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Title: Reptiles and Birds

Author: Louis Figuier

Editor: Parker Gillmore

Illustrator: A. Mesnel
Alphonse Marie de Neuville
Edouard Riou

Release date: June 3, 2014 [eBook #45873]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPTILES AND
BIRDS ***

REPTILES AND BIRDS.

HAWKING IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

Frontispiece.

REPTILES AND BIRDS.
A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR VARIOUS ORDERS,
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF
THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE MOST INTERESTING.

By LOUIS FIGUIER,
AUTHOR OF "THE WORLD BEFORE THE DELUGE," "THE VEGETABLE WORLD," "THE
INSECT WORLD," ETC. ETC.

ILLUSTRATED WITH 307 WOODCUTS.

BY MM. A. MESNEL, A. DE NEUVILLE, AND E. RIOU.

Edited and Adapted by
PARKER GILLMORE
("UBIQUE").

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND CO.
1870.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO.,
CITY ROAD.

PREFACE.

In presenting to the public this English version of Louis Figuier's interesting
work on Reptiles and Birds, I beg to state that where alterations and
additions have been made, my object has been that the style and matter
should be suited to the present state of general knowledge, and that all
classes should be able to obtain useful information and amusement from the
pages which I have now the honour and pleasure of presenting to them.

On commencing my undertaking I was not aware of the immensity of the
labour to be done, and fear that I must have relinquished my arduous task
but for the kind encouragement of Frank Buckland, Esq., Inspector of
Salmon Fisheries, and Henry Lee, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c., to both of
whom I take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks.

PARKER GILLMORE
("UBIQUE").

December, 1869.

CONTENTS.

REPTILES.
PAGE
Introductory Chapter 1
CHAPTER I.

AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS.
Structural Distinctions 8
Intelligence 13
Characteristics 15
Historical Antiquity 18
Distribution 19
Frogs 19
Habits of Life 21
Development of Young 22
Green 23
Common 23
Green Tree 24
Toads 25
Natterjack 26
Surinam 28
Land Salamander 31
Spotted 32

Black 33
Aquatic Salamanders 33
Crested 34
Gigantic 34
Transformations and Reproduction 35
CHAPTER II.

OPHIDIAN REPTILES, OR TRUE SNAKES.
Snakes 38
Burrowing 42
Ground 43
Tree 43
Fresh-water 43
Sea 43
Innocuous 46
Blind 46
Shield-tail 47
Black 49
Rat 49
Ringed 49
Green and Yellow 52
Viperine 52
Desert 53
Whip 54
Blunt-heads 56
Boas 56
Diamond 59
Carpet 59
Rock 61
Natal Rock 61
Guinea Rock 61

Royal Rock 61
Aboma 62
Anaconda 65
Cobra 70
Asp 75
Bungarus 76
Pit Vipers 78
Fer-de-lance 79
Jararaca 80
Trimeresurus 80
Rattle 82
Copperhead 82
Tic-polonga 88
Puff Adders 89
Common Adder 92
CHAPTER III.

THE ORDER OF LIZARDS—SAURIANS.
Lizards, Distribution and Division 99
Grey 109
Green 110
Ocellated 110
Ameivas 112
Iguanas 117
Basilisk 127
Anoles 129
Flying 132
Gecko 134
Chameleons 136
Crocodiles 141
Jacares 145

Alligators 145
Caiman 147
True 149
Gavials 153
CHAPTER IV.

CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES.
Formation 155
Distribution and Classification 157
Tortoises 158
Land 158
Margined 159
Moorish 159
Greek 160
Elephantine 160
Genus Pyxis 161
Ditto Kinixys 161
Homopodes 161
Elodians, or Marsh Tortoises:
Mud 162
Emydes 163
Pleuroderes 164
Potamians, or River Tortoises:
Trionyx 164
Thalassians, or Sea Tortoises:
Green 177
Hawk's-bill 177
Loggerhead 178
Leather-back 178

BIRDS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Anatomy 181
Plumage 184
Beaks 189
Digestive Organs 191
Powers of Sight 193
Vocal Organs 195
Nests 197
Reproduction 201
Longevity 203
Utility 205
Classification 207
CHAPTER I.

THE NATATORES, OR SWIMMING BIRDS.
Divers 212
Great Northern 213
Imbrine 216
Arctic 216
Black-throated 216
Red-throated 217
Penguins 218
Manchots 219
Grebes 221
Castanean 222
Crested 223

Guillemots 224
CHAPTER II.

DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
Mallard 232
Golden-eyed Garrot 242
Poachard 243
Shoveller 244
Shieldrake 246
Eider Duck 247
Common Teal 250
Velvet Duck 253
Scoter, Black 253
Great-billed 258
Goosander 259
Smew 260
Goose 261
Wild 262
Bean 266
Domestic 266
Bernicle 269
White-fronted Bernicle 269
Swan 270
Whooping 273
Black 277
Frigate Bird 277
Tropic Bird 279
Darter 281
Gannet 283
Cormorant 285
Shag 289

Pelicans 291
White 294
Crested 295
Brown 296
Spectacled 297
CHAPTER III

THE LARIDÆ.
Tern 299
Little 301
Noddy 302
Silver-winged 302
Arctic 302
Whiskered 303
Gull-billed 303
Roseate 303
Sandwich 303
Caspian 303
Scissors-bills 303
Black 304
Gulls 304
Large White-winged 306
Great Black-backed 306
Herring 306
Sea Mews 304
White, or Senator 307
Brown-masked 307
Laughing 307
Grey 308
Skua 308
Parasite 309

Richardson's 309
Pomerine 309
Common 310
Petrels 310
Giant 311
Chequered 311
Fulmar 311
Stormy 311
Blue 312
Puffins 312
Grey 312
English 312
Brown 312
Albatross 312
Common 314
Black-browed 314
Brown 314
Yellow and Black-beaked 314
CHAPTER IV.

GRALLATORES, OR WADING BIRDS.
Palmidactyles:
Flamingo 317
Avocet 320
Stilt Bird 321
Macrodactyles:
Water Hens 322
Common 323
Purple, or Sultana Fowl 324
Rails 325
Coots 326

Bald 328
Crested 328
Blue 328
Glareola 328
Jacana 328
Kamichi 330
Horned 332
Faithful 332
Longirostres:
Sandpipers 332
Brown 334
Greenshank 334
Redshank 334
Pond 334
Wood 334
Green 334
Common 334
Turnstone 334
Ruff 336
Knot 338
Sanderlings 339
Woodcock 339
Snipe 343
Common 344
Great 345
Jack 345
Wilson's 345
Godwit 345
Curlew 346
Ibis 348
Sacred 348
Green 351

Scarlet 351
Cultrirostres:
Spoonbills 352
White 352
Rose-coloured 352
Storks 353
White 353
Black 357
Argala 357
Jabiru 359
Ombrette 359
Bec-ouvert 359
Drome 359
Tantalus 360
Boatbill 360
Herons 361
Common 362
Purple 364
White 364
Bitterns 366
Crane 366
Ash-coloured 366
Demoiselle 371
Crested 371
Hooping 371
Caurale 373
Pressirostres:
Cariama 373
Oyster-catchers 373
Runners 376
Lapwings 376
Plovers 378

Great Land 379
Doterel 379
Ringed 379
Kentish 380
Golden 380
Pluvian 381
Bustard 381
Great 381
Brevipennæ:
Ostrich 383
Rhea 390
Cassowary 392
Emu 393
Apteryx 395
Extinct Brevipennæ:
Dodo 397
Epiornis 397
Dinornis 397
CHAPTER V.

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
Habits, origin, &c. 399
Tetraonidæ:
Capercailzie 401
Grouse, Black 402
Pinnated 402
Ruffed 403
Cock of the Plains 402
Gelinotte 403
Ptarmigans 404
Common 404

Red Grouse 405
Perdicides:
Gangas 405
Pin-tailed Sand Grouse 406
Heteroclites 406
Quails 406
Partridges 410
Grey 415
Partridges, Red-legged 417
Gambra 417
Colin, Virginian 417
Californian 418
Solitary 419
Francolins 419
Chinese 419
European 420
African and Indian 420
Coturnix 420
Turnix tachydroma 420
Tinamides 420
Chionidæ 421
Megapodidæ 421
Phasianidæ:
Pheasants 422
Common 422
Golden 425
Silver 425
Ring-necked 427
Reeves's 427
Lady Amherst's 427
Argus 427
Gallus 427

Common 427
Bankiva 429
Jungle-fowl 429
Bronzed 429
Fork-tailed 429
Kulm 429
Negro 429
Tragopans 435
Pintados 435
Turkeys 437
Wild 437
Domestic 440
Ocellated 441
Peacocks 441
Domestic 442
Wild 444
Polyplectrons 444
Impeyan Pheasants 444
Alectors 444
Hocco, or Curassow 444
Pauxis 446
Penelopes, or Guans 446
Hoazins 446
Columbidæ:
Colombi-Gallines 447
Pigeons (Colombes) 448
Ring or Wood 450
Wild Rock 450
Common Domestic 450
Pouter 451
Roman 451
Swift 452

Carrier 452
Tumbler 452
Wheeling 452
Nun 452
Fan-tailed 452
Turtle Dove 453
Ring Dove 453
Passenger 453
Columbars 456
CHAPTER VI.

SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
Parrots 457
Macaw 464
Parrakeets 465
Tabuan 465
Parrot, Grey 466
Green 466
Cockatoos 466
Toucans 467
Proper 468
Aracaris 469
Cuckoo 469
Grey 469
Indicators 472
Anis 473
Barbets 474
Trogons 475
Resplendent 476
Mexican 476
Woodpeckers 476

Wry-necks 479
Jacamars 480
CHAPTER VII.

PASSERINES.
Syndactyles:
Hornbills 482
Rhinoceros 483
Fly-catchers 483
King-fishers 484
Ceyx Meninting 486
Bee-eaters 486
Common 488
Momots 487
Tenuirostres:
Hoopoes 488
Epimachus 490
Promerops 490
Colibri 491
Proper 491
Humming-birds 491
Creepers 495
Picumnus 496
Furnarius 496
Sucriers 497
Soui-mangas 497
Nuthatches 498
Conirostres:
Birds of Paradise 499
Great Emerald 500
King Bird 500

Superb 500
Sifilets 501
Crows 502
Raven 502
Carrion 502
Royston 502
Rook 502
Jackdaw 502
Magpies 507
Common 508
Brazilian 509
Chinese 509
Jays 509
Nut-cracker 510
Rollers 511
Starlings 512
Common 513
Sardinian 513
Baltimore Oriole 514
Beef-eater 514
Crossbill 515
Grosbeak 516
Bullfinch 517
Siskin 517
House Sparrow 518
Goldfinch 519
Linnets 519
Chaffinch 520
Canary 521
Widow Bird 523
Java Sparrow 523
Weaver Birds 523

Republican 524
Buntings 524
Reed 525
Cirl 526
Ortolan 526
Snow 527
Tits 527
Great 528
Long-tailed 528
Larks 529
Crested Lark 531
Fissirostres:
Swallow 531
Salangane 537
Goatsuckers 538
Night-jar 540
Guacharos 541
Dentirostres:
Manakins 542
Cock of the Rock 542
Warblers 542
Nightingale 543
Sedge Warbler 545
Night Warbler 545
La Fauvette Couturière 546
Garden 547
Robin 547
Wrens 547
Golden-crestet 548
European 548
Wood 548
Stone Chat 549

Wagtails 550
Pied 551
Quaketail 551
Pipits 552
Lyretail 552
Orioles 553
Golden 553
Mion 554
Honey-sucker 555
Ouzel, Rose-coloured 555
Water 556
Solitary Thrush 556
Blackbird, Common 557
Ringed 559
Solitary 559
Thrush, Polyglot 559
Song 560
Redwing 561
Tanagers 561
Drongos 562
Cotingas 563
Caterpillar-eater 563
Chatterers 564
Fly-catchers 565
Tyrants 567
Cephalopterus ornatus 567
Shrikes 568
Vangas 571
Cassicus 571
CHAPTER VIII.

RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
Nocturnal:
Horned Owls 576
Great 576
Virginian 579
Short-eared 579
Ketupu 581
Scops 581
Hornless Owls 583
Sparrow 583
Small Sparrow 584
Pampas Sparrow 584
Burrowing 585
Tawny 585
Barn 585
Canada 588
Hawk 589
White 589
Caparacoch 590
Harfang 590
Lapland 591
Ural 591
Diurnal:
Eagles 592
Royal 602
Imperial 602
Bonelli's 602
Tawny 602
Booted 602
Reinwardt's 602
Vulturine 602

Sea Eagles 602
European 603
American 604
Marine 604
Piscivorous 604
Caffir 604
Mace's 604
Pondicherry 604
Indian 604
Osprey 605
Huppart 606
Falco urubitinga 606
Harpy 606
White-bellied Eagle 607
Falcons 608
Gyrfalcons 608
White 609
Iceland 609
Norway 609
Falcons 610
Lanier 610
Sultan 610
Peregrine 610
Hobby 613
Merlin 613
Kestrel 613
Bengal 613
Goshawk 622
Sparrow-hawks 623
Common 623
Dwarf 623
Chanting Falcon 624

Kites 624
Common 624
Black 625
Parasite 625
American 625
Buzzard 626
Common 627
Honey 627
Rough-legged 627
Harriers 627
Hen 628
Moor 628
Frog-eating 628
Pale-chested 629
Jardine's 629
Ash-coloured 629
Caracaras 629
Brazilian 629
Chimango 629
Long-winged 629
Chimachima 629
Funebris 631
Vultures 631
Griffons 632
Bearded 632
Sarcoramphi 634
Condor 634
King Vulture 638
Cathartes 639
Urubu 639
Turkey Buzzard 641
Common Vulture 641

Percnopterus 641
Vulture, Pondicherry 642
Kolbe's 642
Yellow 642
Sociable 645
Chinese 646
Oricou 646
Serpent-eaters 646
Secretary Bird 646

ERRATA.

Phasianus cristatus indicus, in page 448, should be attributed to Brisson,
not Latham.

The synonym for Ring Pigeon, in page 448, should be Columba palumbus.

Woodcut 182 represents the Stock Dove, erroneously named Wood Pigeons
in page 450.

REPTILES AND BIRDS.

INTRODUCTORY.

There is little apparent resemblance between the elegant feathered warbler
which makes the woods re-echo to its cheerful song, and the crawling
reptile which is apt to inspire feelings of disgust when the more potent
sensation of terror is absent—between the familiar Swallow, which builds
its house of clay under the eaves of your roof, or the warbler whose nest,
with its young progeny, carefully watched by the father of the brood in the
silent watches of the night, is now threatened by the Serpent which has
glided so silently into the bush, its huge mouth already open to swallow the
whole family, while the despairing and fascinated parents have nothing but
their slender bills to oppose to their formidable foe. "Placed side by side,"
says Professor Huxley, "a Humming-bird and a Tortoise, or an Ostrich and a
Crocodile, offer the strongest contrast; and a Stork seems to have little but
its animality in common with the Snake which it swallows." Nevertheless,
unlike as they are in outward appearance, there is sufficient resemblance in
their internal economy to bring them together in most attempts at a
classification of the Animal Kingdom. The air-bladder which exists between
the digestive canal and kidneys in some fishes, becomes vascular with the
form and cellular structure of lungs in reptiles; the heart has two auricles,
the ventricle in most is imperfectly divided, and more or less of the venous
blood is mixed with the arterial which circulates over the body; but
retaining their gills and being therefore transitional in structure, they are
also cold-blooded. In birds, the lungs are spongy, the cavity of the air-bags
becoming obliterated by the multiplication of vascular cellules; the heart is
four-chambered, transmitting venous blood to the lungs, and pure arterial
blood to the body; the temperature is raised and maintained at 90° to 100°
Fahr.

Thus Reptiles, like Birds, breathe the common air by means of their lungs,
but respiration is much less active. "Although," remarks Professor Owen,
"the heart of Birds resembles in some particulars that of Reptiles, the four
cavities are as distinct as in the Mammalia, but they are relatively stronger,

their valvular mechanism is more perfect, and the contractions of this organ
are more forcible and frequent in birds, in accordance with their more
extended respiration and their more energetic muscular action." It is true, as
Professor Huxley informs us, that the pinion of a bird, which corresponds
with the human hand or the fore paw of a reptile, has three points
representing three fingers: no reptile has so few.1 The breast-bone of a bird
is converted into membrane-bone: no such conversion takes place in
reptiles. The sacrum is formed by a number of caudal and dorsal vertebræ.
In reptiles the organ is constituted by one or two sacral vertebræ.

In other respects the two classes present many obvious differences, but
these are more superficial than would be suspected at first glance. And
Professor Huxley believes that, structurally, "reptiles and birds do really
agree much more closely than birds with mammals, or reptiles with
amphibians."

While most existing birds differ thus widely from existing reptiles, the
cursorial or struthious genera, comprising the Ostrich, Nandou, Emu,
Cassowary, Apteryx, and the recently extinct Dinornis of New Zealand,
come nearer to the reptiles in structure than any others. All of these birds
are remarkable for the shortness of their wings, the absence of a crest or
keel upon the breast-bone, and some peculiarities of the skull, which render
them more peculiarly reptilian. But the gap between reptiles and birds is
only slightly narrowed by their existence, and is somewhat unsatisfactory to
those who advocate the development theory, which asserts that all animals
have proceeded, by gradual modification, from a common stock.

Traces had been discovered in the Mesozoic formations of certain
Ornitholites, which were too imperfect to determine the affinities of the
bird. But the calcareous mud of the ancient sea-bottom, which has hardened
into the famous lithographic slate of Solenhofen, revealed to Hermann von
Meyer, in 1861, first the impression of a feather, and, in the same year, the
independent discovery of the skeleton of the bird itself, which Von Meyer
had named Archæopteryx lithographicus. This relic of a far-distant age now
adorns the British Museum.

Fig. 1.—Archæopteryx lithographicus.

The skull of the Archæopteryx is almost lost, but the leg, the foot, the
pelvis, the shoulder-girdle, and the feathers, as far as their structure can be
made out, are completely those of existing birds. On the other hand, the tail
is very long. Two digits of the manus have curved claws, and, to all
appearance, the metacarpal bones are quite free and disunited, exhibiting,
according to Professor Huxley, closer approximation to the reptilian
structure than any existing bird. Mr. Evans has even detected that the
mandibles were provided with a few slender teeth.

On the other hand, the same writer points out certain peculiarities in the
single reptile found also among the Solenhofen slates, which has been
described and named Compsognathus longipes by the late Andreas Wagner.
This reptile he declares "to be a still nearer approximation to the missing
link between reptiles and birds," thus narrowing the gap between the two
classes.

While we think it proper to point to these structural resemblances of one
class of the animal creation to others very different in their external
appearance, it is necessary to guard ourselves and our readers from

adopting the inferences sometimes deduced from them; that "these
infinitely diversified forms are merely the final terms in an immense series
of changes which have been brought about in the course of immeasurable
time, by the operation of causes more or less similar to those which are at
work at the present day." Domestication and other causes have no doubt
produced changes in the form of many animals; but none from which this
inference can be drawn, except in the imagination of ingenious men who
strain the facts to support a preconceived hypothesis. In spite of the
innumerable forms which the pigeon assumes by cross-breeding and
domestication, it still remains a pigeon; the dog is still a dog, and so with
other animals. Nor does it seem to us to be necessary, or calculated to
advance our knowledge in natural history, to form theories which can only
disturb our existing systems without supplying a better. Systems are
necessary for the purpose of arrangement and identification; but it should
never be forgotten that all classifications are artificial—a framework or
cabinet, into the partitions of which many facts may be stowed away,
carefully docketed for future use. "Theories," says Le Vaillant, "are more
easily made and more brilliant probably than observations; but it is by
observation alone that science can be enriched." A bountiful Creator
appears to have adopted one general plan in the organization of all the
vertebrate creation; and, in order to facilitate their study, naturalists have
divided them into classes, orders, and genera, formed on the differences
which exist in the structure of their vital functions. The advantages of this
are obvious, but it does not involve the necessity of fathoming what is
unfathomable, of explaining what is to man inexplicable in the works of
God.2

In previous volumes of this series3 we have endeavoured to give the reader
some general notions of the form, life, and manners of the branches of the
animal kingdom known as Zoophytes, Mollusca, Articulata, and Pisces. We
now continue the superior sub-kingdom (to which the fishes also belong) of
the Vertebrated Animals, so called from the osseous skeleton which
encircles their bodies, in which the vertebral column, surmounted by the
cranium, its appendage, forms the principal part.

The presence of a solid frame in this series of animals admits of their
attaining a size which is denied to any of the others. The skeleton being

organized in such a manner as to give remarkable vigour and precision to
all their movements.

In the vertebrated animals the nervous system is also more developed.
There is, consequently, a more exquisite sensibility in them than in the
classes whose history we have hitherto discussed. They possess five senses,
more or less fully developed, a heart, a circulation, and their blood is red.

We have now to deal with a class advanced above that of fishes, that of
Reptilia, which is divided as follows:—

Amphibia—(Batrachia, Cuv.)

Animals having ribs or processes, or short, slight, and free vertebræ,
forming a series of separate centrums, deeply cupped at both ends, one of
which is converted by ossification in the mature animal into a ball, which
may be the front one, as in the Surinam Toad, Pipa, or the hind ones in the
Frogs and Toads, Rana. The skin is nude, limbs digitate, gills embryonal,—
permanent in some, in most lost in metamorphosis,—to be succeeded by
pulmonary respiration,—or both; a heart with one ventricle and two
auricles. They consist of:—

I. Ophiomorpha.
Cæciliadæ or Ophiosomæ.
II. Icthyomorpha.
Proteidæ or Sirens, Proteus, Newts, and Salamanders.
III. Theriomorpha.
Aglosa Pipa or Surinam Toads.
Ranidæ Frogs.
Hylidæ Tree Frogs.
Bufonidæ Toads.

Chelonia, or Turtles.

Distinguished by the double shield in which their bodies are enclosed,
whether they are terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine.

The Turtles, Chelonia, have the limbs natatory.
Mud Turtles, Trionyx,
Terrapens, Emys, } limbs amphibious.
Tortoises, Testudo, limbs terrestrial.

Lacertilia.

Having a single transverse process on each side, single-headed ribs, two
external nostrils, eyes with movable lids; body covered with horny,
sometimes bony, scales.

Lacerta—the Monitors, Crocodiles, Lizards; having ambulatory limbs.
Anguis—Ophisaurus, Bimanus, Chalcides, Seps; limbs abortive; no sacrum.

Ophidia.

Having numerous vertebræ with single-headed hollow ribs, no visible
limbs, eyelids covered by an immovable transparent lid; body covered by
horny scales. It includes:—

Viperinæ—the Vipers and Crotalidæ.
Colubrinæ—the Colubers, Hydridæ, and Boidæ.

Crocodilia.

Teeth in a single row, implanted in distinct sockets; body depressed,
elongated, protected on the back by solid shield; tail longer than the trunk,

compressed laterally, and furnished with crests above. The several families
are:—

Crocodilidæ—the Gavials, Mecistops, Crocodiles.
Alligatoridæ—Jacares, Alligators, Caiman.4

CHAPTER I.

AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS.

Those geographers who divide the world into land and sea overlook in their
nomenclature the extensive geographical areas which belong permanently
to neither section—namely, the vast marshy regions on the margins of
lakes, rivers, and ponds, which are alternately deluged with the overflow of
the adjacent waters, and parched and withering under the exhalations of a
summer heat; regions which could only be inhabited by beings capable of
living on land or in water; beings having both gills through which they may
breathe in water, and lungs through which they may respire the common air.
The first order of reptiles possesses this character, and hence its name of
Amphibia, from αμφιβιος, having a double life.

The transition from fishes to reptiles is described by Professor Owen, with
that wonderful power of condensation which he possesses, in the following
terms:—"All vertebrates during more or less of their developmental life-
period float in a liquid of similar specific gravity to themselves. A large
proportion, constituting the lowest organised and first developed forms of
this province, exist and breathe in water, and are called fishes. Of these a
few retain the primitive vermiform condition, and develop no limbs; in the
rest they are 'fins' of simple form, moving by one joint upon the body, rarely
adapted for any other function than the impulse or guidance of the body
through the water. The shape of the body is usually adapted for moving with
least resistance through the liquid medium. The surface of the body is either
smooth and lubricous or it is smoothly covered with overlapping scales; it is
rarely defended by bony plates, or roughened by tubercles. Still more rarely
it is armed with spines." Passing over the general economy of fishes we
come to the heart. "The heart," he tells us, "consists of one auricle receiving
the venous blood, and one ventricle propelling it to the gills or organs
submitting that blood in a state of minute subdivisions to the action of
aërated water. From the gills the aërated blood is carried over the entire

body by vessels, the circulation being aided by the contraction of the
surrounding muscles."

The functions of gills are described by the Professor with great minuteness.
"The main purpose of the gills of fishes," he says, "being to expose the
venous blood in this state of minute subdivision to streams of water, the
branchial arteries rapidly divide and sub-divide until they resolve
themselves into microscopic capillaries, constituting a network in one plane
or layer, supported by an elastic plate, covered by a tesselated and non-
ciliated epithelium. This covering and the tunics of the capillaries are so
thin as to allow chemical interchange and decomposition to take place
between the carbonated blood and the oxygenated water. The requisite
extent of the respiratory field of capillaries is gained by various modes of
multiplying the surface within a limited space." "Each pair of processes," he
adds, "has its flat side turned towards contiguous pairs, and the two
processes of each pair stand edgeway to each other, being commonly united
for a greater or less extent from their base; hence Cuvier describes each pair
as a single bifurcated plate, or 'feuillet.'"

The modification which takes place in the respiratory and other organs in
Reptilia, is described in a few words. "Many fishes have a bladder of air
between the digestive canal and the kidneys, which in some communicate
with an air-duct and the gullet; but its office is chiefly hydrostatic. When on
the rise of structure this air-bladder begins to assume the vascular and
pharyngeal relations with the form and cellular structure of lungs, the limbs
acquire the character of feet: at first thread-like and many jointed, as in the
Lepidosiren; then bifurcate, or two-fingered, with the elbow and wrist joints
of land animals, as in Amphiuma; next, three-fingered, as in Proteus, or
four-fingered, but reduced to the pectoral pair, as in Siren."

In all reptiles the blood is conveyed from the ventricular part of the heart,
really or apparently, by a single trunk. In Lepidosiren the veins from the
lung-like air-bladders traverse the auricle which opens directly into the
ventricle. In some the vein dilates before communicating with the ventricle
into a small auricle, which is not outwardly distinct from the much larger
auricle receiving the veins of the body. In Proteus the auricular system is
incomplete. In Amphiuma the auricle is smaller and less fringed than in the

Sirens, the ventricle being connected to the pericardium by the apex as well
as the artery. This forms a half spiral turn at its origin, and dilates into a
broader and shorter bulb than in the Sirens.

"The pulmonic auricle," continues the learned Professor, "thus augments in
size with the more exclusive share taken by the lungs in respiration; but the
auricular part of the heart shows hardly any outward sign of its diversion in
the Batrachians. It is small and smooth, and situated on the left, and in
advance of the ventricle in Newts and Salamanders. In Frogs and Toads the
auricle is applied to the base of the ventricle, and to the back and side of the
aorta and its bulb."

In the lower members of the order, the single artery from the ventricle
sends, as in fishes, the whole of the blood primarily to the branchial organs,
during life, and in all Batrachians at the earlier aquatic periods of existence.
In the Newt three pairs of external gills are developed at first as simple
filaments, each with its capillary loop, but speedily expanding, lengthening,
and branching into lateral processes, with corresponding looplets; those
blood-channels intercommunicating by a capillary network. The gill is
covered by ciliated scales, which change into non-ciliated cuticle shortly
before the gills are absorbed. In the Proteus anguinus, three parts only of
branchial and vascular arches are developed, corresponding with the
number of external gills. In Siren lacertina the gills are in three pairs of
branchial arches, the first and fourth fixed, the second and third free,
increasing in size according to their condition.

The Amphibia, then, have all, at some stage of their existence, both gills and
lungs co-existent: respiring by means of branchiæ or gills while in the
water, and by lungs on emerging into the open air.

All these creatures seem to have been well known to the ancients. The
monuments of the Egyptians abound in representations of Frogs, Toads,
Tortoises, and Serpents. Aristotle was well acquainted with their form,
structure, and habits, even to their reproduction. Pliny's description presents
his usual amount of error and exaggeration. Darkness envelops their history
during the middle ages, from which it gradually emerges in the early part of
the sixteenth century, when Belon and Rondiletius in France, Salviani in
Italy, and Conrad Gesner in Switzerland, devoted themselves to the study of

Natural History with great success. In the latter part of the same century
Aldrovandi appeared. During fifty years he was engaged in collecting
objects and making drawings, which were published after his death, in
1640, edited by Professor Ambrossini, of Bologna, the Reptiles forming two
volumes. In these volumes, twenty-two chapters are occupied by the
Serpents. But the first arrangement which can be called systematic was that
produced by John Ray. This system was based upon the mode of
respiration, the volume of the eggs, and their colour.

Numerous systems have since appeared in France, Germany, and England;
but we shall best consult our readers' interest by briefly describing the
classification adopted by Professor Owen, the learned Principal of the
British Museum, in his great work on the Vertebrata.

The two great classes Batrachians and Reptiles, include a number of
animals which are neither clothed with hair, like the Mammalia, covered
with feathers like the birds, nor furnished with swimming fins like fishes.
The essential character of reptiles is, that they are either entirely or partially
covered with scales. Some of them—for instance, Serpents—move along
the ground with a gliding motion, produced by the simple contact and
adhesion of the ventral scales with the ground. Others, such as the
Tortoises, the Crocodiles, and the Lizards, move by means of their feet; but
these, again, are so short, that the animals almost appear to crawl on the
ground—however swiftly, in some instances. The locomotive organs in
Serpents are the vertebral column, with its muscles, and the stiff epidermal
scutes crossing the under surface of the body. "A Serpent may, however, be
seen to progress," says Professor Owen, "without any inflection, gliding
slowly and with a ghost-like movement in a straight line, and if the observer
have the nerve to lay his hand flat in the reptile's course, he will feel, as the
body glides over the palm, the surface pressed as it were by the edges of a
close-set series of paper knives, successively falling flat after each
application." Others of the class, such as the Tortoises, Crocodiles, and
Lizards, move by the help of feet, which are generally small and feeble—in
a few species being limited to the pectoral region, while in most both pairs
are present. In some, as in various Lizards, the limbs acquire considerable
strength.

There is one genus of small Lizards, known as the Dragons, Draco, whose
movements present an exception to the general rule. Besides their four feet,
these animals are furnished with a delicate membranous parachute, formed
by a prolongation of the skin on the flanks and sustained by the long slender
ribs, which permits of their dropping from a considerable height upon their
prey.

Batrachians, again, differ from most other Reptilia by being naked:
moreover, most of them undergo certain metamorphoses; in the first stage
of their existence they lead a purely aquatic life, and breathe by means of
gills, after the manner of fishes. Young Frogs, Toads, and Salamanders,
which are then called tadpoles, have, in short, no resemblance whatever to
their parents in the first stage of their existence. They are little creatures
with slender, elongated bodies, destitute of feet and fins, but with large
heads, which may be seen swimming about in great numbers in stagnant
ponds, where they live and breathe after the manner of fishes. By degrees,
however, they are transformed: their limbs and air-breathing lungs are
gradually developed, then they slowly disappear, and a day arrives when
they find themselves conveniently organized for another kind of existence;
they burst from their humid retreat, and betake themselves to dry land. "The
tadpole meanwhile being subject to a series of changes in every system of
organs concerned in the daily needs of the coming aërial and terrestrial
existence, still passes more or less time in water, and supplements the early
attempt at respiration by pullulating loops and looplets of capillaries from
the branchial vessels." (Owen.)

Nevertheless, they do not altogether forget their native element; thanks to
their webbed feet, they can still traverse the waters which sheltered their
infancy; and when alarmed by any unusual noise, they rush into the water
as a place of safety, where they swim about in apparent enjoyment. In some
of them, as Proteus and the amphibious Sirens, where the limbs are
confined to the pectoral region, swimming seems to be the state most
natural to them. They are truly amphibious, and they owe this double
existence to the persistence of their gills; for in these perennibranchiate
Batrachians, arteries are developed from the last pair of branchial arches
which convey blood to the lungs: while, in those having external deciduous
gills, the office being discharged, they lose their ciliate and vascular

structure and disappear altogether. The skull in Reptiles generally consists
of the same parts as in the Mammalia, though the proportions are different.
The skull is flat, and the cerebral cavity, small as it is, is not filled with
brain. The vertebral column commences at the posterior part of the head,
two condyles occupying each side of the vertebral hole (Fig. 2). The
anterior limbs are mostly shorter than the posterior, as might be expected of
animals whose progression is effected by leaps. Ribs there are none. The
sternum is highly developed, and a large portion of it is cartilaginous; it
moves in its mesial portions the two clavicles and two coracoid bones,
which fit on to the scapula, the whole making a sort of hand which supports
the anterior extremities, and an elongated disk which supports the throat,
and assists in deglutition and respiration. The bone of the arm (humerus) is
single, and long in proportion to the fore arm. In the Frogs (Rana), the ilic
bone is much elongated, and is articulated in a movable manner on the
sacrum, so that the two heads of the thigh bones seem to be in contact. The
femur, or thigh, is much lengthened and slightly curved, and the bones of
the leg so soldered together as to form a single much elongated bone.

The respiration of Reptiles and
some of the Batrachians, like that
of Birds and Mammals, is aërial
and pulmonary, but it is much
less active. Batrachians have, in
addition, a very considerable
cutaneous respiration. Some of
them, such as Toads, absorb more
oxygen through the skin than by
the lungs. Their circulation is
imperfect, the structure of the
heart only presenting one
ventricle; the blood, returning
Fig. 2.—Skeleton of a Frog.
after a partial regeneration in the
lungs, mingles with that which is
not yet revivified: this mixed
fluid is launched out into the economic system of the animal. Thus Reptiles
and Batrachians are said to be cold-blooded animals, more especially the
former, in which the respiratory organs, which are a constant source of

interior heat, are only exercised very feebly. Owing to this low temperature
of their bodies, reptiles affect warm climates, where the sun exercises its
power with an intensity unknown in temperate regions; hence it is that they
abound in the warm latitudes of Asia, Africa, and America, whilst
comparatively few are found in Europe. This is also the cause of their
becoming torpid during the winter of our latitudes: not having sufficient
heat in themselves to produce reaction against the external cold, they fall
asleep for many months, awakening only when the temperature permits of
their activity. Serpents, Lizards, Tortoises, Frogs, are all subjected to this
law of their being. Some hybernate upon the earth, under heaps of stones, or
in holes; others in mud at the bottom of ponds. The senses are very slightly
developed in these animals; those of touch, taste, and smell, are very
imperfect; that of hearing, though less obtuse, leaves much to be desired;
but sight in them is very suitably exercised by the large eyes, with
contractile eye-balls, which enables certain reptiles—such, for instance, as
the Geckos, to distinguish objects in the dark. Most Reptiles and
Batrachians are almost devoid of voice: Serpents, however, utter a sharp
hissing noise, some species of Crocodiles howl energetically, the Geckos
are particularly noisy, and Frogs have a well-known croak. In Reptiles and
Batrachians the brain is small, a peculiarity which explains their slight
intelligence and the almost entire impossibility of teaching them anything.
They can, it is true, be tamed; but although they seem to know individuals,
they do not seem to be susceptible of affection: the slight compass of their
brain renders them very insensible, and this insensibility to pain enables
them to support mutilations which would prove immediately fatal to most
other animals. For instance, the Common Lizard frequently breaks its tail in
its abrupt movements. Does this disturb him? Not at all! This curtailment of
his being does not seem to affect him; he awaits patiently for the return of
the organ, which complaisant nature renews as often as it becomes
necessary. In the Crocodiles and Monitor Lizards, however, a mutilated part
is not renewed, and the renovated tails of other Lizards do not develop
bone. In some instances, the eyes may be put out with impunity, or part of
the head may be cut off; these organs will be replaced or made whole in a
certain time without the animal having ceased to perform any of the
functions which are still permitted to him in his mutilated state. A Tortoise
will continue to live and walk for six months after it is deprived of its brain,
and a Salamander has been seen in a very satisfactory state although its

head was, so to speak, isolated from the trunk by a ligature tied tightly close
round the neck. There is another curious peculiarity in the history of
Reptiles and Batrachians: each year as they awake from their state of torpor,
they slough their old covering, and thus each year renew their youth; so far
as the skin is concerned, it is certain that they retain their youth a very long
time. Their growth is slow, and continues almost through the whole
duration of their existence; they are, moreover, endowed with remarkable
longevity. This is not very astonishing, if we consider that (at least in our
latitudes) they remain torpid for several months yearly; thus using up less of
the materials of life than most animals, they ought, consequently, to attain a
more advanced age. The activity of organization in Reptiles and
Batrachians is so slight that their stomachs feel less of the exigencies of
hunger; hence they rarely take nourishment; they digest their food with
equal deliberation. With the exception of the Land Tortoises, whose
regimen is herbivorous, most reptiles feed on living prey. Some, such as
Lizards, Frogs, and Toads, prey on worms, insects, small terrestrial or
aquatic Molluscs; others, such as Ophidians and Crocodiles, attack Birds,
and even Mammalia. Large Serpents, owing to the distensibility of their
œsophagus, swallow animals much larger than themselves. The Boa-
constrictor darts upon the Deer, binds him in its snaky coils, breaks his
bones, and little by little swallows him entirely.

Reptiles, whether Batrachians, Ophidians, or Chelonians, are mostly
oviparous, sometimes ovo-viviparous, and some of them are very prolific.
The eggs of some are covered with a calcareous envelope, as in the Turtle.
Sometimes they are soft, and analogous to the spawn of fish, as in the
Batrachians. They do not hatch their eggs by sitting upon them, but bury
them in the sand, and take no further care of them, trusting to the heat of the
sun, which hatches them in due course. To this the Pythons form a partial
exception. Batrachians content themselves with diffusing their spawn or
eggs in the marshy waters or ponds, or they bear them on their backs until
the time of hatching approaches. On leaving the egg the young Tortoises
have to provide immediately for their own wants, for the parents are not
present to bring them their nourishment or to defend them against their
enemies. This parental protection, so manifest among the superior animals,
does not exist in oviparous species; that is, in those whose eggs are not
hatched in the body of the mother. The young are, so to speak, produced in

a living state, and fully prepared for the battle of life. The loves of these
animals present none of that character of mutual affection and tender
sympathy which distinguishes the Mammalia and Birds.5 When they have
ensured the perpetuity of their species, they separate, and betake themselves
again to their solitary existence.

Some reptiles attain dimensions truly extraordinary, which render them at
times very formidable. Turtles are met with which weigh as much as sixteen
hundred pounds, and the carapace of one of these measured as much as six
feet in length. The size of an ordinary Crocodile is from eight to nine feet,
but they have been seen twenty-four and even thirty feet long, with a mouth
opening from six to eight feet wide.

Fig. 3.—Skeleton of a Turtle.

In Chelonians the surface of the skull is continuous without movable
articulations. The head is oval in the Land Tortoises, the interval between
the eyes large and convex, the opening of the nostrils large, the orbits
round. The general distinguishing characteristic of Tortoises is the external
position of the bones of the thorax, at once enveloping with a cuirass or
buckler the muscular portion of the frame, and protecting the pelvis and
shoulder bones. The ribs are inserted by means of sutures into these plates,
and united with each other. A three-branched shoulder and cylindrical
shoulder-blade are characteristic of the Tortoises.

In tropical regions enormous Serpents are found, which are as bulky as a
man's thigh, and are said to be not less than forty feet in length. Roman
annals mention one forty feet long, which Regulus encountered in Africa
during the Punic wars, and which is fabulously said to have arrested the
march of his army. These gigantic reptiles are not, however, the enemies
which man has most cause to fear; their very size draws attention to them in
such a manner that it is easy to avoid them. It is quite otherwise with Vipers
twenty or thirty inches long; they glide after their prey without being seen,
strike it cruelly with their fangs, leaving in the wound a venom which
produces death with startling rapidity. Doubtless this fatal power was the
origin of the worship which was rendered to certain reptiles by barbarous
nations of old, and these animals are indeed still venerated by many savage
races. The whole class of Reptiles are, for the most part, calculated to
inspire feelings of disgust, and such has been the sentiment in all ages. Few
people can suppress a movement of fright at the sight of an ordinary Snake,
Lizard, or Frog, notwithstanding that they are most inoffensive animals.
Several causes concur to this aversion. In the first place the low temperature
of their bodies, contact with which communicates an involuntary shudder in
the person who tries to touch one of them; then the moisture which exudes
from the skins of Frogs, Toads, and Salamanders; their fixed and strong
gaze, again, impresses one painfully in thinking of them; the odour which
some of them exhale is so disgusting, that it alone sometimes causes
fainting; add to this the fear of a real or often exaggerated danger, and we
shall have the secret of the sort of instinctive horror which is felt by many
people at the sight of most reptiles. Nevertheless, the injurious species are
exceptional amongst reptiles, and there are not any amongst the

Batrachians, for it is altogether a mistake to take for venom the fluid which
the toad discharges.6 It is true that these animals are repulsive in
appearance, we can nevertheless recognise their services in the economy of
nature. Inhabitants of slimy mud and impure swamps, they make incessant
war upon the worms and insects which abound in those localities. In their
turn they find implacable enemies in the birds of the marshes, which check
their prodigious multiplication. In this manner equilibrium is maintained.

Some of the animals which now occupy our attention render more direct
service to man by the part which they fulfil at his table. Frogs are eaten in
the south of France, Italy, and many other countries; and in some parts of
the south of France, Adders are eaten under the name of Hedge-eels. We
know the favour in which Turtles are held in England, where turtle-soup is
considered a dish only fit for merchant princes. In some countries Iguanas,
Crocodiles, and even Serpents are eaten. Viper-broth, which was known to
Hippocrates, is discontinued as an article of food.

As we have already remarked, the peculiar nature of their organization leads
Reptiles and Batrachians to seek the warmer regions of the earth. It is in
those regions that they attain the enormous dimensions which distinguish
certain Serpents; there, too, they secrete their most subtle poisons, and
display the most lively colours—which, if less rich than those of Birds and
Fishes, are not less startling in effect. Many Serpents and Lizards glitter
with radiant metallic reflections, and some of them present extremely varied
combinations of colour. Chameleons are found in the same localities, but in
the Old World only; these and some other Lizards are remarkable for
changing their colour, a phenomenon which is also seen among the Frogs,
but in a smaller degree.

