the lizard, in zoology, a genus of amphibious animals, belonging to the order of reptilia, the characters of which are these: The body is naked, with four feet, and a tail. There are 49 species; the most remarkable are,

1. The crocodilus, or crocodile, has a compressed jagged tail, five toes on the fore and four on the hind-feet. This is the largest animal of the lizard kind. One that was dissected at Siam, an account of which was sent to the Royal Academy at Paris, was 18 feet and a half long, of which the tail was no less than five feet and a half, and the head and neck above two and a half. He was four feet and nine inches in circumference where thickest.

The hinder legs, including the thigh and the paw, were two feet and two inches long; the paws, from the joint to the extremity of the longest claws, were above nine inches. They were divided into four toes; of which three were armed with large claws, the longest of which was an inch and a half, and seven lines and a half broad at the root. The fourth toe was without a nail, and of a conical figure; but was covered with a thick skin like flaggreen leather. These toes were united with membranes like those of ducks, but much thicker.

The fore-legs had the same parts and conformation as the arms of a man, both within and without; but they were somewhat shorter than those behind. The hands had five fingers, the two last of which had no nails, and were of a conical figure, like the fourth toe on the hind paws. The head was long, and had a little rising at the top; but the rest was flat, and especially towards the extremity of the jaws. It was covered with a skin, which adhered firmly to the skull and to the jaws. The skull was rough and unequal in several places; and about the middle of the forehead there were two bony crests, about two inches high. They were not quite parallel, but separated from each other in proportion as they mounted upwards.

The eye was very small in proportion to the rest of the body; and was so placed within its orbit, that the outward part, when shut, was only a little above an inch in length, and run parallel to the opening of the jaws.

The nose was placed in the middle of the upper jaw, near an inch from its extremity, and was perfectly round and flat, being two inches in diameter, of a black, soft, fleshy substance, not unlike the nose of a dog. The nostrils were in the form of a Greek capital Σ; and there were two caruncles which filled and closed them very exactly, and which opened as often as he breathed through the nose. The jaws seemed to shut one within another by means of several apophyses, which proceeded from above downwards, and from below upwards, there being cavities in the opposite jaw to receive them. They had 27 dog-teeth in the upper jaw and 15 in the lower, with several void spaces between them. They were thick at the bottom, and sharp at the point; being all of different sizes, except ten large hooked ones, five of which were in the lower jaw, and four in the upper. The mouth was 15 inches in length, and eight and a half in breadth where broadest; and the distance of the two jaws, when opened as wide as they could be, was 15 inches and a half. The skull, between the two crests, was proof against a musket-ball, for it only rendered the part a little white that it struck against.

The colour of the body was of a dark brown on the upper part, and of a whitish citron below, with large spots of both colours on the sides. From the shoulders to the extremity of the tail he was covered with large scales of a square form, disposed like parallel girdles, and were 52 in number; but those near the tail were not so thick as the rest. In the middle of each girdle there were four protuberances, which became higher as they approached the end of the tail, and composed four rows; of which the two in the middle were lower than the remaining two, forming three channels, which grew deeper the nearer they came to the tail, and were confounded with each other about two feet from its extremity.

The skin was defended with a sort of armour which, however, was not proof against a musket-ball, contrary to what has been commonly said. However, it must be acknowledged, that the attitude in which it was placed might contribute not a little thereto; for probably, if the ball had struck obliquely against the shell, it would have flown off. Those parts of the girldes underneath the belly were of a whitish colour, and were made up of scales of divers shapes. They were about one sixth of an inch in thickness, and were not so hard as those on the back.

This creature is, however, said to grow to a still larger size than that above mentioned, some having been known to measure 25 feet in length.—They have no tongue; but in place of that organ there is a sort of membrane attached by its edges to the two sides of the under jaw.

The crocodile lays eggs, which she covers over with sand, and leaves to be hatched by the heat of the sun. They are to be met with in the rivers Nile, Niger, and Ganges, besides most other large rivers in the southern parts of Asia, Africa, and America.

Mr Hasselquist informs us, that the crocodile swallows stones to assist digestion, after the manner of feeding birds, which commit to the stomach the work of mastication as well as concoction, being destitute of the instruments adapted to that purpose. The Egyptians say, that his excrements do not pass by the anus: this seems to be confirmed by the structure of the gut, which is near the pylorus; for it cannot easily be conceived that excrements should pass through such a narrow passage, seemingly designed for the conveyance of the chyle only; but the structure of the parts, and the gut being so near the pylorus, seem to indicate that the excrements pass through it into the ventricle, and are vomited up. The inhabitants above Cairo say they see this daily; and observe, that the crocodile is obliged to come on shore as often as he has occasion to eat himself. There is a folliculus, of the bigness of a hazel-nut, under the shoulders of the old crocodiles, which contains a thick matter smelling like milk. The Egyptians are very anxious to get this when they kill a crocodile, it being a perfume much esteemed by the grandees. When the male copulates with the female, he turns her with his snout on her back. The Egyptians use the fat against the rheumatism and stiffness of the tendons, esteeming it a powerful remedy outwardly applied. They say the gall is good for the eyes; they make use of it as a certain remedy for barrenness in women, taking about six grains internally, and outwardly they apply a pellus made of cotton and the gall of a crocodile. The eyes of the crocodile are the best aphrodisiacs of any known by the Arabs; who prefer them to all confections, dea-satyris, hyacinthi, &c., and even to ambergris.

