawings is that of a cobra de capello which danced for an hour on the table while I painted it, during which I frequently handled it to observe the beauty of the spots, and especially the spectacles on the hood, not doubting but that its venomous fangs had been previously extracted. But the next morning my upper servant, who was a zealous Mussulman, came to me in great haste, and desired I would instantly retire and praise the Almighty for my good fortune. Not understanding his

¹ Hist. Amphib. ii. p. 289.

Venomous Serpents. meaning, I told him that I had already performed my devotions, and had not so many stated prayers as the followers of his prophet.

Mohammed then informed me, that while purchasing some fruit in the bazaar he observed the man who had been with me the preceding evening entertaining the country people with his dancing snakes; they, according to their usual custom, sat on the ground around him, when, either from the music stopping too suddenly, or from some other cause irritating the vicious reptile which I had often handled, it darted at the throat of a young woman, and inflicted a wound of which she died in half an hour.¹ A similar fate had nearly befallen an artist employed by Professor Reinwardt to paint the portrait of a living Naja. It had in some way disengaged its bands, and seemed to have prepared itself to attack the unsuspecting painter the moment he entered his apartment. He there found it supported on its tail, its body raised, its neck dilated, its head advanced, and then giving utterance to some hissing sounds, it threw a quantity of saliva upon the very man who was about to hand it down to posterity, but who fortunately effected an instantaneous retreat before it came to closer quarters. We doubt not the painter loved the picturesque, although that was not the time to gaze with admiration on the fierce intruder.

Dr Russel informs us that he never knew the bite of a hooded snake prove mortal to a dog in much less than half an hour, although it kills chickens in less than half a minute. Now the rattle-snake has been known to kill a dog in less than two minutes. Yet the use of the lunar caustic, which in the hands of the Abbé Fontana proved so efficacious when applied as remedial to the bite of the viper, was found of little or no avail in India as a counteraction to the venom of the cobra de capello.² We shall conclude our notices of this species by observing that the Ceylonese jugglers, according to Dr Davy, use it without extracting the fangs, the only means which they employ to avoid its vengeance being courage and agility. It is in fact held in veneration by the natives of that island, who carefully avoid it, offer it no injury, and put it out of doors unhurt when it happens to enter their dwellings.³ The root of Ophiorhiza mangos is believed in India to be a specific against the bite of the cobra de capello.

Another noted species is the Naja haje (Coluber haje, Linn.), which plays the same part in the history and superstitions of the African tribes as the preceding does in those of the Asiatic nations. The ancient Egyptians named it Ouro, a term which signifies king, and which the Greeks adopted into their language in the word Ouraïos. It is frequently represented in various Egyptian antiquities, whether as drawn in colours, sculptured on the covers of sarcophagi, or cast in bronze. One of the great creative spirits of the world, called Cneph, Cnophis, or Ammon, in the cosmogony of Egypt, was represented in their symbolic writings under the form of a serpent winding itself around a globe, or placed in the centre of a disk.

The jugglers of modern Egypt, especially of Cairo, use this Naja in their pretended sorceries. These people affect to be descendants of the ancient Psylli, and boast of inheriting from their ancestors the power of subduing and commanding the most poisonous reptiles. The principal feat which they execute consists in making the Naja counterfeit death, or they change it into a rod. This they seem to effect by pressing the neck of the creature between their fingers, so as to produce a kind of catalepsy, which renders it stiff and motionless. This is rather a singular fact when considered in connection with the scriptural narrative, where the rods of the magicians, when thrown down, are con-

verted into serpents.⁴ According to M. Geoffroy, the species is still sufficiently common in Egypt, occurring both in fields and ditches. "Les cultivateurs sont donc exposés à le rencontrer fréquemment; mais quoiqu'ils n'ignorent pas le danger de sa morsure, sa présence ne les empêche nullement de vaquer à leur travaux ordinaires; connaissant bien les habitudes du redoutable reptile, ils savent qu'ils n'auraient à craindre d'être attaqués par lui, que s'ils venaient à commettre l'imprudence de s'en approcher. En effet, tant qu'ils se tiennent à quelque distance, l'haje se contente de les suivre du regard, en levant sa tête et en prenant l'attitude dans laquelle les fig. 4 et 5 le représentent."⁵ The African Naja attains to about the same size as the Asiatic, and greatly resembles it in general aspect; but its neck is less capable of inflation, and its muzzle more conical. It is usually of a yellowish-brown colour above, varied with numerous black and white spots; the under surface whitish, although some individuals exhibit broad black spots or bands on the abdomen. The Cape Naja is regarded by M. Schlegel merely as a climatic variety of that now mentioned.

The Australian species (Naja porphyrica) was first described by Dr Shaw.⁶ It belongs to the genus Oplocephalus of Baron Cuvier, and we place it here on the authority of M. Schlegel. According to M. Lesson it is greatly dreaded at Port Jackson, and several convicts are said to have died of its bite in a quarter of an hour. It is common in the sandy brushwood of the shores of Botany Bay. Its movements are full of force and vigour, its agility remarkable, and it defends itself when attacked with great hardihood.⁷ Another New Holland species is Naja curta, said to bear resemblance to a viper. It is probably the only colubriform venomous reptile which exhibits a somewhat vertically elongated pupil.

Family II.—Sea-Serpents.

Our present family is placed here on the supposition that all the species which it contains are poisonous. Several naturalists, proceeding on certain data given by Dr Russel, have maintained the contrary opinion; but long-continued researches on the part of M. Schlegel have led to the conclusion that there is really no exception to the rule. Great confusion prevails in the synonymy of the species, chiefly owing to the absence of good figures and accurate comparative descriptions,—even Dr Russel's plates, which are the most numerous, being insufficient to lead to a rigorous determination of the species. The specimens themselves are obtained with great difficulty, and are consequently rare in our collections.

We have not sufficiently precise information on which to settle the geographical boundaries of the marine family of serpents. That species occur in the Persian and Arabian gulfs is by no means improbable; but the fact is inferred rather from some passages in ancient writers than from modern observation; and we know that the authors of antiquity, at least in some instances, mistook certain eel-formed fishes for actual snakes. Schneider, indeed (whose competence as a scholar no naturalist would dare to doubt) has quoted several classical writers to demonstrate a remote knowledge of sea-serpents; but that knowledge seems too superficially and vaguely expressed to be altogether trusted or even understood. Ælian records that "the seas of India produce hydras with flattened tails."⁸

Modern naturalists are believed to be in error who assert their occurrence in the Atlantic Ocean, no proper proof having been yet adduced of any of these species inhabiting it.

¹ Oriental Memoirs, I. p. 44.

² Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. viii.

³ Ceylon, p. 83, et seq.