Reptiles and Batrachians were numerous in the early ages of our globe. It
was then that those monstrous Saurians lived, whose dimensions even are
startling to our imagination. The forms of the Reptiles and Batrachians of
the early ages of the earth were much more numerous, their dimensions
much greater, and their means of existence more varied than those of the
present time. Our existent Reptiles are very degenerate descendants of those
of the great geological periods, unless we except the Crocodiles and the
gigantic Boas and Pythons. Whilst the Reptiles of former ages disported

their gigantic masses, and spread terror amongst other living creatures, alike
by their formidable armature and their prodigious numbers, they are now
reduced to a much lower number of species. There are now but little more
than 1,500 species of Reptiles and Batrachians described, and only 100 of
those belong to Europe.7

I. Batrachia.

Animals which compose this class have long been confounded with reptiles,
from which they differ in one fundamental peculiarity in their organization.
At their birth they respire by means of gills, and consequently resemble
fishes. In a physiological point of view, at a certain time in their lives, these
animals are fishes in form as well as in their habits and organization. As age
progresses, they undergo permanent metamorphosis—they acquire lungs,
and thenceforth an aërial respiration. It is, then, easy to understand that
these animals hold a doubtful rank, as they have long done, amongst
Reptiles, which are animals with an aërial respiration; they ought to form a
separate class of Vertebrates.8

Batrachians establish a transitional link between Fishes and Reptiles—they
are, as it were, a bond of union between those two groups of animals. In the
adult state Batrachians are cold-blooded animals with incomplete
circulation, inactive respiration, and the skin is bare. In the introductory
section to this chapter we have given the general characteristics which
belong to them. The Frogs—Tree Frogs, Toads, Surinam Toads,
Salamanders, and Newts—are the representatives of the principal families
of Batrachians of which we propose giving the history.

The Frogs, Rana, have been irreparably injured by their resemblance to the
Toads. This circumstance has given rise to an unfavourable prejudice
against these innocent little Batrachians. Had the Toad not existed, the Frog
would appear to us as an animal of a curious form, and would interest us by
the phenomena of transformation which it undergoes in the different epochs
of its development. We should see in it a useful inoffensive animal of
slender form, with delicate and supple limbs, arrayed in that green colour

which is so pleasant to the eye, and which mingles so harmoniously with
the carpeting of our fields.

Fig. 4.—The Edible Frog (Rana esculenta).

The body of the Edible Frog, Rana esculenta (Fig. 4), sometimes attains
from six to eight inches in length, from the extremity of the muzzle to the
end of the hind feet. The muzzle terminates in a point; the eyes are large,
brilliant, and surrounded with a circle of gold colour. The mouth is large;
the body, which is contracted behind, presents a tubercular and rugged
back. It is of a more or less decided green colour on the upper, and whitish
on the under parts. These two colours, which harmonize well, are relieved
by three yellow lines, which extend the whole length of the back, and by
scattered black marbling. It is, therefore, much to be regretted that prejudice
should cause some at least of us to turn away from this pretty little hopping
animal, when met with in the country; with its slight dimensions, quick
movements, and graceful attitudes. For ourselves, we cannot see the banks
of our streams embellished by the colours and animated with the gambols
of these little animals without pleasure. Why should we not follow with our
eyes their movements in our ponds, where they enliven the solitude without
disturbing its tranquillity. Frogs often leave the water, not only to seek their
nourishment, but to warm themselves in the sun. When they repose thus,

with the head lifted up, the body raised in front and supported upon the hind
feet, the attitude is more that of an animal of higher organization than that
of a mean and humble Batrachian. Frogs feed on larvæ, aquatic insects,
worms, and small mollusks. They choose their prey from living and moving
creatures; for they set a watch, and when they perceive it, they spring on it
with great vivacity. A large Indian species (R. tigrina) has been seen to prey
occasionally upon young Sparrows. Far from being dumb, like many
oviparous quadrupeds, Frogs have the gift of voice. The females only make
a peculiar low growl, produced by the air which vibrates in the interior of
two vocal pouches placed on the sides of the neck; but the cry of the male is
sonorous, and heard at a great distance: it is a croak which the Greek poet,
Aristophanes, endeavoured to imitate by the inharmonic consonants,
brekekurkoax, coax! It is principally during rain, or in the evenings and
mornings of hot days, that Frogs utter their confused sounds. Their chanting
in monotonous chorus makes this sad melody very tiresome. Under the
feudal system, during the "good old times" of the middle ages, which some
people would like to bring back again, the country seats of many of the
nobility and country squires were surrounded by ditches half full of water,
all inhabited by a population of croaking Frogs. Vassals and villains were
ordered to beat the water in these ditches morning and evening in order to
keep off the Frogs which troubled the sleep of the lords and masters of the
houses. Independent of the resounding and prolonged cries of which we
have spoken, at certain times the male Frog calls the female in a dull voice,
so plaintive that the Romans described it by the words "ololo," or "ololygo."
"Truly," says Lacépède, "the accent of love is always mingled with some
sweetness."

When autumn arrives Frogs cease from their habitual voracity, and no
longer eat. To protect themselves from the cold, they bury themselves
deeply in the mud: troops of them joining together in the same place. Thus
hidden, they pass the winter in a state of torpor; sometimes the cold freezes
their bodies without killing them. This state of torpor gives way in the first
days of spring. During the month of March, Frogs begin to awake and to
move themselves; this is their breeding season. Their race is so prolific that
a female can produce from six to twelve hundred eggs annually. These eggs
are globular, and are in form a glutinous and transparent spheroid, at the

centre of which is a little blackish globule; the eggs float, and form like
chaplets on the surface of the water.

Fig. 5.—Development of the Tadpole.

1. Egg of the Frog. 2. The Egg fecundated, and surrounded
by its visicule. 3. First state of the Tadpole. 4. Appearance of
the breathing gills. 5. Their development. 6. Formation of
the hind feet. 7. Formation of the fore feet, and decay of the
gills. 8. Development of the lungs, and reduction of the tail.
9. The perfect Frog.

All who have observed the small ponds and ditches in the country at this
season, will have seen these light and elegant crafts swimming on the
surface of the water. After a few days, more or less according to the
temperature, the little black spot which is the embryo of the egg, and which
has developed itself in the interior of the glairy mass which envelops it,

disengages itself and shoots forth into the water: this is the tadpole of the
Frog.

The body of the tadpole is oval in shape, and terminates in a long flat tail,
which forms a true fin; on each side of the neck are two large gills, in shape
like a plume of feathers; the tadpole has no legs. These gills soon begin to
wither, without aquatic respiration ceasing, however; for, besides these, the
tadpole possesses interior gills like fishes. Soon after, the legs begin to
show themselves, the hind legs appearing first; they acquire a considerable
length before the fore feet begin to show themselves. These develop
themselves under the skin, which they presently pierce through. When the
legs have appeared, the tail begins to fade, and, little by little, withers away,
until in the perfect animal it entirely disappears. About the same time the
lungs become developed, and assume their functions. In Fig. 5 may be
traced the successive phases of its transformation from the egg to the
tadpole, till we finally reach the perfect Batrachian. Through these
admirable modifications we see the Fish, little by little, become a
Batrachian. In order to follow this strange metamorphosis, it suffices to
gather some Frog's eggs, and to place them with some aquatic herbs in an
aquarium, or in a globe with Gold and Silver Fish; it there constitutes a
most interesting spectacle, and we advise our readers to give themselves
this instructive and easy lesson in natural history.

At present, there exist two species of Frog in Europe: the Green or Edible
Frog, and the Common Frog. The Green Frog is that which we have
described, and of which we have given a representation in Fig. 4. They are
found in running streams and stagnant waters. It is this species to which La
Fontaine alludes in one of his fables. Common Frogs are smaller than the
preceding: they inhabit damp places in fields and vineyards, and only return
to the water to breed or to winter.

The flesh of the Edible Frog is very tender, white, and delicate. As an article
of food, it is lightly esteemed by some, but undeservedly so. Prepared in the
same manner, Green Frogs closely resemble very young fowls in taste. In
almost all parts of France Frogs are disdained as articles of food; it is only
in the south that a taste for them is openly avowed, and there Frogs are
sought for and brought to market. Therefore, I never could comprehend

how the notion popular in England, when it is wished to express contempt
for Frenchmen, should be to call them Frog-eaters. It is a reproach which
might be addressed to Provençals and Languedocians like the author of this
work, but not at all to the majority of Frenchmen.

Fig. 6.—Green Tree Frog (Hyla).

The Green Tree Frog is easily distinguished by having little plates under its
toes. These organs are a species of sucker, by means of which the animal is
enabled, like the house-fly, to cling strongly to any surface, however
smooth and polished it may be. The smoothest branch, even the lower
surface of a leaf, forms a sufficient hold and support to these delicate
organs.

The upper part of the body is of a beautiful green, the lower part, where
little tuberculi are visible, is white. A yellow line, lightly bordered with
violet, extends on each side of the head and back, from the muzzle to the
hind legs. A similar line runs from the jaw to the front legs. The head is
short, the mouth round, and the eyes raised. Much smaller than the ordinary
Frog, they are far more graceful. During the summer they live upon the
leaves of trees in damp woods, and pass the winter at the bottom of some
pond, which they do not leave till the month of May, after having deposited
their eggs. They feed on small insects, worms, and mollusks; and in order to

catch them, they will remain in the same place an entire day. During the
glare of the sun, they remain hidden amongst the leaves; but when twilight
approaches, they move about and climb up the trees. We must repeat of
these Green Tree Frogs what we have already said of Frogs. Get rid of all
prejudice towards their kind, and then you will examine with pleasure their
lively colours, which harmonize so well with the green leaves; remark their
tricks and ambuscades; follow them in their little hunting excursions; see
them suspended upside down upon the leaves in a manner which appears
marvellous to those who are not aware of the organs which have been given
to enable them to attach themselves to the smoothest bodies: and it will give
as much pleasure as can be derived from the consideration of the plumage,
habits, and flight of birds. The croak of the Green Tree Frogs is like that of
other Frogs, although less sharp and sometimes stronger in the males; it can
be pretty well translated by the syllables caraccarac, pronounced from the
throat. This cry is principally heard in the morning and evening; then, when
one Frog begins to utter its croak, all the others imitate it. In the quiet night
the voice of a troop of these little Batrachians sometimes reaches to an
enormous distance.

Toads, Bufo, are squat and disagreeable in shape: it is difficult to
comprehend why nature, which has bestowed elegance and a kind of grace
upon Frogs and Tree Frogs, has stamped the Toad with so repulsive a form.
These much despised beings occupy a large place in the order of nature:
they are distributed with profusion, but one cannot say exactly to what end;
their movements are heavy and sluggish. In colour they are usually of a
livid grey, spotted with brown and yellow, and disfigured by a number of
pustules or warts. A thick and hard skin covers a flat back; its large belly
always appears to be swollen; the head a little broader than the rest of its
body; the mouth and the eyes are large and prominent. It lives chiefly at the
bottom of ditches, especially those where stagnant and corrupt water has
lain a long time. It is found in dung heaps, caves, and in dark and damp
parts of woods. One has often been disagreeably surprised on raising some
great stone to discover a Toad cowering against the earth, frightful to see,
but timorous, seeking to avoid the notice of strangers. It is in these different
obscure and sometimes fœtid places of refuge that the Toad shuts itself up
during the day; going out in the evening, when our common species moves
by slight hops; whilst another, the Natterjack Toad, Bufo calamita, only

crawls, though somewhat fastly. When seized, it voids into the hand a
quantity of limpid water imbibed through the pores of its skin; but if more
irritated, a milky and venemous humour issues from the glands of its back.

Fig. 7.—The Common Toad (Bufo vulgaris).

One peculiarity of its structure offers a defence from outward attacks. Its
very extensible skin adheres feebly to the muscles, and at the will of the
animal a large quantity of air enters between this integument and the flesh,
which distends the body, and fills the vacant space with an elastic bed of
gas, by means of which it is less sensible to blows. Toads feed upon insects,
worms, and small mollusks. In fine evenings, at certain seasons especially,
they may be heard uttering a plaintive monotonous sound. They assemble in
ponds, or even in simple puddles of water, where they breed and deposit
their eggs. When hatched, the young Toads go through the same
metamorphosis as do the tadpoles of the Frogs.

Their simple lives, though very inactive, are nevertheless very enduring;
they respire little, are susceptible of hibernation, and can remain for a
considerable time shut up in a very confined place.

It is proper, however, to caution the reader against believing all that has
been written about the longevity of Toads. Neither must implicit faith be

given to the discovery of the living animal (Fig. 7) in the centre of stones.
"That Toads, Frogs, and Newts, occasionally issue from stones broken in a
quarry or in sinking wells, and even from coal-strata at the bottom of a
mine," is true enough; but, as Dr. Buckland observes, "the evidence is never
perfect to show that these Amphibians were entirely enclosed in a solid
rock; no examination is made until the creature is discovered by the
breaking of the mass in which it was contained, and then it is too late to
ascertain whether there was any hole or crevice by which it might have
entered." These considerations led Dr. Buckland to undertake certain
experiments to test the fact. He caused blocks of coarse oölitic limestone
and sandstone to be prepared with cells of various sizes, in which he
enclosed Toads of different ages. The small Toads enclosed in the sandstone
were found to die at the end of thirteen months; the same fate befell the
larger ones during the second year: they were watched through the glass
covers of their cells, and were never seen in a state of torpor, but at each
successive examination they had become more meagre, until at last they
were found dead. This was probably too severe a test for the poor creatures,
the glass cover implying a degree of hardness and dryness not natural to
half amphibious Toads. Moreover, it is certain that both Toads and Frogs
possess a singular facility for concealing themselves in the smallest crevices
of the earth, or in the smallest anfractuosities of stones placed in dark
places.

This animal, so repulsive in form, has been furnished by nature with a most
efficient defensive armature; namely, an acrid secretion which will be
described farther on. It is a bad leaper, an obscure and solitary creature,
which shuns the sight of man, as if it comprehended the blot it is on the fair
face of creation. It is, nevertheless, susceptible of education, and has
occasionally been tamed; but these occasions have been rare. Pennant, the
zoologist, relates some curious details respecting a poor Toad, which took
refuge under the staircase of a house. It was accustomed to come every
evening into a dining-room near to the place of its retreat. When it saw the
light it allowed itself to be placed on a table, where they gave it worms,
wood-lice, and various insects. As no attempt was made to injure it, there
were no signs of irritation when it was touched, and it soon became, from
its gentleness (the gentleness of a Toad!), the object of general curiosity;
even ladies stopped to see this strange animal. The poor Batrachian lived

thus for six and thirty years; and it would probably have lived much longer
had not a Crow, tamed, and, like it, a guest in the house, attacked him at the
entrance of his hole, and put out one of his eyes. From that time he
languished, and died at the end of a year.

Fig. 8.—Surinam Toad (Pipa monstrosa).

Nearly allied to the Toads, Bufo, the Surinam Toad, Pipa, holds its place. Its
physiognomy is at once hideous and peculiarly odd: the head is flat and
triangular, a very short neck separates it from the trunk, which is itself
depressed and flattened. Its eyes are extremely small, of an olive, more or
less bright, dashed with small reddish spots. It has no tongue. There is only
one species of Pipa, viz. the American Pipa (Fig. 8), which inhabits Guiana
and several provinces of Brazil. The most remarkable feature in this
Batrachian is its manner of reproduction. It is oviparous, and when the
female has laid her eggs, the male takes them, and piles upon the back of
his companion these, his hopes of posterity. The female, bearing the
fertilized eggs upon her back, reaches the marshes, and there immerses
herself; but the skin of the back which supports the eggs soon becomes

inflamed, erysipelatous inflammation follows, causing an irritation,
produced by the presence of eggs, which are then absorbed into the skin,
and disappear in the integument until hatched.

The young Pipa Toads are rapidly developed in these dorsal cells, but they
are extricated at a less advanced stage than almost any other vertebrate
animal. After extrication, the tadpole grows rapidly, and the chief change of
form is witnessed in the gills. As to the mother Batrachian, it is only after
she has got rid of her progeny that she abandons her aquatic residence.9

The Batrachians differ essentially from all other orders of Reptilia. They
have no ribs; their skin is naked, being without scales. The young, or
tadpoles, when first hatched, breathe by means of gills, being at this stage
quite unlike their parents. These gills, or branchiæ, disappear in the tailless
Batrachians, as the Frogs and Toads, in which the tail disappears, are called.
In the tadpoles the mouth is destitute of a tongue, this organ only making its
appearance when the fore limbs are evolved. The habits also change. The
tadpole no longer feeds on decomposing substances, and cannot live long
immersed in water. The branchiæ disappear one after the other, by
absorption, giving place to pulmonary vessels. The principal vascular
arches are converted into the pulmonary artery, and the blood is diverted
from the largest of the branchiæ to the lungs. In the meantime the
respiratory cavity is formed, the communicating duct advances with the
elongation of the œsophagus, and at the point of communication the larynx
is ultimately developed. The lungs themselves extend as simple elongated
sacs, slightly reticulated on the inner surface backwards into the abdominal
cavity. These receptacles being formed, air passes into and expands the
cavity, and respiration is commenced, the fore limbs are liberated from the
branchial chambers, and the first transformation is accomplished.

The alleged venemous character of the Common Toad has been altogether
rejected by many naturalists; but Dr. Davy found that venemous matter was
really contained in follicles in the true skin, and chiefly about the head and
shoulders, but also distributed generally over the body, and on the
extremities in considerable quantities. Dr. Davy found it extremely acrid,
but innocuous when introduced into the circulation. A chicken inoculated
with it was unaffected, and Dr. Davy conjectures that this acrid liquid is the

animal's defence against carnivorous Mammalia. A dog when urged to
attack one will drop it from its mouth in a manner which leaves no doubt
that it had felt the effects of the secretion.

In opposition to these opinions the story of a lad in France is told, who had
thrust his slightly wounded hand into a hole, intending to seize a Lizard
which he had seen enter. In place of the Lizard he brought out a large Toad.
While holding the animal, it discharged a milky yellowish white fluid which
introduced itself into the wound in his hand, and this poison occasioned his
death; but then it is not stated that the boy was previously healthy.

Warm and temperate regions with abundant moisture are the localities
favourable to all the Batrachians. Extreme cold, as well as dry heat, and all
sudden changes are alike unfavourable to them. In temperate climates,
where the winters are severe, they bury themselves under the earth, or in the
mud at the bottom of pools and ponds, and there pass the season without air
or food, till returning spring calls them forth.

The species of this family are very numerous. MM. Duméril and Bibron
state that the Frogs, Rana, number fifty-one species; the Tree Frogs, Hyla,
sixty-four; and the Toads, Bufo, thirty-five. They are found in all parts of
the world, the smallest portion being found in Europe, and the largest in
America. Oceania is chiefly supplied with the Tree Frogs. There are several
curious forms in Australia, and one species only is known to inhabit New
Zealand. The enormous fossil Labyrinthodon, of a remote geological era, is
believed to have been nearly related to these comparatively very diminutive
Batrachians.10

Tailed Batrachians,

Sometimes called Urodeles, from ουρα, "tail," δηλος, "manifest." The
constant external character which distinguishes these Amphibians in a
general manner is the presence of a tail during the whole stage of their
existence. Nevertheless they are subject to the metamorphoses to which all
the Amphibians submit. "The division, therefore, of reptiles," says Professor
Rymer Jones, "into such as undergo metamorphoses and such as do not, is

by no means philosophical although convenient to the zoologist, for all
reptiles undergo a metamorphosis although not to the same extent. In the
one the change from the aquatic to the air-breathing animal is never fully
accomplished; in the tailed Amphibian the change is accomplished after the
embryo has escaped from the ovum."

Salamanders have had the honour of appearing prominently in fabulous
narrative. The Greeks believed that they could live in fire, and this error
obtained credence so long, that even now it has not been entirely dissipated.
Many people are simple enough to believe from the Greek tradition that
these innocent animals are incombustible. The love of the marvellous,
fostered and excited by ignorant appeals to superstition, has gone even
further than this; it has been asserted that the most violent fire becomes
extinguished when a Salamander is thrown into it. In the middle ages this
notion was held by most people, and it would have been dangerous to
gainsay it. Salamanders were necessary animals in the conjurations of
sorcerers and witches; accordingly painters among their symbolical
emblems represented Salamanders as capable of resisting the most violent
action of live coal. It was found necessary, however, that physicians and
philosophers should take the trouble to prove by experiment the absurdity
of these tales.

The skull of the Land or Spotted Salamander, Salamandra maculosa, is
well described by Cuvier as being nearly cylindrical, wider in front so as to
form the semi-circular face, and also behind for the crucial branches,
containing the internal ears. The cranium of the aquatic Salamander differs
from the terrestrial in having the entire head more oblong, and they differ
also among themselves.

Fig. 9.—Land Salamander.

In the Land Salamander the body is black and warty with large irregular
yellow spots distributed over the head, back, sides, feet, and tail. They
affect obscure and moist places, and only issue from their retreat in the
night or morning, walking slowly, and dragging themselves with difficulty
along the surface of the ground. They live upon flies, beetles, snails, and
earth worms. They remain in the water to deposit their eggs; the young are
born alive, and furnished with fully-developed gills. Moreover Salamanders
are gifted with a power which causes them to be much dreaded by other
animals: it has the power of discharging an acrid and milky humour, with a
very strong odour, from the surface of its body, which serves as a defence
against many animals which would otherwise attack it. It has been proved
by experiment that this liquid, when introduced into the circulatory system
by a small wound is a very active poison, and causes certain death to the
smaller animals. This species is found in most parts of Europe, but not in
the British Islands.

The Black Salamander, Triton alpestris, has no spots; it is found on the
highest European mountains, in the regions of snow, and principally on the
highest Alps.

Fig. 10.—Newts, or Aquatic Salamanders.

Newts, or Aquatic Salamanders, have not a round conical tail like the
terrestrial species, but have that appendage compressed or flattened
laterally. The males (during the breeding season only) are recognised
chiefly by the membranous serrated ridge or crest which extends along the
whole length of the back, from the head to the extremity of the tail, as
represented in Fig. 10. Newts are highly aquatic; they are found in ditches,
marshes, and ponds, which after the breeding season they leave for moist
places on land, often then finding their way into drains and cellars. They are
carnivorous, feeding upon different insects and on the spawn of Frogs, not
even sparing individuals of their own species. The females deposit their
eggs singly, fixing them on the under surface of the leaves of aquatic plants.
"Some Newts," says Professor Owen, "deposit their eggs upon aquatic
plants, such as Polygonum persicaria, folding the leaf by means of the hind
feet in such a way that its under surface is turned inwards and the fold made
to stick by the adhesive coating of the egg, which she inserts in the fold."
The young are hatched fifteen days after. These animals give utterance to a
very peculiar noise, and when touched emit an odour quite characteristic.

It has been ascertained that Newts can live for a long time, not only in very
cold water, but even in the midst of ice, being sometimes taken in blocks of
ice which are formed in the ditches and ponds which they inhabit. When the
ice-flakes melt they seem to awaken from their torpor, and betake
themselves to their accustomed movements with their recovered liberty.
Lacépède states that he found Aquatic Salamanders even during summer in
pieces of ice obtained from the ice-dealers, where they had remained
without movement or nourishment from the time when the ice had been
gathered from the marshes.

Newts present another remarkable feature in the facility with which they
repair any mutilations they may have undergone. Not only do their tails
grow again when broken off, but even their feet are reproduced in the same
manner, and the process may be many times repeated.

The Crested Newt, Triton cristatus, is frequently found in the
neighbourhood of Paris; the skin of its back is rough and warty, of a
brownish colour, with large black spots and white projecting points; the
belly has black spots upon an orange ground.

The Dutch traveller, Sieboldt, has introduced a species of Aquatic
Salamander, which inhabits the mountain lakes and marshes of Japan. This
species is remarkable for its gigantic growth. Instead of being the size of a
finger, as is the case with those indigenous to Europe, this Batrachian is
four feet and a half in length, and weighs fifty pounds.

Magnificent specimens of this gigantic Salamander, the Sieboldtia maxima,
may be seen by the visitors to the London Zoological Gardens. The largest
of them measured and weighed as above (March 3rd, 1869). An analogous
large fossil species was described as the Homo diluvii testis!

The transformation of the tailed Batrachians, from the tadpole condition to
the air-breathing and four-footed state, is one of the most interesting
exhibitions of Nature, and one which everyone may verify for himself. We
cannot in our brief description have a more trustworthy guide than
Professor Rymer Jones, who selects the Water Newt, Triton cristatus, as an
example:—

"Immediately before leaving the egg," he says, "this tadpole presents both
the outward form and internal structure of a fish. The flattened and vertical
tail, fringed with a broad dorsal and oval fin; the shape of the body and
gills, appended to the side of the neck, are all apparent; so that were the
creature to preserve this form throughout its life the naturalist would
scarcely hesitate in classing it with fishes, properly so called.

"When first hatched it presents the same fish-like body, and rows itself
through the water by the lateral movement of the caudal fin. The only
appearance of legs as yet visible consists in two minute tubercles, which
seem to be sprouting out from the skin immediately behind the branchial
tufts, and which are, in fact, the first buddings of anterior extremities.
Nevertheless, to compensate to a certain extent for the total want of
prehensile limbs, which afterwards become developed, two supernumerary
organs are provisionally furnished in the shape of two minute claspers on
each side of the mouth; by means of these the little creature holds on to the
leaves which are under water.

"Twelve days after issuing from the egg, the two fore-legs, which at first
resembled two little nipples, have become much elongated, and are divided
at their extremity into two or three rudiments of fingers. The eyes, which
were before scarcely visible, being covered by a membrane, distinctly
appear. The branchiæ, at first simple, are divided into fringes, wherein red
blood now circulates; the mouth has grown very large, and the whole body
is so transparent as to reveal the position of the viscera within. Its activity is
likewise much increased; it swims with rapidity, and darts upon minute
aquatic insects, which it seizes and devours.

"About the twenty-second day the tadpole for the first time begins to emit
air from the mouth, showing that the lungs have begun to be developed. The
branchiæ are still large. The fingers upon the fore-legs are completely
formed. The hind-legs begin to sprout beneath the skin, and the creature
presents, in a transitory condition, the same external form as that which the
Siren lacertina permanently exhibits.

"By the thirty-sixth day the young Salamander has arrived at the
development of the Proteus anguinus; its hind-legs are nearly completed; its

lungs have become half as long as the trunk of the body, and its branchiæ
more complicated in structure.

"At about the forty-second day the tadpole begins to assume the form of an
adult Newt. The body becomes shorter, the fringes of the branchiæ are
rapidly obliterated, so that in five days they are reduced to simple
prominences covered by the skin of the head; and the gills opening at the
sides of the neck, which allowed the water to escape from the mouth as in
fishes, and were, like them, covered with an operculum formed by a fold of
the integument, are gradually closed; the membranous fin of the tail
contracts, the skin becomes thicker and more deeply coloured, and the
creature ultimately assumes the form and habits of the perfect Newt, no
longer possessing branchiæ, but breathing air, and in every particular the
Reptile."

But however curious the phenomena attending the development of the
tadpoles of the Amphibian Reptiles may be to the observer who merely
watches the changes perceptible from day to day in their external form, they
acquire tenfold interest to the physiologist who traces the progressive
evolution of their internal viscera; more especially when he finds that in
these creatures he has an opportunity afforded him of contemplating,
displayed before his eyes, as it were, upon an enlarged scale, those phases
of development through which the embryo of every air-breathing vertebrate
animal must pass while concealed within the egg, or yet unborn.11

CHAPTER II.

OPHIDIAN REPTILES, OR TRUE SNAKES.

Reptiles are, as has been said in the preceding chapter, Vertebrated Animals,
breathing by lungs, having red and cold blood; that is to say, not producing
sufficient heat to render their temperature superior to that of the
atmosphere. Destitute of hairs, of feathers, of mammary glands, and having
bodies covered with scales.

Snakes, properly so called, have the tympanic bone, or pedicle of the lower
jaw, movable, and nearly always suspended to another bone, analogous to
the mastoid bone, which is attached to the cranium by muscles and
ligaments, a conformation which gives to these animals the vast power of
distension they possess. Their trachea is long, their hearts placed far back,
and the greater number have one very long lung and vestiges of a second.
They are divided into non-venemous and venemous; and the latter are
subdivided into venemous with maxillary teeth, and venemous with isolated
fangs.

The Snakes prey almost exclusively on animals of their own killing; the
more typical species attacking such as are frequently larger than
themselves: and the maxillary apparatus is, as we have seen, modified so as
to permit of the requisite distension. According to Professor Owen's clear
and intelligible description, the two superior maxillary bones have their
anterior extremities joined by an elastic and yielding fibrous tissue with the
small and single intermaxillary bone; the lower maxillary rami are similarly
connected. The opposite extremity of each ramus is articulated to a long and
movable vertical pedicle formed by the tympanic bone, which is itself
attached to the extremity of a horizontal pedicle formed by the mastoid
bone, so connected as to allow of a certain yielding movement upon the
cranium. The other bones have similar loose movable articulations, which

concur in yielding to the pressure of large bodies with which the teeth have
grappled.

The class of Reptiles is divided into three orders:—the Ophidians,
comprehending the Snakes; the Saurians, the Lizards and Crocodiles; and
the Chelonians, the Turtles and Tortoises.

Ophidians.

In Ophidians, commonly known under the name of Snakes, the body is
long, round, and straight. They have neither feet, fins, nor other locomotive
extremities. Their mouths are furnished with pointed hooked teeth. In the
Boas and Pythons the teeth are slender, curved, bending backwards and
inwards above their base of attachment. In others each maxillary bone has a
row of larger ones, which gradually decrease in size as they are placed
further back. These teeth are not contiguous, being separated by
considerable intervals. The smaller non-venemous Serpents, such as the
Colubridæ, have two rows of teeth in the roof of the mouth. Each maxillary
and mandibular bone includes from twenty to twenty-five teeth. In the
Rattlesnakes and some other typical genera of poisonous Snakes, the short
maxillary bone only supports a single perforated fang. Their lower jaw is
highly distensible; the opening beings longer than the skull. They have no
neck; their eyelids are immovable; their skin is coriaceous, highly
extensible, and scaly or granulous, covered with a thin caducous epidermis,
which detaches itself in one entire piece, and is reproduced several times in
one year. Their movements are supple and varied. In consequence of the
sinuosity of their bodies,—for, though scale-clad, Snakes are without
apparent means of progression,—they make their way with the utmost
facility, by walking, leaping, climbing, or swimming.

According to the genus chiefly, the very numerous species inhabit either
arid or moist places, the ground, or bushes and trees. Some pass much of
their time in the water, and one family (that of the Hydrophidæ) is
exclusively aquatic—even pelagic in the instance of one very widely
diffused species, the Pelamis bicolor. In the Arboreal Snakes the tail is very
long, and highly prehensile; in others, as the Vipers, it is short and without

any prehensility. In the Sea Snakes (Hydrophidæ), it is laterally much
compressed. Like other true reptiles, Snakes abound more especially in
warm climates, and there are many kinds of them in Australia; but the order
has not a single representative in New Zealand.

Most of the Snakes feed on living animals, only a few on birds' eggs.
Several kinds of them prey habitually on other Snakes, as the genera
Hamadryas, Bungarus, and Elaps, even Psammophis occasionally; and
there are rare instances of non-venemous Snakes preying upon poisonous
ones. The venemous kinds first kill their victim by poisoning it; various
others by smothering it between the coils of their body. As they do not
possess organs for tearing the prey to pieces, nor a dentition fit for
mastication, the prey is swallowed entire; and in consequence of the great
width of the mouth, and of the extraordinary extensibility of the skin of the
gullet, they are able to swallow animals of which the girth much exceeds
their own. The Sea Snakes prey mostly upon fishes, and the ordinary Water
Snakes (Homolopsidæ, &c.) on frogs and other Batrachians. Certain
swallowers of birds' eggs have peculiar spinous processes proceeding from
the vertebræ of the neck, the object of which is to fracture the shell of an
egg during the process of deglutition.

Most of the Ophidian Reptiles are oviparous, but many are ovo-viviparous.
The Pythons alone (so far as ascertained) perform a sort of incubation,
which has been repeatedly observed of captive specimens of these huge
Serpents.

Many Snakes are remarkable for their great beauty of colouring, or of the
pattern of their markings; but on account of the poisonous property of so
many of them, the whole order is popularly regarded with horror and
apprehension, and the most foolish tales are current respecting various
species of them. Thus many people suppose that there are Snakes which rob
cows of their milk; and the skeleton of a child being found in the same
hollow with a number of harmless Snakes (the North American
Coryphodon constrictor), it was concluded, as a matter of course, that the
Serpents must have both killed the child and stripped off its flesh, which
latter is what no Snake could possibly do. People are prone to exaggerate,
and commonly evince a fondness for the marvellous, which induce those of

hot countries more especially, where the species of Ophidians are
numerous, to declare every Snake met with as usually the most venemous
one in their country; and thus travellers often come away with exceedingly
erroneous impressions on the subject. The Indian region surpasses every
other part of the globe in the number and variety of its Ophidians, and
almost every investigation of a limited but previously unexplored district, is
tolerably sure to add largely to our previous knowledge of them. What,
however, the late Sir J. Emerson Tennent asserts of those inhabiting Ceylon,
is equally applicable to other parts of the Indian region. "During my
residence in Ceylon," he remarks, "I never heard of the death of an
European which was caused by the bite of a Snake; and in the returns of
coroners' inquests made officially to my department, such accidents to the
natives appear chiefly to have happened at night, when the reptiles, having
been surprised or trodden on, inflicted the wound in self-defence. For these
reasons the Cingalese, when obliged to leave their houses in the dark, carry
a stick with a loose ring, the noise of which, as they strike it on the ground,
is sufficient to warn the Snakes to leave their path."

In some parts of the vast Indian region the natives regard the innocuous
Chameleon as venemous; in other parts various Geckos, or other Lizards. In
Bengal there is a current notion regarding a terrifically poisonous Lizard,
which is termed the Bis-cobra, but which has no existence except in the
imagination of the natives—who bring the young of the Monitors and
occasionally other well-known Lizards as exemplifying the object of their
dread. Again, the little harmless Burrowing Snakes (Typhlops), which,
superficially, have much the appearance of earth-worms, are there popularly
regarded as highly poisonous, though not only are they harmless, but
physically incapable of wounding the human skin. Strangers who are little
versed in zoology are commonly led astray by such errors on the part of
natives of those countries, and, unfortunately, there is a number of stock
vernacular names which are applied to very different species in different
localities. Thus Europeans in India are familiar with the appellation "Carpet
Snake," as denoting a very deadly reptile, but nobody can there point out
what the Carpet Snake really is; and the one most generally supposed to
bear that name is a small innocuous Snake (Lycodon aulicus), which is
common about human dwellings. In the Australian colony of Victoria,
however, the appellation Carpet Snake is bestowed upon a terribly

venemous species (Hoplocephalus curtus); while in the neighbouring
colony of New South Wales, a harmless and even useful creature (Morelia
spilotes) is habitually known as the Carpet Snake.

With regard to the poison of Venemous Snakes, attention has lately been
directed to the virtue of ammonia or volatile alkali. This should be
administered internally, mixed with alcoholic spirit and water, in repeated
doses; and it should also be injected into a vein—about one drachm of the
liquor ammoniæ of the shops being mixed with two or three times that
quantity of water. The patient should be kept moving as much as possible,
and the effects of a galvanic battery should also be tried in cases where
animation is nearly or quite suspended. By these means it is asserted that
quite recently, in Australia, some very remarkable cures have been effected.

The Ophidia have many enemies, as the well-known Mongoose among
mammalia, also Swine, and various ruminating quadrupeds, as Deer and
Goats. In the bird class, the famous Serpent-eater, or Secretary-bird of
South Africa, is one of their chief destroyers; and there are various other
Snake-devouring birds of prey, besides the great African Ground Hornbill,
—even the Pea-fowl and sundry Storks and other waders. Comparatively
large birds of the King-fisher family prey chiefly upon Snakes and Lizards
in Australia; and of reptiles, besides those Snakes which prey upon other
Snakes, the Monitor Lizards frequently seize and devour them.

The series of Ophidians is arranged by our most eminent herpetologist, Dr.
A. Günther, into five subordinate groups, which he characterises as follows:
—

I. Burrowing Snakes, living under ground, only occasionally appearing
above the surface. They are distinguished by a rigid cylindrical body, short
tail, narrow mouth, small head not distinct from the neck, little teeth in
small number, and by the absence or feeble development of the ventral
shields. They feed chiefly on small invertebrate animals. Not any of them
are venemous.

II. Ground Snakes, or species which live above ground, and only
occasionally climb bushes or enter the water; their body is more or less
cylindrical, very flexible in every part, and of moderate proportions. Their

ventral shields are broad. They feed chiefly on terrestrial vertebrate animals.
By far the greater number of Snakes belong to this category, and it is
represented by many variations in all of the three sub-orders to be noticed
presently.

III. Tree Snakes, or species passing the greater part of their life on bushes
and trees, which they traverse with the utmost facility. They are
distinguished either by an exceedingly slender body, with broad, sometimes
carinated, ventral shields, or by a prehensile tail. Many of the species are
characterised by their vivid coloration, of which green forms the principal
part. We shall see, in the sequel, that the first and third sub-orders offer
numerous instances of Tree Snakes; the Tree Snakes of the second sub-
order being confined to Tropical Africa. They feed on animals which have a
mode of life similar to their own; only a few species on eggs.

IV. Fresh-water Snakes, distinguished by the position of the nostrils, which
are placed on the top of the snout, and by a tapering tail. They inhabit fresh-
waters, and are, therefore, excellent swimmers and divers; only a few
species (which also in external characters approach the following group,
that of the true Sea Snakes) venture out to sea. They feed on fishes, frogs,
crustaceans, and other water animals, and are viviparous. Not any of them
are venemous.

V. Sea Snakes, distinguished by a strongly compressed tail, and by the
position of the nostrils, which are placed as in the last group. They live in
the sea, only occasionally approaching the land, feed on marine fishes, are
viviparous and venemous. One genus only (Platurus) has the ventral shields
so much developed as to be able to move on land. No Oceanic Serpent is
known of gigantic dimensions, such as is currently alleged to have been
seen by unscientific observers.

"Although these five groups," remarks Dr. Günther, "are not separated from
each other by defined lines of demarcation, and frequently pass into one
another by intermediate forms, yet a family and genus which should be
composed of species of several of these groups would be a very unnatural
assemblage of heterogeneous forms."

It is also remarked by the same naturalist that there is no sharp boundary
line between the order of Snakes and that of Lizards. There are various
limbless Saurians of Ophidian appearance, but the systematic position of
which is decided by the structure of their jaws. The Common Orvet, or
Slow-worm, is a familiar instance. On the other hand, certain Ophidians
remind us, by several characters, of the Saurian type,—as the Snakes
constituting the families Typhlopidæ, Tortricidæ, Xenopeltidæ, and
Uropeltidæ, which are distinguished by polished, closely adherent, rounded,
sub-equal scales, much resembling the smooth scales of various Scincoid
Lizards; most of them have a very narrow mouth, unlike the enormous gape
of the typical Serpents, and some are without that longitudinal fold in the
median line of the chin which is so characteristic of most Ophidians;
moreover, most of them have rudiments of the bones of a pelvic arch. "The
reason," alleges Dr. Günther, "why we adopt the view of those systematists
who refer such reptiles to the Ophidians, instead of associating them with
the limbless Scincoid Lizards, is the loose connection of the jaw-bones, a
character which must be considered as peculiar to the Ophidians, and which
is only somewhat less developed in the families mentioned than in the
typical forms. The two halves of the lower jaw in Ophidians, namely, are
not united by a bony symphysis, but by an elastic ligament. The peculiar
mobility of the jaw bones enables the Snakes to extend the gape in an
extraordinary degree, and to work their prey down through the collapsed
pharynx."

The same naturalist classifies the Ophidia into three sub-orders, in which
the venemous Snakes are separated from the others; but to some
herpetologists this arrangement must appear rather forced, as his Venemous
Colubrine Snakes have certainly a much nearer resemblance in other
respects to the Colubridæ than they have to the Viperine Snakes. For the
most part, these reptiles are provided with numerous teeth, which are
lengthened, conical, thin and pointed like a needle, and more or less bent
backwards.

In Dr. Günther's first sub-order, that of Non-venemous Snakes, the teeth are
either entirely smooth, or only the last of the maxillary series is provided
with a faint longitudinal groove, which is not intended to convey a virus
into the wound, the groove appearing rather to increase the strength of the

tooth. Many of them have long teeth in front of the jaws or of the palate, but
these are never grooved or perforated, and only serve to afford a firmer hold
on the living and struggling prey.

"The structure of the venom-tooth is not the same in all poisonous Snakes:
in some it is fixed to the maxillary bone, which is as long or nearly as long
as in the non-venemous Snakes, and generally bears one or more ordinary
teeth on its hinder portion. The venom-tooth is fixed more or less erect, not
very long, and its channel is generally visible as an external groove. The
poisonous Snakes with such a dentition have externally a more or less
striking resemblance to the non-venemous Serpents, and on this account
they are designated as Venemous Colubrine Snakes, forming our second
sub-order." Two very distinct families are here brought together—viz. the
Elapidæ (which comprises the Cobras and many others), and the
Hydrophidæ (or Sea Snakes).

"In the other venemous Snakes, composing the third sub-order, the
maxillary bone is extremely short, and does not bear any teeth except an
exceedingly long fang, with a perfectly closed externally invisible channel
in its interior. Although this tooth also is fixed to the bone, the bone itself is
very mobile, so that the tooth, which is laid backwards when at rest, can be
erected the moment the animal prepares to strike. This tooth or fang, like all
the other teeth, is not only occasionally lost, but appears to be shed at
regular intervals. From two to four other venom-fangs in different stages of
development, destined to replace the one in action, exist between the folds
of the gum, and are not anchylosed to the bone." The more characteristic
venemous Snakes appertain to this sub-order—viz. the two families
Crotalidæ (comprehending the Rattlesnakes, the Fer-de-lance, &c.) and
Viperidæ (comprising the Vipers, Puff-adders, &c.).

Let it be particularly borne in mind that the supposed distinguishing
characters of all poisonous Snakes, as assigned by sundry mischievously
ignorant writers, are those of the third of the foregoing sub-orders almost
exclusively. Even the broad, flat, and lanceolate form of head is exemplified
in certain Tree Snakes of the non-venemous genus Dipsas, and not in the
Cobras and others that are quite as deadly—e.g. Hoplocephalus, Bungarus,
Naja, Elaps, and others constituting the Colubriform family Elapidæ.