The crocodile is a very dangerous and terrible animal in some countries. It does a great deal of mischief among the common people of Upper Egypt, often killing and devouring women who come to the river to fetch water, and children playing on the shore or swimming in the river. In the stomach of one dissected before Mr Barton the English consul, they found the bones of the legs and arms of a woman, with the rings which they wear in Egypt as ornaments. These animals are seen in some places lying for whole hours, and even days, stretched in the sun and motionless; so that one not used to them might mistake them for trunks of trees covered with a rough and dry bark: but the mistake would soon be fatal; for the seemingly torpid animal, at the near approach of any living creature, instantly darts upon it, and carries it to the bottom. In the times of an inundation they sometimes enter the cottages of the natives, where they seize the first animal they meet with. There have been several examples of their taking a man out of a canoe in the fight of his companions, without their being able to lend him any assistance. The crocodile, however, except when pressed with hunger, or with a view of depopulating its eggs, seldom leaves the water. Its usual method is to float along upon the surface, and seize whatever animals come within its reach; but when this method fails, it then goes closer to the bank. There it waits in patient expectation of some land animal that comes to drink; the dog, the bull, the tiger, or man himself. Nothing is to be seen as the animal approaches, nor is its retreat discovered till it is too late for safety. It seizes the victim with a spring, and goes at a bound much faster than such an unwieldy animal could be supposed to do; then having secured the creature both with teeth and claws, it drags it into the water, instantly sinks with it to the bottom, and in this manner quickly drowns it. Sometimes it happens, that the creature wounded by the crocodile makes its escape; in which case, the latter pursues with great celerity, and often takes it a second time. In these depredations, however, this terrible animal often seizes on another as formidable as itself, and meets with a desperate resistance. We are told of frequent combats between the crocodile and the tiger. All creatures of the tiger kind are continually oppressed by a parching thirst, that keeps them in the vicinity of great rivers, whither they descend to drink very frequently. On these occasions they are seized by the crocodile; upon whom they instantly turn with the greatest agility, and force their claws into his eyes, while he plunges with his fierce antagonist into the river. There they continue to struggle for some time, till at last the tiger is drowned. Notwithstanding all this, however, we are assured by Labat, that a negro, with no other weapon than a knife in his right hand, and his left arm wrapped round with a cow-hide, ventures boldly to attack this animal in its own element. As soon as he approaches the crocodile, he presents his left arm, which the animal swallows most greedily: but as it sticks in his throat, the negro has time to give it several stabs below the chin, where it is easily vulnerable; and the water also getting in at the mouth, which is held involuntarily open, the creature is soon bloated up as big as a tun, and expires.

The natives of Siam seem particularly fond of the capture of all the great animals with which their country abounds. The crocodiles are taken by throwing three or four strong nets across a river, at proper distances from each other; so that if the animal breaks through the first, it may be caught by one of the rest. When it is first taken, it employs the tail, which is the grand instrument of strength, with great force; but after many unsuccessful struggles, the animal's strength is at last exhausted. Then the natives approach their prisoner in boats, and pierce him in the most tender parts till he is weakened by loss of blood. When he has done stirring, they begin by tying up his mouth, Lacerta, and with the same cord tie his head to his tail, which last they bend back like a bow. However, they are not yet perfectly secure from his fury; but for their greater safety they tie his fore feet, as well as those behind, to the top of his back. These precautions are not useless; for if they were to omit them, the crocodile would soon recover strength enough to do a great deal of mischief. When thus brought into subjection, or when taken young and tamed, this formidable animal is used to divert and entertain the great men of the east. It is often managed like an horse; a curb is put into its mouth, and the rider directs it as he thinks proper. Though awkwardly formed, it does not fail to proceed with some degree of swiftness; and is thought to move as fast as some of the most unwieldy of our own animals, the hog or the cow. Some indeed assert, that no animal could escape it but for its slowness in turning; which, however, seems very improbable, as its back-bone is full of articulations, and seemingly as flexible as that of other large animals.