⁴ "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments; for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." (Exod. vii. 11, 12.)

⁵ Descript. de l'Égypte, Atlas, Reptiles, pl. 7.

⁶ Zoology of New Holland, pl. 10.

⁷ Voyage de la Coquille, Zoologie, II. p. 55.

⁸ Hist. Amphib. I. p. 255.

⁹ Æl. I. 16, chap. 8.

M. Schlegel characterizes the statement as an "assertion que je puis contredire avec certitude." Believing that there are more things in heaven and earth than are "dreamt of in our philosophy," and desiring to bear in mind the sentiment of the inspired apostle, that "if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know," we shall content ourselves by stating that sea-serpents have not yet been observed in the Atlantic Ocean. M. Schlegel's researches have led him to believe that they are confined "aux mers intertropicales, ou voisines des tropiques, comprises entre le 90me et les 230me degrés de longit. or. du méridien de Ferro."¹ We shall here state the chief of the actual localities. Several species were received by Dr Russel from among the numerous islands called Sunderabunds, which form the delta of the Ganges. The same author likewise obtained many from different points along the coast of Coromandel. Sir Stamford Raffles mentions three species which frequent the coasts of Sumatra.² The Dutch voyagers have observed only a single species on the coast of Java, but they have met with several among the Moluccas, near Timor, Banda, and the shores of New Guinea. Dr Struiss transmitted two species from the Celebes. M. Von Siebold observed them to abound in the China Sea, and met with many in the course of his passage from Java to Japan, from the region of the equator as far north as the 27th degree. Escholtz has incidentally observed,³ that the fishermen of the Philippine Islands capture Acrochordus fasciatus in the Bay of Manila, and that this reptile cannot move upon the land. Now it so happens that the Acrochordus correctly so called never inhabit the sea; and it may therefore be inferred that the observer last named had in view, not an Acrochordus, but a sea-snake or Hydrolus. It is long since Dampier told us of those which he saw along the western shores of New Holland;⁴ as did afterwards Sir Joseph Banks along the eastern coast, from the 20th to the 10th degree of north latitude. Forster, as Schneider has recorded, found Hydrolus pelamys abundant near Otaheite.

The habits of these reptiles are indicated here and there by different writers. Dr Russel describes their aquatic movements as active and elegant, but they have scarcely any locomotive power on land, and speedily die when either brought ashore or placed in fresh water. He found in the abdomen of a female Hydrolus nine perfectly formed young, each of which was enclosed in an egg or envelope, from which (the matured condition) it may be inferred that they are viviparous. It would also seem that their manners are milder than those of the generality of poisonous species. Dr Russel, at least, assures us in regard to Hydrolus gracilis, that no provocation would induce it to bite any object presented to it. Neither could M. Lesson succeed in his disinterested attempts to make Hydrolus pelamys wound any poultry, though he kindly put them together alive into a copper bathing tub.⁵ The observations received from M. Von Siebold by M. Schlegel confirm the belief of other naturalists, that these reptiles, though assuredly dangerous from their poisonous qualities, are not of a highly ferocious nature. The former traveller fell in with vast numbers while sailing from Batavia to Japan, all of the small species, elsewhere so frequent and widely spread, known to naturalists by the specific name of pelamys. Their movements were by no means rapid, although they glided through the water with grace and activity, raising their heads from time to time above the waves, for the purpose probably of respiration. Their motion is produced and directed by an action of the tail, accompanied by a lateral and undulating movement

of the other parts of the body. They were easily enough entrapped in wooden buckets, and glided through the sailors' hands without attempting to bite them,—the said sailors having probably been previously informed that they were eels. "Le Professeur Reinwardt," says Schlegel, "confirme ce que M. von Siebold rapporte relativement au caractère doux et tranquille de ces animaux."⁶ We cannot, however, help thinking that this alleged sweetness of temper and tranquillity are in some measure inconsistent with the cases of the native woman and Lascar already reported in our introductory observations. The comparatively slow movements also do not accord with what we are elsewhere informed by M. Lesson. "Le 27 Juillet," says that naturalist, "par une journée brûlante, nous fumes pris de calme sur les côtes de la Nouvelle Guinée. De nombreux serpents marins passèrent le long de la corvette, et un embarcation que le capitaine fit mettre à la mer nous permit de les chasser. Nous atteignimes après de longues poursuites une Pelamide, dont l'agilité était extrême, et les mouvements de natation des plus rapides."⁷

We owe some interesting observations on the manners of these marine serpents to M. Peron,⁸ although it may be doubted whether that voyager did not occasionally take his notes from too great a distance, especially in reference to size and colour. No other credible author has ever described any of these species as attaining to so great a length as twelve feet; the usual dimensions, we may here observe, varying from two and a half to five feet. However, M. Peron describes those he saw as gliding lightly in great numbers on the surface of the sea, and waging destructive war against a shoal of small herrings, which fled precipitately towards deeper water. The haunts of these snakes are by no means confined to the shallow shores, or even the vicinity of continents or islands, for they are often met with many hundred miles from land. On opening their stomach, our navigator found it filled with small fish, and various marine crustacea; but the reptiles themselves became the frequent prey of sharks, in the interior of which their half-digested remains were often found. It naturally became a subject of surprise, that creatures so light and active should so often fall victims to an enemy of such weight and sluggishness; but after more lengthened observation, a peculiarity in the habits of the former was thought sufficient to account for their capture. These serpents were often seen as if asleep, and floating on the waves, and so profound was their repose, that a large vessel, "with all its bravery on," might pass close by without their being disturbed by its surging prow, its huge furrow, or the loud voices of the garrulous sailors (Frenchmen, of course). M. Peron supposes that it is in this state of lethargy that the lazy sharks swallow them at their leisure. As to the cause of the torpor itself, he naturally enough suggests that it may arise, as among the terrestrial races, from repletion, and the indolence indulged in by all serpents during the digestive process. "Ces reptiles," he adds, "nagent et plongent avec une égale facilité: souvent à l'instant même où nous croyons pouvoir les saisir avec nos filets, ils disparaissent à nos yeux; et, s'enfonçant à de grandes profondeurs sous les flots, ils restaient une demi-heure et plus sans remonter à leur surface, ou ne paraissaient qu'à de très-grandes distances du point où nous les avions vus plonger."⁹

The general ground-colour of the majority of these reptiles is yellowish, varying towards green, blue, or white, and often relieved by blackish rings, or broad lozenge-shaped spots, disposed transversely along the dorsal re-

Venomous Serpents. The colours seem less subject to variation than among the other Ophidians, and there is no external difference between the sexes. All the species are included by M. Schlegel in the following genus.