First Sub-order.

Ophidii Coluberiformes (Günther), Innocuous Snakes.

These are distributed by Dr. Günther under numerous families, of which we
can only notice the more prominent, and some of the more conspicuous
species, in a popular exposition.

The Typhlopidæ, or Blind Snakes, comprise forms which are the most
remote from the true Ophidian type. They live under ground, their rigid
body and short curved tail being adapted for burrowing. After showers of
rain they occasionally appear above ground, and then they are tolerably
agile in their serpentine movements. The eye, which is scarcely visible in
many species, can give to them only a general perception of light. They
feed on worms and small insects, the tongue being forked, and, as in other
Snakes, frequently exserted. They are oviparous. The smallest species of
Snakes belong to this family, some of them being only half the size of a
common earth-worm, to which they bear a superficial resemblance. Such,
indeed, are the small vermiform Snakes already referred to, as being
foolishly considered venemous by most natives of India. Species of this
family inhabit almost every country within and near the tropics.

The Tortricidæ are akin to the Typhlopidæ, and have rudiments of hind
limbs hidden in a small groove on each side of the vent, also a longitudinal
fold at the chin. The "Coral Snake" of Demarara (Tortrix scytale) appertains
to this family; and the genus Cylindrophis, different species of which
inhabit the great Asiatic archipelago, with the island of Ceylon.

The family Xenopeltidæ consists of a single species only, so far as hitherto
known, the Xenopeltis unicolor, which is common in the Indo-Chinese and
Malayan countries. It grows to three or four feet in length, and when alive is
uniformly steel-blue, most beautifully iridescent, beneath white; but the
blue fades to brown after long immersion in spirits. Young examples have a
white collar. Mr. W. Theobald remarks of it that "this Snake is common in
Lower Pegu and the Tenasserim provinces, and is very malignly beautiful,
though of repulsive physiognomy. The skin is loose and thick, and its habits
are nocturnal. The following illustrates its ferocious nature:—I once

remarked a Colubrine Snake (Ptyas mucosa), some five feet in length, in
the hedge of the Circuit-house of Bassein. On running downstairs, the
Snake had vanished, but on searching for it I saw its tail sticking out of a
hole beneath a wooden plant-case. Do what I might I could not drag it out,
as it seemed held fast within. I therefore, with some trouble, overturned the
plant-case, and then saw that the unlucky Colubrine Snake was firmly
pinned by a large Xenopeltis, into whose hole it had unwittingly entered.
The Xenopeltis seemed about four feet in length; but, on perceiving itself
uncovered, released its hold of the Ptyas and made its escape." The
Xenopeltis preys chiefly on small mammalia, which it hunts for in their
subterranean holes; and in some respects it approximates the Pythonidæ.

The Uropeltidæ, or Shield-tails, constitute a very curious family of
Burrowing Snakes, which bear considerable resemblance to the Typhlopidæ,
but have a very peculiar, short, strong, posteriorly shielded tail, adapted for
working their way below the surface. The species are mostly small, and
hitherto they have been found chiefly in Ceylon, but a few also in the
peninsula of India. They are by no means scarce, but escape observation
from their peculiar mode of life. Dr. Kelaart remarks that "they are timid
creatures, seldom making their appearance above ground; living chiefly in
ant-hills or dunghills, sometimes also several feet deep in rich loamy soil.
They feed on ants, small earth-worms, and the larvæ of insects, and at least
one species has been ascertained to be viviparous. Five genera and eighteen
species of them are recognised."

The Calamaridæ form an extensive family of diminutive slender Snakes,
from one to two feet in length, many species of which inhabit both the Old
World and the New, though the same kinds are not found both East and
West. They keep to the ground, beneath stones, fallen trees, &c.; and their
food appears to consist chiefly of insects. They are gentle, and never
attempt to bite, and themselves very commonly become the prey of the
smaller Elapidæ, certain of which indeed bear considerable resemblance in
appearance to the Calamaridæ, but are readily distinguished by possessing
the poison-fangs.

The Oligodontidæ are another extensive family of small ground Snakes,
which are peculiar to South-eastern Asia and its great archipelago. They

conduct to the terrene genera of the great family Colubridæ.

The Colubridæ are divided by Dr. Günther into ground Colubrines
(Coronellinæ), true Colubrines (Colubrinæ), bush Colubrines (Dryadinæ),
and fresh-water Colubrines (Natricinæ); and he remarks that "they are
found in every part of the temperate and tropical regions, but are only
scantily represented in Australia and in the islands of the Pacific. The
species are so numerous and show such a gradual passage between extreme
forms, that, although genera can be easily characterized, it is almost
impossible to distinguish wider groups by definite characters." Among them
the Coronellinæ approximate the immediately preceding families, and, like
them, live on the ground, and are not generally of brilliant colouring,
though a few species which frequent grassy plains are of a bright green
colour. The Colubrinæ "form, as it were," writes Dr. Günther, "the nucleus
of the whole sub-order of innocuous Snakes: they are typical forms, not
characterized by the excessive development of some particular organ, but
by the fairness of the proportions of all parts. Yet some of them have a more
slender body than others which always live on the ground; they are land
Snakes, but swim well when driven into the water, or climb when in search
of food. They are of moderate or rather large size." In the Dryadinæ the
form is elongate and somewhat compressed, indicating their climbing
propensities; they have the body not so excessively slender as in the true
Tree Snakes, to which they lead off. They are much more numerous in the
New World than in the Old, and their ground-colour is very commonly
green. The Natricinæ are generally not very elongate or compressed, and
most of them have keeled scales. They freely enter the water in pursuit of
their food, which consists chiefly of frogs and fishes. All the Snakes of the
preceding three sub-families overpower their prey by throwing some coils
of the body round or over it, and commence to swallow it only after it has
been smothered, or at least exhausted; but the Natricinæ swallow their prey
immediately after they have seized it.

Of the sub-family Coronellinæ, one species of the typical genus Coronella
is widely diffused over Europe, and has only of late years been recognised
as an inhabitant of the British Islands, the Coronella austriaca. Another, C.
girondica, occurs in Italy. Others are found in Africa, America, and
Australia. The C. austriaca has somewhat the appearance of the common

Adder, for which it is often mistaken; but it is non-venemous, though rather
a fierce reptile, which bites and holds on; and as it occurs in Malta (where
no venemous species is known to exist), it is doubtless the supposed Viper
which seized upon the apostle Paul. Several other genera are recognised.

Of the Colubrinæ, Rhinechis scalaris, Coluber æsculapii, C. quadrilineatus,
Elaphis quater-radiatus, and three species of Zamenis inhabit Europe: there
are five of Coluber in North America, and the well-known "Black Snake" of
the Anglo-Americans is the Coryphodon constrictor. Other species of
Coryphodon or Ptyas inhabit South-eastern Asia, as the different "Rat
Snakes" of Anglo-Indians, of which Ptyas mucosus is particularly common
in India, where it is encouraged by reasonable people as a destroyer of the
far more troublesome Brown Rat (Mus decumanus).

The Dryadinæ are chiefly American, and do not call for particular further
remark; but the Natricinæ are very numerous, and there are three species in
Europe of its most prominent genus, Tropidonotus—viz. T. natrix, T.
hydrus, and T. viperinus. [Dr. Günther gives as many as twenty-one species
of this genus as inhabitants of the Indian region alone, and there is reason to
believe that that number is far from being complete. Others inhabit North
America and North-western Australia, and some generic groups have been
detached that are not very conspicuously separable.]

Fig. 11.—Ringed Snake (Tropidonotus natrix).

The Ringed Snake, Tropidonotus natrix, is often found in fine seasons near
human habitations. It deposits its eggs, which are fifteen to twenty in
number, commonly in dunghills, in one agglutinated mass. Exposed to the
air, these eggs soon shrivel and dry, and the embryos within them perish.
The Ringed Snakes are also found near rivers and meadows, by the side of
water-courses, into which they love to plunge; hence they are sometimes
called Water Serpents, Swimming Serpents, Hedge Eels, and other
provincial synonyms. They sometimes attain to as much as and more than a
yard in length. The summit of their head is covered with nine large scales,
disposed in four rings. The upper part of the body is of a more or less
darkish grey colour, marked on each side with irregular black spots.
Between the two rows of spots are two other longitudinal rows, which
extend from the head to the tail. The belly varies from black to a bluish
white. Upon the neck are two whitish or pale yellowish spots, which form a
kind of half collar or ring, from which its name is derived; these two spots
become much more apparent from being contrasted with two other very
dark triangular spots placed near them. They prey upon lizards, frogs, and
mice, and they even surprise young birds, and devour the eggs in their
nests, for they climb trees with facility. Towards the end of the autumn they
seek the warmest places, approaching near to houses; or they retire into
subterranean holes, often at the bottom of some hedge, which is almost
always in an elevated place, secure from inundations. The Ringed Snake is
found in nearly all European countries, and can be handled without danger.
Lacépède gives some interesting details, showing the gentleness of its
habits. They are easily tamed, and can be kept in houses, where they soon
accustom themselves to those who have the care of them. At a sign from
their keeper, they will twist themselves round his fingers, arms, and neck,
insinuate their heads between his lips to drink his saliva, and to hide and
warm themselves they creep under his clothes. In their wild state, the adult
Ringed Snake lives in the fields; and, when full-grown, shows great
irritation when attacked. When exasperated, they move their tongues, erect
themselves with great vivacity, and even bite the hand which tries to seize
them; but their bite is quite harmless.

[This Ringed Snake is the Natrix torquatus of Ray, well known to
naturalists. The female is larger than the male. Its food consists a good deal

of frogs, which are generally caught by the leg, and swallowed alive, in
spite of resistance and very distressing cries.

When the skin has just been cast, the Ringed Snake presents beautiful
markings, especially when seen swimming across some clear running
stream, its head and neck raised above the limpid water, and the sun shining
on its bright enamelled skin. It has been supposed, not unnaturally, that the
Snake casts its skin at fixed intervals; this, Mr. Bell considers to be a
mistake. He has always found that it depended on the temperature of the
atmosphere and on their state of health and feeding. "I have known the skin
thrown off" he adds, "four or five times during the year. It is always thrown
off by reversing it, so that the transparent covering of the eyes and that of
the scales are always found in the exuviæ. Previous to this curious
phenomenon, the whole cuticle becomes somewhat opaque, the eyes dim,
and the animal is evidently blind. It also becomes more or less inactive,
until at length, when the skin is ready for removal and the new skin
perfectly hard underneath, the animal bursts it at the neck, and creeping
through some dense herbage or low brushwood, leaves it detached, and
comes forth in brighter and clearer colours than before."

The Ringed Snake begins to hybernate, in some warm hedge or under the
root of some tree, or other sheltered situation, about the end of autumn; and
there they coil themselves up, sometimes in numbers, till the spring again
calls them forth. Many instances are told of this Snake being tamed. Mr.
Bell had one which knew him from all other persons; it would come to him
when let out of its box, and crawl under the sleeve of his coat, and every
morning come to him for its draught of milk.]

The Green and Yellow Snake is also about a yard in length, and is common
in the south and west of France; they have been taken in the forest of
Fontainebleau. The beautiful colours in which they are clothed causes them
to be easily distinguished from the Viper. The eyes are edged with golden-
coloured scales; the upper part of the body is of a very dark greenish colour,
upon which is extended a large number of radiating lines, composed of
small yellowish spots of different shapes, some long, others lozenge shape,
giving it a chequered appearance. These chequers extend from the head to
the tail. The belly is yellowish; the large plates which cover it have a black

spot at each end, and are bordered with a very thin black line. This
inoffensive reptile is extremely timid, and generally hides itself from
observation, taking to flight at the least alarm. They are said to be easily
tamed.

Fig. 12.—Tropidonotus viperinus.

The Viperine Snake (Fig. 12) has the body of a greyish or dirty yellow
colour, having on the middle of the back a series of blackish spots so close
to each other as to give the idea of one small continuous wavy line from
head to tail. The sides are covered with isolated spots, forming lozenge-like
figures, the centres of which are of a greenish tint. This is the smallest of all
the European Colubridæ, and, like the others, it is found in most parts of
Europe.

[The Psammophidæ, or Desert Snakes, are akin both to the Colubridæ and
to the Tree Snakes of the next family; but the latter, remarks Dr. Günther,
may always be distinguished either by their green coloration, by the
horizontal pupil to the eye, or the absence of a long, anterior, maxillary
tooth. In the Psammophidæ the pupil of the eye is round or vertical. Most of
the species of this family belong to the fauna of tropical Africa, which also
produces a slender form (in Psammophis elegans). The other species are of
a stouter habit, frequenting plains, or at all events living on the ground. Of
the Indian Psammophis condanarus, Dr. Jerdon procured one which had

killed and was swallowing a small Viper (Echis carinata), this being one of
the few instances in which a non-venemous Snake has been known to
overpower a poisonous one. We have heard the same of a small Boa-like
Serpent (Chilabothrus?) in the West Indies, which is said to prey upon the
formidable Crotalidæ. The Psammodynastes pulverulentus has a wide
geographical range over South-eastern Asia and its islands. Although
innocuous, it has the aspect of a venemous species.

In a kindred African family, the Rachiodontidæ, the species of Dasypeltis
have the maxillary teeth minute and few in number (four to seven); but they
have also some remarkable gular teeth, which are formed by the elongated
inferior spinous processes of the hinder cervical vertebræ. The object of the
latter is to crush the shells of birds' eggs, upon which the Snakes in question
habitually feed.

Of the more characteristic Tree Snakes, the Dendrophidæ have the body and
tail much compressed, or very slender and elongated; the head generally
lengthened, narrow, flat, and distinct from the slender neck; the snout rather
long, obtuse or rounded in front; cleft of the mouth wide; and the eye of
moderate size, or large, with round pupil. These are Diurnal Snakes, which
live entirely upon trees, where they prey chiefly on arboreal lizards and
frogs. Species of them inhabit all tropical countries. They are mostly of
great beauty, and the Indian Chrysopelea ornata is excessively so, being
variegated with yellow and crimson upon a black ground; but the crimson
soon fading when a specimen is immersed in spirit. Others are very variable
in their colouring, as the African Bucephalus capensis and the Indian
Dendrophis picta.

The next family of Dryiophidæ, or the Whip Snakes, have a still more
slender and elongated body, which has been aptly compared to the thong of
a whip. The head is very narrow and long, with tapering snout, ending in a
protruded rostral shield, which is sometimes modified into a flexible
appendage; eyes of moderate size, and all the Asiatic species have the pupil
of the eye horizontally linear, and a long fang-like tooth in the middle of the
maxillary. The whole of this group are provided with a posterior grooved
tooth. They are chiefly nocturnal, and their movements are wonderfully
rapid and graceful among the branches of trees. They are numerous almost

everywhere in tropical countries. In general the various Whip Snakes are of
a bright leaf-green colour, with two white stripes on the belly, so that they
are difficult to discern among the foliage. In the genus Langaha, which is
peculiar to Madagascar, the muzzle is elongated into a fleshy appendage,
which is covered with small scales, constituting about one-third of the total
length of the head. This appendage is dentated in one species (L. crista-
galli), and not so in another (L. nasuta). In the Indian genus Passerita the
snout is long and pointed, terminating in a flexible appendage. The name of
Whip Snake is applied by Anglo-Indians to all of the species of
Dendrophidæ and of Dryiophidæ, and the erroneous notion prevails that
they are highly venemous, and that they spurt venom into people's eyes.
The same is believed in South Africa of the Bucephalus capensis. Even
Gordon Cumming asserts that one night a Snake which his servant had tried
to kill with his loading-rod flew up at his eye, and "spat poison into it.
Immediately," he adds, "I washed it well at the fountain. I endured great
pain all night, but next day my eye was all right."12

Of a beautiful green species (Philodryas viridissimus), appertaining to the
family of Dendrophidæ, in Brazil, Dr. Wurcherer writes:—"I am always
delighted when I find that another Tree Snake has settled in my garden. You
look for a bird's nest, the young ones have gone, but you find their bed
occupied by one of these beautiful creatures, which will coil up its body, of
two feet in length, within a space not larger than the hollow of your hand.
They appear to be always watchful; for at the instant you discover one, the
quick playing of the long, black, forked tongue will shew you that you too
are observed. On perceiving the slightest sign of your intention to disturb it,
the Snake will dart upwards through the branches and over the leaves,
which scarcely appear to bend beneath the weight. A moment more, and
you have lost sight of it." Some of the true Whip Snakes attain to six or
seven feet in length, or even more; and with reference to the vague
application of vernacular names (vide p. 42), it may here be remarked that
the "Little Whip Snake" of the Australian colony of Victoria denotes a
poisonous Snake of a very different family (the Hoplocephalus flagellum).

The Dipsadidæ are a numerous family of tropical Tree Snakes, which also
have a much compressed body, but short and triangular-shaped head, which
is broad behind; the eye large, having generally a vertical pupil. Some of

them attain to six or seven feet in length, and all live on warm-blooded
animals. It is remarkable that certain of the species prey on birds solely,
whilst others attack only mammalia. Their coloration varies a good deal,
and species of them inhabit most tropical and subtropical countries.

The Lycodontidæ are an extensive family of small Ground Snakes,
inhabiting Africa and tropical Asia, which have the body generally of
moderate length, or rather slender, and the head also of moderate length and
width, with generally a depressed, flat, and somewhat elongated muzzle;
maxillary with a fang-like tooth in front, but without a posterior grooved
tooth. The African species feed on Mice and other small nocturnal
mammalia; while the Indian species (which have a vertical pupil) prey
chiefly, if not wholly, on the smaller Scincoid Lizards, which they would
appear to follow into the place of their retreat. Lycodon aulicus is one of the
commonest Snakes of the Indian region, and is quite harmless, though often
ignorantly supposed to be dangerously poisonous.

The Amblycephalidæ, or Blunt-heads, comprise a few species of moderate
or small size, akin to the Dipsadidæ, but the narrow mouth of which
necessitates their feeding on insects, and they live on trees and bushes, or
under the roofs of huts. Of the Indo-Chinese and Malayan Amblycephalus
boa, Dr. Günther remarks that "the head of this most singular Snake
resembles much that of a mastiff, the lips being arched and tumid. It climbs
with great facility, frequenting the roofs of the natives' huts in pursuit of its
insect food. It attains to a length of three feet, the tail being a third." Of a
second genus, Pareas, three species inhabit the same region.

The Pythonidæ, or Pythons, and Boas, are celebrated for the enormous
magnitude to which some of the species attain. These are emphatically the
great constrictor Serpents, to all of which the name of Boa-constrictor is
popularly applied, although this appellation refers properly to one only of
them which is peculiar to South America. Various genera of them inhabit
Africa, South-eastern Asia and its islands, Australia, and South America,
with the West Indies.]

The Pythons are large Serpents of Asia and Africa. They live in marshy
places, and near the margins of rivers. They are non-venemous, but
possessed of immense muscular power, which enables some of the species

to kill, by constriction, animals of much larger circumference than
themselves.

Aristotle tells us of immense Lybian Serpents, so large that they pursued
and upset some of the triremes of voyagers visiting that coast. Virgil's
Laocoon, so vividly represented in the well-known marble group, owes its
origin, no doubt, to the descriptions current of constricting Serpents.
Quoting Livy, Valerius Maximus relates the alarm into which the Roman
army, under Regulus, was thrown by an enormous Serpent, having its lair
on the banks of the Bagradus, near Utica. This Serpent Pliny speaks of as
being a hundred and twenty feet long. But, without multiplying instances to
which time has lent its fabulous aid, and coming to more modern times,
Bontius speaks of Serpents in the Asiatic islands as beings so various that
he despairs of even enumerating them all. "The great ones," he says,
"sometimes exceed thirty-six feet, and have such capacity of throat and
stomach, that they swallow entire Boars." Adding that he knew persons who
had partaken of a Hog cut out of the stomach of a Serpent of this kind.
"They are not poisonous," he adds, "but they strangle by powerfully
applying their folds round the body of their prey." Mr. M'Leod, in his
interesting voyage of the Alceste, states that during a captivity of some
months at Whidah, on the coast of Africa, he had opportunities of observing
Serpents double this length, one of which engaged a negro servant of the
governor of Fort William in its coil, and very nearly succeeded in crushing
him to death. There can be no doubt that the length is here much
exaggerated. About thirty feet is the utmost length attained by the most
gigantic Serpents of which we possess accurate knowledge.

The body of the Python is large and round. They live on trees in warm
damp places, on the banks of streams or water-courses, and attack the
animals which come there to slake their thirst. Hanging by the tail to the
trunk of a tree they remain immovable in their ambush until their
opportunity comes, when they dart upon their prey, fold their bodies round
it with amazing rapidity, and crush it in their monstrous folds. Animals as
large as Gazelles, and even larger, thus become their victims. Their jaws are
extremely distensible, as we have seen; for, having neither breast-bone nor
false sides, they can easily increase the diameter of the opening, so as to
swallow the most voluminous prey.

The Ophidians (as we have seen) surpass all other Reptiles in the number of
their vertebræ, with incomplete hæmal arches; these constitute the skeleton
of the long, slender, limbless trunk. All these vertebræ coalesce with one
another, and are articulated together by ball-and-socket joints. Besides this
articulation to the centrum, the vertebræ of Ophidians articulate with each
other by means of joints which interlock by parts reciprocally receiving and
entering one another, like the tenon-and-mortise joint in carpentry. "The
vertebral ribs have an oblong articular surface, concave above and almost
flat below, in the Python. They have a large medullary cavity, with dense
but thin walls, with a fine cancellated structure at their articular ends. Their
lower end supports a short cartilaginous membrane, closing the hæmal arch,
which is attached to the broad and stiff abdominal scute. These scutes,
alternately raised and depressed by muscles attached to the ribs and
integuments, aid in the gliding movement of serpents."

The peculiar motion of Snakes was first noted by Sir Joseph Banks, and
commented on by Sir Everard Home. Sir Joseph was observing a Coluber
of unusual size, and thought he saw its ribs come forward in succession,
like the feet of a caterpillar. To test this, he placed his hand under the
animal, the ends of the ribs were distinctly felt pressing upon the surface in
regular succession, leaving no doubt that the ribs formed so many pairs of
levers, by means of which it moves its body from place to place.

The muscles which bring forward these ribs, according to Sir Everard,
consists of five sets. One from the transverse process of each vertebra and
the rib immediately behind it, which rib is attached to the next vertebra. The
next set goes from the rib near the spine, and passes over two ribs, sending
a slip to each, and is inserted into a third, a slip connecting it with the next
muscle in succession. Under this is a third set, issuing from the posterior
side of each rib, passing over two ribs, and sending a lateral slip to the next
muscle, and is also inserted in the third rib behind. And so on throughout
the five sets of muscles.

On the inside of the chest there is a strong set of muscles attached to the
anterior surface of each vertebra, and passing obliquely forward over four
ribs is inserted into the fifth one only in the centre. From this part of each
rib a strong flat muscle comes forward on each side, before the viscera,

forming the abdominal muscles and uniting in a middle tendon, so that the
lower half of each rib which is beyond the origin of this muscle, and which
is only laterally connected to it by a loose cellular membrane, is external to
the belly of the animal, and is used for the purpose of progressive motion,
while that half of each rib which is next the spine, as far as the lungs
extend, is employed in respiration.

These observations of Sir Everard Home apply to all Snakes; but the
muscles were compared with a skeleton of the Boa-constrictor in the
Hunterian Museum, which is thirteen feet nine inches in length. The habit
of attaching themselves to trees, and holding on by the tail, their heads and
bodies floating listlessly on some sedgy river, is explained by the structure
of the tail. Dr. Meyer has minutely described the manner in which they
hook themselves on to a tree, which gives them the power of a double
fulcrum. The apparatus which gives this power is a spur or nail on each side
of the vent in the Pythonidæ, in which the anatomist discovered the
elements of an unguinal phalanx articulated with another bone much
stronger, which is concealed under the skin.

Following the arrangement of the Pythonidæ, adopted by Dr. J. E. Gray in
the Catalogue of the British Museum, we find:—

I. Morelia, having a strong prehensile tail, distinct head, truncate muzzle,
crown of the head with small shield-like plates. Of this genus there are two
species. The Diamond Snake (M. spilotes), a native of Australia, and of a
bluish-black colour; and the Carpet Snake (M. variegata), from Port
Essington and Swan River. It is whitish, with irregular black-edged olive
spots, and an olive head, with two or three white spots in the centre of the
crown.

II. Python, having the crown shielded to behind the eyes.

Of this genus there are two species, which have sometimes been referred to
the Boas. The Pythons bear the same general appearance. Upon their bodies
is traced a sort of blackish-brown chain, presenting nearly quadrangular
links upon a clear yellowish ground, extending from the nape of the neck to
the extremity of the tail. The suscephalous region is partly covered by a
large brownish-black spot. Upon each side of the head is a black band,

which frequently extends from the nostril, passing by the eye, as far as, and
up to, the commissures or corners of the lips.

P. reticulatus, the Ular Sawad of
the Malay countries, found also
in Burmah and Siam, has the four
front upper labial plates pitted;
the frontal plate simple; the head
has a narrow, longitudinal, brown
stripe. This is one of the most
handsomely marked species of
the whole family, its body being
covered with a gay lacing of
black and golden yellow. It is
said to attain the great length of
thirty feet, and is stout in
proportion. In its native wilds the
powers of this gigantic reptile are
said to be enormous, being able
to subdue a full-grown Buffalo;
and even a Man has been said to
Fig. 13.—Natal Rock Snake (Hortulia fall a prey to its fury. A Malay
natalensis). prao had anchored for the night
under an island of the Celebes.
One of the crew had gone ashore in search of the favourite betel nut, and is
supposed on his return to the beach to have fallen asleep. In the dead of the
night his comrades were roused by his screams; they pulled ashore with all
expedition, but came too late; the cries had ceased, and the wretched man
had breathed his last in the folds of one of these enormous Serpents. They
killed the creature, cut off the head, and carried it, together with the lifeless
body of their comrade, to the vessel. The right wrist of the corpse bore the
mark of the Serpent's teeth, and the disfigured body showed that the man
had been crushed by the constrictive folds of the reptile round the head,
breast, and thighs. The Ular Sawad arranges its eggs by placing them in a
group, which is covered by the body. This statement, first made by Mr.
Bennett, has been confirmed by the observations of M. Lamare Picquot, and

by observations on other species of Python in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris,
and in the London Zoological Gardens.

The Rock Snake of India and Ceylon (P. molurus) is another species to
which the name of Boa-constrictor has been given. It has the two pairs of
front upper, and three hind lower labial shields pitted, and the frontal plates
double. Of this gigantic Serpent several specimens are generally to be seen
in the Zoological Gardens.

III. Hortulia, having the upper and lower labial shields deeply pitted;
muzzle and forehead with symmetrical shield; nostrils lateral. They are
natives of Africa, and three species are known, namely, the Natal Rock
Snake, having the lower labial shields deeply pitted, the muzzle and
forehead with symmetrical shields, the nostrils lateral; the Guinea Rock or
Fetish Snake (H. Sebæ), closely resembling the last in many structural
points; and the Royal Rock Snake (H. regia), having the four pairs of the
upper front labials pitted, the upper ocular plate single, the lower labial
shields four in number and broad.

The Royal Rock Snake inhabits Western Africa. It is black in colour,
marked on the middle of the back with a series of oblong white spots, the
sides being marked by another series of large white spots, with one or two
black spots in the upper part; the head black, with a streak over the nostrils
and the top of the eyes, another from the lower edge of the eye, the lips and
chin beneath are white.

The Natal Rock Snake (H. natalensis, Fig. 13) is described by Sir Andrew
Smith as being gigantic in size, he having seen a skin measuring twenty-
five feet, although part of the tail was absent. "It feeds," he says, "on small
quadrupeds; and for some days after swallowing one it remains in a torpid
state, when it may be easily destroyed." Of this opportunity, however, the
South Africans never avail themselves; they have a horror of the reptile, but
believe that it has an influence over their destinies, and affirm that no one
has ever been known to kill one and prosper.

The Guinea Rock or Fetish Snake (H. Sebæ, Fig. 14) is typical of the genus,
and has also been referred to the Boa-constrictor, and closely resembles the

Natal Rock Snake. It is a native of the warmer parts of Africa. A living
specimen at the Zoological Gardens is estimated to weigh a hundredweight.

Of the genera Liasis and Nardoa there are five species, very imperfectly
known.

Fig. 14.—Guinea Rock Snake (H. Sebæ).

IV. Epicrates, an American and West Indian species, having the crown
scaly; the forehead with symmetrical shields.

The Aboma (E. cenchria) is one of the largest of the group, sometimes
attaining dimensions quite gigantic. It is yellowish in colour, with a row of
large brown rings running the whole length of the back, and variable spots
on the sides; these are generally dark, with a whitish semi-lunar mark. This

formidable Reptile has all the habits of its congeners; it is found in the
marshy swamps of tropical America, and near the rivers, where it lies in
wait for its prey.

The Boas, properly so called,
have the scales smooth; labial
shields smooth, not pitted; the
body compressed, tapering to the
tail, which is long and prehensile;
the head is comparatively small,
being enlarged behind, and
contracted towards the muzzle,
which is rather short. The crown
is covered with scales; the
nostrils lateral, between two
plates. Four species of this genus
are recognised by naturalists, all
of which have been described by
travellers as the true Boiguacu, or
Boa-constrictor of Linnæus. This
species has the scaly circle of the
orbit separated from the upper
labial plates by one or two series
of scales. A large chain consisting
of blackish hexagonal spots, Fig. 15.—Aboma (Epicrates cenchria).
alternating pale oval stains,
notched and jagged, extending
the whole length of the back, and forming a very elegant design. This
species seems to be strictly confined to tropical America. Humboldt found it
in Guiana, and the Prince de Wied observed it in Brazil. All the specimens
in the British Museum are from that part of the New World. This is
supposed to be the Tlicoatl and Temacuilcahuilia (the words meaning
"fighting with five men"), described by Hernandez, the latter name being
derived from its size and strength. "It attacks," he says, "those it meets, and
overpowers them with such force, that if it once coils itself round their
necks, it strangles and kills them, unless it bursts itself by the violence of its
own efforts." The same author states that he has seen Serpents as thick as a

man's thigh, which had been taken when young by Indians and tamed. That
this Boa attains an immense size is a well-established fact. Shaw mentions a
skin in the British Museum, in one of his lectures, which measured thirty-
five feet in length.

Three other species—the Lamanda (B. diviniloqua), from Santa Lucia; the
Emperor (B. imperator), a native of Mexico; and B. eques, the Chevalier
Boa of Peru—are all to be occasionally seen in the Zoological Gardens.

The Boa anaconda, more properly Eunectes murinus, is also a native of
tropical America. The name of Anaconda has become well known through
Mr. Lewis's celebrated tale, so called, in which its predatory habits are
displayed in such a manner as to enthral and fascinate the reader, as the
author makes the reptile fascinate its victim. The name, Mr. Bennett tells us,
is of Cinghalese origin, and is popularly applied to all very large Serpents.
This species is of a brownish tint, with a double series of colours extending
from head to tail; the sides are covered with annular spots with white disks
surrounded by blackish rings. Seba has represented this creature lying in
wait for Mice; but this is probably the prey of the young Anaconda. Another
provincial name, "El Troga Venado" (the Deer Swallower), is probably
applied to the matured Reptile.

The following description of the actions of one of these large non-
venemous Serpents, which accompanied a specimen sent to the United
Service Museum, by Sir Robert Ker Porter, is probably a fair description of
the habits of all the large Pythonidæ:—"This species is not venemous, nor is
it known to injure man (at least not in this part of the New World); however,
the natives of the plain stand in great fear of it, never bathing in waters
where it is known to exist. Its common haunt, or rather domicile, is
invariably near lakes, swamps, and rivers; likewise close and wet ravines
produced by inundations of the periodical rains. Fishes, as well as other
animals which repair there to drink, are its prey. The creature lurks
watchfully under cover of the water, and, while the unsuspecting animal is
drinking, suddenly makes a dash at its nose, and with a grip of its back-
reclining range of teeth, never fails to secure the terrified beast beyond the
power of escape. In an instant the sluggish waters are in turbulence and
foam. The whole form of the Serpent is in motion; its huge and rapid

coilings soon encircle the
struggling victim, and but a short
interval elapses ere every bone in
the body of the expiring prey is
broken." Sir Robert then
describes the manner in which
the prey is swallowed, being
previously lubricated by the
Serpent's saliva; but Professor T.
Bell, after carefully watching the
constricting Serpent's mode of
swallowing its prey, asserts that
this is a delusion. "The mucus is
not poured out till it is required to
lubricate the dilated jaws and
throat for the seemingly
disproportionate feat."

[The small, but very distinct
family of Erycidæ have the body
of moderate length, cylindrical, Fig. 16.—Anaconda (Eunectes murinus).
covered with small and short
scales; the tail very short, with
only a single series of subcaudal scales; head somewhat elongate; eye rather
small, with vertical pupil. Adult individuals have, like the Pythons, a short
conical prominence in a groove on each side of the vent; this being the
extremity of a rudimentary hind limb. "The Snakes of this family," remarks
Dr. Günther, "shew great similarity to the Pythons and Boas, with regard to
their internal structure as well as to their external characters. But their tail is
very short, not flexible, and much less prehensile; and whilst the Serpents
just mentioned are more or less arboreal, frequenting marshy places with
luxuriant vegetation, the Erycidæ inhabit dry, sandy, or stony plains,
burrowing with the greatest facility below the surface, and entering crevices
and holes in search of their prey, which consists of Mice, Lizards, and other
burrowing Snakes. Probably they are semi-nocturnal, and able to see in dark
places as well as in the night. They are found in Northern Africa, in the

islands of the Mediterranean, in the arid parts of India, and probably in
Arabia; two species are known to have been brought from Sikhim."

The Cursoria elegans is said to be from Afghanistan; Eryx iacalus inhabits
Greece and Egypt; and there is also E. thebaicus in the latter country, and E.
Johnii in India. Another Indian species is the Gongylophis conicus, which
the natives erroneously persist in declaring to be venemous. The Eryx
Johnii is frequently found in the possession of the serpent-charmers of its
native country, who mutilate the end of its short, thick tail in such a manner
that the scarred extremity somewhat resembles the form of the head. Such
specimens are shewn as deadly Two-headed Snakes, and, as such, are
occasionally brought alive to Europe. An example of this species lived in
the London Zoological Gardens for about eight years, and fed regularly on
young Mice. The keeper assured Dr. Günther that it frequently covered its
prey with saliva. It always kept itself hidden below the gravel at the bottom
of its cage. This species attains to a length of nearly four feet, the tail
measuring but four inches.

The Acrochordidæ constitute a very remarkable small family, of which one
genus is terrene, and another highly aquatic in its habits. Whether a third
genus, the Javanese Xenodermus, should be referred to it, is doubtful in the
opinion of Dr. Günther. These Snakes have the body of moderate length,
rounded, or slightly compressed, and covered with small wart-like, not
imbricate, tubercular or spiny scales; tail rather short, prehensile; head
rather small, not distinctly separated from the neck, and covered with scales
like those of the body; nostrils close together, at the top of the snout; teeth
short, but strong, of nearly equal size, and situate both in the jaws and on
the palate. These serpents are viviparous. One of them, Acrochordus
javanicus, inhabits Java and the Malayan peninsula, where it is considered
rare. It grows to a length of eight feet, and its habits are terrene. The late Dr.
Cantor justly compares its physiognomy to that of a thorough-bred bull-
dog; a female in his possession brought forth no fewer than twenty-seven
young in the course of about twenty-five minutes; they were active, and bit
fiercely. Hornstedt found a quantity of undigested fruits in the stomach of
this Serpent! Upon which Dr. Günther remarks that no opportunity of
making further observations on the habits of this remarkable Snake should
be lost. The aquatic member of this family, Chersydrus granulatus, inhabits

from the coasts of India to those of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands.
Sometimes it is met with at a distance of three or four miles from the shore.
Mr. W. Theobald remarks that it is plentiful in the Bassein River (in British
Burmah), in salt water below Gnaputau, and, with various other Sea Snakes,
is frequently swept by the tide into the fishing baskets of the natives. The
ebb-tide, running like a sluice, sweeps various Fishes, Crustaceans, Snakes,
and even Porpoises occasionally, into the broad mouths of those baskets,
where they are at once jammed into a mass at the narrow end of the creel.
"The Chersydrus," he adds, "is more nearly connected with the Hydrophidæ
than with the next family, being as essentially aquatic as any of the former,
to which, save from its wanting the poison-gland, it might be appropriately
referred. Indeed, it has been erroneously asserted by some authors to be
venemous."

The Homalopsidæ are an extensive family of Snakes, of thoroughly aquatic
habits, which are only occasionally found on the margins of rivers; several
of them enter the sea, and in some parts of their organization they
approximate to the true marine Snakes. They may be easily recognised by
the position of the nostrils on the top of the snout, which enables them to
breathe by raising only a very small portion of the head out of the water; an
arrangement which is likewise seen in the Hippopotamus, the Crocodile, the
Sea Snakes, and other aquatic animals. Many of them have a distinctly
prehensile tail, by means of which they hold on to projecting objects. Their
food consists either entirely of Fishes, or, in some species, of Crustaceans
also. All appear to be viviparous, and the act of parturition is performed in
the water. Not any of them attain a large size-about three or four feet in
length, or considerably less; and in captivity they refuse to feed. All the
Asiatic species of this family have a grooved fang at the hinder extremity of
the maxillary bone. The species are numerous, and are arranged into many
generic divisions. The majority are from the grand Indian region, extending
to China and to Australia, but there are also several from the New World.
The Herpeton tentaculatum, of Siam, is very remarkable from its snout
terminating in two flexible, cylindrical, scaly tubercles, which are supposed
to be employed as organs of touch under water—perhaps to discern its food,
which as yet has not been ascertained. The largest known example of this
curious Snake is only twenty-five inches long, of which the tail measures
six inches.

We now proceed to the first family of Poisonous Snakes, that of

The Sea Snakes (Hydrophidæ),

Which are very distinct from all that follow, though less so from certain of
the harmless species appertaining to the two families last treated of. Some
of their distinctions have been already noticed (p. 45), but they are
especially characterised by their highly compressed tail, indicative of their
thoroughly aquatic habits. According to Dr. Günther, there is no other group
of Reptiles the species of which are so little known, and the synonymy of
which is so much confused, as that of the Sea Snakes. Most naturalists who
have worked at them have been misled by the idea that the species were not
nearly so numerous as they actually are. Mr. W. Theobald makes out as
many as twenty-five inhabiting the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent seas, to
which area this group of Reptiles is mainly confined, a few species
extending to northern Australia, and one, the most emphatically pelagic, the
Pelamis bicolor, even to the Pacific Ocean. One genus only, Platurus,
approaches the Land Snakes in several of its characters; having much the
physiognomy of an Elaps, with the cleft of the mouth not turned upwards
behind, as in other Sea Snakes; the eye also is rather small, nor is the tail at
all prehensile. There are two species of this particular form, one of which,
P. scutatus, is rather common, and its geographic range extends from the
Bay of Bengal and the China seas to the coasts of New Zealand; the
distribution of the other, P. Fischeri, being nearly as extensive. The great
genus Hydrophis has the posterior part of the body highly compressed, and
most of the species are more or less of a bluish lead-colour, like that of the
sea, or black, banded with white or yellowish white. They are so abundant
in the Indian seas that some of them are taken with every haul of a fishing-
net, and they are helpless and seemingly blind when out of the water; the
fishermen commonly seizing them, one after the other, by the nape and
throwing them back into the sea. Some of them (Microcephalophis of
Lesson) have the head very small and the neck exceedingly slender, while
the compressed body is large and thick.

The Colubrine Venemous Snakes.

These are comprised under the one family, Elapidæ, all of which have an
erect, immovable, grooved, or perforated fang in the fore-part of the
maxillary bone. There is little in their external appearance to distinguish
them from the harmless Colubrine Snakes, to which they are more nearly
akin, in all but their poison-fangs, than they are to the Rattlesnakes and
Vipers; yet some of the most poisonous of Ophidians appertain to this
family, as exemplified by the well-known Cobras of the Indian region and
of Africa, and also by some of the worst Snakes that inhabit Australia. In
the colony of Victoria alone as many as ten species of Snakes are known,
one only of which, Morelia variegata, is harmless; and one only of them,
the formidable Death-adder (Acanthopis antarctica), belongs to the sub-
order of the Viperine Snakes. The rest are included among the Colubriform
Venemous Snakes, and most of the accidents from poisonous Snakes in that
colony are due to what is there known as the Carpet Snake, Hoplocephalus
curtus, while the Snake that bears the same name in the adjacent colony of
New South Wales is the innocuous Morelia spilotes, which is a small
Serpent of the family of Pythonidæ. Of the total number of Snakes known
in all Australia, by far the greater number are venemous, which is the
reverse of what occurs elsewhere. Only about five species, however, are
really dangerous throughout the great island-continent, for in many of them
the poison is by no means virulent. Thus, of Diemansia psammophis, which
sometimes exceeds four feet in length, Mr. Krefft remarks that "its bite does
not cause any more irritation than the sting of a bee." Also, that "the bite of
Hoplocephalus variegatus is not sufficiently strong to endanger the life of a
man. I have been wounded by it several times," writes Mr. Krefft, "and
experienced no bad symptoms beyond a slight headache; the spot where the
fang entered turning blue to about the size of a shilling for a few days."
Again, of Brachysoma diadema, "this very handsome little Snake is
venemous, but never offers to bite, and may be handled with impunity." Far
otherwise, however, is the venom of Hoplocephalus curtus, and also of
some others. H. curtus is one of the worst Snakes of Australia, where it
inhabits the more temperate parts of the country from east to west. Its bite is
almost as deadly as that of the Indian Cobra, to which it is, indeed,
considerably allied. "A good-sized Dog bitten became paralyzed within
three minutes, and was dead in fifty minutes afterwards; a Goat died in
thirty-five minutes; a Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna hystrix) lived six hours;
and a common Tortoise, an animal which will live a day with its head cut

off, died in five hours after being bitten." The H. superbus replaces it in
Tasmania.