All crocodiles breed near fresh waters; and though they are sometimes found in the sea, yet that may be considered rather as a place of excursion than abode. They produce their young by eggs, as was said above; and for this purpose, the female, when she comes to lay, chooses a place by the side of a river, or some freshwater lake, to deposit her brood in. She always pitches upon an extensive sandy shore, where she may dig a hole without danger of detection from the ground being fresh turned up. The shore must also be gentle and shelving to the water, for the greater convenience of the animal's going and returning; and a convenient place must be found near the edge of the stream, that the young may have a shorter way to go. When all these requisites are adjusted, the animal is seen cautiously stealing up on shore to deposit her burden. The presence of a man, a beast, or even a bird, is sufficient to deter her at that time; and if she perceives any creature looking on, she infallibly returns. If, however, nothing appears, she then goes to work, scratching up the sand with her fore-paws, and making a hole pretty deep in the shore. There she deposits from 80 to 100 eggs, of the size of a tennis-ball, and of the same figure, covered with a tough white skin like parchment. She takes about an hour to perform this task; and then covering up the place so artfully that it can scarcely be perceived, she goes back to return again the next day. Upon her return with the same precaution as before, she lays about the same number of eggs; and the day following also a like number. Thus having deposited her whole quantity, and having covered them close up in the sand, they are soon vivified by the heat of the sun; and at the end of 30 days the young ones begin to break open the shell. At this time the female is instinctively taught that her young ones want relief; and she goes upon land to scratch away the sand and set them free. Her brood quickly avail themselves of their liberty; a part run unguided to the water; another part ascend the back of the female, and are carried thither in greater safety. But the moment they arrive at the water, all natural connection is at an end; when the female has introduced her young to their natural element, not only she, but the male, become amongst the number of their most formidable enemies, and devour as many of them as they can. The whole brood scatters into different parts at the bottom; by far the greatest number are destroyed, and the rest find safety in their agility or minuteness.

But it is not the parent alone that is thus found to thin their numbers; the eggs of this animal are not only a delicious feast to the savage, but are eagerly sought after by every beast and bird of prey. The ichneumon was erected into a deity among the ancients for its success in destroying the eggs of these monsters; at present that species of the vulture called the gallinazo is their most prevailing enemy. All along the banks of great rivers, for thousands of miles, the crocodile is seen to propagate in numbers that would soon over-run the earth, but for the vulture, that seems appointed by Providence to abridge its fecundity. These birds are ever found in great numbers where the crocodile is most numerous; and hiding themselves within the thick branches of the trees that shade the banks of the river, they watch the female in silence, and permit her to lay all her eggs without interruption. Then when she has retired, they encourage each other with cries to the spoil; and flocking all together upon the hidden treasure, tear up the eggs, and devour them in a much shorter time than they were deposited. Nor are they less diligent in attending the female while she is carrying her young to the water; for if any one of them happens to drop by the way, it is sure to receive no mercy.

Such is the extraordinary account given us by late travellers of the propagation of this animal; an account adopted by Linnæus and the most learned naturalists of the age. Yet if one might argue from the general analogy of nature, the crocodile's devouring her own young when she gets to the water seems doubtful. This may be a story raised from the general idea of this animal's rapacious cruelty; when in fact the crocodile only seems more cruel than other animals, because it has more power to do mischief. It is probable that it is not more divested of parental tenderness than other creatures; and we are the more led to think so, from the peculiar formation of one of the crocodile kind, called,

2. The open-bellied crocodile; which is furnished with a false belly like the opossum, where the young creep out and in as their dangers or necessities require. The crocodile, thus furnished at least, cannot be said to be an enemy to her own young, since she thus gives them more than parental protection. It is probable also that this open bellied crocodile is viviparous, and fosters her young that are prematurely excluded in this second womb until they come to proper maturity.

This crocodile is a species that was not described by Linnæus; but has been inserted in the Systema Naturæ since his death, under the name of Lacerta gangetica. Mr Edwards tells us, that three of these creatures were sent from Bengal about the year 1747, to the late Dr Mead physician in ordinary to the king. Two of them the Doctor preserved in his collection, and presented the third to the late curious Mrs Kennon; and since the decease of these worthy persons, they became the property of Mr James Lemm of London, who obliged our author with one of them to produce to the royal society. The narrowness of the beak is the most extraordinary circumstance in this crocodile, which appears like the bill of the bird called goosander. It has small sharp teeth. Another peculiarity is a painch or open purse in the middle of the under side of the belly, which seems to be naturally formed with round hips, and hollow within, to receive its young in time of danger, as it appears in the American animal called opofium. Dr Parfons gave it as his opinion, that the opening in the belly was really natural, it having no appearance of being cut or torn open. In other respects it hath all the marks common to alligators or crocodiles. The beak was finely crested transversely. The animal appeared in the spirits all over of a yellowish olive colour, the under side lighter than the upper, the latter having some dusky marks and spots. This species inhabits the banks of the Ganges; and it is very strange that they should never have been described before, as our India company have been so long settled there, and the animal is at full growth nearly, if not altogether, as large as the common crocodile.

How long the crocodile lives we are not certainly informed; if we may believe Aristotle, it lives the age of a man; but the ancients so much amused themselves in inventing fables concerning this animal, that even truth from them is suspicious. What we know for certain from the ancients is, that among the various animals that were produced to fight in the amphitheatre at Rome, the combat of the crocodile was not wanting. Marcus Scaurus produced them living in his unrivalled exhibitions; and the Romans considered him as the best citizen, because he furnished them with the most expensive entertainments.