Genus HYDROPIUS. Head small, uniform with the trunk. Nostrils vertical, of an orbicular form, and capable of being closed by a valve. Eye small, pupil orbicular. Fangs but slightly developed, and always followed by several other teeth, solid though slender. Body tapering towards both extremities. Scales lozenge-shaped or hexagonal, not imbricated, covered by a thin epidermis, and surmounted by a tubercle, of which there are two on the median range of the abdomen. The abdominal scales scarcely larger than the others. Tail broad, flattened laterally, and performing the functions of an oar or rudder. Lungs often prolonged into a reservoir of air as far as the commencement of the caudal region.

Of this genus there are seven species, the particular characters of which we cannot here detail, although their general attributes may be made out from the preceding observations. (See Plate V., fig. 4.)

The most common kind is Hyd. pelamys of Oken (An-guis platura, Linn.), of a comparatively thickish form, the head much elongated, the median line of the abdomen indicated by a suture formed by two rows of scales. It is of a blackish brown above, beneath yellow; the tail, and sometimes the entire body, varied by these colours. It is the most extensively distributed of the genus, being found wherever any sea-snakes occur. It seems to be the black backed hydrus of Shaw (Hydrus bicolor, Schneid.); and in India rejoices in the euphonious name of Nalla Wah-lagillee Pam. Of general occurrence in the Asiatic seas, it is also common round the coasts of Otaheite, where it is relished as an article of food, and known under the title of Etoonatoree.

Family III.—Most Poisonous Serpents.

The species of this family are the most venomous of all, and may, for the most part, be recognised by something especially repulsive and forbidding in their aspect. Their form is rather thick and heavy, their tail short, their head extremely broad, depressed, and somewhat heart-shaped; rarely protected by plates, but usually covered by scales resembling those of the dorsal region; the eyes are small, deeply seated in the sides of the head, and shaded by projecting superciliary plates, the pupil vertical; the upper lip is inflated, and falls over the lengthened fangs; the body is usually beset by scales of a lanceolated form, surmounted by a ridge, except in one or two species of Trigonoccephalus, in which they are smooth.

Their habits and modes of life likewise present some disparities when compared with those of the preceding groups. Being of a lethargic nature and slow of movement, they seldom wander about in search of prey, but keep themselves coiled up till it approaches closely, and then springing upon it by a sudden straightening of the body, they inflict a fatal wound, which needs no repetition. There seems reason to believe that this mode of attack is peculiar to the present family, the other poisonous kinds pursuing their prey, and holding on when they have seized it, while the poisonous serpents properly so called are satisfied by sinking their envenomed fangs into the flesh of their victim. Their gape is very wide, their fangs long and sharp, their poison abundant and in a state of high concentration, and the wound is inflicted suddenly,

with great force. The result is left to nature, and is in consequence both sure and speedy.

We have said that the poison-fangs are more developed than among the other Ophidians. They alone occupy the maxillaries, being never followed by any small solid teeth, though these occur along the palate and at the extremity of the lower jaw. The nostrils are in some spacious, in others narrow, and vary also in their position. They are followed in certain species by a deep pit or hollow, scooped in the sides of the muzzle, and connected with a broad cavity in the upper maxillaries. This character (of which, however, we know not the function) seems analogous in some measure to the larmiers of ruminating quadrupeds, and has been employed for the distribution of these serpents into several groups. Such as are distinguished by this nasal pit inhabit the forests of tropical countries, and consist of two genera, Trigonoccephalus and Crotalus, of which the former (native both to Asia and America) is chiefly found in moist and sombre woods, or places covered by an abundant vegetation; while the latter (peculiar to the western world) prefers a somewhat drier and more barren soil. Such as possess no nasal excavation are comprised in the genus Viperus. They affect a more open, sandy soil, and occur exclusively in the ancient continents and New Holland. We shall briefly survey these different groups, in the order now named.

Genus TRIGONOCEPHALUS. Head, as in other members of the family, heart-shaped or triangular, extremely broad behind, and consequently very distinguishable from the neck. Tail terminated by a conical corneous plate.

The poison apparatus of these reptiles is developed in the highest degree; and as the species sometimes attain a length of five or six feet, they may be regarded as among the most redoubtable of venomous serpents. They all frequent wooded or shady situations, or moist meadows in the immediate vicinity of forest-land. The abdomen is always broad, rather convex, and furnished with plates, which vary, according to the species, from 140 to about 270. The tail is always short, conical, and usually somewhat slender. The sub-caudal plates vary from forty to seventy; and of these some are simple, others divided into two. The body is often marked by large irregular or lozenge-shaped spots upon a brownish or yellowish ground. Some, however, are reddish, others of a greenish hue, and there is frequently a line of deeper hue behind the eye. The species are rare in collections. None occur in Europe or Africa. America and the intertropical countries of Asia produce a large majority. The genus is divisible into two sections, according as the head is covered with scales or with plates.

One of the most noted species of the first section is Trig. lanceolatus, a native of the West Indies.² The general colour is greenish yellow, paler beneath, and variously marked with specks, spots, and bands of brown. A broad brown line, bordered with white, proceeds from the eye towards the mouth. We have a good account of the habits and history of this reptile from Colonel Moreau de Jonnès.⁴ He tells us of one killed by an officer which measured above seven feet and a half in length; and still greater (but perhaps less accurate) measurements are given by Dutertre⁵ and Labat.⁶ In the bodies of such females as were examined, he found some fifty or sixty young ones, which, when the period of their birth arrives, issue forth completely formed, and much inclined to bite. In the adult state they prey chiefly on rats, which, though not indigenous to these islands, are now in all probability as 10,000 to one compared with the native quadrupeds. The snakes in question

¹ Naturgesch. vol. iii. part ii. p. 279.

² Quad. Orig. ii. p. 121, pl. 5, fig. 1. Also described by Dr Shaw, under the title of Cobber megara, Gen. Zool. iii. 406.

³ Monographie du Trigonocéphale des Antilles.

⁴ Nouveau Voyage aux Antilles, contenant l'Hist. Nat.

⁵ Indian Serpents, i. 47, pl. 41.