The Cobras (Naja) are widely known, alike from the virulence of their
poison, and for their remarkable dilatable disk or "hood" on the nape, the
ribs which support this hood being much elongated. Two species are
commonly recognised, the Cobra di capella of Southern Asia (Naja
tripudians), and the Asp (N. haje) of Africa; but there are marked local
varieties of both species, and the N. sputatrix of the Malay countries should
probably be recognised as a third species. Those of India, with Ceylon, have
a mark like a pair of spectacles upon the hood, while those of Burmah and
the neighbouring countries eastward have only an oval black spot upon it.
In India the commonest colour of this formidable reptile is uniform brown,
though many are of a pale yellowish straw colour, and there are others of
every shade between that and black. It grows to a length of about five feet,
seldom more. "Almost every writer on the natural productions of the East
Indies," remarks Dr. Günther, "has contributed to the natural history of this
Snake, which has been surrounded by such a number of fabulous stories,
that their repetition and contradiction would fill a volume." It is very
generally diffused over the Indian region, though, as Mr. Theobald notices,
from its nocturnal habits it is less often seen than many harmless species.
"This Snake is, I believe," he adds, "of inoffensive habits, unless irritated,
but is, of course, a dangerous neighbour to have in a house.13 Not only in
Burmah, where the respect for animal life is greatest, but in India also I
have known a Cobra enticed or forced into an earthen jar, and then carried
by two men across a river, or some distance from the village, and liberated.
Dr. Günther remarks that, 'singularly enough, it has never been obtained in
the valley of Nepâl.' This is very easily accounted for," continues Mr.
Theobald, "since few would venture to kill a Cobra, even for scientific
purposes, in the rigorously Hindu state of Nepâl. In British India, decent
Hindus will not kill a Cobra; and if one has taken up his abode in a house,
he is permitted to remain, or else carefully inveigled into an earthen-pot,
and carried away as described. Of course only the orthodox Hindu is so
careful to abstain from injuring the Cobra, and their reverential feeling is
now perhaps rather the exception than the rule, though probably as strong as
ever in Nepâl." A fine example of the still more formidable gigantic Cobra

(Hamadryas elaps), to be noticed presently, was obtained from an earthen
pot which had floated out to sea.

The late Sir J. Emerson Tennent mentions that "the Cinghalese remark that
if one Cobra be destroyed near a house, its companion is almost certain to
be discovered immediately after—a popular belief which I had an
opportunity of verifying on more than one occasion. Once, when a Snake of
this description was killed in a bath of the Government House at Colombo,
its mate was found in the same spot the day after; and again, at my own
stables, a Cobra of five feet long having fallen into the well, which was too
deep to permit its escape, its companion, of the same size, was found the
same morning in an adjoining drain.14 On this occasion the Snake, which
had been several hours in the well, swam with ease, raising its head and
hood above water; and instances have repeatedly occurred of the Cobra di
capella voluntarily taking considerable excursions by sea" (or by rivers, as
the writer has personally witnessed).]

Cobras are much dreaded, for they instil the most subtle poison into their
bites. Their manners are very singular. When at rest the neck of the animal
is no larger in diameter than the head; but when under the influence of
passion and irritation the neck swells at the same time that the animal raises
the front part of his body vertically, holding this part straight and rigid as an
iron bar. The lower part of the body rests upon the ground, and serves as a
support to the upper part, which is movable and capable of locomotion. This
faculty of dilating the neck is as striking a trait in the organization of the
Cobras, as the rattle is in Crotalus. The ancient inhabitants of Egypt adored
them; they attributed to their protection the preservation of grain, and
allowed them to live in the midst of their cultivated fields. The Cobra is no
longer an object of adoration in the East, but is held sacred by many people,
and it serves in nearly every country of Asia as a very curious spectacle;
being the Serpent chiefly used by snake-charmers in these countries, terrible
as it seems to us.

Fig. 17.—Snake-charmers.

Fig. 18.—Hooded Snake.

The action of the snake-charmer is as follows: he takes in his hand a root,
the virtue of which is supposed to preserve him from the venemous effects
of the bite of the Cobra. Drawing the reptile from the cage in which he
keeps it confined, he irritates it by presenting a stick to it; the animal
immediately erects the fore part of its body, swells its neck, opens its jaws,
extends its forked tongue, its eyes glitter, and it begins to hiss. Then a sort
of battle commences between the Serpent and the charmer; the latter,
striking up a monotonous sort of song, opposes his closed fist to his enemy,
sometimes using his right hand and sometimes his left. The animal fixes its
eyes upon the fist which threatens it, follows all its movements, balances its
head and body, and thus simulates a kind of dance. Other charmers obtain
from the Cobra an alternating and cadenced movement of the neck by the
help of sounds which are drawn from a whistle or small flute. It is said that
these mysterious jugglers are able, by some sympathetic action they
possess, to plunge these dangerous enemies into a sort of lethargy and
death-like rigidity, and to bring them at will out of this momentary torpor. It
is certain, at any rate, that they handle these animals, whose bite is
extremely dangerous, with considerable impunity, and without having in

any way neutralized or intercepted the venom. It is supposed by some that
these charmers take the precaution of exhausting the venom of the Cobra
every day by forcing it to bite something several times before exhibiting it.
It is also certain that they more frequently draw the poison fangs—a wound
from which can kill in the course of two or three hours.

The Asp (Naja haje) has a less dilatable neck; it is of a greenish colour, and
marked with brownish spots. It is smaller than the former; is found in the
west and south of Africa; and is especially common in Egypt. It was said to
have been this Reptile which caused the death of Cleopatra.

[The genus Hamadryas of Cantor (Ophiophagus of Günther) differs very
little from the true Cobras, but has a less developed hood, and a single small
tooth placed at some distance behind the fang. The only species, H. elaps,
attains to thirteen feet in length, and is proportionately formidable, being
much less timid and retiring in its habits than the Cobras of the genus Naja.
It preys habitually on other Snakes, and seems to be more plentiful eastward
of the Bay of Bengal than it is in India. In Burmah it is styled the Gnán, and
Mr. Theobald tells us that its venom is fatal in a few minutes. "One of these
Snakes," he adds, "was brought in alive, and a snake-charmer came up to
display his command over the animal. At first (as I am told) the Snake
seemed cowed by the authoritative 'Hah' of the man; but suddenly, through
some carelessness on his part, the Snake struck him on the wrist. The poor
fellow at once ran off home to get an antidote, but fell down before
reaching his own door, and died in a few minutes. When at Tonghu,"
continues Mr. Theobald, "I heard a case of an Elephant being killed by one
of these Snakes, which I have no reason for doubting. The Elephant was a
fine powerful male, and was pulling down with his trunk some creepers or
boughs, when a large 'Gnán,' which was disturbed in the tree, struck the
Elephant on the trunk between the eyes. The Elephant at once retreated,
became faint, and died in about three hours." This terrible Snake would
appear to be not uncommon in the Andaman Islands, and its range of
distribution extends through the Malay countries to the Philippines and to
New Guinea.

The genus Bungarus is so called from the vernacular appellation of
Bungarum, which is applied to one of the species on the Coromandel coast.

Some of them are very like Cobras without the hood, as the "Kerait" (B.
cæruleus), which is a much-dreaded Snake in India, but the geographic
range of which extends neither to the countries eastward nor to Ceylon. The
Snakes of this genus have a row of broad hexagonal scales along the middle
of the back. The Kerait grows to four feet and a half in length, and has the
upper parts of a bluish or brownish black, either uniform or more generally
marked with numerous narrow white cross-lines, which mostly radiate from
a white vertebral spot. In its habits it resembles the Cobra, preying on small
Mammalia, Lizards, Toads, and probably other Snakes occasionally. The
"Raj-sámp" (literally Lord Snake) is a larger and thicker species than the
Kerait, beautifully marked throughout with alternate broad rings of black
and golden-yellow. This one is found almost generally throughout the
Indian region, and would seem to prey entirely on other Snakes, especially
of the Tropidonotus genus. It is of very sluggish habits, and frequents moist
places and the vicinity of water. A species, or local variety (B. ceylonicus),
takes its place in Ceylon, and there is also a kindred species (B.
semifasciatus) in China and Formosa. According to Cantor, the Bungarums
are capable of darting nearly the anterior half of the body. Their bite is very
dangerous; but "the magnitude of the danger," remarks Dr. Günther,
"depends, as in other venemous Snakes, on many circumstances—chiefly
on the size and energy of the individual Snake and on the place of the
wound. As the fangs of the Bungarums are comparatively short, the wound
is always superficial, and can be easily excised and cauterised; also,
experiments made on some of the lower animals show that the general
effect on the whole system becomes visible only after a lapse of time."

Of poisonous Snakes akin to the Bungarums, there are the Xenurelaps
bungaroides, founded on a single specimen received from the Khásya hills
(north of Sylhet); and the Megærophis flaviceps, which inhabits the Indo-
Chinese and the Malayan countries, but not India. The latter attains to more
than six feet in length, and when alive or fresh the head and neck are vivid
blood-red, which soon fades to a pale buff hue in specimens immersed in
spirit, and hence the faulty name of flaviceps. As many as seven genera—
Glyphodon, with two ascertained species; Diemansia, with four;
Hoplocephalus, with eight; Pseudechis, with one; Pseudo-naja, with one;
Brachysoma, with three; and Vermicalla, with one—are peculiar to
Australia with Tasmania, making twenty known species of Colubriform

Venemous Snakes in that range of territory, where others doubtless remain
to be discovered; and there is one described as Pseudo-elaps superciliaris,
which is suspected to be a second species of Pseudo-naja. The Cyrtophis
scutatus of South Africa is a sort of hoodless Cobra, without any small teeth
behind its fangs. In America there is only the genus Elaps, with numerous
species, which are mostly of small size, and in some instances are very
brightly coloured, as one of the Coral Snakes15 of Brazil (E. corallinus),
which is beautiful coral-red, with the body encircled by equidistant black
rings. The genus Elaps in America is represented in Africa by Homorelaps,
in the Indian region by Callophis, and in Australia by Vermicalla. In
general, these are small and slender Snakes, too much so to be held in much
dread. What Dr. Günther remarks of the species of Callophis will apply, as
we believe, equally to the others:—"They appear to prefer hilly countries to
the plains, live constantly on the ground, and are slow in their movements.
In their habits, in their form, and in their powerless muscular organization,
they show the greatest similarity to the Calamariæ; and this is why the
Callophides feed almost entirely on the latter, the venemous Snake being
able to overpower the non-venemous. Both of these genera have also the
same geographical distribution; and Ceylon, where we do not find the
Calamariæ, is not inhabited by a single Callophis. If we are allowed to
judge from the number of individuals of both genera brought to Europe in
collections, the Calamariæ are about twice as numerous as the
Callophides." Cantor, who had opportunities of observing them, states that
they are generally seen lying motionless, with the body thrown into many
irregular folds, but not coiled. Although they are diurnal, their sight, from
the minuteness of the pupil, appears to be as defective as their sense of
hearing, and they may be closely approached without apparently being
aware of danger. He never observed them to strike voluntarily, even when
provoked, and he had difficulty in making an adult C. gracilis bite a Fowl;
although, of course, the venom of these Snakes is as virulent as that of a
Viper, the animals used for the experiments having died in the course of
from one to three hours after they had been wounded. Therefore the greatest
caution should be observed in catching or handling these Snakes. The
shortness of their fangs and the small quantity of their poisonous fluid,
however, will always give a very fair chance of recovery if the proper
remedies be applied, should an accident occur. Two or three species of this
genus inhabit India, and the rest are found in the Indo-Chinese and Malayan

countries, one of the most common of them (C. intestinalis) having likewise
been received from the Philippines. The C. nigrescens of the mountains of
southern India attain to four feet in length, but they are mostly about half of
that size, or even smaller.

Lastly, we arrive at

The Viperine Snakes,

Which have a long, perforated, erectile fang on the maxillary bone, which is
extremely short and bears no other teeth. This is described in greater detail
subsequently (pp. 93, 94). They are arranged under the two families
Crotalidæ and Viperidæ.

The Crotalidæ, or Pit Vipers, have the body robust, the tail of moderate
length, or rather short, sometimes prehensile; head broad, sub-triangular,
frequently scaly above or imperfectly shielded; a deep pit on the side of the
snout, between the eye and nostril; the eye of moderate size, with vertical
pupil. They are viviparous. The Pit Vipers are found only in Asia and
America; those of the New World surpassing the Asiatic species in size, and
therefore they are much more dangerous. Some live in bushes, others on the
ground. A rudiment of the curious caudal appendage of the American
Rattlesnakes is found as a simple spine-like scale in the Asiatic species,
constituting the genus Halys.

Some have the head covered with scales, having small shields on the edge
of the forehead and brows; the cheeks are scaly, and the tail ends in a spine.
Of these, the American genus Craspedocephalus and the Asiatic genus
Trimeresurus have the subcaudal plates two-rowed to the tip.

The genus Craspedocephalus comprises the terrible Fer-de-lance of certain
islands in the West Indies, which occurs on the mainland of South America,
where four other species are recognised—one of them being found as far
north as Mexico.]

Fig. 19.—Fer-de-lance (Trigonocephala mycalæ).

The Fer-de-lance (C. lanceolatus) is met with in Martinique, Santa Lucia,
and in the little island of Boquin, near St. Vincent. It attains to a length of
nearly six feet; its colour is not always yellow, sometimes it is greyish, and
even marbled with brown; the head, which is large, is remarkable for a
triangular space, the three angles of which are occupied by the muzzle and
the two eyes.

This space, raised at its front edge, represents the head of a lance, large at
its base and slightly rounded at the summit. On each side of the upper jaw,
one, sometimes two, and even three, fangs are visible; all of which the
animal makes use of for the purpose of wounding and discharging his
venom. Of the poison fangs of the Fer-de-lance, Professor Owen remarks,
"that they (in common with the Rattlesnake and Viper) are coated with a
thin layer of a sub-transparent and minutely cellular cement. This
disposition of the dentinal tubes is obedient to the general law of verticality,
and the external surface of the tooth can be exposed to no other pressure
than that of the turgescent duct with which it is in contact." It feeds on

Lizards and the smaller Mammals, especially Rats, but it is capable of
killing large animals, such as Oxen. The Negroes working among the sugar-
cane, and soldiers in the Martinique service, often become victims to the
Fer-de-lance. This Snake is, unfortunately, very prolific, and its venom is so
subtle, that animals stung by it die three hours, twelve hours, one day, or
several after the accident; but their death is certain. The wound produces
extreme pain, and is immediately followed by more or less livid swelling;
the body becomes cold and insensible, the pulse and respiration become
slower, the head becomes confused, coma appears, and the skin turns
bluish; sometimes extreme thirst and spitting of blood are experienced, and
paralysis attacks the whole system.

Another species is known in Brazil as the "Jararaca" (C. brasiliensis), and
there is a third in the same country, the C. bilineatus; a fourth, C. elegans, is
believed to be from the west coast of South America; and a fifth, C. atrox,
inhabits from Demerara to Mexico. All of them are most highly formidable
and dangerous Snakes, which are held in especial dread.

The ten or more species of Trimeresurus occupy their place in the woodland
districts of tropical Asia and its islands. In them the hinder labial shields are
the smallest. The head is triangular, covered above with small scales, except
the foremost part of the snout and the superciliary region, which generally
are shielded; body with more or less distinctly keeled scales, in from
seventeen to twenty-five series. Body and tail of moderate length,
prehensile. These reptiles are more or less arboreal, as is indicated by their
prehensile tail, and by their green or varied coloration. "In general,"
remarks Dr. Günther, "they are sluggish, not attempting to move out of the
way, and as they very closely resemble the branch on which they rest, they
are frequently not perceived until they prepare to dart, vibrating the tail, and
uttering a faint hissing sound, or until they have struck the disturber of their
rest. Accidents caused by them, therefore, are not of uncommon occurrence,
and it is a fortunate circumstance that comparatively few of them attain to a
size of more than two feet, so that the consequences of their bite are less to
be dreaded than that of various other poisonous Snakes. Indeed, numerous
cases are on record which show that the symptoms indicating a general
effect on the system were of short duration, extending only over from two
to forty-eight hours, and confined to vomiting, retching, and fever. After the

pain and swelling of the bitten member or spot have subsided, the vicinity
round the wound becomes discoloured, mortifies, and is finally thrown off
as a black, circular slough, after which health is speedily restored. The bite
of larger specimens, from two to three feet long, is more dangerous, and has
occasionally proved fatal; so that the greatest care should always be
observed in the immediate treatment of the patient. When roused, these
Snakes are extremely fierce, striking at everything within their reach; and
Cantor states that in the extreme of fury they will fix their fangs in their
own bodies. Frogs, small mammalia, and birds form their food, and I have
never found a Lizard or Snake in their stomach."

Three or more of the species inhabiting India and Burmah are of a beautiful
leaf-green colour, which changes to dull blue after long immersion in spirit.
The commonest of them, T. carinatus, varies remarkably in colouring,
however, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; if, indeed, the species be
quite the same. These grow to over three feet in length, of which size they
are sufficiently formidable. The kindred genus, Peltopelor, is founded on a
single species inhabiting the mountains of Southern India, P. macrolepis,
which is remarkable for the very large scales with which its head and body
are covered. Lachesis, with two species, is another kindred genus in South
America, in which the end of the tail has four rows of scales underneath.
The Calloselasma rhodostoma is a very formidable reptile of this same
series, which inhabits the Malay countries. It has a remarkably broad head,
and grows to three feet or more in length. Dr. Günther states that "it is one
of the most beautiful and most dangerous of venemous Snakes. Feeding on
frogs, it frequents grassy plains, and approaches gardens and human
dwellings. Kuhl was eye-witness to a case where two Men, bitten by one
and the same Snake, expired five minutes after." Another Malayan species
is known as the Atropos acouba. The genus Halomys is characteristic of the
fauna of Central Asia, the species being found in Tartary, on the northern
side of the Himalayas, in China, in Japan, and in Formosa. One of them
occurs in the Western Himalaya, at an altitude of 9,000 feet, and another has
been referred to this genus from the mountains of Southern India. The
"carawalla" of Ceylon (Hypnale nepa) is likewise found on the mountains
of Southern India. It is a small species, but a good deal dreaded, although,
remarks Dr. Günther, "its bite is but exceptionally fatal to Man, and in such
cases death does not occur before the lapse of some days. There is always

every hope of restoring the patient by a timely application of the proper
remedies." Its crown is more shielded than is usual with Snakes of this
family, and it varies much in colouring.

The rest of the Crotalidæ are American, and consist of the famous
Rattlesnakes and their immediate kindred. In the genus Cenchris the tail
ends with a spine, and the tip of the tail has several rows of scales beneath.
The well-known "Copperhead" (C. contortrix) belongs to this genus, and
the black "Water Viper" (C. piscivorus). The last has bred repeatedly in the
London Zoological Gardens, and is rather a large species, of very aquatic
propensities. "The Copperhead," according to Dekay, "is a vicious reptile,
and its venom is justly dreaded, being considered as deadly as that of the
Rattlesnake; and an instance is recorded in which a Horse, struck by one of
these reptiles, died in a few hours. Its motions are sluggish, and when
approached it assumes a threatening aspect, raising its head and darting out
its tongue. It chiefly occurs in pastures and low meadow grounds, feeding
on Field-mice, Frogs, and the smaller disabled birds." The poison of the
black Water Viper is equally to be dreaded.

The true Rattlesnakes have the tail furnished with the extraordinary
appendages at its tip which will be described presently. According to
differences in the shields and scales covering the head, Dr. Gray arranged
them into three genera—Crotalophorus, with three species; Uropsophus,
with one; and Crotalus also with one, C. horridus, which appears to be the
only one known in South America. Of the common Northern Rattlesnake
(Uropsophus durissus), Dekay remarks that, "although furnished with such
deadly weapons, the Rattlesnake can scarcely be termed a vicious animal,
for he rarely strikes unless almost trodden upon. When suddenly disturbed,
he throws himself into a coil, and warns the aggressor by rapidly vibrating
his rattles, which, however, can scarcely be heard beyond the distance of a
few yards. This is most usually the case, but they occasionally strike
without the slightest warning. At the moment the Snake strikes, he ejects
the venom forcibly into the wound. In an instance of a very large
Rattlesnake from Florida (C. horridus), which was irritated, he struck
violently against the iron wire on the side of the cage, and spurted the
venom to the distance of three feet."16 The fibulæ, or rattles, seldom exceed
fifteen in number, and are rarely so many.]

The common Northern Rattlesnake sometimes attains to six feet in length,
the middle being about the size of a man's leg; the colour of the back is
grey, mixed with yellow. Upon this foundation extends a longitudinal row
of black spots, bordered with white; towards the muzzle the flat head is
covered with six scales larger than the others, and disposed in three
transverse rows, each formed of two scales. The males are smaller, much
more brightly and less darkly coloured than the other sex. The very long
and visible fangs are situated in front of the upper jaw. The scales on the
back are oval, and raised in the middle by a bone which extends in the
direction of their greatest diameter. The underpart of the body is furnished
with a single row of large plates. The Rattlesnake owes its name to a
remarkable peculiarity in its structure; the extremity of the tail is furnished
with small horny cells, articulated one into the other. When the animal
advances these little capsules resound slightly, like the dry husks of beans
which still retain their seeds, thus giving notice of the approach of this
terrible enemy. The sibilant rattle of these appendages is not very loud, but
it may be heard about thirty paces off, and announces the approach of the
reptile while it is still at that distance.

Fig. 20.—Northern Rattlesnake (Uropsophus durissus).

Rattlesnakes feed on small mammals and upon other reptiles, waiting
patiently for their approach; when close to them, the Rattlesnake throws
itself upon them. They are oviparous; and for some time after they are
hatched, the young are said to seek a refuge in the mouth of their mother.
During summer Rattlesnakes remain in the midst of stony mountains,
uncultivated places, or places covered with wild wood; they generally
choose those parts most exposed to the heat,—the sunny shores of a
fountain or stream where small animals come to drink. They like also to
place themselves under the shadow of an old fallen tree. Audubon, the
celebrated ornithologist, says that he has often met with Rattlesnakes rolled
up in a state of torpor when the temperature was low. Rattlesnakes are
revered by some of the American natives, who know how to lure them from
their houses without killing them; for it is a singular fact that this terrible
animal is not insensible to the sound of music. Chateaubriand's remarks will
be read with interest: "In the month of July, 1791," says this celebrated
writer, "we were travelling in Upper Canada with some savage families of
the Ounoutagnes. One day, when we had stopped in a plain on the banks of
the river Genedie, a Rattlesnake entered our camp. We had a Canadian
amongst us who played on the flute; wishing to amuse us, he approached
the animal with this new kind of weapon. At the approach of his enemy, the
splendid reptile at once coiled itself up spirally, flattened its head, puffed
out its cheeks, contracted its ears, and showed its envenomed fangs, while
its forked tongue moved rapidly, and its eyes burned like red-hot coals; its
body became inflated with rage, rose and fell like a pair of bellows; its
dilated skin bristled with scales; and its tail, which produced a sinister
sound, oscillated with lightning rapidity. The Canadian now began to play
upon his flute. The Snake made a movement expressive of surprise,
gradually drew its head backwards, closed its inflamed mouth, and, as the
musical sounds struck it, the eyes lost their sharpness, the vibration of its
tail relaxed, and the noise which it made became weaker, and finally died
away altogether; the coiled-up line became less perpendicular, the orbs of
the changed Snake opened, and in their turn rested in wider concentric
circles on the ground. The scales of the skin were also lowered, and
immediately recovered their wonted brilliancy, and, turning its head slowly
towards the musician, it remained immovable in an attitude of pleased

attention. At this moment the Canadian walked away a few steps, drawing
low and monotonous tones from his flute; the reptile lowered his neck,
opened a way among the fine grass with its head, and crawled in the steps
of the musician who thus fascinated him, stopping when he stopped and
following him when he began to move away. The Snake was thus
conducted from our camp in the midst of a throng of spectators—as many
Red-skins as Europeans—who could hardly believe their eyes."

It is generally agreed that Rattlesnakes only attack Men in self-defence, but
it is at all times a dangerous neighbour, and it is important to know how to
keep them at a distance in countries where they abound. The Pig is an
excellent auxiliary in obtaining this result. In the west and south of
America, when a field or farm is infested by these ferocious reptiles, it is
usual to put a Sow with its young brood there, and the Snakes, it is said,
will soon be eaten up. It appears that owing to the fatty matter which
envelopes the body of this animal, it is safe from the venemous bite.
Besides, it likes the flesh of the Snakes, and eagerly pursues them.
According to Dr. Franklin, when a Pig sees a Rattlesnake, it smacks its
jaws, and its hairs bristle up; the Snake coils itself up to strike his enemy;
the Pig approaches fearlessly, and receives the blow in the fold of fat which
hangs upon the side of its jaw. Then he places a foot on the tail of the
Snake, and with his teeth he begins to pull the flesh of his enemy to pieces,
and eats it with evident enjoyment.17 The Pig is not the only animal
employed to destroy Rattlesnakes. Dr. Rufz de Lavison, who has long
resided in the French Antilles, and who has since been manager of the
Jardin d'Acclimatation, of Paris, has published a highly interesting work, in
which he relates the very important services which certain birds, especially
the Secretary-bird, or Serpent-eater (imported from South Africa), render by
destroying Rattlesnakes in the West Indies. We have said that the Crotalidæ
are some of the most dangerous of any Snakes; let us mention some facts
which show the frightful power of their venom. A Crotalus, about three feet
in length, killed a Dog in about fifteen minutes, a second in two hours, and
a third in about four hours. Four days after he bit another Dog, which only
survived thirty seconds; and another, which only struggled four minutes.
Three days afterwards it bit a Frog, which died at the end of two seconds;
and a Chicken, which perished at the end of eight minutes.

An American, named Drake, arrived at Rouen with three live Rattlesnakes.
In spite of the care which he had taken to preserve them from cold, one of
them died. He put the cage which contained the other two near to a stove,
and excited them with a small stick, to assure himself that they were alive
and in health. As one of the Snakes made no movement, Drake took it by
the head and tail and approached a window to see if it was dead; the animal
turned its head quickly, and bit the unfortunate man on the back of his left
hand; as he replaced it in the cage he was bitten anew in the palm of the
same hand. "A doctor! a doctor!" cried the unhappy man. He rubbed his
hand upon some ice which was close by, and two minutes after, he bound
the wrist tightly with a cord. Four hours later a doctor arrived, and
cauterized the wound, but alarming symptoms soon appeared. Syncope,
noisy respiration, scarcely any pulsation, and involuntary evacuations
followed; the eyes closed, their pupils contracted; the limbs became
paralyzed, and the body cold. Drake died at the end of nine hours.

Some experiments made by a friend of Dr. Bell seem to present different
results. This gentleman had received a living Rattlesnake from America,
intending to try the successive effects of its bite upon some Rats. He
introduced one into the cage with the Snake: it immediately struck the Rat,
and the latter died in two minutes. Another that was placed in the cage ran
to the farthest corner, uttering cries of distress. The Snake did not attack it
immediately; but after about half an hour, on being irritated, it struck the
Rat, which, however, exhibited no signs of being poisoned for several
minutes; nor did it die for about twenty minutes after the bite had been
inflicted. A third Rat, remarkably large, was then introduced into the cage,
and exhibited no signs of terror, nor did it seem to be noticed by its
dangerous companion: after watching some time, the gentleman retired to
bed, leaving the Rattlesnake and Rat in the cage together. In the morning
the Snake lay dead, and the Rat had supped on the muscular part of its
backbone. Unfortunately, Dr. Bell does not remember at what season this
experiment took place, but thinks it was not in very warm weather.

The climate of France differing only slightly from that of the United States,
it is consequently well adapted for the production of Rattlesnakes. If a
living male and female of these dangerous Crotalidæ were to escape from a
menagerie, they would soon infest the country with their terrible progeny. It

is for this decisive reason that public exhibitions of Rattlesnakes are
forbidden in France. Nevertheless, two or three may be seen in the
collection of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, miserably installed in
a chest, which is quite unworthy of this establishment. The Rattlesnakes are
enclosed in a double cage, and every measure of precaution is taken which
prudence demands.

It is a remarkable fact that the poison is secreted after death. Dr. Bell, in his
"History of British Reptiles," adduces the following as evidence of the
facts:—He was dissecting very carefully and minutely the poison apparatus
of a large Rattlesnake, which had been dead some hours; the head had been
taken off immediately after death; yet, as Dr. Bell continued his dissection,
the poison continued to be secreted so fast as to require to be dried up
occasionally with a sponge or rag: and his belief is, that there could not be
less than six or eight drops of the poison. It is obvious that such
experiments require the utmost caution, seeing that preparations are not
without danger.

[The family of the Viperidæ, or true Vipers, are peculiar to the Old World,
inclusive of Australia, with the sole known exception of one species in
Peru. They have generally a robust body, with non-prehensile tail; the head
broad or thick, generally scaly above or incompletely shielded; the eye of
moderate size, with vertical pupil, and they are at once distinguished from
the Crotalidæ by the absence of the pit below the eye. The scales are keeled
except in one genus (Acanthopis). For the most part, these reptiles inhabit
exposed and arid situations, though perhaps all of them will take to the
water on occasions, as does the common British Adder.

They are divided, firstly, into those which have a depressed head, rounded
on the sides, and covered with acutely-keeled scales. Some of these have
large nostrils in the centre of a ring-like shield, edged with a large scale
above. Such are the genera Daboia in the warmer parts of Asia, and Clotho,
which is peculiar to Africa—both genera are terrifically venemous.

The famous Tic-polonga of Ceylon (Daboia elegans) is also widely diffused
over India and Burmah. It is beautifully marked with three rows of white-
edged, oblong, brown spots. Occasionally the spots forming the middle row
are connected like the beads of a necklace, whence the name Cobra monil

(literally Coluber moniliger), applied to the young of this Viper by the Indo-
Portuguese, and now corrupted into "Cobra de Manilla," which bears the
reputation of being a highly poisonous Snake of diminutive size; it attains,
however, to a length of nearly five feet, the tail then measuring about eight
inches, with considerable thickness of body. It is nocturnal, and preys
chiefly on Mice. In Burmah this formidable Viper is dreaded almost as
much as the Hamadryas. It has been obtained in the Himalayas at an
elevation of 5,500 feet, at Almorah, and elsewhere. Mr. Theobald has
known one to kill a Bull-terrier in twenty minutes. The D. xanthina is a
second species of this form inhabiting Asia Minor.

The genus Clotho consists of the
terrible Puff-adders of Africa, of
which there are at least four or
five species. Among the best
known of them are the ordinary
Puff-adder (C. arietans), and the
Berg-adder (C. atropos), of the
Cape colonists. The Rhinoceros
Puff-adder, C. nasicornis, of
Guinea, has the scales over the
nostrils of the male produced into
Fig. 21.—The Horned Puff-adder (Clotho
a long recurved spine; and in the cornuta).
Horned Puff-adder, C. cornuta,
of South Africa, there is a group
of small horn-like scales over each eye. Examples of the Common and of
the Rhinoceros Puff-adders may generally be seen in the reptile house of the
London Zoological Gardens. The last mentioned is a huge Viper of
wondrous beauty, both of colouring and in the complex pattern of its
markings, especially as seen when it has newly shed its epidermis; but the
aspect of its surprisingly broad, flat, and triangular-shaped head
unmistakably betokens its terrific powers. Its head is remarkably massive.
One peculiarity of the Puff-adders is that they sometimes hold on to their
victim by their long fangs. Thus, of the common C. arietans Sir A. Smith
remarks that "although generally inactive, it is by no means so when
attacked—its movements are then bold and energetic, and when once it
seizes the obnoxious object, it retains its hold with great determination, and
some considerable exertion is often necessary to detach it."18 The traveller
Burchell remarks of this Snake that "its venom is said to be most fatal,
taking effect so rapidly as to leave the person who has the misfortune to be
bitten no chance of saving his life, but by instantly cutting out the flesh
surrounding the wound. Although I have often met with this Snake," he
adds, "yet, happily, no opportunity occurred of witnessing the effects of its
poison; but, from the universal dread in which it is held, I have no doubt of
its being one of the most venemous species of Southern Africa. There is a
peculiarity which renders it more dangerous, and which ought to be known
to every person liable to fall in with it. Unlike the generality of Snakes,

which make a spring or dart forward when irritated, the Puff-adder, it is
said, throws itself backwards, so that those who should be ignorant of this
fact would place themselves in the very direction of death, while imagining
that by so doing they were escaping the danger. The natives, by keeping
always in front, are enabled to destroy it without much risk. The Snakes of
South Africa, as of Europe, lie concealed in their holes in a torpid state
during the colder part of the year. It is, therefore, only in the hottest summer
months that the traveller is exposed to the danger of being bitten." Dr. Gray
refers doubtfully to this genus both the Echidna inornata of Sir A. Smith,
and the E. mauritanica of Duméril and Bibron, from Algeria; likewise a
Peruvian species named Echidna ocellata by Tschudi, which is the only
known instance of a member of this family inhabiting the New World. The
appellation Echidna, however, belongs properly to the Porcupine Ant-eaters
of the class Mammalia.

The species of Cerastes and of
Echis have the nostrils much
smaller than the preceding, and
are Vipers of less formidable
size. In the two species of
Cerastes, or Horned Viper, the
eyebrows of the male bear
commonly a sort of horn. C.
Hasselquistii is common in
Fig. 22.—The Unadorned Puff-adder (Clotho Egypt, and the other, C. Richii,
inornata). inhabits Tripoli. Of Echis there is
one species in Egypt and North
Africa—E. arenicola, and another in India—E. carinata. The latter grows
to about twenty inches long, of which the tail measures two inches and a
third. These Vipers commonly lie half-buried in the sand, which they much
resemble in colour. They feed upon Centipedes (Scolopendra), and no case
is known of their bite having proved fatal.

The remaining Viperidæ have the head more or less shielded. They are
divided by Dr. Gray into Vipera (with two European species, not found in
Britain—V. aspis from the Alps, and V. ammodytes from the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean);—Pelias, which contains only the

Common British Adder, P. berus; Sepedon, with one species only, from
South Africa, S. hæmachates; Causus, with also only one African species,
C. rhombeatus; and finally, Acanthopis, founded on the Death-adder of the
Australian colonists, A. antarctica, which is the only member of the family
Viperidæ known to inhabit Australia, where the Poisonous Colubrine
Snakes are so numerous. It is also the only known species the scales of
which are smooth or not keeled. It seldom exceeds thirty inches in length,
and varies a good deal in colour. Like other Viperidæ it is sluggish in its
movements, but when irritated it flattens itself out generally in the form of
the letter S, turning round to one side or the other with astonishing rapidity,
but never jumping at its enemy or throwing itself backward, as the Puff-
adders are described to do. The Death-adder is found in almost every part of
Australia northward of the thirty-sixth parallel of south latitude.]

The Common Adder (Pelias berus), is not improbably the Εχις of Aristotle,
and the Vipera of Virgil, as it is the Manasso of the Italians, the Adder of
the country-people in England and Scotland, and the Vipère of France. It is
found in all these countries, and in Europe generally.

Fig. 23.—The Common Adder (Pelias berus).

The Common Adder varies in length, from thirteen or fourteen inches to
double that length; and from two to three or even four inches in girth.

Its general colour varies considerably: in some it is olive, in others reddish-
brown, varying sometimes to an ashy-grey; at other times it is greyish-
black. A waving brown or blackish line runs along the back. A row of
unequal spots of the same colour is observable on the flanks; the belly is
slate-coloured; the head nearly triangular, a little larger than the neck,
obtuse and truncated in front, and covered with granulated scales. Six small
plates cover the muzzle, two of which are perforated for the nostrils, which
are lateral, forming a blackish spot. Above is a sort of V shape, formed by
two black bands. The upper jaw is a white ground, spotted with black; the
lower jaw is yellow. The eyes are small and sharp, edged with black. The
tongue is long, grey, and forked.

Adders are met with in the wooded, stony, and mountainous regions of
southern and temperate Europe—in France, Italy, England, Germany,
Prussia, Sweden, Poland, and even Norway. They are met with in the heaths
near London and in the neighbourhood of Paris; they are met with at
Montmorency, and in the forest of Fontainebleau. They feed upon Lizards,
Frogs, mollusks, worms, insects, and small mammalia, such as Field-mice,
Shrews, and Moles. They pass the winter and early spring in a state of
torpor in deep hollows, where they are sheltered from the cold. It is not
unusual to find several Adders coiled up together in one heap, entwined and
intimately interlaced together.

The movement of Adders is abrupt, slow, and irregular. They appear to be
shy and timid creatures, shunning the day, and only seeking their food in the
evening. The young come into the world naked and living: so long as they
are maintained within the mother, they are enclosed in eggs with
membranous shells. Soon after their birth the young Vipers, whose length
does not exceed six or seven inches, are abandoned by the mother, and left
to shift for themselves. They do not, however, acquire their full
development till they are six or seven years old. Adders are justly
considered objects of fear and horror both to Men and to other animals.
They carry with them a formidable apparatus, of which it is important that
both the structure and the mode of action should be known. This venemous
apparatus is composed of three parts—the secreting glands, the canal, and
the hooked fangs.

The gland is the organ which secretes the venom; it is situated upon the
sides of the head, behind and a little beneath the globe of the eye; it is
formed of a number of inflated bladders, composed of a granulous tissue,
and disposed with great regularity along the excretory canal, not unlike the
barbs of a pen-feather. This arrangement, however, is only visible through a
microscope. The tube destined to conduct the secreted venom through the
gland is straight and cylindrical; after being filled, in its short journey it
ends in two peculiar hook-like teeth, called fangs, tapering to a point, and in
shape horn-like. They are much longer than the others, and placed one to
the right, the other to the left of the upper jaw. The Adder, then, is furnished
with two of these poison-fangs; they are curved and sharp-pointed, convex
anteriorly, and furnished with a straight duct which commences in one part
by a slit placed at the anterior part of its base, terminating by a second and
smaller cleft towards its point, and on the same side. This last cleft is like a
little trench or fine furrow, which extends the whole length of the convexity.
These hooked teeth are surrounded by a fold of the gums, which receives
and partly hides them, like a sheath, when they are at rest or hidden. They
are attached to the upper maxillary bones, which are small and very mobile,
and are put in motion by two muscles. Behind them are dental germs,
intended to replace them when they fall out. The other teeth in the roof of
the mouth belong to the palate, where they form two rows.

Such are the terrible weapons of
the Viper group. It is not,
therefore, as many persons still
believe, with the tongue that the
Adder inflicts its wound; the
forked, projecting tongue serves
them as a feeler, and to drink
Fig. 24.—Fangs and Tongue of a Poisonous with, but cannot inflict a wound.
Colubrine Snake. We have said that when in a state
of repose the hooked teeth are
hidden; when the animal wishes to use them, they issue from their fleshy
sheath, somewhat in the same manner as a man draws his knife, when
attacked, to defend himself, and in this case the knife is poisoned.

Adders use their fangs to seize the small animals which serve as their prey.
They do not voluntarily attack a Man; on the contrary, they flee at his
approach. But if he imprudently places his foot on or attempts to seize
them, they defend themselves vigorously. Let us see how an Adder conducts
itself when it hunts its prey and takes it. In this case it may be supposed to
act without passion, merely seizing its prey for food; it simply bites, sinking
its fangs into the body of its victim. In proportion as the fangs penetrate the
body of the animal the poison flows into the canal, which again conducts it
to the fangs under the influence of the contracting muscles, by which they
are raised and made to press upon the gland; but this movement causes the
Adder to close its mouth, and the venom is injected into the wound.

Adders bite in much the same manner when seized by the tail or middle of
the body; but when they think themselves attacked and become irritated,
they strike rather than bite. At first they coil themselves up into several
superposed circles, then they will uncoil themselves to their whole length
with excessive quickness, extending their bodies like a spring, drawing it
out with the rapidity of lightning, and gliding over a space equal to their
own length; for they never leave the ground. They will now open their jaws
wide, erect their fangs, and strike, first throwing back their heads, by which
means they contrive to strike as with a hammer.

Dr. Bell expresses doubts, in his "History of British Reptiles," of the
existence of any well-authenticated case in this country of an Adder bite
terminating fatally.19 At the same time he cautions all persons against
exposure to them in the heat of summer and autumn, when the poison is
most virulent. The remedy applied to such a bite is to rub the part with olive
oil, over a chafing dish of coals, and to take a strong dose of ammonia
(spirit of hartshorn) internally.

Open copses, dry heaths, new woodland clearings, and sandy wastes are the
usual haunts of the Adder; and in such places its hibernaculum is usually
found in winter, where several of the same species lie intertwined in a
torpid state.

It was long supposed that Adders, and Snakes generally, exercise a sort of
magnetic action from a distance—a power which has been called

fascination. This impression has been denied, and attributed, not without
reason, to a less mysterious cause; namely, the sentiment of profound terror
which these creatures inspire. This terror manifests itself in animals by
tremblings, spasms, and convulsions. The sight of a venemous Snake
sometimes renders its victims immovable, incapable of flight, and as it were
paralyzed, and they allow themselves to be seized without opposing the
slightest resistance. Others give themselves over to confused movements,
which, far from saving them, only make their capture easier. M. Duméril,
while pursuing experiments in the Museum of Natural History,
demonstrative of the sudden and mortal action of the bite of a Viper on little
birds, saw a Goldfinch, which he held in his hands, die suddenly, merely at
the sight of the Viper.

In warm countries, wounds produced by the larger species of these terrible
reptiles are extremely dangerous—they swell, become red and ecchymose,
and sometimes livid; the wounded person is seized with syncope, fever, and
a series of morbid symptoms, which often terminate in death. The remedy is
to bind immediately a ligature above the wound with a band, such as a
rolled handkerchief, a cord, or a string, so as to stop all communication of
the blood with the rest of the body, and thus prevent the absorption of the
venom into the system till more effectual means can be adopted. It is well to
suck the wound and make it bleed; it is necessary also to make an incision,
so as to expose the internal parts, and then to cauterize the wound
immediately, either with a red-hot iron or by means of a caustic agent. For
this purpose the following composition may be employed:—

Perchloride of iron 60 grains.
Citric acid 60 "
Hydrochloric acid 60 "
Water 144 "

A few drops of this is poured on the wounded part, which is then covered
with a small piece of lint. Iodine or iodinet of potassium can also be
employed. M. Viand-Marais has substituted the following composition for
this compound with great success:—

Water 50 grains.

Iodinet of Potassium 50 "
Metallic iodine 50 "

To facilitate the introduction of caustic into the wound, the same naturalist
has invented a little bottle closed with emery; the stopper, which is long,
and conical at the lower end, plunges into the liquid. By means of this
stopper the medicated substance can be made to penetrate by drops as far as
the bottom of the wound, which has been previously enlarged by the
bistoury. This little apparatus will replace with advantage the bottle of
volatile alkali with which Viper-hunters are usually furnished. But all these
means are only useful when applied immediately. The limbs and round
about the wound must besides be rubbed with ammoniacal liniments.
Afterwards emollient poultices should be used to lower the swelling and
reduce the chances of congestion; while tonics, sudorifics, and sometimes
ammoniacal potions should be given internally.