3. The alligator, or American crocodile, has a vast mouth, furnished with sharp teeth; from the back to the end of the tail, serrated; skin tough and brown, and covered on the sides with tubercles. This dreadful species, which grows to the length of 17 or 18 feet, is found in the warmer parts of North America; and most numerous as we approach the south, and the more fierce and ravenous. Yet in Carolina it never devours the human species, but on the contrary shuns mankind; it will, however, kill dogs as they swim the rivers, and hogs which feed in the swamps. It is often seen floating like a log of wood on the surface of the water, and is mistaken for such by dogs and other animals, which it seizes and draws under water to devour at its leisure. Like the wolf, when pressed by long hunger, it will swallow mud, and even stones and pieces of wood. They often get into the weeds in pursuit of fish, and do much mischief by breaking them to pieces. They are torpid during the winter in Carolina; and retire into their dens, which they form by burrowing far under ground. It makes the entrance under water, and works upwards. In spring it quits its retreat, and retires to the rivers, which it swims up and down; and chiefly feeds its prey near the mouth, where the water is briskish.—It roars and makes a dreadful noise at its first leaving its den, and against bad weather. It lays a vast number of eggs in the sand, near the banks of lakes and rivers, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun; multitudes are destroyed as soon as hatched either by their own species or by fish of prey. In South America the caracara vulture is the instrument of Providence to destroy multitudes; by that means preventing the country from being rendered uninhabitable.

4. The Cayman, or Antilles crocodile, which has by different authors been confounded with the two preceding species, is evidently different from both; and has accordingly been properly distinguished by the Abbé Bonnatte in the Encyclopédie Méthodique. See our figure, where the differences are so apparent as to require no detail.—The greatest strength of this animal, according to M. Merian, consists in its teeth, of which there are two rows crossing one another, by Naturello, means of which it grinds with the greatest ease whatever it seizes upon. But it must not be understood from this that there is a double row of teeth, as Seba pretends, on each side of the under jaw; but only that there are two rows on each jaw, one on the right and the other on the left side.—The Cayman is so called from some small isles of that name among the Antilles, where these creatures are said to be very numerous. They are of exceeding strength, and equally the dread both of men and animals; for they live on land as well as in the water, and devour every creature they meet with.—Another figure is added, representing an egg with the young one at the time of breaking the shell. See the Plates.

5. The caudiverbera, has a depressed pinnatifid tail, and palmated feet. It is larger than the common green lizard, is found in Peru, and has got its name from its beating the ground with its tail.

6. The stellio has a verticillated tail, and dentated scales. It is a native of Africa, and the warm parts of Asia. It frequents the ruined walls of Natolia, Syria, and Palestine. The Arabs call it hardun. The Turks kill it; for they imagine, that, by declining the head, it mimics them while they say their prayers.

7. The agilis, has a pretty long verticillated tail, with sharp scales, and a scaly collar. This is the common green lizard, and is a native both of Europe and India. This species is extremely nimble: in hot weather it balks on the sides of dry banks or old trees; but, on being observed, immediately retreats to its hole. The food of this species, as well as of all the other British lizards, is insects; and they themselves are devoured by birds of prey. They are all perfectly harmless; yet their form strikes one with difficulty, and has occasioned great obscurity in their history. Mr Pennant mentions a lizard killed in Worcestershire in the year 1714, which was two feet five inches long, and four inches in girth. The fore-legs were placed eight inches from the head; the hind-legs five inches beyond those: the legs were two inches long; the feet divided into four toes, each furnished with a sharp claw. Another of the same kind was afterwards killed in that county; but whether these large lizards were natives of other countries and imported into England, or whether they were of British growth, is uncertain.

8. The chameleon has a crooked cylindrical tail. The head of a large chameleon is almost two inches long, and from thence to the beginning of the tail it is four inches and a half. The tail is five inches long, and the feet two and a half. The thickness of the body is different at different seasons; for sometimes from the back to the belly it is two inches, and sometimes but one; for he can blow himself up and contract himself at pleasure. This swelling and contraction is not only of the back and belly, but also of the legs and tail. These different motions are not like those of other animals, which proceed from a dilatation of the breast in breathing, and which rises and falls successively; but they are very irregular, as in tortoises and frogs. The chameleon has continued as it were blown up for two hours together, and then he would grow less and less insensibly; for the dilatation was always more quick and visible than the contraction. In this last state he appeared extremely lean, and the spine of the back was sharp, and all his ribs might be told; likewise the tendons of the arms and legs might be seen very distinctly.

The skin is very cold to the touch; and notwithstanding he seems to lean, there is no feeling the beating of the heart. The surface of the skin is unequal, and has a grain not unlike shagreen, but very soft, because each eminence is as smooth as if it was polished. Some of these are as large as a middling pin's head on the arms, legs, belly, and tail; but on the shoulders and head they are of an oval figure, and a little larger. Those under the throat are ranged in the form of a chaplet, from the lower lip to the breast. Some on the head and back are amassed together in clutters, with spaces between them, on which are almost imperceptible spots of a pale red and yellow colour, as well as the ground of the skin itself, which plainly appears between these clutters. This ground changes colour when the animal is dead, becoming of a greyish brown, and the small spots are whitish.

The colour of all these eminences, when the chameleon is at rest in a shady place, is of a bluish grey, except on the claws, where it is white with a little yellow; and the spaces between the clutters is of a pale red and yellow, as was before observed. But when he is in the sun, all parts of the body which are affected with the light become of a greyish brown, or rather of a tawny. That part of the skin which the sun does not shine on, changes into several brighter colours, which form spots of the size of half one's finger. Some of these descend from the spine half way on the back; and others appear on the sides, arms, and tail. They are all of an Isabella colour, from a mixture of a pale yellow and of a bright red, which is the colour of the ground of the skin.