⁶ Hist. Gén. des Antilles habitées par les Français.

have also multiplied prodigiously in St Lucia and Martinique, where from sixty to eighty may be killed during the cutting of a single field of sugar-cane. According to M. Moreau de Jonnès, they people the marshes, the cultivated grounds, the forests, the banks of rivers, and even the summits of the mountains. The observer just named encountered one on the very edge of the crater of that naked mountain which overhangs the town of St Pierre, in Martinique, at an elevation of more than 5000 feet; and he feared it the more from the excessive lassitude under which he himself at that time laboured. His alarm was not without cause, for only a few days before, a fisherman at the foot of the mountain had been attacked by a similar reptile, which issued from its concealment among the basalts of the shore, and no efforts could save his life. These dreaded serpents are sometimes found in holes made by rats or land-crabs. They also enter hen-roosts and poultry-yards, and sometimes creep into dwelling-houses, chiefly, however, the huts of the negroes. But the sugar-plantations are their favourite places of resort. "Je n'ai jamais trouvé," says our author, "de serpent stationnaire, qu'il ne fût dans une position offensive. L'action par laquelle le reptile prend cette position, s'exprimer aux Antilles par le verbe lover. Elle consiste à contourner en spirale toute la longueur de son corps, qui forme quatre cercles égaux en diamètre, superposés les uns au dessus des autres, et sous le dernier duquel la queue est placée comme point central d'appui, de resort et de pivot. La tête, qui termine le cercle supérieur, est retirée en arrière. Quand l'animal s'éclance sur une proie, il fait effort sur la queue, et déroule subitement les quatre cercles qui semblent se débander." This species preys on birds as well as quadrupeds, and the former manifest their hatred by vain and clamorous cries whenever they behold their "arch destroyer." It avoids the brilliant equatorial light, and usually dwells in shaded places, seeking what it may devour chiefly towards sunset, or during cloudy weather.¹ The distribution of this species is rather remarkable. It does not extend throughout the whole of the Antilles, nor is it found even in the majority of those islands. "By a chance equally singular, fortunate, and inexplicable, it is confined to the islands of Martinique, St Lucia, and Bonaire alone; and there is no proof, as has been pretended, that it is common in the American continent. Nevertheless, a tradition exists among the Indigenes, that it was introduced into Martinique by the Arronages, a horde which inhabited near the mouth of the Orinoco, and which, impelled by sentiments of hatred and vengeance against the Caribs of that island, made them this fatal present, and let loose in their forests this serpent, which was brought over in calabashes. But according to another popular opinion in the same country, the Trigonocephalus is aboriginal of Martinique, and cannot live elsewhere, not even in Guadeloupe.

Some, however, think differently, and explain the phenomenon by the existence of the dog-headed serpent, which is believed to be a Boa, and which, common in Dominica and St Vincent, has delivered these islands from the Trigonocephalus.²

Of the second section of this genus, comprising such as have the head covered by plates instead of scales, we may here name Trig. rhodostoma, which is of a thicker and more vigorous form than the other species. The body tapers towards either end, the tail is short and acuminated, the abdomen broad, and the back prolonged into a well-marked keel. The colour is reddish brown, paler on the back, the sides adorned by broad, deep, triangular spots, the abdomen white. The summit of the head is black, surrounded by a broad streak of pale red, which descends the sides of the neck to combine with the beautiful rose-colour which tinges the lateral parts of the head, and from which it is separated by a black band proceeding from behind the eye. The iris is of a golden yellow. "L'expression sauvage de sa physiognomie," says M. Schlegel, "est, pour ainsi dire, adoucie par la nature et la conformation des plaques écailleuses qui semblaient à celles de la plupart des couleuvres, ont la surface unie et luisante."³ This species inhabits the western parts of Java, where it conceals itself in tangled vegetation, and makes its way at times into fields and gardens. It preys chiefly on frogs, and is itself attacked by a species of civet cat which occurs in Java. It is greatly dreaded by the natives on account of its deadly poison; and during M. Khul's residence at Buitenzorg, two labourers bitten by it died in five minutes. Although a viviparous reptile, the fetus is enclosed in a coriaceous envelope, as large as a pigeon's egg. The species is figured by Russel.⁴

The only other example of the genus we need here notice is Trig. cœnchris, which inhabits the southern provinces of the United States. Its occipital plates are of small dimensions, and are sometimes even wanting. The ground colour is grayish brown, marked by broad transverse bands of a more coppery hue. The abdomen is yellowish, marked by dark irregular spots. The point of the tail is usually black, and all the parts are minutely speckled by that colour. It is a sluggish, slow-moving reptile, very poisonous, but not given to bite, except in self-defence, when it maintains its position courageously. It has been described by different authors under a great variety of names, and by some under more than one at a time.⁵ It is the Mokassin snake of the Anglo-Americans, thus called on account of the resemblance of its colour to the piece of dress so named by the native tribes. It is figured by M. Daudin.⁶

Genus CROTALUS. This dreaded genus contains the rattle-snakes, and is distinguished from the preceding by a more robust form, a thicker head, and a tail either armed

¹ Monographie, p. 37.

² Griffith's Animal Kingdom, ix. 350.

³ It is both the brown and the black viper of Catesby's Carolina, pl. 44 and 45; it is once figured, and at least twice described, by Dr Shaw, as Col. Cœnchris and Thiophone, Gen. Zool. iii. pp. 377 and 406; it is the Pelias Niger of Merrem, Testamen, p. 149; and had been previously described by Linnaeus as a Boa (B. Costortrix, xii. ed. p. 573). M. Schlegel, indeed, supposes that it is also the Coluber Cœnchris of the great Swedish naturalist. The Boa just named is believed to be identical with the hog-nosed snake of Catesby (Car. ii. pl. 56), and may be identical with the preceding nominal species, none of which seems to exceed the size of our common viper; but Col. Cœnchris of America is usually described as of different habits and much larger dimensions. It is the black snake of Catesby (Car. ii. pl. 45). "This," observes that author, "is a large and very long snake, some being six feet in length. They are all over of a shining black, never changing their colour, and are very nimble and beneficial in killing rats, which they pursue with wonderful agility to the roofs and all parts of houses and barns, where rats are able to run, for which service they are preserved by most of the inhabitants. They are bold and furious, leaping at and biting those that attack them, though no harm ensues, their bite not being venomous. It is said in Carolina that they will attack and swallow rattle-snakes. It is certain most or all snakes will devour one another, not only of their own, but of other kinds, which I have often seen; one, after a long struggle, swallowing another but little less than itself. They are the most numerous of all snakes." "Many ridiculous frights," says Mr Pennant, "have happened from this innocent reptile. As every one in America is full of the dread of the rattle-snake, they are apt to fly at the sight of any of the serpent kind. This pursues, soon overtakes, and twisting round the legs of the fugitive, soon brings him to the ground; but he happily receives no hurt, but what may result from the fright. All the mischief this species does is to the housewives, for it will skim their milk-pans of the cream, and rob their hen-roosts of all the eggs." (Arctic Zoology, Appendix, p. 92.)

⁴ Reptiles, v. 338, pl. 70, figs. 3 and 4, and 60, fig. 25.

⁵ Phys. des Serpens, ii. 547.

⁶ Indian Serpents, ii. pl. 21.