It is a remarkable fact that this venom, which is one of the most virulent
poisons known, can yet be swallowed with impunity. It is neither acrid nor
burning, and only produces a sensation on the tongue analogous to that
caused by greasy matter. But if introduced into a wound in sufficient
quantities, it enters into the blood, and causes death with frightful rapidity.
This is a characteristic common to all morbid and venemous virus.

The strength of the venom varies according to the species of Snake, and
likewise the condition of the animal. The same species is more dangerous in
hot than in cold or temperate regions. The bite is serious, according as the
poison is more or less abundant in the glands, and probably with the degree
of rage experienced by the animal, as Professor Owen supposes.

[Of Snakes in general it has been remarked that "all strangers in countries
where these reptiles abound are apt to exaggerate their danger; but in a year
or two they think as little of them as we do in England. I never knew an
instance of a Snake attacking a person unless it was trodden upon or
molested, and even then they almost always give warning by hissing, or
endeavour to effect their escape. During my residence in the Cape colony, I
have at different times trodden on them or kicked them in the grass

unintentionally, but was never bitten."20 This writer, however, could hardly
have accidentally placed his foot upon a Puff-adder.21]

CHAPTER III.

The Order of Lizards.—Saurians.

This is the second order of the great section of Scaly Reptiles (Squamata),
as distinguished from the Shielded Reptiles (Cataphracta). The name
Saurian, Σαυρος, given by Aristotle to the genus of Lizards, has been more
comprehensively applied to a group of Reptiles which have the body
elongated, covered with scales, or having the skin rough like shagreen.
They have, for the most part, four feet, the toes of which are furnished with
hooked claws; their eyelids are movable, and their jaws armed with encased
teeth; they have a distinct tympanum, a heart with two auricles and a single
ventricle, sometimes partially valved, having sides and a sternum. They are
not subject to metamorphosis, and, finally, they are furnished with a tail.

["By far the greater number of the Saurians," writes Dr. Günther, "are easily
distinguished from the other orders of reptiles by their elongated form, by
their movable thorax covered with skin, by the presence of legs, and by
their general integuments, which are either folded into scales, or granular,
or tubercular, or shielded; still, there are many Saurians which, at a
superficial glance, might easily be taken for members of the preceding
order—that of the Snakes; and it cannot be denied that there is a gradual
transition from one of these orders to the other. On the part of the Saurians,
we allude to those which have no externally visible limbs, and which
combine with a greatly elongate, cylindrical body, the peculiar kind of
locomotion we observe in Snakes. Yet the greater affinity of these reptiles to
the ordinary Lizards is indicated by another character, which is in intimate
connection with their mode of life. The Snakes, having movable maxillary
bones, and mandibles not joined by a symphidis, are enabled to swallow
other animals of apparently greater bulk than their own. In the Saurians the
maxillæ are fixed and immovable, and the mandibles are joined by an
osseous suture, so that the cleft of the mouth can be dilated only in the usual
vertical direction. Moreover, in these limbless Saurians we always find

bones of the shoulder hidden below the skin, whilst no trace of them can be
discovered in the true Snakes. The motions of some Lizards are extremely
slow, while those of others are executed, with very great, but not lasting,
rapidity. Many of them have the power of changing their colours, which
depends on the presence of several layers of cells loaded with different
pigments; these layers the animal compresses by more or less inflating its
lungs, whereby the changes in the coloration are effected."

Dr. Günther does not follow Dr. Gray in arranging all true reptiles into the
two grand divisions of Shielded Reptiles (Cataphracta) and Scaly Reptiles
(Squamata), but he includes the Crocodilidæ among the Saurians as a first
grand division of them—Emydosauri, and the other Lizards constitute his
second grand division of them—Lacertini. These latter are again primarily
divisible according to the structure of the tongue. Thus, in the series of
Leptoglossa, the tongue is elongate, forked, and exsertile, much as in the
Ophidians; in that of Pachyglossa the tongue is short, thick, attached to the
gullet, and is not exsertile; and in the Vermilingues it is Worm-like, club-
shaped in front, and very exsertile.

The various genera of Saurians which have either not a trace of external
limbs, or have them more or less diminutive and rudimentary—either the
usual two pairs or one pair only, and in the latter case sometimes the fore
and sometimes the hind pair being deficient—are included among the
Leptoglossa, or the series which have a forked and protrusile tongue; and,
so far as is practicable, we will commence by noticing the different
serpentiform genera; only, in a classification which is not confessedly
superficial, it will be found that the various Snake-like Saurians appertain to
several distinct natural families, most of the other genera belonging to
which have, in sundry cases, limbs that are well developed. Some of them,
therefore, will have to be noticed as the different families to which they
belong are successively treated of; and there will yet remain the curious
serpentiform family of Amphisbænidæ, which Dr. Gray refers to his grand
series of Shielded Reptiles (Cataphracta).

The same naturalist divides the Leptoglossa into two tribes, which he styles
Geissosaura and Cyclosaura; and, as constituting particular division of the
former, he includes under it the family Typhlopidæ, which Dr. Günther

refers—as we have seen—to the order of Ophidians. In the series of
Geissosaura, the scales of the belly and (almost always) of the back and
sides are quincuncial, rounded, and imbricate; the tongue is narrow, short,
flat, and but slightly forked; and the head is of a conical shape, and is
covered with regular shields.

Of the families thus characterised, some only have distinct eyelids, as the
families Acontiadæ, Ophiomoridæ, Sepsidæ, and Scincidæ; while others
have the eyelids rudimentary and the eyes exposed, as the families
Lialisidæ, Aprasiadæ, Pygopodidæ, and Gymnopthalmidæ. In the
Acontiadæ the nostrils are placed in the enlarged rostral plate, with a
longitudinal slit behind. The form of the body much resembles that of our
common Orvet, or Blind-worm, and their limbs, when present, are so
rudimentary that they can aid little in locomotion. One genus, Acontias, is
without limbs, and the eyes are furnished with a lower lid, while the upper
eyelid is rudimentary. Of this, one species, A. meleagris, inhabits South
Africa; and another, A. Layardii, has been discovered in Ceylon. The genus
Nessia has four rudimentary limbs, and the rostral shield is large, sub-
conical, and depressed. In one species, N. monodactyla, the limbs are
diminutive, the posterior placed far apart from the anterior, all being very
short, weak, and undivided into toes. In another, N. Burtoni, each foot is
divided into three minute toes. Both species are peculiar (so far as known)
to Ceylon, and the habits of this family are much the same as those of our
common Orvet (Anguis fragilis).

The family of Ophiomoridæ is founded on a single genus and species,
Ophiomorus miliaris, which inhabits North Africa. As remarked by Dr.
Gray, this reptile seems to be intermediate to the Acontiadæ and the
Scincidæ, and makes it appear as if the large rostral shield of the former was
formed of the united rostral, supra-nasal, and nasal shields of the present
family, and of the Scincidæ. It has an elongate, cylindrical body, without
external limbs, and the ears are hidden under the skin; the eyes are distinct,
with valvular eyelid; and the scales of the body and somewhat elongate tail
are hexagonal.

The Sepsidæ differ from the preceding, and also from the great family of the
Scincidæ, by having the nostrils placed in the front edge of a small shield,

in a notch at the hinder side of the rostral plate, which latter is rather large
and square. The eyes are distinct, the lower eyelid scaly, or with a
transparent disk. Body fusiform or sub-cylindrical, elongate. These reptiles
burrow in dry sand, and are peculiar to the anciently-known continents and
certain islands. Some have a wedge-shaped head, with prominent rostral
plate. Of these the genus Sphenops has more developed limbs, each
dividing into four toes; and the only species, S. sepsoides, inhabits Egypt
and other parts of North Africa. Sphenocephalus has a more slender and
elongate shape, and the limbs are placed more distantly apart; the anterior
minute, and fitting into a groove, the posterior as large as in Sphenops, and
each of them having but three toes, of which the innermost and next are
sub-equal, and the outer much shorter. The only known species, S.
tridactylus, is common in Afghanistan. In Scelotes the anterior limbs
disappear altogether; and the only known species, S. bipes, inhabits South
Africa. Other genera have a pyramidal head, with the rostral plate erect, and
rounded in front. Such are the five following, each founded on a single
species:—Gongylus ocellatus, from North Africa and the borders of the
Mediterranean; Thyrus Bojeri, from the Mauritius; Amphiglossus astrolabi,
from Madagascar; Seps tridactylus, from the south of Europe and north of
Africa; and Heteromeles mauritanicus, from North Africa. The last has only
two toes to the fore-feet, three to the hind; and Seps has three toes to each
foot, while the other three genera have five to each foot. In general these
animals are found in dry and elevated spots, where they hide themselves in
the sand or under stones.

Fig. 25.—Seps tridactylus.

The Scincidæ have the head covered with shields, which are symmetrically
arranged. Tongue slender, free, extersile, terminating in two pointed lobes.
Scales on the back rounded, quincuncial, imbricate; those on the belly
similar to those on the back and on the sides. No fold across the throat or
along the side; no femoral or inguinal pores. Tail generally long, rounded,
fragile. Eyes and eyelids well developed. Nostrils in a separate plate,
between the frontal and labial shields. Generally four limbs, moderately
developed, sometimes feeble or hidden below the skin. The species of this
family are exceedingly numerous, and inhabit almost every part of the
tropical regions, some extending into the temperate zones. They are
thoroughly land Lizards, preferring dry ground, and hiding themselves in
the sand, under stones, fallen leaves, &c., very few of them entering the
water. They do not attain to any considerable size, only a few species of
Australia and the West Indies growing to the thickness of a man's wrist, and
exceeding a foot in length. Some of them are viviparous, others deposit
from eight to twelve globular eggs. Dr. Gray divides them into the sub-
families of Scincinæ, or those which have the scales thin, smooth, and
neither striated nor keeled; the nostrils in a single smooth plate, without any
lunate groove behind; and the tail round, tapering, unarmed; and
Tropidophorinæ, or those which have the scales thick, bony, rugous,
striated, and with one or more keels upon each of them; the rostral plate

rounded in front, and the body fusiform, with well-developed limbs, which
terminate always in the full complement of toes. A few species of the
Scincinæ have no external limbs, thus approximating in their appearance to
certain of the burrowing Ophidians.]

The Orvet, or Blind-worm, Anguis fragilis, is small, cylindrical in shape,
about eleven or twelve inches in length, and having the exterior appearance
of Snakes. The scales which cover the body are small, smooth and shining,
being red in the middle, and edged with white, of a silvery yellow on the
upper part, and dusky beneath; the sides somewhat dusky brown, and the
throat slightly marbled with white, black, and yellow. Two larger spots
appear, one above the muzzle, the other upon the back of the head; from
this point two blackish longitudinal rays start, which extend to the tail, as
well as two other nut-brown rays, which start from the eyes; the markings
vary, however, in different countries, and probably with age and sex.

Fig. 26.—Orvet, or Blind-worm (Anguis fragilis).

The Orvet is found in woods and dry, sandy, and stony wastes. They are
timid, harmless creatures, retiring into holes and concealing themselves in
moss at the foot of trees to hide themselves from observation. They feed
upon worms, insects, and the smaller mollusks. Although perfectly
harmless, the country-people are strongly prejudiced against them,

believing their bite to be a deadly poison. This animal is extremely brittle.
Laurenti and others assert that when captured it throws itself into a position
of such rigidity that it sometimes breaks in two, and that a smart blow of a
switch will at any time divide it.

[There are little-known species of Anguis in India and South Africa, which
are at least provisionally so considered, and certainly do not differ
essentially; and next we come to forms in which the limbs are successively
more developed. Such are the Ophiodes striatus of Brazil, which has two
short, flattened, undivided, and one-pointed limbs, corresponding to the
usual hind pair; the Brachymeles bonitæ of the Philippines, in which there
are two pairs of short and rudimentary limbs, the fore bearing two minute
claws, while the hind are undivided; Venira bicolor, of the same archipelago
has very short limbs, the fore and hind being placed distantly apart, but in
this genus all have five distinct toes; Chiamelea lineata, from some part of
India, and Hagria Vosmaërii, from Bengal, are kindred forms which
conduct to the genus Eumeces, the species of which are very numerous, and
spread over nearly all the different countries between or near the tropics,
and in certain of them (as the Burmese E. anguinus) the limbs are still
remarkably diminutive, and (as in E. isodactylus of Cambodia) the fore and
hind limbs are placed very far apart, the body and tail being long and
anguiform. In various other species of Eumeces, however, the proportions
are more those of an ordinary Scink, as again in the kindred genera
Mabonia and Plestiodon, which are widely distributed.

In other series of Scinks, the distinctions of which are far from being
conspicuous, we again have limbless genera, or nearly so, as the Australian
Soridia lineata, which has one pair of small, posterior, undivided
extremities; while in another Australian form, the Rhodona punctata, the
anterior pair of limbs are simple and undivided, while the hinder divide into
two unequal toes, and the two pairs of limbs are situate as distantly apart.
And thus we may continue to trace the successive gradations, in sundry
genera, until we arrive at the Scincus officinalis of North Africa, a well-
known reptile, the geographical range of which extends eastward into
Afghanistan, and which was formerly in considerable request for its
supposed medicinal properties. Indeed, this notion still prevails in
Hindustan, into which country dried specimens of both this reptile and of

Sphenocephalus tridactylus (p. 101) are brought by Afghan traders, and are
sold in the bazaars. Both of these are Sand Lizards, which burrow into the
sand with great rapidity.

We now come to the Tropidophorinæ, or second sub-family of Scinks
indicated by Dr. Gray (vide p. 102), which have always well-developed
limbs, the body only moderately elongated, and the scales variously keeled.
Several species of larger size appertain to this series, as the Cyclodus gigas
of Australia, and the curious Stump-tail Lizards, Trachydosaurus rugosus
and T. asper, of the same insular continent, which latter have most
prominently rugous scales, and the tail literally appearing like the short and
abrupt stump of one. Egernia Cunninghami and Tropidolesma (of different
species) are other comparatively large Australian Lizards; and examples of
most of those that have been mentioned may generally be seen alive in the
London Zoological Gardens, where the Cyclodus gigas has bred and proves
to be viviparous. Of the species of Euprepes, of which several inhabit the
Indian region, some (as the very common E. rufescens) are viviparous, and
others (as E. multicarinata) are oviparous. These have three more distinct,
though not prominent, keels upon each scale; and the different species
inhabit both the Old World and the New, as well as Australia. The
Galliwasps (Celestus) of the West Indies, and sundry other genera, do not
greatly differ. Of Tropidophorus, which has exceedingly rugged scales, the
species inhabit the Indo-Chinese countries, and one (T. cocinsinensis) is
found likewise in the Philippines; while of another (T. Berdmorei), in
Burmah, Mr. Theobald remarks that "its scales are dull and lustreless, and
the coloration peculiar for a Scink. It harbours under half-immersed stones,
and enters the water and gravel freely." In several of this family of Lizards
the scales are beautifully iridescent, and many of them show longitudinal
pale or white lines, or are otherwise variegated.

Nearly akin to the extensive family of Scincidæ, there are three small
families (as classed by Dr. Gray), the species of which are peculiar to
Australia. They have small, undivided, posterior limbs only, or are quite
limbless. These families are the Lialisidæ, founded on three or more species
of a single genus, Lialis; the Aprasiadæ, founded upon one species only—
Aprasia pulchella, which is limbless; and the Pygopodidæ, comprising the
two genera Pygopus and Delma, the former containing two, the latter only

one ascertained species. The Gymnopthalmidæ constitute still another small
family, quadrupedal, but with the limbs small and weak. Of seven genera
referred to it, five are Australian, one is European, and one belongs to South
America. Ablepharus pannonicus is a small Lizard of this family, inhabiting
Eastern Europe, with a congener, A. bivittatus, in the Caucasus; and
Gymnopthalmus lineatus inhabits Brazil and the Island of Martinique.

In the second tribe of Leptoglossa, entitled Cyclosaura, the scales of the
belly are square, in cross bands; those of the back and tail are rhombic and
imbricate, or circular and subgranular; the tongue is lengthened, and more
or less conspicuously furcate; and the eyes are diurnal, having two valvular
lids. The limbs are generally well developed; but in several genera they still
are more or less rudimentary, or even absent.

There are four small families in which the sides are rounded and covered
with scales like the back. Of these, that of Chamæsauridae is founded upon
the South African Lacerta anguina of Linnæus, now Chamæsaura anguina,
which has the limbs quite rudimentary. In the American families of
Cercosauridæ, Chirocolidæ, and Anadiadæ, the limbs are moderately
developed, and have each five toes. The two last-mentioned families are
founded each upon a single species, Chirocolus imbricatus and Anadia
ocellata; and the other contains the two genera Circosaura and Lepisoma—
of which the first comprises some two or three species only. All of these
reptiles have exceedingly long tails, though not so inordinately long as in
the Lacertidæ of the genus Tachydromus.

Certain other families have a distinct longitudinal fold, covered with small
granular scales on each side. These are the families Chalcidæ, Holaspidæ,
and the more extensive one of Zonuridæ. The Chalcidæ have the head
covered with regular many-sided shields, and the lateral fold is indistinct;
limbs small and rudimentary, and the hind feet are undivided in the genera
Chalcis and Bachia, with three tubercles in place of toes in Microdactylus,
and with four clawed toes in Brachypus. Each of these genera is founded on
a single species, and all are doubtless peculiar to the New World. The
Holaspidæ is also founded on one species only, the Holaspis Guentheri,
which again is supposed to be South American. It has four well-developed

limbs, a double row of plates along the back and upper surface of the tail,
and the latter organ is curiously serrated laterally.

The Zonuridæ constitute a considerable family, to which some eighteen or
twenty genera are assigned, and which present considerable modification of
form. The ears are distinct, whereas in the Chalcidæ they are hidden under
the skin. The head is pyramidal, or depressed, and covered with regular
many-sided shields; eyes with two valvular lids. Limbs mostly well
developed, but short in some, and rudimentary, or even wanting in the so-
called "Glass-snakes" which constitute the sub-family Pseudopodinæ. There
is no external trace of them in the North American Glass-snake, Ophisaurus
ventralis; and in the Old World genus, Pseudopus, there is only one pair,
posterior, rudimentary, and undivided. These reptiles are long, and
serpentiform in shape: whilst in other Saurians the whole skin of the belly
and of the sides is extensible, the extensibility is limited in the "Glass-
snakes" to a separate part of the skin; and, as Dr. Günther remarks, "the
scaly covering of the upper and lower parts is so tight that it does not admit
of the same extension as in Snakes and other Lizards; and the Pseudopus,
therefore, could not receive the same quantity of food in its stomach as
those animals, were it not for the expansible fold of the skin running along
each side of its trunk." One species of Pseudopus, the P. Pallasii, inhabits
Asia Minor and the south-east of Europe; and there is another, P. gracilis, in
the Indo-Chinese countries (or those lying eastward of the Bay of Bengal).
A second sub-family, Gerrhonotinæ, is peculiar to America, and consists of
more ordinarily-shaped Lizards, which are ranged in four genera. Together
with the Ophisaurus, or American Glass-snake, they are the only known
Zonuridæ that inhabit the New World. The great mass of this family and all
of its most characteristic species are African, and these are arranged by Dr.
Gray under the sub-families Cicigninæ and Zonurinæ. In the first of these
sub-families the tail is smooth, or unarmed, and in the second it is spinous.
The Cordules, Cordylus, Zonurus, &c., are very characteristic Lizards
chiefly of Southern Africa, several species of which have been figured by
Sir Andrew Smith. They are mostly of shortish form, and the neck is more
or less spinous; the body-scales in some (as Zonurus cataphractus) being
extraordinarily rugous. These Lizards squeeze themselves into crevices in
the rocks, in which they hold on so firmly by their nuchal spines that it is

next to impossible to dislodge them, the tail commonly giving way at once
if it be attempted to pull them forth by means of it.

The family of Lacertidæ, comprising our ordinary European Lizards, have
no longitudinal fold along the sides, but generally one across the throat; the
tail is very long, rounded, with its scales arranged in rings, being also
fragile; the head is covered with shields, which are symmetrically arranged;
scales on the back granular or rhombic; on the sides granular; on the belly
largely quadrangular or rounded, and arranged in cross-bands; eyes diurnal,
with eyelids; the tympanum distinct; limbs always four, and well developed.
This group of Lizards has no representative in America or (so far as known)
in Australia.

The sub-family of Tachydrominæ is included by Dr. Gray in the family
Zonuridæ. These are Asiatic Lizards, with a most inordinate length of tail,
the fore and hind limbs being not placed distantly apart, as in the various
anguiform Lizards already treated of—there is an indistinct collar, and the
toes are not serrated or keeled. Two genera have been distinguished,
Tachydromus and Tachysaurus, the latter founded on a Japanese Lizard, T.
japonicus. At least three species are known of Tachydromus, two of which
inhabit China, T. septentrionalis and T. meridionalis; the third belonging to
the Indo-Chinese countries, T. sex-lineatus. In an example of the last,
measuring fourteen inches long, the tail occupies eleven inches and a half.
It is the longest-tailed creature that we have any knowledge of, in
proportion to its other parts; indeed, something quite wonderful to behold
and muse over.

The rest of the Lacertidæ are chiefly from Africa and the south of Europe;
there are probably more of them to be discovered in Middle Asia, and only
three or four species are known to inhabit the Indian region. Fifteen or more
genera are recognised. In temperate Europe (inclusive of the British Islands)
two species are common—the Zootica vivipara and the Lacerta agilis. The
former, as its name imports, is viviparous, whereas the other genera
belonging to the family are (so far as known) oviparous. Others occur in the
south of Europe.]

The common Grey or Sand Lizard (L. agilis), sometimes attains the length
of from eight to ten inches, of which the tail occupies more than half. These

little inoffensive creatures, so common in Southern Europe, are slender and
active; their movements are so rapid that they escape the eye as quickly as a
bird. They require a mild temperature, and seek shelter among ruins. When
the sun strikes with its meridian force upon a wall, they may be seen
basking in its rays, enjoying themselves delightedly upon the heated
surface. They seem to be pervaded with the blessed warmth, and mark their
pleasure by soft undulations of the tail. It is commonly said that the Lizard
is the friend of Man, since far from flying at his approach, they seem to
regard his appearance with great complacency. They pass the winter at the
bottom of small holes which they have hollowed out of the earth, where
they become torpid. At the commencement of spring they issue from their
hiding-place, and each seeks its mate; they go in pairs, male and female, it
is said, living in faithful union for many years, sharing between them the
domestic arrangements, which comprise hatching the young and nursing
them in their helplessness, carrying them into warm and sunny places, and
sheltering them from cold and damp.

Lizards feed chiefly upon insects, and especially flies. All who have
watched the actions of the Grey Lizards must have observed that the caudal
vertebræ are so extremely fragile that they separate on the slightest touch,
the tail remaining in the hand of any one attempting to seize it. These tails
sometimes grow again. When an attempt is made to seize a Grey Lizard on
the wall it lets itself fall to the ground, and remains there a moment
immovable before attempting to run, evidently simulating death.

Grey Lizards are easily tamed, and appear happy in captivity. From their
extreme gentleness they soon become familiar with their keepers, and return
caress for caress, approaching mouth to mouth, and suck the saliva from
between their lips with a grace that few people would allow them to display.

In the Green Lizard, L. viridis, the scales of the temple are many-sided and
unequal, with a central layer; back granular and oblong, with shelving sides;
throat fold distinct. Nothing can be more brilliant than the variegated
colouring with which it is ornamented. Its favourite locality is a slightly
elevated woody place, where the sun's rays readily penetrate. It is also
found in sunny meadows. It feeds upon small insects, and shows no alarm
at the presence of Man, but stops to look at him. Snakes, on the contrary,

they seem to fear much, but when they cannot avoid them they fight
courageously. In length they are about eighteen inches.

Fig. 27.—Green Lizard and Ocellated Lizard.

Green Lizards are found in Jersey and Guernsey, and other warm countries
of Europe, on the African coast of the Mediterranean, and they are not rare
in France.

How often have we admired their magnificent colours in the neighbourhood
of Montpelier, where they rival the green of the meadows, and glitter in the
sun like so many living emeralds!

In the Ocellated Lizard, L. ocellata, the upper part of the body is green,
variegated, spotted, and reticulated or ocellated with black, having large
round blue spots upon the flanks; the underpart of the body is white, frosted
with green; in size it is about twenty inches. They are found at
Fontainebleau, in the south of France, and in Spain. They establish

themselves in hard sand, often between two beds of calcareous rock, upon
some steep declivity, more or less directly exposed to the south; they are
also found between the roots of old stems, either in hedgerows or vineyards.
They feed almost exclusively on insects; but are said to attack Mice,
Shrews, Frogs, and even Snakes, and to destroy the eggs of the Partridge.
They have sometimes been tamed by feeding them on milk.

[In the genus Ophiops, two species of which inhabit Asia Minor, and one of
them the shores of the Mediterranean, the eyelid is rudimentary and the eye
exposed, whence the name, signifying "snake eye." So far as known, the
habits of the various Lizards which constitute the family of Lacertidæ are
much the same.

The family of Teidæ is peculiar to the New World, and some of the species
attain to the length of several feet. In these Lizards the head is pyramidal,
and is covered with regular many-sided shields; supra-orbital plate horny;
the teeth solid and well rooted; tongue elongate, flat, free (rarely slightly
sheathed at its base); the scales of the back are regular and keeled, and of a
rhombic shape; sides flat, and covered with small granular scales; the throat
scaly, with a double collar, rarely indistinct.

In some the throat has two cross-folds, with large six-sided scales within;
and of these some have the ventral shields small, long, and smooth, while
others have them much broader. The former are known as the Teguexins
(Teius and Callopistes), and the latter as the Ameivas (Ameiva, and three
other genera). One species of Teguexin, Teius teguexin, may commonly be
seen alive in the London Zoological Gardens. This is a large and powerful
Lizard, exceeding five feet in length when full grown, and extremely active.
It feeds on small living animals of any kind, and will even devour poultry,
and especially their eggs, for which latter it manifests an especial liking, as
observed in captivity. Sometimes it has been known to prey on other and
kindred Lizards, as the Ameivas. The teeth of this species are strong, and
the reptile can bite with great force. It is a bold and determined combatant
when attacked, and if it succeeds in seizing its foe, retains its hold with
pertinacity. Its flesh is eaten by some people, who consider it excellent.
Together with a second species, T. nigropunctatus, it inhabits Brazil, and the
two species of Callopistes are also South American, one at least of them

occurring in Chili. The species of this family, although strong and agile,
never ascend trees, but range at will the hot sandy plains or the dense and
damp underwood on the margins of lakes and rivers, into which they plunge
when alarmed, and remain below the surface until the danger has passed
away, their capacious lungs and imperfect circulation permitting them to
endure a very long immersion without inconvenience.

The Ameivas have a long whip-like tail, and peculiarly elongated toes on
their hind feet. The species of Ameiva and Cnemidophorus are numerous,
and the genera Dicrodon and Acrantus are founded each of them upon a
single species. In general these are Lizards which correspond with the
ordinary Lacertidæ of the Old World. One species only, Cnemidophorus
sex-lineatus, inhabits the Southern States of North America; there are at
least four others in Mexico, and the rest belong to South America and the
Antilles. "The Ameiva dorsalis," writes Mr. Gosse, "is one of the most
common of the reptiles of Jamaica, and is as beautiful as abundant. Its
colours are striking, but not showy, and its countenance has a very meek
expression. All its motions are elegant and sprightly; when it is proceeding
deliberately, its body is thrown into latent curves the most graceful
imaginable; but when alarmed its swiftness is so excessive that it appears as
if it literally flew over the ground, and the observer can scarcely persuade
himself that it is not a bird. It is very timid, and though its toes are not
formed as in the Geckos and Anoles, for holding on against gravity, I have
seen a large Ameiva run with facility on the side of a dry wall, along the
perpendicular surfaces of the large stones."

A second series occurs in those Teidæ which have a collar of large shields
on the throat. As many as five genera of them have been established, each
upon a single species, and all are from intertropical America. In
Crocodilurus lacertinus the two rows of crests along the tail recall to mind
the Crocodiles, whence the name bestowed. Others have been styled
Dragons, as the Great Dragon, Ada guianensis, and the Smaller Dragon,
Custa bicarinata. All bear a certain amount of superficial resemblance to
the Crocodiles, and the Great Dragon grows to six feet in length, and is
found in many parts of South America. This large reptile runs up the trunks
of trees with facility, is quick when on the ground, and it also swims,
though not particularly well. It preys upon such small animals as it can

manage to seize, and chiefly frequents the inundated savannahs and marshy
localities, where it is seen basking in the sunshine; but there is considerable
difficulty in taking this Lizard, as it makes generally for its burrow in some
raised spot, and bites desperately in self-defence. Its flesh is eaten, and is
considered a delicacy. Its eggs, also, are considerably esteemed at Cayenne
and other places, and each female lays some dozens of them.

The family of Helodermidæ is founded on a very remarkable Lizard from
Mexico, the H. horridum, which is of the same size as the Great Dragon,
and in some respects approximates the following Old World family of
Varanidæ. Its back and sides are covered with oblong, hexagonal, very
convex and shield-like scales, and the belly with oblong, rather convex
plates; tail cylindrical, with oblong, convex scales above, and flat, elongate,
thin plates beneath. The head is somewhat flattened, and is covered with
polygonal, convex shields; the muzzle is rounded; and the teeth are on the
inner side of the jaws, incurved, with a groove on the front of their inner
side. The bite of this reptile is said to be severe.

The family of Varanidæ inhabit South-eastern Asia and its islands, Africa,
and Australia. In this family are comprised the largest of existing Lizards,
with the exception of the Crocodilidæ. They are very commonly miscalled
Iguanas by Europeans and their descendants, in the countries where they are
found. These reptiles have a pyramid-shaped head, more or less elongated,
and covered with small and scale-like, but not imbricate, shields. Their teeth
are acute and compressed. The tongue is elongate, slender, terminating in a
long fork, and is retractile into a sheath at its base. Their scales are small,
equal on the sides and on the back, and arranged in cross rings; those on the
belly and tail are square, in cross bands. Tail long, and generally more or
less compressed. The feet are well developed, with five toes on each, which
are armed with strong claws. Most of them live near water, and they are
excellent swimmers, their long and compressed tail serving as a propeller.
Their movements on land are not much less rapid than in the water. Several
of the species climb trees, and they are more or less nocturnal in their time
of action, though also about by day. They are exclusively carnivorous,
feeding on the different water animals, and on the eggs of birds, and
likewise on those of other large reptiles; some of them are also destructive
to ducklings, and to various Snakes. Dr. Günther remarks that "their

external nasal opening leads into a spacious cavity situated in the snout;
when the animal dives, it closes the nasal aperture, and retaining a certain
quantity of air in that pouch, or rather in the two pouches, it is enabled to
remain under water for a prolonged period without the necessity of rising to
the surface in order to breathe. It is the same plan of structure as that with
which a large northern Seal (Cystophora borealis) is provided." In like
manner, the air-bag connected with the one developed lung of the
Ophidians retains the necessary supply of air during the tedious process of
deglutition or swallowing. The nostrils are variously placed, either mid-way
between the eye and muzzle, or nearer to one or to the other; and according
to this and some other differences, Dr. Gray divides the Varanidæ into as
many as seven genera, but Dr. Günther would seem to admit not more than
two genera. When the tail of these Lizards is mutilated, the lost portion is
never renewed; whereas in the preceding families of the Zonuridæ,
Lacertidæ, and Teidæ a new tail or portion of one soon sprouts forth—but
this renewed portion contains no bony vertebræ, and it remains smooth
externally; when the fracture is cleft, as sometimes happens, two new tails
are put forth. Another family of Lizards in which the tail is thus commonly
renewed is that of the Geckos; but never in the Iguanidæ, the Agamidæ, and
the Chameleonidæ, any more than in the Varanidæ. The species of this
family defend themselves vigorously, when attacked, by lashing forth smart
blows with the tail, as do also the Crocodiles and the larger Iguanidæ.

In the genus Varanus, the nasal apertures form an oblique slit, in, or nearly
in, the middle, between the eye and the tip of the snout. The scales are
elliptic and small; those on the back and on the sides are not imbricate, each
of them being surrounded by a small, circular, granular fold. Tail with a low
crest, formed by two or four series of strongly keeled scales. Throat with a
transverse fold. One very common in India and Ceylon is the V. dracæna,
which grows to a length of five feet, the tail being longer than the body.
These reptiles live in holes, and in mid-day they steal out of their cells to
seek their food, which consists chiefly of the smaller reptiles and of insects.
In many parts of India, and in Ceylon, the flesh is much eaten by the
natives. The late Dr. Kelaart states that he once tried some excellent soup
made from it, which tasted not unlike hare-soup. At Trincomali, he tells us,
they are hunted down by Dogs, and sold in the market for sixpence each.
This species climbs walls, and holds on so firmly with its strong claws,

wherever these can be inserted, that it is actually used by house-breakers in
India to help in raising themselves up a wall or building, the man grasping
the tail, while the reptile affords a lift by endeavouring to escape from him
upwards. It lays twenty or thirty eggs, which in texture and appearance
resemble those of many Snakes, being similarly agglutinated together by a
viscid mucus. Sir J. E. Tennent remarks that "one of the earliest, if not the
first, remarkable animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon, whilst
wending his way from Point de Galle to Colombo, is this large Lizard,
which may be seen at noonday searching for Ants and other insects in the
midst of the highway and along the fences. When disturbed, but by no
means alarmed, by the approach of Man, it moves off to a safe distance; and
the intrusion being at an end, it returns again to the occupation in which it
had been interrupted. It lives in any convenient hollow, such as a hole in the
ground, or the deserted nests of the Termites; and some small ones, which
frequented my garden at Colombo, made their retreat in the heart of a
decayed tree."

Of another species, V. flavescens, which inhabits Lower Bengal, and to the
eastward in Burmah, &c., Mr. Theobald remarks that "large specimens are
not often procurable by Europeans, as they are much sought after by both
Burmese and Karéns as choice articles of food. They are chiefly hunted
with Dogs, whose scent enables them to discover the Varans in the hollow
trees in which they habitually shelter themselves. A Burman, though
ordinarily a lazy man, will think nothing of cutting down and breaking up a
large tree in which one of these creatures has sought refuge. The Varanidæ
deposit their eggs in the ground, usually selecting a deserted White-ant's
nest. The eggs are cylindrical, with tapering ends, of a dirty white colour
and leathery texture (those of V. dracæna are two inches long), and, being
esteemed an uncommon luxury by the Burmese, sell dearer than fowls'
eggs. They are oily and feculent-looking, though devoid of any nauseous
odour, and some Europeans eat them with pleasure."

A well-known African species, the V. or Psammosaurus scincus, extends
(without the slightest difference) to the extreme desert region of the north-
west of India, and more habitually frequents dry localities than others. In
this species the nasal apertures are placed very near the eyes.

In the genus Hydrosaurus, the nostrils are more or less rounded, and are
situate near the extremity of the snout. These animals are more decidedly
aquatic than the preceding, and some of the species grow to seven or even
eight feet in length. Such is the H. giganteus of Australia, where three, if
not four, species inhabit. In all south-eastern Asia and its islands, its range
extending to Lower Bengal but not to India proper, although found in
Ceylon, the H. salvator is a common species, which, according to the late
Dr. Cantor, is "very numerous in hilly and marshy localities of the Malayan
peninsula. It is commonly, during the day, observed in the branches of trees
overhanging rivers, preying upon birds and their eggs and smaller Lizards,
and when disturbed it throws itself from a considerable height into the
water; it will courageously defend itself with teeth and claws, and by blows
with its tail."

We have now to treat of the

Pachyglossa,

Which are those Lizards which have the tongue short, thick, attached to the
gullet, and not exsertile. These fall under two very distinct tribes—the
Strobilosaura and Nyctisaura of Dr. Gray, or the tribe of the Iguanas and
their kindred, and that of the Geckos and their kindred. The tribe of

Strobilosaura

Have the scales of the back and sides imbricate, generally rhombic, and
those of the lower parts imbricate and of small size. Tail with more or less
distinct whorls of scales. The eyes diurnal, with round pupil, and valvular
lids. Feet with toes of very unequal length. Many of these reptiles have a
row of spines or spine-like scales along the back and tail, which in some are
very long, while others have high dorsal and caudal crests, an expansile
gular pouch, or other adornments. Like the Varans among the Leptoglossa
(p. 114), these Lizards do not renew the tail, or a portion of it, after
mutilation. There are two great families of them—one peculiar to the Old
World with Australia, the other to the New World; but as families they do

not differ much, and might very well be retained as divisions of the same
extensive family.

In the family of Iguanidæ, all of which inhabit America or its islands, the
teeth are round at the root, dilated and compressed at the tip, and toothed at
the edge; they are placed in a simple series on the inner side of the jaws,
just below the edge, and are covered on the inner side by the gums; as they
fall out they are replaced by others, which grow at the base of their
predecessors, and gradually cause the absorption of their roots. Probably
not fewer than a hundred and fifty species are now recognised, which are
distributed under more than fifty genera. We can only notice a few of the
most remarkable of these Lizards, some of the larger of which attain a
length of five or six feet, with proportionate bulk of body. As a general rule,
the larger species are mainly herbivorous, while the smaller are chiefly
insectivorous, though many of the latter also devour fruit. As most of them
are remarkable for their rapid changes of colouring, the name of Chameleon
is often misapplied to them, in the supposition that the Chameleons are the
only Lizards in which that curious phenomenon is observable. In one
remarkable species, the Sphærops anomalus, inhabiting Brazil, it is stated
that the eye nearly resembles that of the true Chameleons, and it is also one
of those which are particularly celebrated for its changes of hue.]

Fig. 28.—Iguana tuberculata.

The name Iguana was given by Laurenti to a heterogeneous group of
Saurians, various forms being included which were first separated by
Daudin. The Iguanas, as thus restricted, are characterized by a very large
thin dew-lap under the neck, a double row of small palatal teeth, and a crest
on the back and tail; the latter long, slender, compressed, and covered with
small imbricated and carinated scales. Messrs. Duméril and Bibron describe
the genus, thus modified, as principally remarkable for the cutaneous
prolongation which constitutes the deep and thin dew-lap, or pouch, the free
border of which describes a curved line, and is dentated at the part nearest
the chin. The head is moderately long, and has the form of a pyramid with
four faces. The neck is slightly compressed, the limbs long, the toes unequal
and sometimes denticulate on the edge. The five toes of the posterior feet
are graduated; the tail, which is long and slender, is slightly flattened from
right to left. The Iguanas live chiefly on trees, but they take readily to the
water, swimming with great facility.

There are numerous species, all of which are found in South America and
the Antilles. In the Island of Isabella, Sir E. Belcher found swarms of them
which he had reason to consider omnivorous, feeding voraciously on birds'
eggs and the intestines of birds and insects.

The Common Iguana, I. tuberculata, which inhabits a great part of South
America, is one of the best known species of this family. These reptiles are
easily recognised from the large pouch underneath the neck, and the
dentated crest which extends from the head to the extremity of the tail. The
tail, feet, and body are covered with small scales. On the upper part, their
colour is a more or less decided green, sometimes becoming blue, at others
slate-coloured; the lower part is of a yellowish green. The sides present
zigzag, roundish, brown scales, edged with yellow; frequently a yellow line
is traced obliquely in front of the shoulder, and some individuals are
sprinkled with brown; others have the limbs spotted with brown on a black
ground. The tail is surrounded with brownish rays alternating with others
green and yellow. When full grown it attains the length of four feet, but the
more ordinary length of the animals is about thirty inches. They are very
gentle creatures, and perfectly harmless, feeding almost exclusively on
vegetables. They are hunted in America for their flesh, which is excellent;
and they are especially common at Surinam, in the neighbourhood of
Cayenne, and in Brazil.

[Of a kindred species, Metopoceros cornutus, which also is common in the
Antilles, an excellent description has been published by Lieutenant Tyler,22
which we must endeavour to condense. This reptile attains a length of five,
and sometimes even of six feet, the tail being about twice and three quarters
the length of the body. When first hatched it measures four inches. The
mouth is large, and is armed with two rows of maxillary and two of palatal
teeth, which appear simply to be intended to crop leaves and to provide the
stomach with vegetable food. Each maxillary tooth is a little double-edged
saw, and they are so lapped over each other that the reptile, in closing its
mouth upon a leaf, cuts through it completely. The tongue is curiously used
by the animal to draw food into the mouth, and to forward it down the
gullet, or to repel it at will, and the only use of the palatal teeth appears to
be to secure the food while the tongue moves forward to afford fresh
assistance in its journey down the throat. The tongue is always covered by a

glutinous secretion, which is perceptibly appended to the jaws when the
mouth is open. Between the lower jaw and the chest is a pouch, which the
animal draws in or extends simultaneously with the compression or
swelling out of the body when enraged or excited. The portion of the gular
pouch attached to the jaw is inflatable, and food is sometimes retained in it
for a considerable period, but the lower part is merely extensible.

"Whilst always retaining the same colours, this Iguana has the power of
considerably changing its hues; but these changes are gradually performed.
The colours become more dull as the period of the change of cuticle
approaches—which is not, however, very frequent. Each scale has its own
tint, and the colours being thus irregularly blended, an appearance is given,
particularly to the younger reptiles, very much like that of worsted-work.

"These Iguanas live principally on trees, and near the windward coast of the
island" (of St. Lucia). "They are not much seen, excepting in the months of
February, March, and April, when they quit their hiding-places, and repair
to the sea-shore or other sandy places to lay their eggs in the sand. The
older females lay a great number of eggs. I have known an instance of one
in confinement laying five in one day, and thirty-two within the space of ten
minutes five days afterwards, making thirty-seven in all. Younger females
are much less prolific, according to their size. The eggs are very liable to
destruction by Ants, which fact probably accounts for their being usually
deposited in sea-sand. They are soft, and without any white, and their shell
resembles the most beautiful kid leather used for French gloves, of a very
light straw-colour. They are about the size of those of a domestic Pigeon,
but rather longer; but they vary in dimensions according to the age and size
of the Iguana.