The head of a chameleon is not unlike that of a fish, it being joined to the breast by a very short neck, covered on each side with cartilaginous membranes resembling the gills of fishes. There is a crest directly on the top of the head, and two others on each side above the eyes, and between these there are two cavities near the top of the head. The muzzle is blunt, and not much unlike that of a frog: at the end there is a hole on each side for the nostrils; but there are no ears, nor any sign of any.

The jaws are furnished with teeth, or rather with a bone in the form of teeth, which he makes little or no use of, because he lives upon swallowing flies and other insects without chewing them; and hence arose the vulgar notion of his living upon air, because he was never seen to eat. The tongue, which Linnaeus says resembles an earthworm, is of considerable length, and is enlarged and somewhat flattened at the end. From this member there continually oozes out a very glutinous liquor, by means of which it catches such insects as come within its reach, and it is surprising to see with what quickness it retracts its tongue the instant it has arrested any prey. The form, structure, and motion of the eyes, have something very particular; for they are very large, being almost half an inch in diameter. They are of a globous figure; which may be easily seen, because they stand out of the head. They have a single eye-lid like a cap, with a small hole in the middle, through which the sight of the eye appears, no bigger than a pin's head, and of a shining brown, encircled by a little ring of a gold colour. This eye-lid has a grain like shagreen, as well as the other parts of the skin; and when the rest of the body changes colour, and assumes spots of different shapes, those on the lid always keep the same form, though they are tinged with the same colour as the skin. But the most extraordinary thing relating to the eyes is, that this animal often moves one when the other is entirely at rest; nay, sometimes one eye will seem to look directly forward and the other backward, and one will look up to the sky when the other regards the earth.

That part of the body which is called the trunk, and comprehends the thorax and the belly in a chameleon, is almost all thorax, with little or no belly. The four feet are all of a length; and the only difference between them is, that those before are turned backwards, and those behind forwards. There are five toes on each paw, which have a greater resemblance to hands than feet. They are all divided into two, which gives the appearance of two hands to each arm, and two feet to each leg; and though one of these parts have three toes, and the other but two, yet they seem to be all of the same size. These toes lie together under the same skin as in a mitten; however, their shape might be seen through the skin. With these paws the chameleon can lay hold of the small branches of trees in the same manner as a parrot. When he is about to perch, he parts his toes differently from birds, because he puts two behind and two before. The claws are little, crooked, very sharp, and of a pale yellow, proceeding but half way out of the skin, while the other half is hid beneath it. His walk is slower than that of a tortoise, and he seems to move along with an affection of gravity. He seems to seek for a proper place to set his feet upon; and when he climbs up trees, he does not trust to his feet like squirrels, but endeavours to find out clefts in the bark, that he may get a firmer hold.

His tail is like that of a viper when it is puffed up and round; for otherwise the bones may be seen in the same manner as on the back. He always wraps his tail round the branches of trees, and it serves him as it were instead of a fifth hand. He is a native of Africa and Asia. Mr Haffkquift is of opinion, that the change of colour in the chameleon is owing to its being exceedingly subject to the jaundice, which particularly happens either when it is exposed to the sun or when it is made angry. The mixture of the bile with its blood is then very perceptible, and, as the skin is transparent, makes it spotted with green and yellow. He never saw it coloured with red, blue, or purple; and does not believe that ever it assumes these colours.

9. The gecko, has a cylindrical tail, concave ears, and a warty body. It is the Indian salamander of Bontius. "This animal is very frequent in Cairo (says Haffkquift), both in the houses and without them. The poison of this animal is very singular, as it exhales from the lobuli of the toes. The animal feeds..." seeks all places and things impregnated with sea-salt, and, passing over them several times, leaves this very noxious poison behind it. In July 1750, I saw two women and a girl in Cairo at the point of death, from eating cheese new salted, bought in the market, and on which this animal had dropped its poison. Once at Cairo, I had an opportunity of observing how acrid the exhalations of the toes of this animal are, as it ran over the hand of a man who endeavoured to catch it; there immediately rose little pustules over all those parts the animal had touched; these were red, inflamed, and smarted a little, greatly resembling those occasioned by the stinging of nettles. It emits an odd sound, especially in the night, from its throat, not unlike that of a frog.

10. The fuscus has a cylindrical tail compressed at the point, and blunt marginated toes. This animal is found in Arabia Petraea near the Red Sea, and in Upper Egypt near the Nile. It is much used by the inhabitants of the east as an aphrodisiac, but not at this time by the Europeans. The flesh of the animal is given in powder, with some stimulating vehicle; broth made of the recent flesh is likewise used by the Arabs. It is brought from Upper Egypt and Arabia to Alexandria, whence it is carried to Venice and Marseilles, and from thence to all the apothecaries shops of Europe.