Venomous Serpents. by a peculiar organ called the rattle, or prolonged into a sharpened point. There are four species, all peculiar to America. These are often confounded, even by systematic writers; and it is by no means easy to apply the general attributes assigned by travellers to the proper species, which no doubt differ from each other.

It seems ascertained, however, that the bite of all these reptiles is extremely dangerous, the slightest prick of their envenomed fangs, in any part of the body well supplied with blood-vessels, being sufficient to kill almost any animal. Laurenti says, that a person bitten by a Crotalus experiences a swelling of the entire body, the tongue becomes prodigiously inflamed, an unextinguishable thirst takes place, the edges of the wound become gangrened, and the unfortunate victim dies in frightful agony in five or six minutes. Different experiments made in Carolina by Captain Hall, are related in the Philosophical Transactions. A rattle-snake, four feet long, was fastened to a stake, and being made to bite three dogs, the first died in less than a quarter of a minute; the second, in convulsions, in about two hours; the third in about three hours. Four days after this, another dog was bitten by the same snake, and died in half a minute; and then a second received the murderous fangs, and died in four minutes. A common black snake, about three feet long, and very vigorous, was next procured. The reptiles bit each other,—the black snake dying in eight minutes, the rattle-snake not seeming in any way affected by its wound. Proceeding upon the supposition that "none but itself could be its parallel," it was then made to inflict a bite on its own body, and this suicidal deceit was followed by the hoped-for consequence,—it died in less than twelve minutes. The story is probably well known to all, though not credited by so many, of a disagreeable kind of an heirloom which once existed in an American family. A man had been bitten through his boots by a rattle-snake, and died. The boots afterwards descended into the successive possession of two other persons, and killed them both,—an envenomed fang having remained sticking in the leather. As usual, we have contradictory accounts of the effects of corresponding causes. We know that an Englishman who was unfortunately bitten by a rattle-snake at Rouen, in 1827, expired in eight hours; yet in the April of that same year, at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, Professor Bosc declared that he had seen more than thirty persons who had been bitten by rattle-snakes, not one of whom had died. According to Kalm, even the largest animals, such as horses and oxen, die almost instantly. Dogs longer resist this fatal action. Most animals exhibit an instinctive horror on nearing one of these death-dealing creatures. "I have often," says M. Bosc, "amused myself by trying to force my horse and dog to approach one of these animals. But they would sooner have allowed themselves to be knocked down upon the spot than have come near them." Yet Mr Audubon informs us that the mocking-bird of America, so strong and overpowering is the instinct of parental love, does not hesitate to attack the rattle-snake when it approaches too near its nest,—that it will strike it on the head, pick out its eyes, and eventually put it to death.

The so-called rattle of these reptiles consists of a series of hollow, vertically flattened, scaly pieces, of which the posterior portion of one fits into the anterior portion of that which follows. They are thus mechanically and somewhat loosely connected together, without being actually joined, so that when shaken they make a rattling or rustling noise, resembling that produced by rumpled parchment. When young there is at first but a single horny portion at the end of the tail, and attached to the last caudal verte-

bra. Another is formed on the renewal of the skin, pushing its predecessor onwards, so that the first joint, which is closed at the end, continues to be the terminal one. M. Bosc is of opinion that an additional joint is formed every year, and that if the parts in question were not so often broken off accidentally, we might thus determine the age of each individual. They are, however, extremely fragile; and M. Palisot de Beauvois informs us, that he frequently found these rattles lying detached, in the course of his travels in the United States.¹ Their amount sometimes exceeds thirty, but usually ranges from one to thirteen. Some say that the noise may be heard at the distance of a hundred feet, while Bosc and others allege that it is scarcely audible beyond some twelve or fifteen paces. We shall now briefly notice the different species, the names of which, as already hinted, have been frequently transposed by naturalists.

Crotalus horridus inhabits South America, and is known to the Portuguese by the name of Caracava. Its muzzle is covered by three or four pairs of plates. The scales, which are lozenge-shaped, and surmounted by a cutting keel, are disposed in twenty-nine ranges. Abdominal plates 145, sub-caudal twenty-five. The colour of the upper parts is yellowish brown, relieved upon the back by a range of broad, lozenge-shaped spots. This species measures from four to six feet in length, and, dwelling in a sultry climate, continues in a state of activity throughout the year. Some singular peculiarities in its manners are narrated by naturalists. For example, M. Palisot de Beauvois states, that during one of his journeys he observed a rattle-snake lying on the path, and approached it as quietly as possible. When he was about to strike it, it sprung its rattle, opened its mouth very widely, and received into its throat five young ones, each as thick as a goose's quill. After ten minutes' time, believing itself to be out of danger, it opened its mouth, and allowed the exit of the young, which, however, re-entered on a fresh alarm. This curious fact has been testified (if not confirmed) by another French gentleman, M. Guillemin.

Crotalus durissus (Plate IV., figs. 6 and 10) is a more northern species than the preceding, and to it we may refer the numerous observations which have been made by travellers and tourists on the rattle-snakes of North America. It seems to inhabit from the southern side of the Great Lakes as far as Mexico and California, extending westwards to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but not occurring to the north of the river St Lawrence. It has only one or two pair of plates upon the muzzle, and the keel upon the scales is less developed; the eyes are smaller, the tints deeper, the spots frequently assume the form of bands, and the tail is black. Abdominal plates 170, sub-caudal twenty-two. As this species dwells in districts subjected during winter to the influence of rigorous cold, it creeps in autumn into covered places, or, hiding itself beneath masses of sphagnum, falls into a state of lethargic repose. An individual killed by M. Bosc, and which did not measure more than four feet in length, was found to have a hare in its interior. Its usual food consists of rats, squirrels, and other small Rodentia. This serpent, commonly called the striped rattle-snake, is said to traverse rivers, and even lakes, by inflating its body like a bladder. "The largest rattle-snake," says Catesby, alluding to one or other of these species, "which I ever saw, was about eight feet in length, and weighing between eight and nine pounds. This monster was sliding into the house of Colonel Blake of Carolina, and had certainly taken up his abode there undisturbed, had not the domestic animals alarmed the family with their repeated outcries; the hogs, dogs, and poultry united in their hatred to him, showing the greatest consternation, by erecting their

¹ Latreille, Reptiles, vi. 73.