"This Iguana is not averse to water, when not too cold, taking to it only
when the sun is shining; in fact, not moving about much at any other time.
Its mode of swimming differs from that of other Lizards, inasmuch as it
places its four legs close by the side of its body, and swims entirely with its
tail. It dives with great facility, and remains sometimes for a considerable
time under water. I believe that it never ventures into the sea. The tail is a
very valuable limb; for, besides being the sole means of swimming
possessed by the animal, it is of great use in climbing trees, although not

prehensile; and it is a most important weapon of defence, a blow from it
being frequently sufficient to inflict a severe wound. In fact, this reptile is
rather formidable when brought to bay in the woods. It is hunted by the
natives with Dogs trained for the purpose. The Dog, immediately upon
scenting it, gives tongue, and, if on the ground, the Dog seizes it by the
back, and either kills it or maims it, which makes its capture easy; if in a
tree, the Iguana is either shaken down—a matter ordinarily of no small
difficulty—or the branch is cut off. It is almost useless to attempt to find
these reptiles without Dogs, as the resemblance of their colour to that of the
trees which they inhabit prevents them from being easily seen. Few Dogs
but those accustomed to the sport will touch them, as, in addition to the
blows which they inflict with the tail, they bite and scratch furiously; and
when once they lay hold of anything with their teeth, they can only be made
to let go by an inducement to bite some other attractive object being offered
to them. They run into holes when chased, if an opportunity offers, and
when their eyes are hidden from view, they fancy that their whole body is
safely covered. The flesh, particularly of the female, is a great delicacy; it is
cooked in various ways, sometimes in a fricassee, with the eggs whole,
sometimes roasted or stewed. The eggs have a very glutinous consistence.
The flesh is said to disagree with some constitutions.

"Unless when caught young, it is very difficult to induce these reptiles to
feed in confinement, and particularly when watched. Their disposition is
sulky and savage, and I have known some of them," continues Lieutenant
Tyler, "to die in confinement from starvation, rather than feed. This has
caused me to try the following plan, which I find very successful, of
affording them nourishment:—I hold them by the lower part of the body
with one hand, and with the other I irritate them until they open their mouth
and attempt to bite, when I insert food; and by annoying them in this way, I
have not only made them eat their natural food, but I have killed some of
them by forcing them to eat corn and leaves, which appear to have
disagreed with them. By some of the natives this Iguana is said to eat
Lizards and insects; but I have opened several, and I have never succeeded
in finding any but vegetable matter in the stomach."

Of the habits of a kindred species of Iguana, the Cyclura lophura,
inhabiting Jamaica, Mr. Gosse has given an elaborate description; and he

tells us that the gular pouch in the Iguanidæ "is extensible, but not
inflatable," as is the current opinion. Holbrook and others have remarked
the same; and Professor Thomas Bell describes the fold of skin as being
drawn down by a peculiar arrangement of the lingual bone, and a singular
cartilage fixed to it and attached also to the skin. These parts are moved by
delicate muscles, so that, when the cartilage is drawn down, the skin of
course is distended, and follows it "in the same way that the silk is stretched
over the whalebone of an umbrella." "In fact the skin," writes Professor
Holbrook, "when distended in life by the animal, does not resemble the
inflated vocal sacs of the Frogs and Toads, which are round, but looks like a
fold of the skin, pinched and drawn down, the two portions of it being in
contact, like a dew-lap." It appears that the Cyclura, also, is exclusively
herbivorous; and Mr. Gosse remarks upon the severe wounds which it
inflicts upon Dogs with its sharply-serrated tail. In general, the larger
species of this family are solely vegetable-feeders, while the smaller kinds
(such as the Anoles) are more or less insectivorous; and there are some, of
intermediate size, which even prey occasionally upon the kindred Anoles
and other small animals. The genera of these reptiles are exceedingly
numerous, as we have seen, and amongst so many there must be
considerable variety in the habits; but we can only notice a very few of
them. Within the limited area of the small archipelago of the Gallapagos,
situated on the equator about ten degrees west of South America, there are
two remarkable species of Iguanidæ, of which the habits have been
described and commented upon by Mr. Darwin in his volume of the
"Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle." One of them is particularly so, because, as that
naturalist observes, it is the only existing Saurian which can properly be
said to be a maritime animal. In the whole of that group of islands, as he
tells us, there is only one rill of fresh water that reaches the coast; yet this
reptile frequents the sea-beaches, and no other parts of the islands. He adds
that it is the only known existing Lizard that feeds exclusively on aquatic
productions. Although he refers both species to the genus Amblyrhynchus,
the aquatic sort now constitutes the genus Oreocephalus of Dr. Gray, and it
bears the name of O. cristatus. This Lizard, according to Mr. Darwin, "is
extremely common on all the islands throughout the archipelago of the
Gallapagos. It lives exclusively on the rocky sea-beaches, and is never
found—at least, I never saw one—even ten yards inshore. It is a hideous-
looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid and sluggish in its

movements. The usual length of a full-grown one is about a yard, but there
are some even four feet long. I have seen a large one which weighed twenty
pounds. On the island of Albemarle they seem to grow to a greater size than
on any other. These Lizards were occasionally seen some hundred yards
from the shore swimming about; and Captain Colnett, in his 'Voyage,' says,
'they go out to sea in shoals to fish.' With respect to the object, I believe that
he is mistaken; but the fact stated on so good an authority cannot be
doubted. When in the water the animal swims with perfect ease and
quickness, by a serpentine movement of its body and flattened tail—the
legs, during this time, being motionless and closely collapsed on its sides. A
seaman on board sank one, with a heavy weight attached to it, thinking thus
to kill it directly; but when an hour afterwards he drew up the line, the
Lizard was quite active. Their limbs and strong claws are admirably adapted
for crawling over the rugged and fissured masses of lava which everywhere
there form the coast. In such situations, a group of six or seven of these ugly
reptiles may oftentimes be seen on the black rocks, a few feet above the
surf, basking in the sun with outstretched legs. I opened the stomachs of
several," continues Mr. Darwin, "and in each case found it largely distended
with minced sea-weed of that kind which grows in thin foliaceous
expansions of a bright green or dull red colour. I do not recollect having
observed this sea-weed in any quantity on the tidal rocks; and I have reason
to believe that it grows at the bottom of the sea, at some little distance from
the coast. If such is the case, the object of these animals occasionally going
out to sea is explained. The stomach contained nothing but the sea-weed.
Mr. Bynoe, however, found a piece of a Crab in one; but this might have got
in accidentally. The intestines were large, as in other herbivorous animals."

The food of this Lizard, equally with its compressed form of tail, and the
certain fact of its having been seen voluntarily swimming out at sea,
absolutely prove its aquatic habits; nevertheless, as we are told by Mr.
Darwin, "there is in this respect one strange anomaly, namely, that when
frightened it will not enter the water. From this cause, it is easy to drive
these Lizards down to any little point overhanging the sea, where they will
sooner allow a person to catch hold of their tail than jump into the water.
They do not seem to have any notion of biting; but when much frightened
they squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. One day I carried one to a deep
pool left by the retiring tide, and threw it in several times as far as I was

able. It invariably returned in a direct line to the spot where I stood. It swam
near the bottom, with a very graceful and rapid movement, and occasionally
aided itself over the uneven ground with its feet. As soon as it arrived near
the margin, but still being under water, it either tried to conceal itself in the
tufts of sea-weed, or it entered some crevice. When it thought the danger
was passed, it crawled out on the dry rocks, and shuffled away as quickly as
it could. I several times caught this same Lizard by driving it down to a
point, and though possessed of such perfect powers of diving and
swimming, nothing would induce it to enter the water; and as often as I
threw it in, it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this singular
piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by the circumstance that
this reptile has no enemy whatever on shore, whereas at sea it must often
fall a prey to the numerous Sharks. Hence, probably urged by a fixed and
hereditary instinct that the shore is its place of safety, whatever the
emergency may be, it there takes refuge. I asked several of the inhabitants if
they knew where it laid its eggs: they said, that although well acquainted
with the eggs of the other kind, they had not the least knowledge of the
manner in which this species is propagated—a fact, considering how
common an animal this Lizard is, not a little extraordinary. During our visit
(in October) I saw extremely few small individuals of this species, and none
I should think under a year old. From this circumstance it seems probable
that the breeding season had not commenced."

The terrene species, Amblycephalus subcristatus, unlike the aquatic one, is
confined to the central islands of the Gallapagos archipelago, where they
inhabit both the higher and damp, as well as the lower and sterile parts; but
in the latter they are much more numerous. "I cannot give a more forcible
proof of their numbers," relates Mr. Darwin, "than by stating that, when we
were left at James Island, we could not for some time find a spot free from
their burrows on which to pitch our tent. These Lizards, like their brothers
of the sea-kind, are ugly animals; and, from their low facial angle, have a
singularly stupid appearance. In size, perhaps, they are a little inferior to the
latter, but several of them weighed between ten and fifteen pounds each.
The colour of their belly, front legs, and head (excepting the crown, which
is nearly white) is a dirty yellowish orange; the back is of a brownish red,
which, in the younger specimens, is darker. In their movements they are
lazy and half-torpid. When not frightened, they slowly crawl along, with

their tails and bellies dragging on the ground. They often stop and doze for
a moment, with closed eyes, and hind legs spread out on the parched soil.
These Lizards inhabit burrows; which they sometimes excavate between
fragments of lava, but more generally on level patches of soft volcanic
sandstone. The holes do not appear to be very deep, and they enter the
ground at a small angle; so that when walking over one of these Lizard
warrens, the soil is constantly giving way, much to the annoyance of the
tired pedestrian. This animal, when excavating its burrows, alternately
works the opposite sides of its body. One front leg for a short times
scratches up the soil, and throws it towards the hind foot, which is well
placed so as to heave it beyond the mouth of the hole. This side of the body
being tired, the other takes up the task, and so alternately. I watched one for
a long time," continues Mr. Darwin, "till half of its body was buried; I then
walked up and pulled it by the tail; at this it was greatly astonished, and
soon shuffled up to see what was the matter; and then stared me in the face,
as much as to say, 'What made you pull my tail?' They feed by day, and do
not wander far from their burrows; and, if frightened, they rush to them
with a most awkward gait. Except when running downhill, they cannot
move very fast; which appears chiefly owing to the lateral position of their
legs. They are not at all timorous; when attentively watching any one, they
curl up their tails, and raising themselves on their front legs, nod their head
vertically, with a quick movement, and try to look very fierce, but in reality
they are not at all so; if one just stamps the ground, down go their tails, and
off they shuffle as quickly as they can. I have several times observed small
fly-eating Lizards, when watching anything, nod their heads in precisely the
same manner; but I do not at all know for what purpose. If the
Amblyrhynchus is held, and plagued with a stick, it will bite it very
severely; but I caught many by the tail, and they never tried to bite me. If
two are placed on the ground, and held together, they will fight and bite
each other till blood is drawn. Those individuals (and they are the greater
number) which inhabit the lower country, can scarcely taste a drop of water
throughout the year; but they consume much of the succulent cactus, the
branches of which are occasionally broken off by the wind. I have
sometimes thrown a piece to two or three when together; and it was
amusing enough to see each trying to seize and carry it away in its mouth,
like so many hungry Dogs with a bone. They eat very deliberately, but do
not chew their food. The little birds are aware how harmless these creatures

are: I have seen one of the thick-billed Finches (peculiar to the Gallapagos)
picking at one end of a piece of cactus—which is in request among all the
animals of the lower region—whilst a Lizard was eating at the other; and
afterwards the little bird, with the utmost indifference, hopped on the back
of the reptile. The stomachs of several that I opened were full of vegetable
fibres and leaves of different trees, especially of a species of Acacia. In the
upper region they live chiefly on the acid and astringent berries of the
guayavita, under which trees I have seen these Lizards and the huge
Tortoises feeding together. To obtain the acacia leaves, they crawl up the
low, stunted trees; and it is not uncommon to see one, or a pair, quietly
browsing, whilst seated on a branch several feet from the ground.

"The meat of these animals, when cooked, is white; and by those whose
stomachs rise above all prejudices, it is relished as very good food.
Humboldt has remarked, that in intertropical South America, all Lizards
which inhabit dry regions are esteemed as delicacies for the table. The
inhabitants of the Gallapagos say, that those inhabiting the damp region
drink water, but that the others do not travel up for it from the sterile
country, like the gigantic Land Tortoises. At the time of our visit, the
females had within their bodies numerous large elongated eggs. These they
lay in their burrows, and the inhabitants seek them for food."

These two curious Lizards of the Gallapagos agree nearly in general
structure, and in many of their habits; and neither of them has that rapidity
of movement which is characteristic of various other Iguanidæ. The form of
the head resembles a good deal that of a land Tortoise, and we find the same
form of head, and again the same disinclination to bite, in certain
herbivorous Lizards, such as the Uromastyx and kindred forms, which are
referred by Dr. Gray to the corresponding Old World family of Agamidæ.]

In the family of Iguanas the Basilisk may be noted. According to ancient
authors, reproduced by writers of the middle ages, the Basilisk, although
such a small animal, could produce instant death by its sting. The man
whose eyes met theirs was supposed to be at once devoured by an intense
fire. Such are the fabulous ideas which tradition has transmitted to us about
these animals. It is to be remarked, however, that the Basilisk of modern
herpetology is not the βασιλισκος, or Royal Serpent, of the ancients, the

Cockatrice of Scripture. The reptile which now bears the name is an
inoffensive animal, living in the forests of Guiana, Martinique, and Mexico,
and leaping from branch to branch, in order to gather the seeds or seize the
insects on which it feeds.

The Basilisk is distinguished from the other Iguanian Lizards by the
absence of the long and dilatable skin under the throat, and by the presence
of an elevated crest which runs along the whole length of the back and tail.

Fig. 29.—Hooded Basilisk.

The Hooded Basilisk, B. americanus (Fig. 29), measures seven or eight
inches from the nose to origin of the tail, which is itself nearly three times
as long, being nineteen or twenty inches in length. Upon the occiput it has a
sort of horn or bag, in shape like a hood, round at the summit, and slightly
inclined towards the neck. This bag, when distended, is about the size of a
pullet's egg. In the male the back and tail are surmounted by a raised crest,
such as we have described above, sustained in its thickness by the knotty
process of the vertebræ. The general colour is a mixture of sandy brown,
slightly marbled on the back and sides, with shades of blue on the upper
part, and a silvery white underneath. On the throat are larger bands of
brown, and on each side of the eye is a white ray bordered with black,

which is lost upon the back; and the tail is so remarkably attenuated towards
its extremity as to show the articulations of the vertebræ beneath.

[According to Mr. O. Salvin, the Basilisk is very common about Lanquin, in
the province of Guatemala, where it may frequently be seen on the low
branches of a bush, and it is particularly fond of basking on the boughs of a
felled tree in a clearing near a stream. In some specimens of the males, we
are informed, the tail is much more compressed than in others. In a series of
the young the crest is shown in all stages of development. We also learn
from this naturalist that, notwithstanding the compressed form of its tail, the
Basilisk does not habitually enter the water, as most writers have supposed.

The sub-family of Anoles (Anoliinæ) have mostly the skin of their toes
widened (under the ante-penultimate phalanx) into an oval disk, striated
crosswise underneath, which enables them to attach themselves to various
surfaces. They do not attain the large size of the Iguanas, and the habits and
characteristics of the various species inhabiting Jamaica are thus vividly
described by Mr. P. H. Gosse in his "Naturalist's Sojourn" in that beautiful
island. "The stranger," he remarks, "walks into the dwelling-house. Lizards,
still Lizards, meet his eyes. The little Anoles (A. iodurus, A. opalinus, &c.)
are chasing each other in and out between the jalousies, now stopping to
protrude from the throat a broad disk of brilliant colour, crimson or orange,
like the petal of a flower, then withdrawing it, and again displaying it in
coquettish sport. Then one leaps a yard or two through the air and alights on
the back of his playfellow; and both struggle and twist about in
unimaginable contortions. Another is running up and down on the plastered
wall, catching the Ants as they roam in black lines over its whitened
surface; and another leaps from the top of some piece of furniture upon the
back of the visitor's chair, and scampers nimbly along the collar of his coat.
It jumps on the table;—can it be the same? An instant ago it was of the most
beautiful golden green, except the base of the tail, which was of a soft,
light, purple hue; now, as if changed by an enchanter's wand, it is of a dull
sooty brown all over, and becomes momentarily darker and darker, or
mottled with dark and pale patches of a most unpleasing aspect. Presently,
however, the mental emotion, whatever it was—anger, or fear, or dislike—
has passed away, and the lovely green hue sparkles in the glancing sunlight
as before."

The green colour of certain of these Anoles so closely resembles that of
foliage, that they are apt to be overlooked. Thus Mr. Gosse was about to
throw a net over a Butterfly, when, as he remarks, "on a slight rustle among
the leaves, I observed that it was fluttering as if unable to get away. My
impression was that an invisible Spider's-web was holding it; but, looking
closer, I found that a little green Anolis had the Butterfly in its mouth. Its
colour was so exactly that of the verdant leaves of the bush, that I had not
perceived it before, although my eyes were fixed on the spot. I have also
observed the same species feeding on Ants. On a gateway a number of
scattered Ants of a small kind were running to and fro, as they very
frequently are seen to do. A beautiful male Anolis had stationed himself on
the post perpendicularly, with the head downwards, and as the Ants one by
one came near him he snapped them up. Each capture was the work of an
instant; he touched the post with his muzzle, and the Ant was gone: they
were evidently seized with the lips, not with the tongue. These little
creatures are as playful as they are pretty. As they creep about they often
catch sight of another of the same species; immediately one suddenly raises
and depresses the head and fore-parts, flirts the tail from side to side, and
extends the goitre by means of the elastic arched bone in front, till its tip
reaches nearly as far as the muzzle. The brilliant goitre is thus alternately
extended and relaxed several times. After being thus 'signalized' for a few
seconds, one darts towards the other, who usually runs away, apparently as
if wishing to be caught." Elsewhere Mr. Gosse describes the noosing of an
example of a fine Lizard of this Anolis group, the Dactylæ Edwardsii,
which is also a native of Jamaica, "about a foot long, and of a lively green
colour. He was very savage, biting at everything near: presently his colour
began to change from green to blackish, till it was of an uniform bluish
black, with darker bands on the body, and a brownish black on the tail; the
only trace of green was just around the eyes." He was placed in a cage, and
"at night," continues Mr. Gosse, "I observed him vividly green as at first—a
token, as I presumed, that he had in some measure recovered his
equanimity. The next day he continued very fierce. I hung the cage out in
the sun; two or three times in the course of the day I observed him green,
but for the most part he was black. The changes were rather quickly
accomplished. The food of this Lizard appears to include both vegetable
and animal substances. I was never able to induce one to eat in captivity;
but the dissection of several has given me this result. Thus in one I have

found seeds and farinaceous substance; in another the fragments of a
brilliant beetle of the weevil group. I once observed one deliberately eat the
ripe glass-berries, munching half of one at a mouthful."23

Thus far we have treated of chiefly arboreal Iguanidæ; and although a
Marine Lizard (Trachycephalus cristatus) cannot well be so designated, it
nevertheless belongs to the same particular series. We have next a long
series of mainly terrene genera of the same great American family, in which
the body is subtrigonal or depressed. As many as twenty-two genera, with
sixty-one species of the terrene Iguanidæ, were catalogued by Dr. Gray in
1845, and a good many have since been added. There is a corresponding
series in the kindred Old World family of Agancidæ, and in neither instance
are the majority of them ground-frequenting Lizards to any great extent.
Thus, of Dr. Gray's first genus Tropidolipis (so named from its large keeled
scales), and of which as many as nine species are given from Mexico, a
tenth (T. undulatus, of the United States) is described by Professor
Holbrook to inhabit chiefly the pine-forests, where it is often found under
the bark of decaying trees; it also commonly chooses old fences for its
basking-place. "It is exceedingly rapid in its motions, climbing with great
facility to the tops of trees, and is hence not taken alive without great
trouble. Its food consists of insects, especially such as are found under
decaying wood." The colouring of this Lizard is remarkably brown, with
narrow zigzag black bands above, and green below, with a white medium
stripe bordered with black; throat and breast black, with a broad green band
across. Various species of kindred genera were collected by Mr. Darwin,
and are figured in the "Zoology of H.M.S. Beagle," and of one of these
(probably Lecolænus Darwinii), which he observed at Bahia Blanca, in
Northern Patagonia, he remarks that "it lives on the bare sand near the sea-
coast, and from its mottled colour, the brownish scales being speckled with
white, yellowish red, and dirty blue, can hardly be distinguished from the
surrounding surface. When frightened it attempts to avoid discovery by
feigning death, with outstretched legs, depressed body, and closed eyes: if
further molested, it buries itself with great quickness in the loose sand. This
Lizard, from its flattened body and short legs, cannot run quickly." With
others these Lizards constitute the sub-family Tropidolepinæ of Dr. Gray,
which are followed by the sub-family Phrynosominæ, in which some very
singular Lizards find their place. The most extraordinary of them constitute

the genus Phrynosoma, four species of which inhabit Western North
America. These have great spines to the occiput, in these respects
resembling the African genus Cordylus (p. 107), and very Toad-like
proportions, looking somewhat like Toads with short tails; and again they
decidedly approximate in appearance to the curious Moloch horridus of
Western Australia, which belongs to the corresponding Old World family of
Agancidæ; and, like that strange reptile, they are slow of motion, and
perfectly harmless, and they may be handled with impunity, as they never
attempt to bite.]

Flying Lizards.

Fig. 30.—Flying Lizard (Draco volans).

Flying Lizards (Draco) have the head small, the nostrils in a scale, tubular,
on the side ridge; tympanum white and opaque. They live on trees, walking
with agility with their wings folded by their sides. These wings they expand
and use as a parachute when they throw themselves upon their prey from
the tops of trees or other elevated places. But they cannot move them as
birds do their wings. These remarkable appendages also serve to drive away
insects.

[The fabulous Dragons of the ancient Greeks were Serpents or Lizards with
remarkably piercing sight, which guarded treasures and devoured men. The
Dragons of mediæval artists were frightful and fantastic beings, one half
Bat and the other half quadruped or Serpent. The little Saurians which now
bear the once dreaded name are no less interesting, although they are no
longer monsters; they are distinguished from all other reptiles by a kind of
wing, which is a large fold of skin, or membrane, on each side of the body.
These wings are entirely independent of the other members, being sustained
by six false ribs, which do not surround the abdomen, but rather extend
horizontally. They are the only existing examples of our day of that organic
arrangement which distinguished the reptiles known under the name of
Pterodactyli, and which belonged to the jurassique period of geology.

Dr. Gray divides the Draconina into three genera, namely:—

I. Dracos, having the ears naked, nostrils below the fore ridge, of which
three species are described—viz., D. volans, the Flying Lizard (Fig. 30),
having the scales of the back broad, generally smooth, those of the throat
granular; wings grey, fulvous, or brown, spotted and marbled with black,
sometimes forming four or five oblique black bands near the outer edge; the
sides with a series of large keeled scales: the Timor Flying Lizard, D. viridis
Timorensis of Schlegel; and the Fringed Flying Lizard, D. fimbriatus,
keeled.

II. Draconella, of which there are two species, one D. Dussumieri, having
the nape crested; and D. hæmatopogon, the Red-throated Dragon, without
crest on the nape.

III. Dracunculus, of which five species are described—namely, D.
quinquefasciatus, the Banded Flying Lizard, nape not crested, having a
longitudinal fold; D. lineatus, having the nape crested, the ears slightly
concave; D. ornatus, wings grey, reticulated with black, and having broad
black bands at the edge; the Spotted Winged Dragon, D. maculatus, grey,
and the wings black spotted; and D. spilopterus, having the wing reddish
near the body.]

Geckotidæ, or Thick-Tongued Lizards.

This singular family of Saurians have the head wide and flattened, the
mouth wide, the nostrils distant and lateral, the eyes large, with short lids;
the tongue short, fleshy, and capable of slight elongation. The body is thick
and short, low on the legs, rather squat and depressed, with a belly trailing
on the ground; back without crest. The skin is defended by granular scales,
interlaced with others of a tubercular character; they are almost always of a
sombre colour. Their feet are short, wide apart, and robust; they are
furnished on the upper part with imbricated laminæ, which enable them to
adhere firmly to the surface of even the smoothest bodies, and to run with
rapidity in all directions on a plain surface, and even to remain stationary
with the back downwards, like the common house Fly. More generally,
however, their hooked and retractile claws, like those of cats, assist them in
climbing, crawling up trees, rocks, and even perpendicular walls, and to
remain there immovable for several hours. Their flexible bodies mould
themselves into the depressions of the surface of the earth, in which they
become scarcely visible, their natural colour blending, and being
confounded with, the colour of the soil. Their eye-balls, which dilate and
contract considerably, protect them from the action of the sun's rays, and
enable them, it is thought, to see in the dark. They are nocturnal, avoid the
sun's rays, and catch their food in the chinks of rocks. Their movements are
rapid, silent, and sudden. They hibernate, and are provided with fatty
masses in the groin which are supposed to be a provision for their
nourishment during that period. Geckos emit sounds which resemble the
noise an equestrian makes when he would encourage his horse—smacking
their tongues on the palate to produce the sound. They seek habitations in
which they can find food, and are timid, inoffensive, and quite incapable of
inflicting injury either by their bite or claws; but their repulsive appearance
makes them objects of general repugnance, and has caused evil properties
to be attributed to them. Thus people try to destroy them by every possible
means. There are about sixteen known species of Geckos distributed in all
quarters of the globe, but chiefly in warm countries.

Fig. 31.—Platydactylus homalocephalus.

[The Geckotidæ are divided into many genera, according to the construction
of the toes. Duméril refers to the comparative shortness and general
structure of the feet and conformation of the toes, which he describes and
figures in detail. The lower surface and the sole he states are very dilatable,
and furnished with small plates or lamellæ, following or overlying each
other in a mode which varies in the different species. The nails are
sometimes wanting on all the toes, but more frequently hooked, and more
or less retractile; the toes sometimes united at the base, and in Platydactylus
the extremity of the toe expands into a fan shape, as in the Tree Frogs. The
membranous and soft plates of the lower surface of the toes have various
modifications in different genera, which have been made the basis of their
arrangement. The Wall Gecko is supposed by Gesner to be the Lizard
spoken of by Aristophanes and Theophrastus, and the Tarentula of the
Italians: and there is little doubt that it was the Αακαλαβωνμε of Aristotle
and the ancient Greeks; it clambered about their walls catching spiders, on
which it fed. Schneider has shown it was the Stellio of Pliny. Linnæus
mentions three species, which he places with his great genus Lacerta.
Modern herpetologists, following Cuvier and Duméril, class them
according to the structure under the several genera Ascalabotes,
Platydactylus, Hemidactylus, Ptyodactylus, Thecadactylus, Stenodactylus,
and Gymnodactylus.]

The Wall Gecko (P. homalocephalus), Fig. 31, is of an ashy grey colour, as
if powdered on the upper part of the body. It is white underneath, and
inhabits the islands of the Mediterranean, as well as the countries which
form the basin of that sea, such as Italy, France, Spain, and Africa. They are
generally found in old walls; they are, however, sometimes seen running on
those of modern habitations. They feed on all sorts of insects, particularly
on the dipterous insects and Arachnidans.

Chameleo. (Laurenti.)

The genus Chameleo, of which ten species are described in the British
Museum Catalogue, are natives of Africa and Asia and naturalised in
Southern Europe. They live on trees, clinging to the branches by their feet
and prehensile tails; they move slowly and with great caution, feeding upon
insects, which they catch with singular dexterity by the rapid elongation of
their tongue, which is viscid at the tip.

Certain groundless metaphors, deeply rooted in the popular mind, have
singularly distorted the truth in respect to these reptiles. It is commonly
believed that the Chameleon often changes its shape, that it has no fixed
colour belonging to itself, but takes that of all objects which it approaches.
This singular idea has descended from very ancient times. According to the
reports of Theophrastus and Plutarch, the Chameleon takes all colours in
turn but white; according to Aristotle it changes colour all over the body;
but Ælian seems to have had views more in accordance with those of
modern observers, for he says when it takes other colours than grey and
disguises itself, it covers only certain parts of the body with them.
Altogether the ancients made the Chameleon a very fantastic animal; hence
in the familiar comparisons of literature these fabulous beings serve as a
type to designate uncertain principles; to paint fawning men, who have
neither character nor individuality of their own, but who bend themselves to
the will and adopt the opinions of others. Putting aside the imaginary
attributes accorded to the Chameleon by the fancies of the ancients, and
painting them such as they are, we still see in them animals most worthy of
observation and highly interesting to the naturalist, as well for the singular
formation of different parts of their bodies as for their remarkable habits,

and even for peculiarities which have given some sanction to the errors and
prejudices to which we have alluded.

Chameleons have compressed bodies; the back round and projecting, or
rather pyramidal; the skin granulated; the head angular, with salient occiput
resting on a short and thick neck; their legs are slender; the hind, as well as
the fore toes are five; the tail prehensile and round. The eyes are very large
and protruding, their globes covered by a single shagreen-like eyelid, which
the animal can dilate or contract at will, but which leaves little liberty to a
small hole pierced at the centre, through which a quick and rather brilliant
eye-ball is perceived. The eyes, in the Chameleon, are thus completely
enveloped, as if they were too delicate to sustain any glaring light; but this
is not all—their eyes have a singular mobility. By certain special muscular
arrangements they have the power to direct them on objects either together
or separate. Sometimes they turn their eyes in such a manner that one eye
looks back and the other forward. With one eye they can see objects above
them, while with the other they can see those situated below. It is a common
saying in France, applied to the Chameleon, "that it could look into
Champagne and see Picardy in flames."

The vermiform and retractile tongue is also a most singular organ. It is
cylindrical, about six inches long, terminating in a fleshy, dilatable, and
somewhat tubular tip, which is covered with a glutinous secretion, by the
aid of which it seizes its insect food, and draws it towards its mouth. The
feet have five very long and almost equal strong and hooked claws, but the
skin of the legs extends to the end of these toes, and unites them in a very
peculiar manner. Not only is this skin attached to each of the toes, but it
envelops them, and forms, as it were, two bundles,—the one of three
fingers, and the other of two. From this structure one can anticipate the
extreme difference which exists between the habits of Chameleons and
those of Lizards. These two bundles of long toes are placed in such a
manner as to enable them to seize the branches easily on which they love to
perch; they can grasp these branches by holding on with one bundle of
fingers before, and the other behind, in the same manner as Woodpeckers,
Cuckoos, and Parrots. Chameleons are better able to preserve their
equilibrium upon trees than upon the ground; consequently they are more
often seen in those ærial domiciles. Besides, their long and strong

prehensile tail serves them as a fifth limb. They swing themselves about
like monkeys, grasping the small branches, and thus saving themselves
from falling. Moreover, they are cautious, moving at all times very slowly
when going from one branch to another. Walking becomes much more
difficult for them when they rest upon a level surface—groping their way as
they advance, placing their feet upon the earth, one after the other, with the
greatest circumspection. They also steady themselves on the ground by the
aid of their tail. In their walk they display a certain gravity which contrasts
with their diminutive size and the agility which might be expected from
them. Even when perched upon a tree their movements exhibit a slowness
and deliberation that one would be inclined to say was affected. It is true
that the arrangement of their eyes, and the rapid movements of their tongue,
render personal activity superfluous in their search for food. They can see
their prey and their enemies from a great distance, and in all directions. The
latter they readily avoid. As to their prey, when about to seize it, the
Chameleon rolls round its extraordinary eye-balls so as to bring them to
bear on the devoted object. As soon as it arrives within range of the tongue,
that organ is projected with unerring precision, returning into the mouth
with the prey adhering to the viscous tip. This tongue they can extend to a
length sometimes surpassing that of their body. The skin of the Chameleon
does not adhere to the muscles everywhere; some spaces are left free, into
which the air penetrates, causing the skin to heave and swell; this
mechanism is voluntary, the animal having the power of inflating or
relaxing it at pleasure. When this great living bladder is emptied, the animal
may be said to resemble a bag of gold-beaters' skin filled with bones.
Chameleons exhibit great variation in their colours; that is to say, they may
be almost white, sometimes yellowish, at other times green, reddish, and
even black, either in portions, or all over their bodies. These changes of
colour were for a long time attributed to the greater or less distention of the
vast lungs they possess, and to the corresponding modifications in the
quantity of blood sent to the skin; but this explanation is now abandoned.
According to Mr. Milne Edwards, the cause of these variations of colour lie
in the peculiar structure of their skin, in which there exists two layers of
membranous pigment, placed the one above the other, but disposed in such
a manner as to appear simultaneously under the cuticle, and at other times
so that the one hides the other. Again, occasionally the cuticle is hidden
under the superficial pigment.

[Sixteen or seventeen species of Chameleon are described in the British
Museum Catalogue.

I. Having an erect fin on the back, the belly crested; which includes the
Fringed Chameleon, C. cristatus, a native of Fernando Po.

II. Having the back high, and compressed belly and sides, with a toothed
crest; including the Side-crested Chameleon, C. laterales, a native of
Madagascar.

III. The back and belly having a toothed crest, the sides simple, the scales
small and equal, muzzle simple; including the Common Chameleon, C.
vulgaris, with many synonyms. It is a native of the East Indies, is the
recognised type of the family (Fig. 32), and the one most commonly
brought to England. There are probably two varieties,—one from North
Africa, which is also found in Sicily and the South of Spain; the other, the
East Indian variety—C. Senegalensis, the Senegal Chameleon, a native of
West Africa; C. arpelis, from Ashantee and Gaboon; C. verrucosus, a native
of Bourbon and Madagascar; the Rhinoceros Chameleon, C.
rhinoceroceratus, also from Madagascar.

IV. Having a toothed crest on the back, with the belly and sides simple, the
chin and muzzle simple; including C. tuberculiferus, a native of South
Africa; C. cucullatus, the Hooded Chameleon, a native of Madagascar; C.
nasutus, having the chin simple, and the muzzle compressed, and C.
bifurcus, having the muzzle in the male forked—both natives of
Madagascar; C. Tigris, Seychille Islands; C. ventralis, from South Africa,
and C. pumilus, from the Cape of Good Hope.

Fig. 32.—Chameleo vulgaris.

V. Having back and belly without crest; including C. Parsonii, a native of
Madagascar; and C. Owenii, the Three-horned Chameleon, from Fernando
Po, and C. Brookesianus, an adult species, from S. W. Brookes's collection.

Emydosaurians

Have the head large, covered with a thick skin, ears closed with two valves,
gape very wide, tongue short, jaws with a single series of cone-shaped teeth
inserted in sockets; back with a hard disc formed of a longitudinal series of
square keeled plates of hard bony consistence embedded in the skin; the
under surface covered with smooth thin square plates; legs short, feet
webbed, with four to five toes, the three inner toes of each foot only armed
with claws.

They are divided into two groups:—

I. Crocodilidæ, having the lower canines fitting into a notch in the edge of
the upper jaw.

II. Alligatoridæ, having the canines fitting into a pit in the upper jaw.]

Crocodiles.

The Shielded Saurians, as Duméril designates the largest of living species
of that order of reptiles, have the body depressed, elongated, and protected
on the back with a solid carinated shield or buckler; the tail longer than the
trunk, compressed laterally, annulated and crested above; having four very
short feet; the toes of the posterior feet united, or web-footed, each foot
having three claws only; head depressed and elongated into a muzzle; the
gape of the mouth extending back beyond the skull; tongue fleshy,
adherent; teeth conical, simple, hollowed at the base or towards the root,
unequal in length, and in a single row. Such is a brief summary of the
family by Duméril and Bibron.

If the Eagle is the king of the air, the Tiger and the Lion the tyrants of the
forests, and the Whale the monarch of the deep, the Crocodile has for the
exercise of his undisputed control the maritime shores of tropical seas and
the borders of tropical rivers. Living on the confines of land and water, this
formidable reptile is at all times the scourge of those human beings who are
compelled to reside near its haunts. Much larger than the Tiger, Lion, or
Eagle, the Crocodile surpasses all terrestrial animals, with the exception of
the Elephant, Hippopotamus, and some Serpents, in its power of
destruction.

Crocodiles have the head depressed and elongated into a muzzle, in the
front of which the nostrils are seen close to a fleshy tubercule, and
furnished with movable valves. The mouth opens up to the ears; the jaws
are of commensurate length, and are armed, as we have seen, with conical-
pointed teeth, bent back, and disposed in such a manner that when the
mouth is closed they pass one under the other. These teeth are implanted in
a single row, and continually maintained in a good condition by an organic
system which ensures their immediate reparation. In short, each tooth is
hollowed at the base in such a manner as to form the cell or sheath of
another tooth of a larger calibre. The new tooth, which presses on, exercises
a sort of absorption upon the base of the old hollow tooth, so that the first is
developed while the second is decaying. In some species the front teeth of
the lower jaw are so long and sharp that they perforate the edge of the upper

jaw and appear above the muzzle when the mouth is closed. The lower jaw
alone is movable, and that only in a downward movement. The mouth is
without lips, consequently, whether walking or swimming, the teeth of
Crocodiles are always visible.

This formidable conformation gives to the Crocodile an aspect at once
terrible and alarming, which is increased by two wicked-looking eyes
placed obliquely and close together, surmounted by a kind of eyebrow. The
tail of these animals is very long, as thick as the body at the junction, and in
shape it is flat, like an oar; this enables them to steer through the water like
a fish, and to swim with rapidity. They have four short legs, of which the
hinder have toes, united by a natatory membrane, and only three claws to
each foot. The skin is coriaceous, thick, and resistant; being also protected
by very thick knots intermingled with plates of different size, according to
the parts of the body they protect. On the skull and face the skin adheres
closely to the bone, and there is no trace of scales.

Nature has provided for the safety of these animals by covering them with a
cuirass, the resistance of which is proof against almost everything. Thus the
scales which defend the back and the upper part of the tail are square, and
form hard transversal bands possessed of great flexibility, which prevents
them from breaking. Down the centre of the back there is a hard crest,
which adds to the strength of their armour. This cuirass is in many points
proof against a bullet from a gun. The plates which cover the belly, the
upper part of the head, neck, tail, and legs are also arranged in transversal
bands, but less hard, and without crests. It is at these weaker and
consequently vulnerable parts that those inhabitants of the waters which are
enemies to Crocodiles manage to attack them successfully.

The general colour of the Crocodile is a dullish brown, with sometimes a
shade of green along the back; the head and the sides are marked with
green, or at least they have a greenish tint, with blackish spots; the under
part of the legs and belly are of a yellowish grey. All these shades, however,
vary with age and sex, and the nature of the water in which the animals live.

Crocodiles are oviparous, and their eggs are provided with resistant shells.
These eggs are deposited by the female in some secluded place in the sand
on the banks of the river, and are hatched simply by the ambient heat,

without any assistance from the mother. The female Crocodiles of the Nile
deposit their eggs where the solar heat soon brings them to maturity. In
certain countries, such as the neighbourhood of Cayenne and Surinam, the
eggs are buried under a kind of mound which the Alligators raise in damp
places by gathering together leaves and herbaceous stems. This vegetable
debris undergoes a kind of fermentation, the result of which is an increase
of temperature, which, joined to that of the atmosphere, produces the
desired result.

Lacépède describes an egg in the Museum of Natural History in Paris,
which was laid by a Crocodile fourteen feet in length, which was killed in
Upper Egypt. This egg is only two inches and five lines in its greatest
diameter; in its least diameter it is one inch and eleven lines. It is oval and
whitish. Its shell is cretaceous in substance, like the eggs of birds, but not so
hard. At the time of their birth the little Crocodiles are only about six inches
in length, but their growth is very rapid. They abound in large rivers in the
tropics, and in marshy places near their banks. They often come on shore,
for they are amphibious. In the night they watch for their prey. They feed
exclusively on flesh—that is to say on fish, small Mammalians, aquatic
birds, and reptiles. When they have seized a large object they drag it under
the water, where it soon dies by asphyxia; there they leave it to macerate,
when they eat it by instalments. In this manner men are sometimes carried
away by Crocodiles, but it is contrary to the habits of the animal to suppose
that they are devoured immediately. When a Crocodile has succeeded in
seizing a negro, it does not devour him till the body becomes decomposed,
when it can tear it to pieces with greater facility.

From the general structure of their bony framework it is difficult for
Crocodiles to turn round or move otherwise than forward. This
circumstance renders it easy to escape their pursuit. When chased by a
Crocodile, it can be avoided by describing a circle, or running in a
succession of curves. Upon the banks of the Lake of Nicaragua, in America,
an Englishman was once pursued by an Alligator which had surprised him
when on its margin. The animal was gaining upon him rapidly, when some
Spaniards who witnessed the scene cried out to him to run round it. Thus
fortunately warned the pursued dodged the Alligator, and escaped from his
dangerous enemy (Fig. 33).

Fig. 33.—The Englishman and the Caiman, or the Circular Flight.

[No specimens of the Crocodilidæ have been found in Europe, and until
very recently none had been found in Australia, but they are very common
in the new colony of Queensland, an Alligator twenty feet long having been
shot on the banks of the Mackenzie river, which was afterwards exhibited at
Rockhampton. Crocodiles, properly so called, are found in Africa, Asia, and
America. The Gavials seem to be limited to the Ganges and other large
rivers in India. Besides the Gavial, Asia produces three other species,
namely, C. vulgaris, C. galeatus, and C. bifurcatus. Of the first, Siam is the
chief locality; the others are found in the rivers which debouch into the
Indian Ocean and the Ganges.

The Alligatoridæ

Include the Jacares, Alligators, and Caimans.

The Jacares have the head oblong and depressed, with a ridge across the
face in front of the eyes; teeth unequal, canines of the lower jaw fitting into
a pit in the upper jaw; toes only partially webbed, eyelids fleshy, nostrils
separated by a cartilage. Five species are described—namely, J. fissipes,
from Tropical America, six feet in length; J. sclerops, from the Brazils; J.

Nigra, also from the Brazils; J. punctulatus, with triangular oblong head,
muzzle elongated, thin and flat, with a rounded point in front, and a slight
enlargement behind the nostrils; J. vallefrons, differing slightly from the
above—both natives of the Brazils.

Alligators have the jaws oblong, much depressed, broad and nearly parallel;
forehead with a small longitudinal ridge between the orbits; feet fringed,
toes half webbed, the outer toes free; nostrils separated by a bony septum
rising from the upper edge, muzzle lengthening with age. One species only
is known, which is a native of North America; it attains a length of six to
seven feet, and is known also as Crocodilus Mississipensis.

The Caimans have the jaws oblong, depressed, rounded, and swollen at the
end, without frontal ridges or maxillary pits; teeth unequal, the lower
canines fitting into pits in the upper jaw; toes webbed. There are three
species described—C. trigonatus, C. palpebrosus, and C. goddeceps, all
natives of Tropical America.