11. The nilotica has a long tail with a triangular edge, and four lines of scales on the back. It is met with in the moist places of Egypt near the Nile. The Egyptians say that this lizard proceeds from the eggs of the crocodile laid in the sand, but that the crocodile proceeds from those laid in the water. Mr Hafselquist hath detected the fallacy of this account.

12. The palustris has a lanceolated tail, and four toes on the fore-feet, and inhabits the stagnating waters of Europe. It has a slow and crawling pace. Mr Pennant mentions his having more than once found, under stones and old logs, some very minute lizards that had much the appearance of this kind: they were perfectly formed, and had not the least vestiges of fins; which circumstance, joined to their being found in a dry place remote from water, seems to indicate, that they had never been inhabitants of that element, as it is certain many of our lizards are in their first state. At that period they have a fin above and below their tail; that on the upper part extends along the back as far as the head; but both drop off as soon as the animal takes to the land, being then no longer of any use. Mr Ellis has remarked certain pennated fins at the gills of one very common in most of our stagnating waters, and which is frequently observed to take a bait like a fish.

13. The salamandra, or salamander, has a short cylindrical tail, four toes on the fore-feet, and a naked porous body. This animal has been said, even in the Philosophical Transactions, to live in the fire; but this is found to be a mistake. It is found in the southern countries of Europe. The following account of this species is extracted from the Count de la Cepede's Natural History of Serpents. Whilst the hardest bodies cannot resist the violence of fire, the world have endeavoured to make us believe that a small lizard can not only withstand the flames, but even extinguish them. As agreeable fables readily gain belief, every one has been eager to adopt Lacerta, that of a small animal so highly privileged, so superior to the most powerful agent in nature, and which could furnish so many objects of comparison to poetry, so many pretty emblems to love, and so many brilliant devices to valour. The ancients believed this property of the salamander, wishing that its origin might be as surprising as its power; and being desirous of realizing the ingenious fictions of the poets, they have pretended that it owes its existence to the purest of elements, which cannot consume it; and they have called it the daughter of fire, giving it however a body of ice. The moderns have followed the ridiculous tales of the ancients; and as it is difficult to stop when one has passed the bounds of probability, some have gone so far as to think that the most violent fire could be extinguished by the land salamander. Quacks sold this small lizard, affirming, that when thrown into the greatest conflagration, it would check its progress. It was very necessary that philosophers and naturalists should take the trouble to prove by facts what reason alone might have demonstrated; and it was not till after the light of science was diffused abroad, that the world gave over believing in this wonderful property of the salamander. This lizard, which is found in so many countries of the ancient world, and even in very high latitudes, has been however very little noticed, because it is seldom seen out of its hole, and because for a long time it has inspired much terror. Even Aristotle speaks of it as of an animal with which he was scarcely acquainted.

One of the largest of this species, preserved in the French king's cabinet, is seven inches five lines in length, from the end of the muzzle to the root of the tail, which is three inches eight lines. The skin does not appear to be covered with scales, but it is furnished with a number of excrescences like teats, containing a great many holes, several of which may be very plainly distinguished by the naked eye, and through which a kind of milk oozes, that generally spreads itself in such a manner as to form a transparent coat of varnish above the skin of this oviparous quadruped, naturally dry.

The eyes of the salamander are placed in the upper part of the head, which is a little flattened; their orbit projects into the interior part of the palate, and is there almost surrounded by a row of very small teeth, like those in the jaw bones; these teeth establish a near relation between lizards and fishes; many species of which have also several teeth placed in the bottom of the mouth. The colour of this lizard is very dark; upon the belly it has a bluish cast, intermixed with pretty large irregular yellow spots, which extend over the whole body, and even to the feet and eye-lids; some of these spots are besprinkled with small black specks; and those which are upon the back often touch without interruption, and form two long yellow bands. The colour must, however, be subject to vary; and it appears that some salamanders are found in the marshy forests of Germany, which are quite black above and yellow below. To this variety we must refer the black salamander, found by Mr Laurenti in the Alps, which he considered as a distinct species.

The salamander has no ribs; neither have frogs, to which it has a great resemblance in the general form of of the anterior part of its body. When touched, it suddenly covers itself with that kind of coat of which we have spoken, and it can also very rapidly change its skin from a state of humidity to a state of dryness. The milk which issues from the small holes in its surface is very acrid; when put upon the tongue one feels as it were a kind of scar at the part which it touched. This milk, which is considered as an excellent substance for taking off hair, has some resemblance to that which distils from those plants called eufila and euphorbium. When the salamander is crushed, or when it is only pressed, it exhales a bad smell, which is peculiar to it.