bristles and feathers, and expressing their wrath and indignation, surrounded him, but carefully kept their distance, while he, regardless of their threats, glided slowly along.¹ "It is not uncommon," he adds, "to have them come into houses; a very extraordinary instance of which occurred to myself in the same gentleman's house, in the month of February 1723. The servant, in making the bed in a ground room (but few minutes after I left it), on turning down the sheets, discovered a rattle-snake coiled between the sheets in the middle of the bed." According to M. Audubon, the skin of this species is used in making shoes.² Mr Say informs us that it inhabits bare and sterile regions, and is often found in the subterranean dwelling of a marmot, Arctomys Ludoviciana.³ M. Becker of Darmstadt placed two rabbits in a cage with this species, one of them being white, the other reddish brown. The fierce reptile, which was lying in a spiral form in the centre, sounded its rattle, and raised and extended its head from time to time, but made no attempt to seize its prey, although repeatedly provoked by its keeper so to do. A black rabbit was then introduced, which it bit instantaneously, and the victim was dead in eight minutes.⁴

Crotalus milaris is a small species of North America, recognisable by its head clothed with nine well-developed plates. The eyes are large, the general colour a reddish brown, with three ranges of deeper spots. There are twenty-three rows of scales, and the lower plates are, abdominal 131, sub-caudal twenty-six. This snake was observed by Catesby in Carolina, and is described by Mr Say (under the title of Crot. tergeminus) as an inhabitant of those lonely sterile plains which stretch between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. It is regarded as more dangerous than the preceding; its small size and peculiar colour prevent its attracting notice, and its rattle is too feeble to be heard at any distance. People are thus apt to tread or even to sit down upon it unawares, and the consequences are as easily imagined as described. It lives on frogs and insects, is by no means timid, but is easily killed by the slightest blow. It was figured long ago both by Seba⁵ and Catesby.⁶

Lastly, Crotalus mutus differs from the other species in having the tail terminated by a hardened point instead of rattle. Its head is clothed with scales. The back is keeled, and the scales are surmounted by a tubercular ridge. Abdominal plates 227, sub-caudal forty-nine. This great serpent inhabits Cayenne, Essequibo, Surinam, and other parts of South America. It sometimes measures above ten feet in length, and may be regarded as the most gigantic of all poisonous reptiles. In its mode of life it somewhat resembles Trigonoccephalus (and is in fact described as a species of that genus by Baron Cuvier⁷). But it is essentially a rattle-snake, though destitute of the particular part from which these species derive their general name. It seems the same as that described under the title of Curruca by Marcgrav.⁸ Its poison has been experimented on by Dr Hering.⁹

Genus VIPERA. Nasal pit wanting. Head usually covered by ridged lanceolated scales. General form thickish, tapering towards each extremity. Tail short and conical.

The species of this genus, greatly restricted since the time of Linnæus, still exhibit a considerable diversity of character when compared among each other. They inhabit either open sandy plains, or desert heaths, where the vegetation is not umbrageous. Hence their abundance in

Africa, and their comparative scarcity in other countries. None occurs in America, a few are found in the drier districts of Asia, three inhabit Europe, and one (of a somewhat anomalous nature) is native to New Holland.

The common viper of Great Britain, and of most parts of the Continent (Vipera berus, Daudin—Coluber berus, Linn.),¹⁰ is the most poisonous of European reptiles. It rarely exceeds two feet in length. The upper portion of the head is protected by a few plate-like scales, somewhat larger than the others. The usual colour is pale ashy brown above, with a space between the eyes, and a patch on each side of the occiput, deep brown or black. A zigzag band of black (composed in some of confluent spots) extends along the back from the nape to the tail; and there is also a parallel row of small black spots on each side. The abdomen and sub-caudal region are steel-blue, sometimes marbled by a yellowish tint, sometimes uniform, or nearly black. The abdominal plates are about a hundred and forty-five, the sub-caudal about thirty-five. This species is widely spread over the central and northern parts of Europe, but some uncertainty prevails regarding the so-called common viper of Italy and other southern regions. M. Gistel describes the viper of the environs of Munich as having an upturned snout,¹¹ which is a character of the asp; and although Metaxa enumerates Vipera berus and its varieties as occurring in the Roman territories,¹² others are of opinion that all its alleged localities are doubtful beyond the Alps.¹³ It seems, however, to be found in the temperate parts of Siberia, in Russia, Hungary, all Germany, parts of France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and, we believe, Norway. Though common in Great Britain, and many of the western isles of Scotland, it is not indigenous in Ireland. Its vertical as well as horizontal range is considerable, for although it affects the low wide heaths of Groningen, Overijssel, and Friesland, it also occurs on the summit of the Inselberg in Thuringia, at an elevation of nearly three thousand feet above the level of the sea. The viper preys chiefly on mice and insects. A specimen, on the tail of which we inadvertently trampled while crossing a moor in Glenmuick, and which our friend Dr Greville struck down with his umbrella, was found on dissection to have a large field-mouse in its abdomen. Schlegel describes ten species.

The bite of this reptile is seldom fatal to animals of moderate size. We have several times seen sporting dogs bitten by vipers on the Scotch moors; and although the cheek might swell, and a heaviness of spirits, and disinclination to distant ranging, usually ensued for a few hours, no perceptible effect could be traced on the following day. A sparrow, however, or even a pigeon, dies in a few minutes after being bitten. Sheep usually escape without any serious consequences. Fontana ascertained, that the hundredth part of a grain of poison was sufficient to kill a sparrow, and that a pigeon required six times that amount. From these data he made a calculation, that it would take nearly three grains to kill a man, and as a viper does not carry above two grains of poison in its vesicles, and does not entirely exhaust that quantity, even after many bites, it was concluded that a human being might receive the bite of five or six vipers without dying in consequence. Now this may be all accurately reasoned in its way, but as physiology is by no means a science of calculation, we would not advise any one to try the experiment. Several facts have been recently adduced to prove, that the bite of this reptile is frequently dangerous, and occasionally fatal. Dr Paulet, in his obser-

Schlegel's vations on the viper of Fontainebleau, states, that an infant Arrangement. of seven years and a half, which was bitten beneath the internal mallolus of the right foot, died at the end of seventeen hours,—while another infant of only two years, which was bitten in the cheek, took two days to die. Dr Hervez de Chegoni mentions the case of a woman, aged sixty-five years, in good health, and of a sound constitution, who having been bitten in the thigh only once by a single viper, expired under the most deplorable symptoms in thirty-seven hours.

The aspic, Vipera aspis, is a species nearly allied to the preceding, of which it is by some regarded as a variety, and of which it seems to assume the place in the south-western countries of Europe, extending as far as the island of Sicily.¹ Its form is more slender, its head larger, its top covered by irregularly-formed scales, and the muzzle is slightly turned up. The aspic is the species which served the experiments of Redi, Charas, and Fontana. It inhabits the dry and rocky countries of Italy, has been observed in Switzerland, and is common in France from the 49th degree of north latitude, spreading into Savoy, the Pyrenees, Spain, and the Mediterranean shores. It is the viper of Fontainebleau, and is also found in the forest of Montmorency; but in Burgundy, and the more northern parts of France, it is replaced by our common viper.