The Jacares, Alligators, and Caimans are natives of America, which country
is fruitful in other species of the family. C. acutus is also found in
Martinique and San Domingo; C. rhombifor, at Cuba; A. palpebrosus, A.
sclerops, A. punctulatus, and A. cynocephalus are natives of the southern
part of the American Continent; and A. lucius is found in the north.]

The principal characteristics of the American Crocodile are a head one-third
its length, and a very short muzzle; teeth unequal in shape and size, the
fourth lower tooth being buried in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed;
the first teeth of the lower jaw piercing the upper at a certain age, so as to
appear through the muzzle when closed. The hinder legs and feet rounded,
having neither crest nor indentation on their edges; the intervals of the toes
more than half covered with a short membrane, forming semi-palmated
feet.

It is generally admitted, as we have stated above, that there are five species
of this genera, all exclusively American, the type of which is the Alligator,
or Caiman. A. Mississipensis (Gray) belongs properly to North America,
through the whole southern extent of which it is found. They are gregarious,
living together in large herds in the Mississippi and its southern tributaries;

they are also found in the lakes and marshes of Louisiana, Carolina, and
even as far north as thirty degrees of north latitude. Alligators do not appear
to leave fresh water. During the winter season they bury themselves in the
mud of the marshes, and await in a state of torpor the return of spring,
which is the signal of their restoration to activity. In the neighbourhood of
Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi, flats of lakes and marshes stretch away to
a vast extent on either bank; every year these reservoirs are flooded by the
overflow of the river, when they are visited by myriads of fishes. The heat
soon partly dries up these lakes, leaving only about two feet deep of water,
thus displaying a vast amount of prey ready prepared for the shore birds and
Crocodiles. Millions of ibis, herons, cranes, and cormorants wade into the
water in pursuit of these fish. In the deepest portions vast quantities of these
imprisoned fish accumulate, and these parts are known in the country as the
Alligators' holes. Thither these reptiles crowd, pressing one against the
other, and they soon thoroughly clear it of the fish which lately were in such
dense crowds. As evaporation proceeds and the marshes gradually dry up,
the fish are more and more exposed to their voracious enemies. The
Alligators pursue and devour them in the water, whilst the ibis destroys
those which seek the banks for refuge. Alligators fish chiefly during the
night. In the hours of darkness and obscurity they assemble in large herds,
chase the fish before them, driving them into some retired creek, where they
rejoice their hearts at the expense of the unfortunate finny tribes, which they
force into their widely opened mouths by a lateral movement of their tails.
On these occasions the clashing of their jaws may be heard at the distance
of a mile. Alligators are found by thousands in Mexican waters, and nearly
all North American rivers to the south of them. In the beautiful transparent
waters of Lake Claro they abound, and are without difficulty seen by the
naked human eye. Here they are so closely pressed one against the other
that they resemble a raft of trees recently felled, and the resemblance is
further increased by the colour of their backs and the bark of a newly-felled
tree being identical. In this united and immovable condition, while waiting
for their prey, the approach of a boat is disregarded; but they rush with
avidity at everything animate which either falls or is thrown into the lake.
Many children of poor negro women become a prey to the Caiman in this
locality. They rarely, however, pursue men, yet they would not hesitate to
devour them if their imprudence has placed them close to their terrible jaws.

The natives of Mexico hunt the Caiman. When they meet an isolated
individual asleep, they throw a lasso round its body, and when secured, gag
it. After this operation, the victim's career is terminated by hammering on
his head. There is another means which the Indians use to capture the
Caiman. They provide themselves with four pieces of hard wood about a
foot long, and as thick as a man's finger, and pointed at each end; round
these they tie a cord in such a manner that, supposing the cord to be an
arrow, the four sticks would form the head of it. They then fasten the other
end of the cord round a tree, and bait with meat. This device is thrown into
the water. When the Caiman snaps at the prey the points of the hook, on
straining on the line, penetrate into its flesh. Having waited till the Alligator
is dead, it is drawn from the water, when the captors further gratify their
dislike and spirit of revenge by breaking its skull with stones and sticks.

Another method of capturing Alligators is practised by the residents on the
upper waters of the giant river Orinoco. A tree is bent (generally a bamboo
is selected from its elasticity) till the top is brought down to the butt, a bait
is then placed on a sharp hook, the line attached to it being fastened
securely to the small end of the bent tree, which is caused to relax its
position by an ingenious piece of mechanism which gives way the moment
the least strain is felt upon the line; the tree-point becoming thus released,
straightens itself with great velocity, and drags the victim from the water.

Frequently the Alligator, from constant pursuit and interruption, becomes
excessively wary and difficult to destroy; when such is the case, a live bait
is sometimes successfully employed. For instance, a Dog with a hook tied
to his back is taken in a canoe and dropped in the water; it is seldom the
unfortunate cur is permitted to swim far before being seized.

It is currently believed that the Alligator prefers dog-flesh to all others. The
negroes on the plantations in the South-Western States of America, by
imitating the barking of a dog, frequently lure these reptiles from their
hiding-places, when a well-directed bullet terminates their career.

Alligators are very voracious, but, like Serpents and Turtles, they can live a
long time without nourishment. In Brown's "Natural History of Jamaica,"
he asserts that he has known the Caiman to live several months without
food. The following experiments have been tried in that island:—The

mouth of an Alligator was muzzled by a strong cord, it was then thrown into
a reservoir of water. Thus these animals lived a considerable time. They
were seen to rise occasionally to the surface of the water, until death came
to their rescue. Let us add to this, that Crocodiles bred in captivity in the
menagerie of the Museum of Natural History, at Paris, sometimes live for
several months without eating.

Fig. 34.—Alligator (Crocodilus lucius).

The female Alligator takes more care of her young than the female
Crocodile, properly so called. She conducts them to the water, and in the
slimy mud she disgorges her half-digested food for their nourishment.

The true Crocodiles are indigenous to Africa, but they are found also in
Manilla and India. Their length of head is almost double its breadth. The
fourth tooth of the lower jaw is the longest and largest of all, and passes into
an indentation hollowed out in the edge of the upper jaw, becoming visible

on the outside. The hind feet have on their external edge a dentated crest,
and the interstices of their toes, externally, are palmated.

The principal type is the Common Crocodile, C. vulgaris, which sometimes
attains the length of nine or ten feet. The upper part of the body of these
reptiles is of an olive green colour spotted with black, and marbled upon the
head and neck with the same colour, also the back and tail; two or three
broad, oblique black bands are visible upon the flanks of the under part of
the body, which is of a yellowish green. Crocodiles abound in Africa.
Formerly they were found in all parts of the Nile, but lately it is said that C.
vulgaris is no longer to be met with in the Delta, but that it exists in great
numbers in the Thebaid and in the Upper Nile. They are also found in the
rivers Senegal and Niger, in Caffraria, and in Madagascar. Most authors
give them the name of Crocodiles of the Nile. This species are found also in
India.

The Crocodile was considered a sacred animal by the ancient Egyptians. In
ruins of temples mummies of Crocodiles are still found in a perfect state of
preservation. The Romans introduced living Crocodiles at the national
games in the Colosseum. At first only five were imported under the
ædileship of Scaurus. Under the Emperor Augustus thirty-six were killed in
the Circus of Flaminius. Several ancient medals represent this reptile, the
body of which perfectly resembles that which now lives in the waters and
on the banks of the Nile. There is a truly wonderful fact in the natural
history of the Crocodile. Listen to what Herodotus, the father of history,
tells us with regard to it:—"When the Crocodile takes his food in the Nile,
the interior of its mouth is always covered with bdella (flies). All birds, with
one single exception, flee from the Crocodile; but this one, the Nile Bird,
Trochylus, far from avoiding it, flies towards the reptile with the greatest
eagerness, and renders it a very essential service. Every time the Crocodile
goes on shore to sleep, and at the moment when it lies extended with open
jaws, the Nile Bird enters the mouth of the terrible animal and delivers it
from the bdella which it finds there; the Crocodile shows its recognition of
the service, and never harms the bird."

This fact, reported by Herodotus, was long considered to be a fable, but the
naturalist, Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who formed part of the

commission that General Bonaparte took with him in his expedition into
Egypt, had on several occasions opportunities of proving the truth of the
historian's narrative.

In a memoir read to the Academy of Science on the 28th of January, 1828,
he says, "It is perfectly true that there exists a little bird which flies about,
perpetually seeking, even in the mouth of the Crocodile, the insects which
form the principal part of its nourishment." This bird, which Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire recognised as the Charadrius Ægyptius of ornithologists, is
like a Plover. The bdella, which thus torment the Crocodiles, and even
excite them to madness, are no other than our European gnats. Myriads of
these insects haunt the banks of the Nile, and when these giants of its waters
repose on its margin, warming themselves in the sun, they become the prey
of these insignificant pigmies. It is like the war between the Lion and the
Mouse, described by La Fontaine. The bdella fly into the Crocodiles'
mouths in such numbers that they cover the entire surface of the palate, and
form a brownish crust. These little pests pierce the tongues of the reptiles
with their stings. It is then that this bird comes into the mouth of the
monster to catch them, and deliver it from such innumerable enemies. The
Crocodile with one bite could easily destroy the bird, but he knows too well
what he owes to this friend to do it an injury. Crocodiles of the Nile are
more voracious than the American Alligators. Hasselquist asserts that in
Upper Egypt they often devour women who come to draw water from the
Nile, as well as children playing upon its banks. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
says, that in the Thebaid they often met with Arabs wanting an arm or leg,
who accused Crocodiles of this mutilation. Sir Samuel Baker also mentions,
in his late work on the Nile and its tributaries, the desire of these amphibia
for human flesh, and the dread they are held in by the natives. Livingstone,
the celebrated traveller, gives the following account of an encounter he had
with one of these ferocious animals:—

"The Crocodile," says the celebrated traveller, "makes many victims every
year among the children who are so imprudent as to play on the banks of
the Liambia when their mothers go to fetch water. The Crocodile stupefies
its victim with a blow from its tail, then drags it into the river, where it is
soon drowned. In general, when the Crocodile perceives a Man it dives, and
furtively glides away from the side which he occupies. Sometimes, on the

other hand, it precipitates itself with surprising agility towards the person it
has discovered, which may be noticed from the disturbance caused on the
surface of the water. An Antelope which is being hunted and takes to the
water, in the lagunes of the Barotsé valley, a Man or a Dog who goes there
to seek for game, will scarcely fail to be seized by a Crocodile, of whose
presence he has not the slightest suspicion. It often happens that, after
having danced in the moonlight, the young natives of the river's bank will
often plunge into the water in order to refresh themselves, when, being
seized by an Alligator, they perish."

[This mode of attack (striking with the tail) is also one of the methods
adopted by the Alligator of America for disabling its prey. A friend, on
whose veracity I have much dependence, while shooting wild fowl on one
of the tributaries of the Lower Mississippi, had the fortune to witness a fight
between a Bear and an Alligator. He was called to the scene of the struggle
by the noise made by the combatants, in the dry cane, that yielded to their
pressure as they fought in each other's embrace. Several times both ceased
only to recover breath and fresh energy; at length the Alligator missed
striking the foe with its tail, Bruin seized the opportunity, and with all his
efforts succeeded in turning the amphibian on its back, where he held him
for some minutes, at the same time gnawing one of the fore-shoulders. A
final struggle of the now worsted Alligator hurled both into the water,
where they disappeared, the disturbed surface telling of the dreadful contest
that was being prolonged beneath; after the lapse of over a minute the Bear
came up, evidently much fatigued, and swam ashore, my friend forbearing
to wound, or possibly kill, the gallant conqueror.]

Crocodiles, it is said, which have never eaten human flesh, are much less
dangerous than those that have acquired a taste for it. Mr. Combes states
that he was assured by an inhabitant of Khartoum, who had reached the
town with the Egyptian troops—that is to say, before the horrors committed
by the Desterdar, acting with Mehemet Bey, who had been Governor of the
Soudan some time before Mr. Combes's voyage—that the Crocodiles
appeared to be quite indifferent to human flesh; but after the many
executions by drowning ordered by Mehemet Bey, as he was told by a
native whom he interrogated—"since the Nile has been loaded with the
carcasses of my brethren"—the monsters which inhabit it have become

habituated to substantial food, which they scarcely knew before: so that
afterwards those swimming in the river, or even bathing on its banks, were
exposed to imminent danger.

Natives of Africa shoot the Crocodile with a gun, or attack it with a barbed
javelin, which is thrown by hand, and aimed at the fore-shoulder. Some
Egyptians are reported to be daring enough to swim under the Crocodile,
and pierce him in the belly with a dagger. The negroes of Senegal are said
to be equally expert. If they surprise the animals in parts of the river where
there is not sufficient water for them to swim, they attack the monster with
a lance; and with their left arm wrapped in a sheet of leather, they
commence by aiming with their weapon at the eyes and throat; then they
thrust the arm, encased in leather, into its mouth, and, holding it open, their
enemy is either suffocated or expires under the wounds received. Traps are
also employed successfully for their destruction. In Egypt the natives dig a
deep hole in the ordinary route of the Crocodiles, which is easily discovered
by the trail they leave in the sand. This hole is covered with branches and
strewed with earth. The Crocodile is now alarmed with loud cries, which
disturb and drive him back to the river, by the same way that it has left it.
As it passes over the treacherous hole it falls in, when it is killed, often with
the most brutal cruelty. At other times a thick cord is attached to a large
tree, and to the other end of the cord a lamb is bound, held by a protruding
hook. The cries of the lamb attract the Crocodile, which, in its attempt to
carry off the bait, is taken by the hook.

Still another method for the destruction of these repulsive-looking creatures
has been adopted on one or two occasions by our countrymen in India. A
dead animal is procured, in its abdomen is placed a loaded shell, to which is
attached a wire made fast to an electric battery; when the bait has been
seized and carried to the bottom, the shell is exploded, which invariably
maims or kills the Crocodile.

The Gavials, or Indian Crocodiles, have long narrow cylindrical muzzles,
slightly inflated at the extremity; the teeth are almost the same, both in
number and shape, on each jaw, the two first and the fourth of the lower jaw
pass into notches or indentations in the upper jaw, and not into holes, as in
Crocodiles; the hind legs are dentated and palmated, like those of African

Crocodiles. The Gavials are chiefly remarkable for their long head, its type
being the Gavial of the Ganges, or Gavial longirostre. It is of a deep watery
green colour, having on the upper part numerous irregular brown spots; in
the young, the back and limbs are transversely banded with black; the lower
part is of a pale whitish yellow; the jaws are marked with brown, the claws
are of a clear horn colour. This species is not so carnivorous as the others,
and is consequently less dreaded.

The Gavial of the Ganges, G. Gangeticus, is supposed to be the largest of
the existing Saurians; its length, as given by Duméril, is seventeen feet four
inches.

CHAPTER IV.

CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES.

["The body," as described by Dr. Gray, "is covered with square imbedded
plates, generally forming a dorsal and ventral shield united by their
margins, leaving only the head, neck, limbs, and tail free, and (in some
species, as the Box-Tortoises, Cinasternon, shut up by movable closely-
fitting doors) only covered with a scaly skin; the upper shield formed of the
ribs united together and adherent to the dorsal vertebræ by a toothed suture,
and surrounded by a series of bones forming the edge of the shields; the
lower shield, or sternum, formed of four pairs and a central anterior bone;
the jaws toothless, covered with a horny bill, rarely hid by fleshy lips;
eyelids distinct; drum of the ear visible; legs short and thick; tail conical."
"The natural dwelling chamber of the Chelonia consists chiefly," says
Professor Owen, "and in the marine species (Chelone) and Mud Turtles
(Trionyx) solely, of the floor and the roof; side-walls of variable extent are
added to the fresh-water species (Emydians) and Land Tortoises
(Testudinians). The whole consists of 'osseous plates,' with superincumbent
horny plates, or 'scutes,' except in the Soft or Mud Turtles (Trionyx and
Sphargis), in both of which these are wanting."—("Circle of the Sciences.")

These animals, to which a portable stronghold is thus given in
compensation for inferior powers of locomotion and defence, are
recognisable at a glance from the singular armour with which Nature has
provided them. A double shield envelopes all parts of their bodies, only
permitting the head, neck, legs, and tail to pass through it: moreover, all
these organs can be hidden within this double cuirass by means of a
retractile power possessed by the animal. This double armour consists of a
carapace, or back-piece, and plastron, or breast-plate, composed of a series
of small bones or plates closely united together; the first resulting from the
union of the sides and dorsal vertebræ, the plastron, or lower buckler, being
only a highly-developed sternum. These organs are merely portions of the

skeleton, which, in place of being lodged in the depths of the soft parts, has
become the superficies, which is only covered by a thin, dry skin.

This numerous and highly-interesting order of Reptiles, called Chelonia,
from χελωνη, a Tortoise, are also called Testudinata, from testudo, the Latin
name for a Tortoise, from the double shield in which the bodies of all,
whether terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine Tortoises, are enclosed.

The skeleton of the Tortoise is, perhaps, the most extraordinary structure
with which we are acquainted. This oddly-organised animal when first seen
strikes the beholder with astonishment. The carapace and plastron, with
their connecting plates, form a sort of protecting box, in which the animal
lives, its head and tail excepted. In the land Turtles the head and feet, which
are comparatively senseless, can be withdrawn within the protecting
armour. The ribs and sternum are both placed quite on the exterior of the
body, so as to form a broad dorsal shield on the upper surface, and an
equally strong ventral plate; between these, the limbs and the head can be
more or less completely retracted. Nevertheless, the modifications in the
arrangement of the elements by which these changes are accomplished are
of the simplest nature. In the common Tortoise, Emys Europæus, the
vertebræ of the neck and tail being connected together in the ordinary
manner, the neck and caudal region of the spine present their usual
flexibility, but the dorsal vertebræ are strangely distorted, the upper arch
being disproportionately developed, while the bodies remain almost in a
rudimentary state; the spinous processes of these vertebræ are flattened and
converted into broad osseous plates, which form a longitudinal series along
the centre of the back, and connected together by means of sutures. The ribs
are changed into broad flat bones firmly united by sutures to each other, and
also to the lateral margins of the spinous processes of the vertebræ, so that
they form together a single broad plate; the heads of the ribs are feebly
developed, and the intervals between them and the bodies of the vertebræ
filled up with ligament. The margin of the shield thus formed by the dorsal
ribs is further enlarged by a third set of flat bones fixed by sutures around
the whole circumference of the carapace.

The plastron, or ventral plate, is made up of nine pieces, of which eight are
arranged in pairs; but the ninth, which is always placed between the four

pieces composing the two anterior pairs, is single, and occupies the mesial
line. The bones of the shoulder and hip are placed within the thorax, and
articulated to the sides of the vertebral column.

Of this vertebral column in these extraordinary animals, Professor Owen
remarks that the manifold modifications of the framework which render it a
portable abode, appear to have been given as a compensation for inferior
powers of locomotion, and the absence of offensive weapons. But with all
its modifications, the same number of pieces are found in the bony skeleton
as in other ordinary vertebratæ, the form and volume of many of these
pieces being alone changed.

The skin which covers the body of these animals sometimes preserves its
softness, being altogether devoid of scales; but in nearly all the species it is
covered with horny scales of great consistency. Upon the plastron and
carapace these scales form large plates, the arrangements and appearances
of which vary in different species, some of them being often remarkably
beautiful. The material which bears the name of Tortoise-shell forms an
important article of commerce.

Aristotle mentions three groups of Tortoises; namely, χελωη χερσαια, or
Land Tortoises; θαλαττια, or Sea Tortoises; and Εωhυς, or Fresh-water
Tortoises. Cuvier divides them into five sub-genera:—1, Land Tortoises,
Testudo (Brogniart); 2, Fresh-water Tortoises, Emydes (Brogniart); 3,
Marine Tortoises, Chelque (Cuvier); 4, Chelydes, Testudo fimbriata; 5, Soft
Tortoises, Trionyx (Geoffrey)—in which he is followed by Dr. Gray in the
British Museum Catalogue, who makes them the third order of Reptiles in
his arrangement as follows:—

I. Testudinidæ.
Testudo, Chersina, Kinixys, Pyxis.
II. Emydidæ.

Geoemyda, Emys, Cyclemys, Malaclemys, Cistudo, Kinosternon,
Chelydra, Platysternum.
III. Chelydidæ.
Sternotherus, Pelomedusa, Hydraspis, Chelymys, Phrynops, Chelodina,
Hydromedusa, Chelys, Peltocephalus, Padocnemis.
IV. Trionycidæ.
Trionyx, Emyda.
V. Cheloniadæ.
Sphargis, Chelonia, Caretta, Casuana.

In the valuable "Erpétologie" of Messrs. Duméril and Bibron, the
Chelonians are divided into—1, Land Tortoises, Chersites; 2, Marsh
Tortoises, Elodites; 3, River Tortoises, Potamites; 4, Sea Tortoises, or
Turtles, Thalassites.

This arrangement being the most simple, is adopted as best adapted to our
purpose.]

Land Tortoises.

Terrestrial Tortoises are distinguished by their short, oval, and convex
bodies, covered by carapace and plastron; four feet, and the absence of
teeth; short, stumpy, unshapely legs; nearly equal toes, armed with claws,
united by a thick skin, so as to form a clumsy foot, the periphery of which
forms a sort of hoof, which seems adapted for the land.

In this group the carapace is very convex, its height sometimes exceeding
its breadth; it forms a solid, generally an immovable, arch, under which the
animal can completely conceal its feet and tail. This buckler is covered with
large horny plates or scales.

Land Tortoises have been known from the earliest times, representations of
them being found on numerous monuments of antiquity, the product of

ancient art. Moreover, ancient writers tell us that the carapace of the
Tortoise contributed its substance to the formation of the first lyre; it was
consequently sacred to Mercury as the deity of music and inventor of that
instrument.

The Land Tortoises are divided into four genera, which Duméril and Bibron
again divide into three sub-genera and thirty species. The most interesting
species, however, to which we must limit our remarks are—the Marginate
Tortoise, Testudo marginato; the Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica;
the Greek Tortoise, Testudo Græca; and the Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo
elephantina.

Fig. 35.—Testudo Mauritianica.

The Margined Tortoise, which was long confounded with the Greek
Tortoise, is found abundantly throughout the Morea, in Egypt, and upon the
Barbary coasts. The carapace is oval in form, oblong, convex, and much
dilated at the posterior margin, and nearly horizontal; the plastron is
movable behind, which is its chief sub-generic character; the tail is thick,
conical, and scarcely issues from the carapace. The plates of the disc are of
a blackish-brown, presenting towards the centre certain spots of a beautiful
yellow colour; the marginal plates are habitually ornamented with two
triangular spots, one yellow, the other black. The underpart of the body is of
a dirty yellow, with one large triangular black spot upon six or eight of the
sternal scales. This Tortoise is of medium size.

The Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica, is commonly found in the
neighbourhood of Algiers, and along the coast of Morocco, whence those
are sent which are sold in the Paris markets. When shooting in Morocco,
scarcely a day would pass without the setters or pointers finding numbers of
them, to which they would stand with as much staunchness as game. The
scent they emit is so powerful as to be easily detected by a human being.
The carapace of this species is also convex; the sternum is also movable
behind: it is generally olive-coloured. The plates of the disc are marked
with blackish spots, and sometimes with a buckle of the same colour, which

covers their circumference on the front and sides. The plates of the plastron,
the ground of which is olive, have each a large black spot in the centre. This
species is rather smaller than the Marginate Tortoise.

The Greek Tortoise, Testudo Græca, is of small dimensions, scarcely
exceeding twelve inches in length. They inhabit Greece, Italy, some of the
Mediterranean isles, and the south of France, from whence it seems to have
been transplanted into Italy. They feed upon herbs, roots, slugs, and lob-
worms. Like all their race, they sleep during the winter, passing this season
in holes which they excavate in the soil sometimes more than thirty inches
deep. As the month of May approaches they issue from their retreat,
resorting to some sheltered sandy place, where they bask themselves in the
sun's rays. Towards the month of June the females lay from twelve to
fourteen white spherical eggs, as large as a small walnut; they dispose these
eggs in a hole exposed to the sun; but covered over with earth. Thus the
operation of hatching is performed. The carapace of this species is oval and
very much arched; their marginal plates are twenty-five in number; the
plastron, which is almost as long as the carapace, is separated into two great
portions by a longitudinal line; the plates of the carapace are spotted with
black and greenish yellow, forming a large marbled pattern; the centre of
the disc is besides relieved by a small, irregular, blackish, central spot.
These three species are held in high estimation on account of their flesh,
which gives an agreeable taste to soup.

The Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina, the length of which is more
than three feet, inhabits most of the islands situated in the Mozambique
Channel—namely, between the eastern coast of Africa and the Isle of
Madagascar. The Museum of Natural History at Paris had specimens of this
Tortoise which lived more than twelve months, and which weighed about
six hundred pounds. Their flesh is extremely delicate, and much sought
after.

In some other Terrestrial Tortoises, from which the genus Pyxis has been
formed, the anterior portion of the plastron is movable; and when the head
and feet are drawn in, the animal can fasten itself against the sides of the
carapace like a door in its case.

In some Terrestrial Tortoises, which have been formed into particular
genera, the carapace is flexible, and can lower itself behind like the
plastron; these are Kinixys. Lastly, there are others which, for legs, have
only four unguiculated toes: such as the Homopodes.

Marsh Tortoises.

Marsh Tortoises, Elodites, occupy a place between Terrestrial Tortoises and
those which are essentially aquatic. They have the carapace more or less
depressed, oval, and broader behind; their feet have distinct flexible toes
supplied with hooked claws, of which the phalanges are united at the base
by means of an elastic skin, which enables them to separate one from the
other, at the same time preserving their strength and assisting them to grasp
a much larger surface. Thus they can walk upon the ground, swim on the
surface of deep waters, and climb up the banks of lakes or other tranquil
waters, which are their habitual dwelling-places.

These Tortoises are generally of small size; being carnivorous, they feed
upon small living animals. As they exhale a nauseous odour they are not
used as an article of food; and further, as their carapace is neither thick
enough nor beautiful enough to be manufactured as tortoise-shell, they are
consequently little sought after. There are a hundred species of Elodians, or
Marsh Tortoises, known, which are spread over all parts of the globe, but
principally in warm and temperate regions. Such are the Cistudo, Emydes,
and Trionyx.

The Elodians have none of the sluggishness of the Land Tortoises; they
swim with facility, and on land they walk with considerable rapidity. Their
eggs are white, and nearly spherical, with a calcareous shell, and these are
deposited in a hollow dug in the soil or sand, like the Land Tortoises, the
place chosen being generally situated on the banks of some secluded
stream; the number of eggs increasing as the animal approaches maturity.

The Elodians are divided into Cryptoderes and Pleuroderes: the former
distinguished from the latter by the retractile power they possess of
concealing their cylindrical neck, with its sheath of loose skin, under the
middle of the carapace; the head, whose width is nearly equal to its height

at the occiput; the eyes always lateral, and their orbit so large that the
diameter of the cavity nearly equals a fourth of the whole cranium; and the
jaws, which are strong, sometimes trenchant, in others are dentated on the
edge. In the larger number of species the anterior extremity of the upper
beak is notched with a strong tooth on each side, producing the appearance
of a beak closely resembling that of birds of prey.

Fig. 36.—Mud Tortoise (Cistudo Europæa).

The Mud Tortoises, Cistudo, sometimes called the Yellow Tortoise (Fig. 36)
are very abundant in Europe. They are found in Greece, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, and in the southern provinces of France; also in Hungary,
Germany, and as far north as Prussia. They inhabit lakes, marshes, and
ponds, at the bottom of which they bury themselves in the mud.
Occasionally they come to the surface of the water, and remain there for
hours. They live principally upon insects, mollusks, aquatic worms, and
small fishes. Although the flesh of the Mud Tortoise is far from being
palatable, it is nevertheless eaten in countries where they are common.

Fig. 37.—Emydes Caspica.

Fig. 38.—Chelys matamata.

The Emydes are divided into four considerable groups, namely, the
European group, of which Fig. 37, E. Caspica, is typical; the American
group, containing twelve or fourteen species; the African Emys; and the
Oriental group of twelve species.

The Pleuroderes have the neck retractile on one side of the carapace,
without their having the power of drawing it between their fore feet, and
under the buckler and plastron, like the Cryptoderes. Chelys matamata (Fig.
38) belongs to this division. This species lives in stagnant water, and is
altogether remarkable for its singular appearance—for its depressed, wide,
and triangular nostrils, prolonged into a proboscis; its wide gape, rounded
jaws, and the cutaneous appendages to the chin. This is sometimes called
the Bearded Tortoise.

Potamians, or River Tortoises.

The River Tortoises live constantly in the water, only coming to land
occasionally; they swim with much ease below and on the surface. The
carapace is very broad and flat; the toes united up to the claws by broad
flexible membranes. These membranes change the feet into true paddles,
which perform the office of oars. They seem to attain a considerable size,
one kept by Pennant for three months weighing twenty pounds, its buckler
not reckoned; the neck measuring twenty inches in length. The upper parts
of their bodies vary in tint from brown to grey, with irregularly marbled,
dotted, or ocellated spots; the underpart is a pale white, rosy, or purple tint.
Sinuous brown, black, or yellow lines are symmetrically disposed on the
right and left, principally on the neck and on the limbs.

During the night, when they think themselves safe, the River Tortoises seek
repose on the rocks and islets, or on timber floating in the rivers, from
which they plunge into the water on the slightest noise. These Tortoises,
which accommodate themselves so perfectly to the medium that they
inhabit, are continually at war with the fishes, reptiles, mollusks, and other
denizens of the rivers. They are voracious and active, and are relentless
enemies to the young of fishes, and especially of Crocodiles.

The carapace of the River Tortoise, Trionyx, is soft, covered with a flexible
cartilaginous skin resting on a greatly-depressed osseous disk; its upper
surface is covered with shrivelled sinuosities. As they are destitute of scales
these Tortoises are said to be soft; their flesh is much esteemed, and they
are angled for with hook and line, baited with small fishes or living worms

and mollusks, or with dead bait, to which the sportsman gives motion and
apparent life, for they are said never to approach dead prey. When they
seize their victim, or defend themselves, they dart out their head and long
neck with great rapidity, biting sharply with their trenchant beak, and
holding on till they have bitten out the piece. From this peculiarity they are
commonly known in the United States as the Snapping Turtle. Persons
wading have been known to lose toes from their bite.

Fig. 39.—Trionyx Ægyptiacus.

M. Lesueur states that towards the beginning of May the females of
Gymnopus spinifera, belonging to this division, seek out sunny sandy spots
on the river's bank for the deposit of their eggs; they are not deterred from
choosing steeps of ten or fifteen feet for this purpose. Their eggs are
spherical, and more fragile than those of the Marsh Tortoise. They deposit
from fifty to sixty at a time. None of this group are found in Europe. The
fresh-water lakes and rivers of the warmer regions, such as the Nile and the
Niger, in Africa, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Amazon rivers, in

America, the Euphrates and the Ganges, in Asia, are its habitats. Among
other remarkable species in the group we here represent Trionyx
Ægyptiacus, Fig. 39, supposed to be the Εμυς of Aristotle.

No modern naturalist has done more to illustrate the habits of the Fresh-
water Turtle than Mr. Bates, in his highly interesting work, "The Naturalist
on the Amazon." "The great Fresh-water Turtle (probably Platemys æfipes)
of the Amazon or Solimoens grows on the upper river," he says, "to an
immense size, a full-grown one measuring nearly three feet in length, by
two in breadth, and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every house (in Ega)
has a little pond called a corral, or pen in the back-yard, to hold a stock of
these animals through the season of dearth—the wet months. Those who
have a number of Indians in their employ send them out for weeks, when
the waters are low, to collect a stock, and those who have not purchase their
supply—this is attended with some difficulty however, as they are rarely
offered for sale. The price of Turtles, like that of other articles of food, has
risen greatly since the introduction of steam-vessels. Thus, when I arrived,
in 1850, a middle-sized one could be bought for ninepence, but when I left,
in 1859, they were with difficulty obtained for eight or nine shillings each.
The abundance of Turtles varies with the amount of diurnal subsidence of
the waters. When the river sinks less than the average, they are scarce; but
when high waters have prevailed, they can be caught in abundance, their
haunts being less restricted, and appropriate breeding-places more
numerous.

"The flesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome; but it is very cloying,
and every one ends sooner or later by becoming thoroughly surfeited. I
became so sick of Turtle in the course of two years that I could not bear the
smell of it, although nothing else was to be had; consequently I suffered
from actual hunger."

One of the most amusing sketches in Mr. Bates' book is a journey he made
on the Solimoens, during which he visited the praias, or sand-islands, the
Turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams and lakes of the great river.
His companion was Cardozo, who was a sort of official superintendent of
the diggers for Turtles' eggs on the sand-banks of Shimuni, the island lying
nearest to Ega. There are four or five of these Royal Praias, as they are

called, in the district, each having its commandant, whose business is to see
that every inhabitant has an equal chance in the egg-field.

"The pregnant Turtles descend from the interior pools of the main river in
July and August, before the outlets dry up, and seek their favourite sand-
island in countless swarms; for it is only a few praias that are selected by
them out of the great number existing. When hatched, the young animals
remain in the pools throughout the dry season; for these breeding-places of
the Turtle then lie from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the river, and
are accessible only by cutting a path through the dense forest." On the 26th
of September Mr. Bates left Ega with his companion, who was about to visit
the sentinels placed to mark when and where the Turtles laid their eggs.
Their conveyance was a stoutly-built canoe, or igareté, arranged for two
paddlers, with an arched covering in the stern, under which three persons
could sleep pretty comfortably. The swift current of the Solimoens carried
them rapidly to the large wooded island of Baria, which divides the river
into two broad channels. Shimuni lies in the middle of the north-easterly
passage. They were quickly paddled across, reaching it an hour before
sunset. The island is about three miles long and half a mile broad. The
forest which covers it rises to an immense uniform height, presenting all
round a compact and impervious front, the uniformity being interrupted
here and there by a singular tree, called Mulatto wood, whose polished
dark-green trunk is seen conspicuously through the mass of vegetation. The
sand-bank lies at the upper end of the island, and extends several miles,
presenting an irregular surface of ridges and hollows. At the further shore to
the north-east, where no forest line shuts out the view, the white, rolling,
sandy plain stretches away to the horizon; to the south-west a channel,
about a mile in breadth, separates Baria from Shimuni.

Arrived at this island, Mr. Bates proceeds to describe with great minuteness
the operations of the Turtles, as well as those of the sentinels placed to
watch them.

"We found two sentinels," he says, "lodged in a corner of the praia, where it
commences at the foot of the towering forest west of the island, having built
themselves a little rancho with poles and palm-leaves. Great precautions are
obliged to be taken to avoid disturbing the vigilant Turtles, which, previous

to crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand-bank. The
men during this time take care not to show themselves, and they warn off
any fisherman who attempts to pass near the place; for the passage of a
boat, or the sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-bank, would prevent their
laying their eggs that night, and if repeated, they would forsake the praia for
some quieter place."

After a night spent under a temporary shed rapidly constructed for himself
and companion, Mr. Bates rose from his hammock shivering with cold.

"Cardoza and the men were already watching the Turtles on a stage erected
on a tall tree fifty feet high; from this watch-tower they are enabled to
ascertain the place and date of successive deposits of eggs, and thus guide
the commandant in fixing the time for his general invitation to the Ega
people. The Turtles lay their eggs during the night, leaving the water in vast
crowds when all around is quiet, when they crawl to the central and highest
part of the praia. The hours between midnight and dawn are those when the
Turtles excavate, with their broad, webbed paws, deep holes in the fine
sand, the animal in each case making a pit about three feet deep; in this pit
it lays its eggs, about a hundred and twenty in number, covering them over
with sand; then a second deposit is placed on the top of the first, and so on
until the pit is full." This goes on for about fourteen days. "When all have
done, the area, or taboliero, over which they have been digging is only
distinguished from the rest of the praia by signs of the sand having been a
little disturbed.

"On rising I went to join my friends," he continues, "and few recollections
of my Amazonian rambles are more vivid and agreeable than that of my
walk over the white sea of sand on this cool morning. The sky was
cloudless; the just-risen sun was hid behind the dense woods on Shimuni,
but the long line of forest to the west on Baria, with its plumy decorations
of palms, was lighted up with his yellow horizontal rays. A faint chorus of
singing-birds reached the ears from across the water, and flocks of Gulls
and Plovers were calling plaintively over the swelling banks of the praia.
Tracks of stray Turtles were visible on the smooth white surface, two of
which had been caught, for stragglers from the main body are a lawful
prize.

"On arriving at the edge of the forest I mounted the sentinels' stage just in
time to see the Turtles retreating to the water on the opposite side of the
sand-bank. The sight was well worth the trouble of ascending. They were
about a mile off, but the surface of the sand was blackened with the
multitudes which were waddling towards the river; the margin of the praia
was rather steep, and they all seemed to tumble head first down the
declivity into the water."

On the 2nd of October the same party left Ega on a second excursion, the
object of Cardoza being this time to search certain pools in the forest for
young Turtles. The exact situation of these hidden sheets of water are
known to few. The morning was cloudy and cool, and a fresh wind blew
down the river; they had to struggle, therefore, against wind and current.
The boat was tossed about and shipped a good deal of water. Their
destination was a point of land twenty miles below Shimuni. The coast-line
was nearly straight for many miles, and the bank averaged about thirty feet
above the then level of the river; at the top rose an unbroken hedge of
forest. No one could have divined that pools of water existed on that
elevated land.

A path was cut through the forest by our party with their hunting-knives to
the pool, half a mile distant; short poles were cut and laid across the path,
over which three light canoes were rolled, after being dragged up the bank.
A large net, seventy yards in length, was then disembarked and carried to
the place. Netting, however, the older Indians considered unsportsmanlike;
and, on reaching the pool, they commenced shooting the Turtles with bows
and arrows from light stages erected on the shores.

"The pool covered an area of about four acres, and was closely hemmed in
by the forest, which, in picturesque variety and grouping, often exceeded
almost anything I had seen. The margins for some distance were swampy,
and covered with large tufts of fine grass called matupá. These tufts were in
many places overrun with ferns, and exterior to them was a crowded row of
arborescent shrubs growing to a height of fifteen or twenty feet, forming a
green palisade. Around the whole stood the taller forest trees—palmate-
leaved Cecropiæ; slender Assai palms thirty feet high, with their thin
feathery heads crowning their gently-curving, smooth stems; and, as a

background to these airy forms, lay the voluminous masses of ordinary
forest trees, with garlands, festoons, and streamers of leafy parasites
hanging from their branches."

The pool which was hemmed in by this gorgeous scenery was nowhere
more than five feet deep, and of that one foot was a fine soft mud. Cardoza
and the author spent an hour paddling about admiring the skill displayed by
the Indians in shooting Turtles. They did not wait for the animals to come to
the surface to breathe, but watched for the slightest movements in the water
which revealed their presence underneath; that instant an arrow flew from
the bow of the nearest man, which never failed to pierce the shell of the
submerged animal, and by mid-day about a score of full-grown Turtles had
been shot. The net was now spread at one extremity of the oval-shaped
pool, its side resting on the bottom, while the floats buoyed the other side
up on the surface, the cords being held by two Indians. The rest of the party
now spread themselves round the pool, beating the water with long poles, in
order to drive the Turtles towards the centre. When they neared the net, the
men moved more quickly, beating and shouting with great vigour. The ends
of the net were now seized with vigorous hands, and dragged suddenly
forward, bringing them at the same time together, so as to enclose all within
a circle. Every man then leapt into the enclosure, the boats were brought up,
and the captured Turtles were thrown in. In this manner about eighty were
secured in twenty minutes.

Among these were several male Turtles, or capetaris, as they are called by
the natives. They are much less numerous than the females, much smaller,
and more circular in shape; their flesh is considered unwholesome.

On the 17th of October, the day announced for the taboliero, or egg-
digging, Mr. Bates made a last excursion in Senhor Cardoza's company.
Egg-collecting occupied four days. On the morning of the 17th about four
hundred persons were assembled on the sand-bank; each family had erected
a rude temporary shed of poles and palm-leaves, to protect themselves from
sun and rain. Large copper kettles to prepare the oil, and hundreds of red
earthenware jars, were scattered about on the sands. The commandant
commenced by taking down the names of all masters of households, with
the number of persons each intended to employ in digging; he then exacted

from each a fine equal to fourpence a head towards defraying the expense
of the sentinels, when the whole were allowed to go to the taboliero. It was
exhausted by the end of the second day, when each household had erected
large mounds of eggs beside their temporary hut.

Thalassians, or Sea Tortoises.

Cheloniadæ, Gray; Carettoidæ, Fitzing; Halychelones, Kelgen; Oiocopodæ,
Wagler.

The Turtles or Sea Tortoises are distinguished from all others by a
comparatively flat carapace, long members, the extremities of which
terminate in broad paddles, the anterior much longer than the posterior
ones; the toes, though formed of distinct pieces, can only act together, thus
constituting true oars, admirably arranged for swimming. Their carapace,
besides being flat, is indented and elongated in front, and contracted behind,
being disposed in such a manner that the head and feet can be completely
hidden.

Marine Tortoises are the largest of their species: they swim and dive with
great facility, and can remain long under water. The external orifice of the
nasal canal is furnished with a sort of valve, which the animal raises when it
is in the air and closes when under water; but it rarely leaves its liquid
element except in the breeding season, when nature prompts it to seek the
shore to lay its eggs. Some of the species, however, seek the shore in the
night, when they frequent the banks of desert and solitary isles, where they
browse on marine plants. Although they walk with difficulty, and even with
pain, in quiet seas they may be seen floating like a boat, in absolute
immobility, and asleep on the surface of the water. With their horny jaws,
which are hard and trenchant as the beak of a bird of prey, some of them
feed upon sea-weed and algæ, while others feed on living animals, such as
crustaceans, zoophytes, and mollusks.

We have seen how regularly and systematically the Land Tortoises proceed
in depositing their eggs—nor is less precaution taken by the Sea Tortoise.
The females, accompanied by the males, traverse several hundreds of miles
of sea in order to deposit their eggs in some favoured locality. Other

females resort, year after year, almost to a day, to the sandy shore of some
desert isle, where they drag themselves ashore during the night, sufficiently
inland to be safe from the tide. In some such spot, using their hind feet by
way of a shovel, they excavate holes about thirty inches deep. Here they lay
frequently a hundred eggs, covering them up afterwards with the fine sand,
levelling the surface, and then returning to sea, leaving the eggs to be
hatched by the solar rays. The eggs are round, slightly depressed at both
ends, and furnished with a coriaceous shell. From the high temperature
communicated to the sand-bank, they are hatched in about fifteen days. The
females seem to have two or three layings in the season, at intervals of two
or three weeks. When the young Turtles are hatched, they are feeble, white,
and about the size of frogs, and their instincts lead them at once to the sea.
Under the fostering care of their mother, those which have escaped the birds
of prey on their way to the sea, and the fishes lying in wait for them, rapidly
develop, and attain, under favourable circumstances, an enormous size,—
some of the Sphargis, or Soft Turtles, having been known to weigh from
fifteen to sixteen hundred pounds,—while others, whose carapaces
measured more than fifteen feet in circumference and seven feet in length,
exceeded eighteen hundred pounds.