Salamanders are fond of cold damp places, thick shades, tufted woods, or high mountains, and the banks of streams that run through meadows: they sometimes retire in great numbers to hollow trees, hedges, and below old rotten stumps; and they pass the winter in places of high latitude, in a kind of burrows, where they are found collected, several of them being joined and twisted together. The salamander being destitute of claws, having only four toes on each of the fore feet, and no advantage of conformation making up its deficiencies, its manner of living must, as is indeed the case, be very different from that of other lizards. It walks very slowly; far from being able to climb trees with rapidity, it often appears to drag itself with great difficulty along the surface of the earth. It seldom goes far from the place of shelter which it has fixed on; it passes its life under the earth, often at the bottom of old walls during summer; it dreads the heat of the sun, which would dry it; and it is commonly only when rain is about to fall that it comes forth from its secret asylum, as if by a kind of necessity, to bathe itself, and to imbibe an element to which it is analogous. Perhaps it finds then with greatest facility those insects upon which it feeds. It lives upon flies, beetles, snails, and earthworms; when it repose, it rolls up its body in several folds like serpents. It can remain some time in the water without danger, and it casts a very thin pellicle of a greenish grey colour. Salamanders have even been kept more than six months in the water of a well without giving them any food; care only was taken to change the water often.

It has been remarked, that every time a salamander is plunged into the water, it attempts to raise its nostrils above the surface as if to seek for air, which is a new proof of the need that all oviparous quadrupeds have to breathe during the time they are not in a state of torpor. The salamander has apparently no ears, and in this it resembles serpents. It has even been pretended that it does not hear, and on this account it has got the name of sourd in some provinces of France. This is very probable, as it has never been heard to utter any cry, and silence in general is coupled with deafness.

Having then perhaps one sense less than other animals, and being deprived of the faculty of communicating its sensations to those of the same species, even by imperfect sounds, it must be reduced to a much inferior degree of instinct: it is therefore very stupid; and not bold, as has been reported: it does not brave danger, as is pretended, but it does not perceive it. Whatever gestures one makes to frighten it, it always advances without turning aside; however, as no animal is deprived of that sentiment necessary for its preservation, it suddenly compresses its flesh, as is said, when tormented, and spurts forth upon those who attack it that corrosive milk which is under it. If beat, it begins to raise its tail: afterwards it becomes motionless, as if stunned by a kind of paralytic stroke; for we must not, with some naturalists, ascribe to an animal so devoid of instinct, so much art and cunning as to counterfeit death. It short, it is difficult to kill it; but when dipped in vinegar, or surrounded with salt reduced to powder, it expires in convulsions, as is the case with several other lizards and worms.

It seems one cannot allow a being a chimerical quality, without refusing it at the same time a real property. The cold salamander has been considered as an animal endowed with the miraculous power of resisting, and even of extinguishing, fire; but at the same time, it has been debated as much as elevated by this singular property. It has been made the most fatal of animals: the ancients, and even Pliny, have devoted it to a kind of anathema, by affirming that its poison is the most dangerous of all. They have written, that infecting with its poison almost all the vegetables of a large country, it might cause the destruction of whole nations. The moderns also for a long time believed the salamander to be very poisonous; they have said, that its bite is mortal, like that of the viper; they have fought out and prescribed remedies for it; but they have at length had recourse to observations, by which they ought to have begun. The famous Bacon wished naturalists would endeavour to ascertain the truth respecting the poison of the salamander. Gellner proved by experiments that it did not bite, whatever means were used to irritate it; and Wurfbainus showed that it might safely be touched, and that one might without danger drink the water of those wells which it inhabited. M. de Maupertuis studied also the nature of this lizard. In making researches to discover what might be its pretended poison, he demonstrated experimentally, that fire acted upon the salamander in the same manner as upon all other animals. He remarked, that it was scarcely upon the fire, when it appeared to be covered with the drops of its milk, which rarified by the heat, issued through all the pores of the skin, but in greater quantity from the head and legs, and that it immediately became hard. It is needless to say, that this milk is not sufficiently abundant to extinguish even the smallest fire. M. de Maupertuis, in the course of his experiments, in vain irritated several salamanders: none of them ever opened their mouths; he was obliged to open them by force. As the teeth of this lizard are very small, it was very difficult to find an animal with a skin sufficiently fine to be penetrated by them; he tried without success to force them into the flesh of a chicken stripped of its feathers; he in vain pressed them against the skin: they were displaced, but they could not enter. He however made a salamander bite the thigh of a chicken, after he had taken off a small part of the skin. He made salamanders newly caught bite also the tongue and lips of a dog, as well as the tongue of a turkey; but none of these animals received the least injury. M. de Maupertuis afterwards made a dog and a turkey swallow salamanders whole, or cut into pieces; and yet neither neither of them appeared to be sensible of the least uneasiness.—Mr Laurenti since made experiments with the same view: he forced grey lizards to swallow the milk proceeding from the salamander, and they died very suddenly. The milk, therefore, of the salamander, taken internally, may hurt, and even be fatal to certain animals, especially those which are small; but it does not appear to be hurtful to large animals.

It was long believed that the salamander was of no sex; and that each individual had the power of engendering its like, as several species of worms. This is not the most absurd fable which has been imagined with respect to the salamander; but if the manner in which they come into the world is not so marvellous as has been written, it is remarkable in this, that it differs from that in which most other lizards are brought forth, as it is analogous to that in which the chalcide and the seps, as well as vipers and several kinds of serpents, are produced. On this account the salamander merits the attention of naturalists much more than on account of the false and brilliant reputation which it has so long enjoyed. M. de Maupertuis having opened some salamanders, found eggs in them, and at the same time some young perfectly formed; the eggs were divided into two long bunches like grapes, and the young were enclosed in two transparent bags; they were equally well formed as the old ones, and much more active. The salamander, therefore, brings forth young from an egg hatched within its belly as the viper; and her fecundity is very great: naturalists have long written that she has forty or fifty at one time; and M. de Maupertuis found 42 young ones in the body of a female salamander, and 54 in another.