New Holland produces a rare and remarkable species, which some class as generically distinct, under the title of Acanthophis. It is of a thickened form, with a slender hard-pointed tail, the upper part of the head protected

by nine plates. The eye is surrounded by plates, of Schlegel's which the superciliary are elevated, and inclined towards Arrangement. the top of the head. It is the Vipera acanthophis of M. Schlegel.—Acanthophis cerastinus, Lacépède.² (See Plate V., fig. 8.)

A still more remarkable and anomalous species is the famous Vipera cerastes of Africa, figured and described by Bruce the traveller,³ and also in the great French work on Egypt.⁴ Its head is very broad, and heart-shaped; its muzzle broad, obtuse, and rounded; its nostrils rather narrow, vertical and terminal; and its scales surmounted by a tubercular ridge. One of the superciliary scales on each side is converted into a projecting horn-like process, curved forwards; and the ancient name cerastes is no doubt derived from this peculiar character,—the Greek word κέρας signifying horn.

Cornua pretendens immania fronte cerastes,
Dum torquet spinam sibilat ecce vagus.

It seldom much exceeds a foot in length, and inhabits the sandy deserts of the north of Africa. Its description by Bruce has been so often quoted that we shall rest satisfied by the reference already given to the writings of that impugned author.

Very similar to the Vipera cerastes of Egypt is the Vipera nasicornis of the western coast of Africa, which has two of the scales on its snout elevated above the general surface. It was discovered during Captain Tuckey's voyage.

SCHLEGEL'S ARRANGEMENT OF SERPENTS.

DIVISION I.—INNOCUOUS SPECIES.

FAMILY I.—BURROWING SERPENTS.

Genus 1.—TORTRIX.

FAM. II.—VERMIFORM SERPENTS.

Gen. CALAMARIA.

FAM. III.—TERRESTRIAL SERPENTS.

Gen. 1.—CORONELLA.

Gen. 2.—ZENODON.

Gen. 3.—HETERODON.

Gen. 4.—LYCODON.

¹ Although the title of Aspic has been applied to this species, it is not the reptile so named in ancient days, which was not a European species, but more probably the Noja boje of Africa.

² Ann. du Mus. iv. 100.

³ Travels, v. pl. 41.

⁴ Atlas, pl. 6, fig. 3, vol. xiv. 83.

FAM. VI.—BOAFORM SERPENTS.

Gen. 1.—BOA.

Gen. 2.—PYTHON.

Gen. 3.—ACROCHORDUS.

DIVISION II.—VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

FAMILY I.—COLUBRIFORM VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

Genus 1.—ELAPS.

A. American Species.

B. African Species.

C. Asiatic Species.

D. Australian Species.

Gen. 2.—DENDRASPI.

Gen. 3.—BUNGARUS.

Gen. 4.—NAJA.

FAM. II.—SEA-SERPENTS.

Gen. 1.—HYDROPHIS.

FAM. III.—VENOMOUS SERPENTS, PROPERLY SO CALLED.

Gen. 1.—TRIGONOCEPHALUS.

A. Head covered by Scales.

B. With Plates on the Head.

Gen. 2.—CROTALUS.

Gen. 3.—VIPERA.

ORDER IV.—BATRACHIA. BATRACHIAN REPTILES.

We now proceed to the fourth order of the class Reptilia, the BATRACHIA, a name derived from Batrachos, 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.¹ 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 metamorphosis. This change of form constitutes the Batrachia 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. Brod

¹ 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.

Batrachia, 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.¹ The true gills or branchiæ 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 for 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.² 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 Batrachia, 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 the 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 flows 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 first only secondary 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,³ 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 respire; 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

¹ This change or conversion from external to internal gills is not very satisfactorily described by physiological observers. "Des le moment où les Batraciens sortent de l'eau, ces branchies sont apparentes au dehors, elles représentent des espèces de franges ou de panaches colorés situés sur les parties laterales du cou, et attachés sur les bords des fentes qui correspondent à la gorge; elles persistent 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 une 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," &c. (Erpétologie Générale, l. 182.)

² It appears that the great Lord Bacon had not practised his inductive philosophy so far as young frogs are concerned, for in his Syllogismum 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 the conclusion that the appearance of such tailed reptiles, "argueth a great disposition to patrefaction in the soil and aire."

³ See Roget's Bridgewater Treatise, II. 339.

Batrachia 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 gelatinous 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 Monticillard 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. Batrachia. 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 disgust with which they are so usually regarded.

The Batrachia generally feed upon the larvae of aquatic insects, on worms, small mollusca, 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 RANIDÆ.¹ FROGS IN GENERAL.

All the members of the frog family (corresponding to the great genus RANA of Linnæus), 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 consideration 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;

¹ Although the patronymic termination in ide 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 euphemia gratia. See Hora Entomologica, p. 23.

Batrachia.
Ranidae.

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 still 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 VI., 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 par-

ticularly 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 (R. 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 fricassee 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 umbraeous 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

Batrachia. 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.; R. fusca 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 horny and cutting nail. The spotted frog (R. 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. It 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, R. 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 frog 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 frog, 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 VI., fig. 2.) In certain species the tympanum is hid beneath the skin. The species are found in South America and Asia. The horned frog (C. varius, Boie, Rana cornuta, Seba) is certainly one of the most singular of

Batrachia, Ranidae. 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 acuminate callos 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, 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 δακτυλῆτρα, a thimble. The smooth toad, crapaud lisse of Daudin (Pipa bufonia of Merrem), belongs to it.

GENUS Hyla, Laurenti; Calamita, Schn. The tree-frogs of the English, — Rainettes of French authors. The Hylæ 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 VI., 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 superabundant 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 as sorts 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. calamita, Gray, Calamita maximæ, Schn., appears to be one of the largest of these slender-bodied frogs, 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. Merian 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

Batrachia. also resembling the noise made by that insect. H. tinctoria, Cuv. H. 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. bicolor 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, clumsy, 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 Linnæus 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 vertebrae, 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 glairy 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 celebrated 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. Herrisaut, 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 hibernation, or when completely frozen. The importance, under these circumstances, of the cuticular re-

Batrachia. Ranidae. 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, Stagyrile!
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 a 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 Stainmore, 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 case, 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 (B. 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 resemblance

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."¹ It never leaps. The brown toad, B. 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 garlic 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 Roessel, it is considered by the country people as a kind of fish, and is eaten accordingly. The variable or green toad, B. variabilis, Cuv., Rana 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-

¹ Jenyns's British Vertebrate Animals, 263.