The young salamanders are generally of a black colour, almost without spots; and this colour they preserve sometimes during their whole lives in certain countries, where they have been taken for a distinct species, as we have said. Mr Thunberg has given, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sweden, the description of a lizard, which he calls the Japanese lizard, and which appears not to differ from our salamander but in the arrangement of its colours. This animal is almost black, with several whitish and irregular spots, both on the upper part of the body and below the paws; on the back there is a strip of dirty white, which becomes narrower to the point of the tail. This whitish stripe is interspersed with very small specks which form the distinguishing characteristic of our land salamander. We are of opinion, therefore, that we may consider this Japanese lizard, described by Mr Thunberg, as a variety of the species of our land salamander, modified a little, perhaps, by the climate of Japan. It is in the largest island of that empire, named Nippon, that this variety is found. It inhabits the mountains there, and rocky places. The Japanese consider it as a powerful stimulant, and a very active remedy; and on this account, in the neighbourhood of Jedo, a number of these Japanese salamanders may be seen dried, hanging from the ceiling of the shops.

14. The basiliskus, has a long cylindrical tail, a radiated fin on the back, and a crest on the throat. It is a native of the Indies. It is a very harmless creature; and altogether destitute of those wonderful qualities which have been attributed to the fabulous animal of Lacerta, the same name. See the article Basilisk.

15. The sex-lineata, or lion-lizard, is about six inches long; the body of a grey colour, marked lengthwise on each side with three whitish lines; the legs are long; and it has a very long tail, which it curls up, looking fierce at the same time, whence probably it has received its English name. It inhabits South Carolina and the greater Antilles. It is very inoffensive, and remarkably agile; but is a prey to rapacious birds.

16. The green lizard of Carolina is so denominated from its colour. This species is very slender; the tail is near double the length of the body, and the whole length about five inches. It inhabits Carolina; where it is domestic, familiar, and harmless. It sports on tables and windows, and amuses with its agility in catching flies. Cold affects the colours: in that uncertain climate, when there is a quick transition in the same day from hot to cold, it changes instantly from the most brilliant green to a dull brown. They are a prey to cats and ravenous birds. They appear chiefly in summer; and at the approach of cold weather they retire to their winter recesses, and lie torpid in the hollows and crevices of rotten trees. It frequently happens that a few warm sunny days do invigorate them, that they will come out of their holes and appear abroad; when on a sudden the weather changing to cold, so enfeebles them, that they are unable to return to their retreats, and will die of cold.

17. The iguana, or guana, with the top of the back and tail strongly serrated, and the gullet serrated in the same manner, is sometimes found to be five feet long. It has small teeth, and will bite hard. It inhabits the rocks of the Bahama islands, and lurks in cliffs or hollow trees. It feeds entirely on vegetables and fruits; and the fat of the abdomen assumes the colour of that which it has last eaten. It is slow of motion, and has a most disgusting look; yet it is esteemed a most delicate and wholesome food, noxious only to venereal patients, according to Linnaeus. It is not amphibious, yet on necessity will continue long under water; it swims by means of the tail, keeping its legs close to the body. Guanas are the support of the natives of the Bahama islands, who go in their sloops from rock to rock in search of them. They are taken with dogs trained for the purpose; and as soon as caught, their mouths are sewed up, to prevent them from biting. Some are carried alive for sale to Carolina; others salted and barrelled for home consumption.

18. The bullaris, or green lizard of Jamaica, is about six inches long, of a shining grass-green colour. It is common in Jamaica, frequenting hedges and trees. When approached to, these animals, by filling their throat with wind, swell it into a globular form with a scarlet colour; which, when contracted, the scarlet disappears, and the part returns to the colour of the rest of the body. The figure represents the animal with its throat thus inflated. This swelling action seems to proceed from menacing, or deterring one from coming near them, though they are very inoffensive.

19. The muticata, or prickly lizard, has a long rounded tail; its body, which is of a brownish grey colour, is covered with sharp-pointed scales, and the whole whole upper part marked with transverse dusky bars. The scales are furnished with a prominent line on the upper surface, and toward the back part of the head almost run into a sort of weak spines.

20. The laticauda, or broad-tailed lizard, has a flattened lanceolate tail, somewhat spiny on the margin. It is about four inches and a half in length. The head is disproportionably large. The upper surface of the body is of a dusky grey colour, and beset with small tubercles, which in some parts sharpen to a point. The colour of the under surface of the body is pale, or almost white. This and the preceding species are inhabitants of New South Wales.

There are above 60 other species of this genus; two of which, the seps and chalcides, being very different from the other species, and approaching in form to the serpent tribe, figures of them are added in the Plates. A similar species is the bipes, transferred to this genus, in the last edition of the Systema Naturae, from the Anguis of former editions, where it was called the anguis bipes. See Anguis.