Batrachia. ter, and there deposits them in safety, the tadpole soon is-
suing 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 vol-
untarily; 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 ma-
rine 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 sev-
eral genera which have recently been separated from the
group.

GENUS BOMBINATOR. This genus differs from the other
toads only in having the tympanum, or soft covering of the
ear, hid under the skin. RHINELLA of Fitzinger (OXY-
RHYNCUS of Spix) is distinguished by a prolonged muzzle.
(See Plate VI., 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 ENOSTOMA), neither the tym-
panum nor parotids are apparent; the body is oval, the head
and mouth are remarkably small, and the feet scarcely at
all webbed. (See Plate VI., fig. 5.) We shall here in-
troduce a very few species belonging to these genera.

To the genus Bombinator belongs B. bombinus (Rana
bombina, Gmel.), which is the smallest and most aquatic
of the European toads. It is gray or brown above, black-
ish 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 mo-
rasses. Of the genus Rhinella, Spix has depicted and de-
scribed 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 Otilophia. It is a native
of Brazil, and about the size of the common toad; it is ru-
fous brown above and whitish beneath, beset with nume-
rous small tubercles of a bluish or pearly cast, whence the
French name croopard perlé; but its principal characteris-
tic 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 short-
headed toad is a very small animal, about half the size of
the common toad; the head is completely blended and in-
corporated with the thorax, and the surface is rather wrinkled
than tuberculous. It is a native of Africa. R. systo-
ma 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 the 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 tym-
panum 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,—Rana pipa
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 ce-
lebrated Ruysch. It is one of the most uncouth and hi-
deous 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 inspect-
ed 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 nume-
rous 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 rep-
tile 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 stagn-
ant 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 cellulose 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 under-
go 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
cellulose. 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

Batrachia-Salamandridæ. species lives in the fresh waters of South America, and sometimes in obscure houses in Cayenne and Surinam, where it is called tedo and curucu. According to Seba and Madame Mérian, the negroes of the colonies use its flesh as food.

Spix has figured another species, P. cururu 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 laevis.

FAMILY SALAMANDRIDÆ. 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 climate, exaggerated even the wonders of creative power, that the reputation of the salamander originated." It was among that fanciful people that an obscure and changeable 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 ovo-viviparous. The mode we have been hitherto contemplating resembles that of birds in being strictly ovo-parous. 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 oviducts. 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

Batrachia salamandridæ. 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 VI, 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 inclosed 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 VI, fig. 6.) The funereal salamander (S. funebria) is six or eight feet 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. perspicillata 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 VI, 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 warbled salamander, S. marmorata, Lat. (Triton Gesnerii of Laurenti), has the skin chagriné, pale green above, spotted with large irregular brown blotches, and brown 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 chagriné, 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. alpestris, Bechst., has a chagriné 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

Batrachia. Genus Menopoma.
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 branchia.

GENUS MENOPOMA, Harlan; Abranchus, 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 (S. 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.¹ (See Plate VI., 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.² Another species, Amph. 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 tentacula. 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. Branchia apparent and persistent.

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 incomplete reptile. It was so regarded by Baron Cuvier in his contribution to Humboldt's Voyage³ 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."⁴ 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 VII., fig. 1.) It inhabits the lake on which the town of Mexico stands, 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 larvæ, but completed Batrachia.
reptiles.⁵

GENUS MENOBRANCHUS, Harlan; Necturus, Rafinesque. Here there are only four toes to each foot. (See Plate VII., 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.⁶

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 (Siren anguina, 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 extrordinary as its slimy inhabitant, the waters retire during the summer season by numerous subterranean outlets, leaving the ground fit 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,⁷ 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 Carniola. All its characters, in fact, present the aspect of a subterranean animal. It has a pale, bleached, ghost-like aspect, and its small, opaque, 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

¹ Annals of the Lyceum of New York, i. pl. 17.

² Mém. du Mus. xiv. pl. 1; and Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. III.

³ Recherches sur les Reptiles douzeux, p. 123.

⁴ Phil. Trans. for 1824, part ii.

⁵ Annals of the Lyceum of New York, i. pl. 16.

⁶ Régne Animal, ii. 119.

⁷ Phil. Trans. for 1801.

Batrachia. shell,—and our practical experience, even of green fat, is
Genus far from extensive;—but we have watched a siren from the
Siren. 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 ori-
ginally transmitted by Dr Farmer of Charlestown, South
Carolina, to Dr Munro. It measured one foot five inches
in length, and about four inches in circumference. (See
Plate VII., 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, irregu-
lar, 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 con-
sist 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 perfora-
tions 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.¹

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 mar-
gined 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 re-
ceived regarding this species that Linnaeus, though with
hesitation, founded his order of Amphibia meantes, of which
the most peculiar character consisted in there being "branchiæ
et pulmones simul." The great Swedish naturalist
appears to have been particularly interested by the peculi-
arities of the siren; for in his reply to Mr Ellis, acknow-
ledging 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 extraor-
dinary 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 impos-
sible 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.² A simi-
lar opinion was maintained by Hermann,³ Lacépède,⁴ and
Schneider.⁵ About twenty years after the original discov-
ery 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 de-
clared that the siren was a fish. Gmelin, of course, im-
mediately classed it with the eels, and it thus became the
Muraena siren of his edition of the Systema Naturæ.⁶ What-
ever 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,⁶ and in an after and more ample
memoir,⁷ 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 ele-
ment.⁸

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 mat-
ter of mere logical inference on the part of the anatomist.
During the long period of its confinement no change what-
ever 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 re-
garding this specimen was obtained accidentally, and hap-
pily illustrates the very point on which it was most desirable
to obtain information. It is thus related by Dr Neill: "Al-
though 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 wa-
ter-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-

Index. 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 green-house. I was speedily apprized of the circumstance, and on examining the spot, we could most distinctly trace, by a shining glaze, 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 escape. 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.¹

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 brachial apparatus, consequent on its having again escaped from its watery reservoir.²

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 protus it is said not to exist at all), 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.³

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.⁴ (J. W.)

[N.B.—We are requested by the author of the article PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY to state here, that he had been led to assert, on what he considered the best authority, that there were no serpents in Borneo (art. 405); but he has since learned from the Rev. Mr Horsburgh, resident in that island, that serpents are there abundant.—Ed.]

¹ Jameson's Journal, January—April, 1828.

² See New York Med. and Phys. Jour. for June 1824; and Dr Neill's additional notice in Edin. New Phil. Jour. xli. 208 (1832).

³ Illus. Zool., vol. 1., art. Siren.

⁴ See Ann. of Lyceum of New York, vol. 1.; and Harlan's Amer. Herpet., p. 6.