Marine Tortoises are met with in herds more or less numerous in all seas,
principally towards the torrid zone in the tropical regions, on the shores of
the Antilles, in Cuba, Jamaica, St. Domingo, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the
Indian Ocean. Those occasionally found by navigators in the North Atlantic
and Mediterranean seem to be wanderers separated from some travelling
bands.

Fig. 40.—Green Turtle (Chelonia Mydas).

Of all reptiles, the Sea Tortoise is the most useful to man. In countries
where they are common, and where they attain an enormous size, their flesh
is the most healthy and nourishing food, and their carapace serves as a
canoe in which the natives paddle along the shores. They even roof their
huts with them; they convert them into drinking-troughs for their cattle and
into baths for their children. According to Strabo and Pliny, the ancient
inhabitants of the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea converted the
enormous carapaces of the Tortoise which frequented their shores into
coverings for their houses, and boats for paddling along the coast. The fat of
many species, when fresh, is used as a substitute for oil and butter. When
the musk-like odour of this fatty substance, as in Chelonia caouana and C.
caretta, becomes too repulsive for food, it is employed in embrocations, in
tanning leather, or in lamps. The eggs of nearly all the Turtles are sought
after for their flavour. Finally, the carapace of several species constitutes a
valuable material much employed in the arts, and known as tortoise-shell.
This material is sought after in consequence of its hardness and the fine
polish of which it is susceptible, and also for the facility with which it is
worked. It has a strong resemblance to horn, but is easily distinguished

from it. Though, like horn, it is formed of parallel fibres, it seems to be
rather the result of exudation, consisting of a kind of solidified mucus. Its
texture is homogeneous; it can be cut and polished with precision and
beauty; in short, under the influence of a gentle heat, it is softened and can
be modelled into any fashion, according to the taste of the moulder; after
becoming cool it retains the desired shape.

Fig. 41.—Capturing Turtles.

While most of the Tortoises are highly useful to man, both for food and
other purposes, perhaps the most interesting are the Green Turtles (Tortues
franches of French authors), Chelonia caouana and Caretta. From these
man draws the greatest advantage from their superior size, and from the
thickness of their shells. The Green Turtle (Chelonia Mydas, Fig. 40) is so
called from the reflected green of its carapace. It abounds in the Southern
Atlantic Ocean, where it keeps habitually far from the shore, except in the
breeding seasons, when it makes long voyages in order to deposit its eggs,
giving a preference for that purpose to Ascension Island and St. Vincent. It
rests on the surface of the open sea, and as it sleeps heavily, it is easily
taken by a cord with a running knot, which is carefully slipped round its
neck as the boat containing the captors silently glides past. It is even said to
be a practice with the Malay fishermen to dive beneath them, and attaching
a cord to the foot of a sleeping Turtle, thus take it alive.

Many other modes are employed for capturing them. In the regions
frequented by them in the breeding season, they are followed by their track
on the sands, and their retreat cut off, when met with, by forming a circle
round them, when they are thrown on their backs; hand-spikes sometimes
being necessary to accomplish this from their great size. In this position
they are helpless, and must remain until wanted, so that their enemies have
time to pursue their sport elsewhere, as represented in Fig. 41. The next day
they are collected or destroyed at leisure. In 1802 the crew of a French ship
surprised a female Turtle on the Island of Lobos. The men had infinite
trouble in making good its capture and throwing it on its back, for it was
strong enough to drag them all towards the sea. It was at last mastered. Its
head was as large as that of an infant, and its beak four times the size of a
paroquet. It weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, and had in its body
three hundred and forty-seven eggs. Turtles are also taken in nets, in the
meshes of which their beaks and flippers get entangled; thus prevented from
coming to the surface for air, they die of asphyxia. Others harpoon them on
the open sea when they come to the surface to breathe. The harpoon is
attached to a cord, by which the animal is soon brought to the surface and
drawn into the boat. But the commonest mode of capture is approaching
them in a boat as they float asleep on the surface—this must be done
silently. When within reach, a back flipper is laid hold of by one of the
crew, and by a sudden twist the Turtle is thrown on its back, when
becoming helpless for the moment, it is dragged on board.

Fig. 42.—Hawk's-bill Turtle (Chelonia caretta).

A very curious mode of fishing for Turtle is pursued by means of small fish,
a species of Echeneis or Remora. These small fish are provided with an oval
plate on the head, which consists of a score of parallel plates, forming two
series, furnished on their outer edge with an oval disk, soft and fleshy at its
circumference; in the middle of this plate is a complicated apparatus of
bony pieces dispersed across the surface, which can be moved on their axis
by particular muscles, their free edges being furnished with small hooks,
which are all raised at once like the points of a wool-card. The fishermen
keep many of these fishes in buckets of water. When they see a sleeping
Turtle they approach it, and throw one of these suck-fish into the sea. The
fish dives under the Turtle, and fixes itself inextricably to it by means of
their cephalic disk. As the fish is attached to a long cord by means of a ring
in its tail, the fish is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line
fishing of a new kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in
the bosom of the deep.

The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy and excellence
of its fat, is that from which Turtle soup is made. Turtle soup is only of
recent invention, the first Turtle having been brought to London by Admiral
Anson in 1752. It was long a costly dish, and even now, although the

introduction of steam and other adjuncts to navigation has greatly modified
the expense, its price is about ten shillings per pound weight.

Fig. 43.—Loggerhead Turtle (Chelonia caouana).

Much of the tortoise-shell of commerce comes from the Green Turtle, but
by far the finest specimens are produced by the Imbricated or Hawk's-bill
Turtle, Chelonia caretta (Fig. 42). In this species the plates of the disk are
imbricated, or lapping over each other, and thirteen in number. The muzzle
is long and compressed; the jaws with straight edges, without dentation,
curving slightly towards each other at their extremities, with two nails on
each fin. It rarely attains the size or weight of the Green Turtle. The
Hawk's-bill Turtle is met with in the Indian Ocean, and also on the
American shores. It feeds on marine plants, on mollusks, and small fishes,
and is chiefly sought after for its shell, which produces the finest tortoise-
shell known; while its flesh is rendered unpalatable from its musky flavour.
On the other hand, its eggs are excellent when fresh, and eagerly sought
after.

In order to prepare the shell, it is softened by means of boiling after being
torn from the animal's back. It is then flattened by being passed through a
press, previous to being polished. In this condition it is ready for all sorts of
ornamental work. The Loggerhead Turtle, or C. caouana (Fig. 43), like the

Green Turtle, has its scales placed side by side. Its colour is brownish or
deep maroon. It is found incidentally on the French and English coasts, and
abounds in the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. Its length is about four feet;
its weight, from three to four hundred pounds. It is very voracious, and
feeds principally on mollusks. Its shell is much valued, but its flesh is
indifferent, and its fat altogether uneatable; however, it is used in some
localities to make lamp-oil.

Fig. 44.—Leather-back or Corded Tortoise (Spargis coriacea).

The Leather-back or Corded Tortoise, Spargis coriacea, differs from every
other genus, its body being enveloped in a coriaceous hide; tuberculous in
the young, perfectly smooth in adults. The feet are without claws. Seven
longitudinal grooves extend from the neck to the tail, which remind one of
the seven chords of the ancient lyre. Only one species of Sphargis is known
(S. coriacea, Fig. 44). This species is found in the Mediterranean and
Atlantic Ocean, and is, with the Hawk's-bill Tortoise, the only species found
on the British coast. Its body is a light brown, with the lines of the carapace
fawn-colour; its members black, edged with yellow. It attains the length of
six to eight feet, and a breadth of about one-fifth of the length: it sometimes
attains the weight of fourteen to sixteen hundred pounds. Its flesh is said to
be unwholesome, and, on being eaten, to produce severe vomiting and
purging.

BIRDS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Birds are the spoilt children of nature—the favourites of creation. Their
brilliant plumage often assumes the most resplendent colours. They have
the happy privilege of moving in space—now fluttering through the air,
hunting the insect which flits from flower to flower; now soaring high aloft,
and swooping upon the victim it has marked for its prey; now cleaving the
atmosphere on rapid wing, and performing journeys of vast extent with
great rapidity. Mankind have a profound sympathy with these little winged
beings, which charm at once by the elegance of their form, the melody of
their song, and the graceful impetuosity of their movements.

Anatomically speaking, birds are connected with the Mammifera by their
internal structure. Their skeleton essentially resembles that of the
Mammals, the bones being nearly the same, only modified slightly for the
purposes of flight.

In birds there is a double circulation. The heart consists of two moieties, or
lobes, known as the auricle and ventricle. It is conical in form, and occupies
the anterior part of the thorax, its apex passing between the lobes of the
liver; but there is little perceptible distinction between auricles and
ventricles. Their blood is richer in globules than that of the Mammalia,
being more thoroughly permeated by air; the respiratory function is also
more energetic, from the same cause—in fact, they consume a larger
quantity of oxygen, and produce a proportionately greater degree of heat;
for while their lungs are small, and placed in the upper part of the thorax
only, where they are confined on each side to a cavity, bounded above by
the ribs, and below by an imperfect diaphragm, they are perforated by
tubes, which communicate with membranous cells, distributed over the
thoracic and abdominal cavities, between the muscles, and beneath the skin,
—often in all parts of the body. What distinguishes the bird, in fact, is not
the wing; for certain of the Mammalia, as the Bat, and even some fishes, as
the Gusard and Exocœtus, can traverse the air by expanding their wings. In
birds the diaphragm which arrests the air in the Mammalia is scarcely

perceptible, so the external air penetrates into every part of the body by the
respiratory tubes, which ramify the whole cellular tissue, the interior of the
bones, and even the feathers, and between the muscles. Their bodies, dilated
by the air inhaled, lose a proportionate amount of weight; balloon-like, they
float in the air, and, from their peculiar forms, they can swim, so to speak,
in any direction in the gaseous element.

Fig. 45.—Skeleton of the Swan.

Wings alone, then, would fail to support the bird in space. The position
renders a double system of breathing necessary. Vital heat in animals is
always in proportion to their respiration, for the oxygen of the air, which
penetrates every cell and cavity of their bones, feathers, and body, warming
and giving increased activity to their circulation, and specific lightness to
their bodies, from its rich organisation enables birds to live in the coldest

atmospheric regions. In Fig. 46
the respiratory organs of a Pigeon
are represented. The trachea, or
windpipe, is composed of many
bony rings, varying in different
species. In the Falcons it is
slightly flattened, and tapers in a
small degree; but in many genera
it presents dilatations and
contractions, and in others it is
variously curved, two slender
muscles, which run along its
sides towards the sternum,
serving to contract it. In many of
the song-birds several pairs of
small muscles are attached to the
Fig. 46.
lower larynx where the tube
bifurcates, by which they are
enabled to control this organ, which is the producer of their note.

Fig. 47.

The trachea carries the air to the lungs in a Pigeon, and separates into two
branches in the breast, where it abuts on the aërial sacs, and on the two
lungs (Fig. 47). The air carried by the windpipe acts upon the blood through
the thin substance of the cells which constitute the pulmonary tissue, in

which it traverses in an infinity of minute vessels, whose thin walls are
permeable by the gas.

The lungs are small, and placed in the upper part of the thorax, where they
are confined on each side by a cavity bounded above by the ribs and below
by an imperfect diaphragm; but they are perforated by tubes which
communicate with membranous cells distributed over the thoracic and
abdominal cavities, between the muscles, beneath the skin, and in all parts
of the body—the air even penetrating many of the bones when the species
are peculiarly aërial in their habits.

The external form of birds is modified so as to be subservient to aërial
progression. The vertebral column, or spine, along the centre of which runs
the spinal cord, is divided into three regions—the cervical, dorsal, and
sacral regions—terminating in the caudal extremities, the number of
vertebræ, or pieces, varying much in different genera. The body consists of
the dorsal, sacral, and caudal parts of the column; laterally, of the ribs and
pelvis; and beneath, of the sternum and the soft parts contained in it. Its
anterior part, containing heart, lungs, and liver, is named the thorax; the
posterior, the pelvis. The sternum, with the clavicles and scapulæ, is perhaps
the most curiously modified part of the skeleton of birds.

The sternum, then, is a large expanded plate extended over the whole
anterior part of the thorax, and even covering more or less what may be
considered the abdomen. It varies greatly in different genera; but in all it is
more or less four-sided, and convex externally, forming the basis for the
powerful muscles by which the wings are moved. These wings serve as
arms by which the bird guides itself, ascending or descending according to
the impulse given them. "That the anterior form of birds is modified so as to
be subservient to the aërial progression for which these animals are
intended," says McGillivray, "is obvious and intelligible. Their bodies are
oval, with the more powerful muscles placed on the breast, so that, when
the horizontal position is assumed, the centre of gravity comes between the
wings, and is kept near the lower part by the weight of the pectoral muscles.
The length and flexibility of the neck enable the bird to make the necessary
changes in the centre of gravity, while the solidity of the dorsal spine gives
advantage to the action of the muscles. The head is terminated by a pointed

bill, which aids in cleaving the air; the feet, when short, are drawn up and
concealed under the feathers; when long, they are stretched out beneath or
behind the tail, which is more or less expanded, and helps to support the
body in the air, as well as, by acting in the manner of a rudder, to change its
direction, or, by being expanded, to break its descent."

Fig. 48.

Fig. 49.

Fig. 50.

The wings of birds are acute or obtuse. The more angular the wing of birds
—that is to say, the longer the feathers on the edge of the wing—the more
rapidly does it propel itself through the air. The tail consists of a number of

feathers, to which are attached a series of small muscles, one for each
vertebra, which are capable of depressing and elevating the tail in various
degrees; while a series of connections, whose fibres invest the base of the
quills, curve round the edge of the tail. Their action is to spread out the tail-
feathers, and incline them to the right or left; thus enabling it to perform the
part of a helm or rudder as it cleaves the atmosphere.

Besides flight, birds possess other means of locomotion. They are formed
for walking or for swimming as well as for flying, according as their habits
are aërial, terrestrial, or aquatic. Their general form, though possessing all
the characteristics of the class, is modified and adapted to the kind of life
they are intended to lead. Where the skin of a bird is covered with feathers,
it is observed that the true skin, or derma, is thin and transparent; while the
cuticle is thicker, and even covered with scales, in those parts where
feathers are absent.

Before addressing ourselves to the physiological functions of birds, a few
words descriptive of their feathers, beaks, and claws will not be out of
place.

The covering of birds is known by the general name of plumage. It is
composed of many individual feathers. The feathers are horny productions,
consisting of a hollow tube or barrel, and a stem rising from it. Chemically,
this covering is of the same material as the hair on Mammals and the scales
on reptiles and fishes, differing only in its mechanical structure. Besides the
more conspicuous feathers, most birds have an underneath covering of
smaller ones known as down-feathers. A feather of the ordinary kind
consists of the tube, or barrel, by which it is attached to the skin, varying in
length according to the species; the stem, or shaft, composed internally of a
soft, compact, but elastic substance of a whitish colour, and in its buoyancy
not unlike cork; the web, which is a lateral prolongation of the external
coating of the shaft, and which assumes the form of a thin linear membrane
springing from it at an angle more or less acute in different species: this is
the barb. From the upper edge of each barb two sets of minute filaments
proceed at an angle similar to that of the barb itself in respect to the shaft.
These smaller filaments are the barbules, by means of which the barbs are
retained in opposition—not by the barbules of one barb interlocking with

those of another in the manner of dovetailing, but by the anterior series of
one barb overlapping and hooking into the recurvate formation of the barb
next to it (Figs. 51, 52). The barbules themselves frequently throw out
filaments in the same manner, which are called barbicels, whose object is
apparently the same—namely, that of connecting and retaining the barbules
in position. These may be observed, by the aid of a small magnifying glass,
in the quills of the Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaëtus.

Fig. 51. Fig. 52.

Fig. 53. Fig. 54. Fig. 55.

Feathers, then, consist of three parts—the tube, the shaft, and the webs; the
webs being the barbs furnished with barbules, sometimes barbicels. They

are convex above, and are thus enabled to resist flexion or fracture better
from beneath than from any other direction. They are also elastic; and this
property, together with their curvature, tends to keep them closer together.

In the feathers of a large portion of birds there is a plumiform formation, or
small feather or plumule. This plumule is conspicuous in gallinaceous birds
—for instance, the Pheasants (Fig. 53); it springs from the fore part of the
tube, just at the commencement of the shafts; it gradually narrows, and is
continued in the form of a very delicate, thread-like fibre; from its side
proceed two series of barbs, and from the barbs two series of barbules,
extremely fine, entirely disunited, and very loose. This plumule seldom
exists among aquatic birds, but in gallinaceous fowls it attains the length of
two-thirds of the feather, and in the Emu and Cassowary it equals it in
length.

Feathers may be divided into those specially employed as the means of
locomotion and those intended to protect the bird from extreme cold. The
former are much stronger, more compact, and more elongated than the
others. The row of feathers bordering the wing behind is known as the alar
quills, or wing-quills, and those terminating the extremity of the tail, as
caudal quills. From the head, backwards to the tail, the feathers increase in
strength and size; those on the face, or round the base of the bill, being
smallest, the tail-coverts longest. Immediately covering the base of the
wing-quills are a row of feathers on both surfaces of the wing; these are the
quill-coverts.

The most brilliant feathers are found in birds of warm climates, and the
more tropical the climate the more dazzling and brilliant is the plumage. In
many species the brilliant plumage is confined to the males, while that of
the females is dark and sombre. In other cases it is the same in both sexes.
The young of some species attain the adult appearance after the first moult;
others take several years to acquire their full splendour.

Birds cast their feathers at least once a year, in order to put on a fresh dress.
This is called moulting—a change which usually occurs in the autumn, but
sometimes both in spring and autumn. During the moulting season birds are
dull, retiring, and silent; but when they emerge from this state they proudly

display their lively colours, which now rival the gayest flowers that
surround them.

Among the gallinaceous birds, and especially among the aquatic species,
there exist over the coccyx certain receptacles from which is distilled the
oily substance with which they lubricate their plumage. These receptacles
are known as the uropygial glands. On the lower surface is a layer of
cellular tissue containing a similar fluid, which seems to be connected with
the growth of the feathers.

Fig. 56. Fig. 57. Fig. 58.

Fig. 59. Fig. 60.

The feet of birds are as varied in different species as are their wings. In
birds of prey the claws are powerful and hooked. In some the foot is flat
and the claw straight and adapted for walking (Figs. 56, 57, 58). The great
toe is generally the strongest, but this is not an absolute law: a projection
which is found on the leg of some birds, and is designated a spur, is a
formidable weapon in some species (Figs. 59, 60). Some birds walk by
bringing their feet forward alternately; others by a simultaneous motion, or
a succession of leaps. Some run with great velocity, while others walk with

great difficulty, and that only on a flat surface. Many have their toes joined
by thin membranes, which act as paddles by which they propel themselves
through the water.

The beak, or bill, of birds is composed of two bony pieces, called
mandibles, surrounded by a horny substance, differing both in form and
thickness according to the habits of the species. In the genus Falco the bill
is shorter than the head; the upper mandible is furnished at the base with a
bare coloured skin, of a peculiar dense texture, called the cere; its outline
slightly convex as far as the edge of the cere (Fig. 61), then curved so as to
form about the third of a circle, and evidently destined, in connection with
its formidable claws, to tear its prey.

Fig. 61.

Fig. 62.

Fig. 63.

In the Toucans Ramphastidæ the bill is half a foot long, hollow within, thin,
and nearly transparent; and the mandibles are so disposed as to combine,
with their great bulk, strength and lightness, and assisting by their digestive
power to assimilate both animal and vegetable food (Fig. 62). In the

Pelicanidæ, as in the Common Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, the bill is
long, straight, and compound; the upper mandible curved towards the point,
the lower compressed; the base inserted in a small membrane which extends
under the throat. In the back part of the head is an additional bone (Fig. 63,
a), attached in such a manner to the occiput as to admit of great expansion,
which permits of its swallowing plaice and other flat fish of considerable
size. The Crane, Grus cinerea (Fig. 64), has the bill rather longer than the
head, strong, straight, compressed, and pointed at the extremity; the sides of
the mandible deeply channelled with nostrils, and closed backwards by a
thin membrane.

Fig. 64.

In the Goose, genus Anser (Fig. 65), we find the bill short, not longer than
the head, conical, covered at the base with a cerous skin, with under
mandible smaller than the upper. In the Sparrows, Passerina (Fig. 66), the
bill is strong and conical, the upper mandible slightly curved, the lower
compressed and smaller than the upper; nostrils lateral, basal, round, and
partly concealed by the short feathers at the base of the mandibles. In the
Goatsuckers, Caprimulgus (Fig. 67), the bill is remarkably small and weak,
the sides inflexed and sometimes gaping.

Fig. 65.

Fig. 66. Fig. 67.

The tongue, like the bill, however, is only an accessory to the digestive
apparatus; for while the beak serves the purpose of prehension and
trituration, the tongue assists in deglutition or swallowing. Digestion is so
active in some birds, that they get fat in an excessively short space of time.
The Ortolan Bunting, Emberiza hortulana, and some others, are fattened for
the table in five or six days. In the swelling under the throat, called the crop,
a (Fig. 68), or first stomach, which is largely developed in some of the
granivorous or grain-eating birds, the food remains for a time, where it
undergoes certain modifications which facilitate digestion; thence it passes
into the succenteric ventricle, or second stomach, b (Fig. 68),—there it
imbibes the necessary amount of gastric juice; being finally transformed
into chyme in the gizzard, c (Fig. 68), or third stomach, which is possessed
of great muscular power, being capable of acting upon the most solid
bodies, triturating even the flints and gravel which the gallinaceous birds
swallow to aid their digestion.

It is a curious fact that a grain of seed, introduced into the stomach, may be
digested without alteration, and ejected where it will germinate, if it meets
with no obstacle to its vegetation. In this manner trees are frequently found
in regions where their species appear to have been previously unknown.

Chyle, which is a milky fluid formed from the junction of chyme and bile,
is received by the small intestine, where the bile also flows from the liver
and the saliva from the pancreas.

The urinary apparatus consists of the kidneys, two in number, thick and
irregular, and distinct one from the other, abutting on the intestine, which
terminates in a species of pouch, or cloaca, through which evacuation,
alternately of urine, excrement, and eggs, takes place.

The sense of touch, of smell, of taste, and hearing
are only slightly developed in birds. Some have
spoken of great delicacy of scent in birds of prey,
which are observed to assemble in great numbers
on fields of battle and other places where human
carcasses are exposed. But the opinions of
naturalists, such as Audubon and Levaillant, seem
to prove that these animals were attracted rather by
the sight than smell.

The organ of sight is, indeed, more highly
developed in birds than in any other class of
animals. The volume of the eye itself is large
compared with the head. It includes an addition
which seems to be confined to birds. This is a black
membrane, with many folds, very rich in blood- Fig. 68.
vessels, and situated at the bottom of the ocular
globe, and advancing towards the crystalline.
Anatomy has failed to explain the use of this, but it is supposed that by
advancing or withdrawing it, it gives to birds additional power of vision.
Other parts of the eye, such as the choroïds, the thin membrane which
covers the posterior part of the eye, the iris, the retina, present nothing
remarkable. The white of the eye is surrounded by an osseous or
cartilaginous matter, evidently placed there for protection of this delicate
and useful organ.

Fig. 69.

Besides the ordinary upper and lower pupils, birds possess a third. This
consists of an extensive transparent membrane, disposed vertically, which
covers the eye like a piece of network, protecting it from the effects of a
blaze of light. It is this pupil, or nictating membrane, placed at the internal
angle of the eye, between the orb and the external pupil, which the animal
uses at will, which permits the Eagle to gaze at the sun, and prevents the
nocturnal birds of prey from being dazzled when exposed to daylight.

The perfection of the sight of birds seems to be proved from the Vulture, so
distant from his prey as to appear a mere speck in the heavens, without
deviation flying directly to it; or the Swallow, which perceives, while on
rapid wing, the smallest insect on which it feeds. According to Spallanzani,
the Swift has sight so piercing, that it can see only five lines in diameter at
the distance of five hundred feet.

Birds, of all animal creation, can traverse distances with the greatest
rapidity. The fleetest among the Mammifera cannot run over five or six
leagues in an hour. Certain birds easily traverse their twenty leagues in the
same interval of time. In less than three minutes we lose sight of a large
bird, such as a Kite or an Eagle, whose body is more than a yard from wing
to wing. It is assumed, from these facts, that these birds traverse more than
fifteen hundred yards each minute, or more than fifty miles in an hour. A
Falcon of Henri II. strayed from Fontainebleau in pursuit of a Bustard; it
was taken the next day at Malta. Another Falcon, sent from the Canaries to
the Duke de Lermes, in Spain, returned from Andalusia to the Peak of
Teneriffe in six hours—the flight representing a distance of two hundred
and fifty leagues. In short, the whole organisation gives to a bird that
remarkable lightness which contributes so much to its velocity. Not to speak
of the feathers with which it is covered, its bones are hollow and form large
cells, called aërial sacs, which it is able to fill with air at will, and its
sternum is furnished with a bony frame or breast-bone, formed somewhat
like the keel of a ship, into which the pectoral muscles are inserted—which,
besides being largely developed, in birds of flight possess remarkable
contractile properties.

The vocal apparatus in birds, represented in Figs. 70 and 71, is very
complicated, and differs from the human larynx and trachea. It consists of a
kind of osseous chamber; which, however, is only a swelling in the arterial
trachea at the point where it bifurcates and enters the breast to form the
bronchial tube. It is this formation, called the lower larynx, which
constitutes the organ of song. Five pairs of muscles, attached to the walls of
this chamber, stretch or relax the vocal chord, by which means they enlarge
or diminish the cavity of the larynx. Whoever has watched any song-bird
singing must have noted the swelling and contracting of its throat as it
poured out its melody, modifying, in a thousand ways, the tension of the
vocal chords and of the larynx, and producing those marvellous
modulations whose perfection must always be a subject of astonishment
and admiration.

Fig. 70. Fig. 71.

The song of birds must be the expression of some sentiment; they surely
sing as much for their own pleasure as to charm those who listen to them.
While they fill the woods with their melodious accents they direct their
looks on all sides, as if proud of their talents, and desirous of gathering the
tribute of admiration to which they feel themselves entitled. Their song
varies with the season, but it is in the early spring their efforts are the most
successful, and we are most disposed to admire the beauty and harmony of
their voices. Can anything be more delicious than the warbling of the
Linnet, the piping of the Goldfinch, slowly swelling from their leafy bower,
or the melodious cadence of the Nightingale, as it breaks the silence of the
woodland during the serene nights of leafy June?

Our landscape would be sad and mute indeed without these graceful
inhabitants of the air, which give so much animation to country life and
solitary rambles. In the silence of night, when all nature sleeps and life
seems suspended, all at once certain notes of harmony rise from under the
dense foliage, as if to protest against the universal silence. It is sometimes a
plaintive cry, prolonged into a stifled sigh, now a continuous warbling, now
a lively song, gay and melodious, which the whole forest re-echoes to.

When the darkness of night gives place to the first dawn of day—when the
soft gleam of Aurora has appeared on the horizon, all is transformed, all is
vivified on the new-born earth, lately asleep and apparently deserted. The
larger birds rise higher and higher in the air, till they are lost in the clouds.
The small birds hop from branch to branch with joyous gambols,

communicating a movement of happiness and content over all nature. What
a wonderful variety of music issues from them—what dazzling brilliancy
and variety deck their plumage—what a charm pervades the whole scene,
enlivened by these living flowers flitting about in intense enjoyment,
hovering, traversing, and embellishing the air! Be it a Titmouse, which
seems to spend its life suspended from the branch of a tree; or the Fly
Catcher, on the other hand, always perched; the Lark, performing its
graceful circles in the air as it rises higher and higher, pouring forth its
melodious song more vigorously with each circle described; the Thrush,
which runs along the grassy path, watching for its prey, or the House
Sparrow chirping from the straw-built roof, or the Robin warbling from
some leafless bower—how completely the little winged wanderers decorate
the landscape and improve the picture with their innocent gambols!

Assuredly birds have a language which they alone comprehend. When
danger threatens them, a particular cry is uttered by one, and immediately
all of the same species hide themselves until their fears are dispelled and
confidence restored. When the presence of a bird of prey is announced by
the plaintive cry of the Thrush, all the feathered race of the neighbourhood
are hushed into silence.

Birds of prey with carnivorous instincts live in the most solitary places. The
Eagle lives alone with his mate in some unapproachable aerie, his nest
placed on the side of some steeply-scarped mountain, or perhaps hidden in
the depth of some inaccessible ravine, whence they sally forth to visit some
distant region in search of prey.

It is very difficult for us to appreciate the degree of intelligence exhibited
by birds. In the Mammifers, whose organisation approaches nearer to that
of man, we are enabled partially to comprehend their joys and griefs; but in
the case of birds we are reduced to conjecture in order to arrive at an
estimate of their sensations. To explain this profound mystery a word has
been invented which satisfies easy minds: we call the sentiment which leads
birds to perform many admirable actions which are related of them, instinct.
The tenderness of the mother for her young—a tenderness so full of
delicacy and foresight—is, we say, only the result of instinct. It is agreed on

all hands, however, that this instinct singularly resembles the intelligence
called reason, and, in the opinion of many, is nothing else.

Reproduction in birds occurs at intervals regulated by nature, and they are
distinguished, above all other creatures, for the fidelity of their affections. It
is frequently a matter of observation that a male attaches itself to a female,
and they henceforth live together till the death of one or both; and many
affecting scenes are described where death has overtaken one of the
affectionate pair. When the breeding season approaches, the habits of the
female are modified; she abandons her former freedom, and, having laid her
eggs, she passes her whole time in incubation, defying hunger and all other
dangers, apparently well instructed in the fact that the equal and prolonged
heat communicated by their contact with her body is necessary to hatch
them. During the period of incubation the male, in most instances, watches
the female, and supplies her with food; afterwards the little ones are waited
on by both the parent birds with the tenderest care until they finally attain
the use of their wings.

The solicitude of birds for their young is first manifested in the choice of
the locality for the nest, and in the care with which this cradle of their
progeny is constructed. But all this disappears when the young no longer
require the maternal protection.

Fig. 72. Fig. 73.

Fig. 74. Fig. 75.

In spring, when the birds have paired, they set themselves to work at once
to collect the necessary materials for their nest. Each carries its blade of
grass or stem of moss. Large birds content themselves with a coarser
structure—chips of wood, or branches of trees interlaced with twigs, lined
with hair and other soft materials, are fashioned into the necessary shape.
But the smaller species really display great art in framing their miniature
dwelling, which they furnish inside with wool, blades of grass, or down, the
male and female labouring in the common work. Their effort is to make a
soft, warm, and solid bed on which to deposit the coming eggs. The mother-
bird has recourse to all sorts of cunning devices in order to conceal her nest
from prying eyes, choosing for this purpose the heart of a leafy bush, the
forked limb, the concealed crack or hollow in the trunk of a tree, the
chimneys of a house, crevices in a wall or under a roof. Curiously enough,
the nests of the same species are always fashioned in precisely the same
manner. The Kinglet, or Wren (Fig. 72), builds its nest under a bank,
generally near some brook; it is neatly formed of moss, nearly covered with
leaves, and lined with small feathers, hair, and wool. In this nest the
smallest of our native birds lays six delicate little white eggs, marked with
small pink spots. The Humming-birds (Fig. 73), which flit about in tropical
woods, build their nests of grass, lined with feathers. The House Sparrow
(Fig. 74) builds its nest under the eave of some house; while the Hedge
Sparrow (Fig. 74) chooses the fork of a hawthorn-tree in which to construct
its children's home. The Magpie, more ambitious, constructs, in the topmost
fork of some tall ash, or poplar, or elm, its nest of branches interlaced with

twigs, and lined with fine grass, hair, and other soft materials (Fig. 75). It is
a large and consequently a conspicuous fabric, elliptical in form, composed
first of rough boughs, on which is laid a quantity of mud, and then a layer
of twigs, the whole lined with fibrous roots and other soft material. The
Goldfinch builds its nest on trees; it is composed of grass, moss, and
lichens, and lined with the down of various plants and such other soft
material as comes in its way, elaborately interwoven with wool and hair
(Fig. 76).

Fig. 76. Fig. 77.

The Owl, Strix flammea, chooses her nest in some obscure nook of an old
tower, the steeple of a church, a dovecot, or the hollow of an aged tree (Fig.
77). It is composed of twigs and straws loosely arranged.

Some birds form into a sort of coarse tissue the fibres of which they
construct their nest, which has procured them the name of Weaver Birds.
The nest of Fondia erythrops occupies the centre of a bundle of reeds
growing in shallow water, in which various grasses are roughly interwoven
in the form of a cupola. The Black-headed Synalaxis, S. melanops
(Bonaparte), constructs a more delicate fabric, but remarkable for its
strength. It builds its nest with grasses, interlacing them in a firm and
inextricable web; the form is globular, and the entrance is a small hole in
one of its sides. The Orioles and Cassiques of the New World cannot be
passed without noticing their wonderful skill in nest construction. The nest
of the Baltimore Oriole forms a perfect family pouch, which it suspends

from the upper branches of a shrub or tree. The nest of Cassicus
hæmorrhous (Cuvier) consists of dry grasses woven into long sacks,
gradually increasing in size towards the bottom, with an elongated slit in the
side; this is so constructed as to exclude rain from the nest. These wonderful
structures are sometimes two yards in length; and when these birds are
numerous in the country, the nests, as they hang suspended from the
branches of trees, give a singularly novel aspect to the landscape.

Not less curious is the nest of the Tailor Bird, Orthotonia (Fig. 78), which is
formed of a large leaf, the two sides of which the bird has contrived to sew
together; in the interior is placed the nest. Miraculous indeed is the produce
of these little workers. The wonder is how the birds contrive to enter a nest
on the wing when the opening seems scarcely so large as the bird's body,
and yet it enters without disturbing a fibre. The hut of some savage races is
left constantly open, their intelligence not suggesting a protecting door. The
Spiders are more ingenious. They contrive to close the entrance to their
dwellings, while the door is left habitually open; some birds adopt
analogous precautions. In M. Jeudon's book on the Birds of India, he
reports a curious arrangement of a species of Homrain: when the female of
this bird begins to lay, the male encloses her in their nest by shutting up the
door with a thick mud wall, leaving only a small opening by which the
female can breathe and receive her food from the male bird's bill; for this
severe husband is not forgetful of his duties, but every few minutes conveys
some morsel to the enclosed prisoner.

Fig. 78. Fig. 79.

Sonnerat, in his "Voyage to India," speaks of a Cape Tit, the nest of which is
in the form of a bottle, and composed of cotton. While the female hatches
the eggs, the male, like a true sentinel, maintains a strict watch on a
specially-formed resting-place, built on one of the sides. Finally, for
ingenious construction, instigated by affection for its progeny, there is
nothing to compare to the work of the Republican (Fig. 79). This little bird
of the Cape, which is about the size of a Sparrow, which it much resembles,
lives in numerous families, that unite in forming immense colonies. Their
dwellings have the appearance of a circular framework surrounding the
trunk of some large tree, as represented beneath. Levaillant counted as
many as three hundred cells, which indicate that it is inhabited by six
hundred birds. These nests are so heavy that Levaillant was compelled to
employ a cart with many men in transporting one of their colonies. At a
distance they resemble great roofs attached to the trunks or branches of
trees, on which hundreds of birds sport and enjoy themselves. Further, the
Oriole suspends its basket-like nest by a twig at the extremity of a flexible
branch, placing it thus beyond the reach of any prowling four-footed
ravisher. The Magpie selects the topmost fork of the loftiest trees. Again,
the nest of the esculent Eastern Swallow, the one so much sought after by
gourmands, hangs from those cliffs washed by the sea, and is constructed of
a fucus, or marine plant, of the genus Gelidium, which gelatinous substance,

cemented by the saliva of the bird, forms a sort of paste of most delicate
flavour.

When this nest is built, and the walls properly cemented, and the home of
the little brood prepared, the eggs are laid and the process of hatching
commences. Eggs are generally numerous in inverse proportion to the size
of the bird. The Eagle lays two, for instance, while the Titmouse (Parus)
lays from twelve to eighteen.

The eggs laid, the female must now submit to the long and painful labour of
incubation. While the male lies in wait in the neighbouring bush to defend
his young brood against any enemy which may present itself, giving battle
to much larger animals if they venture to attack his nest, the female only
quits her charge for necessary food, and her place is often occupied during
her absence by her mate. Enemies that lie in wait are numerous. Among
them may be enumerated birds of prey, small quadrupeds, reptiles which
treacherously insinuate themselves into the nest, and perhaps more
unfeeling than all, children with destructive instincts.

If nothing occurs to disturb the repose of the pair, the male, perched upon a
neighbouring branch, pours out a song expressive of his felicity. The little
ones are finally hatched. Helpless and incapable, without feathers and with
closed eyes, they are utterly dependent on the parent birds, by which they
are fed until the time when they are covered with feathers. They now begin
to try their wings, and find their own food. The mother directs their first
efforts, uttering a peculiar cry to attract them when she discovers a favourite
morsel; defending them courageously, and, with a total abnegation of self,
meeting the most formidable enemies; sometimes going so far for their
protection as to offer herself a victim. How pitiful are the cries of a
Swallow whose nest is built under the roof of a house on fire! Fearlessly
she rushes on the flames, flying to the assistance of her young, as if she
would rescue them or perish under the fatal roof. Or mark the unhappy
Partridge which the sportsman has surprised on the nest. She hesitates not to
offer herself a sacrifice, throwing herself almost under the intruder's feet, in
order to attract his attention from her progeny.

When the young are strong enough to take wing, they abandon the family
tie, and soon lose themselves in the great world of nature, forgetful of their

parents' unselfish care. The ingratitude of their first-born does not, however,
discourage the forsaken couple. With the returning season they renew their
labours, exhibit the same solicitude, the same affection, to meet with the
same return. Nature is an unfailing source—an eternal focus of tenderness
and love.

Most families of birds are migratory; that is, they abandon their summer
quarters and undertake long journeys at certain seasons. These migrations
occur with the greatest regularity. By their departure from temperate or cold
climates they prognosticate the approach of winter, as their return heralds
spring. Among the ancient Greeks, as we learn from a passage of
Aristophanes on birds, the arrival of the Crane pointed out the time of
sowing; the arrival of the Kite the sheep-shearing season; and the arrival of
the Swallow in Greece was the date for putting off summer clothing. The
impulse which causes birds to depart is an instinctive desire to find climatic
conditions appropriate to their wants of life. At the approach of winter they
desert the regions of the north in search of southern countries with a warmer
climate, while others migrate northwards to escape the heat.

Nevertheless, all birds are not migratory; many species remain during their
whole lives in the locality where they were hatched, straying but little
distance from their birth-place. The majority of those which migrate
perform their journeys annually and with great regularity; a few irregularly
and accidentally; that is, they are caused by necessity, or by atmospheric
influences, to change their residence; and it is no unusual sight on such
occasions to see numerous flocks of birds assembling under the leadership
of a chief, and taking their flight in perfect order, traversing seas, and
passing from one continent to another, with astonishing rapidity. On the
22nd of September, 1771, White, of Selborne, witnessed the flight of a
flock of Swallows which had rendezvoused the night before in a
neighbour's walnut-tree. "At dawn of what was a very foggy day, they arose
all together in infinite numbers, occasioning such a rustling from the strokes
of their wings against the hazy atmosphere that the sound might be heard at
a considerable distance." In the Old World, choosing a time when the winds
are favourable, most migratory birds direct their flight towards the south-
west in the autumn, and the north-east in spring. In America the migratory
birds take a south-east direction in autumn, and the reverse in spring. These

aërial travellers instinctively direct their flight to the same regions—often to
the same district; and there are good grounds to believe that the same pair
frequently find their way year after year to the same nest.

The duration of the life of birds in a state of nature is one of those subjects
on which little is known. Some ancient authors—Hesiod and Pliny, for
example—give to the Crow nine times the length of life allotted to man,
and to the Raven three times that period; in other words, the Carrion Crow,
according to these authors, attains to seven hundred and twenty years, and
the Raven two hundred and forty. The Swan, on the same authority, lives
two hundred years. This longevity is more than doubtful. Paroquets,
however, are known to have reached more than a hundred. Goldfinches,
Chaffinches, and Nightingales unquestionably, even in the confinement of a
cage, have lived four-and-twenty years. A Heron, Girardin tells us, lived
fifty-two years, which was testified by the ring which he bore on one of his
legs, and even then he lost his life by an accident, while in full vigour. A
couple of Storks, moreover, have been known to nestle in the same place for
more than forty years. All that we can affirm is that birds live much longer
than the Mammalia.

We can easily fix a circumscribed geographical boundary to any species of
Mammalia. They may be limited to a country, or even a district. Can we
impose a like distribution on birds? At first sight this seems difficult: their
powerful organs of locomotion permit of their travelling rapidly; and,
moreover, their nature, essentially mobile, and their wandering humour,
lead them to continual change; and then their organisation adapts them for
great extremes of temperature—circumstances which would lead us to
consider them quite cosmopolite. Nevertheless, many species reside
habitually in countries of very limited range. A Sovereign Hand has traced
on the surface of the globe limits that cannot be passed. How such small
creatures are able to perform such distant journeys, pausing only at far-
severed resting-places for necessaries, has always been a matter of surprise.
They pass on without an instant's sleep, however long and fatiguing the
route. How can the Quail, for instance, with its short wing and plump body,
traverse the Mediterranean twice in the year? Hasselquist tells us that small
short-winged birds frequently came on board his ship in squally weather, all
the way from the Channel to the Levant; and Prince Charles Bonaparte was

agreeably surprised by the visit of a party of Swallows to the ship
Delaware, in which he was a passenger, when five hundred miles from the
coast of Portugal, and four hundred from Africa. Audubon relates a similar
occurrence; and numerous instances are recorded in which these fatigued
travellers have taken shelter in the first fisherman's boat they met,
sometimes so weak as to be hardly able to move a wing. It is therefore a
fact truly inexplicable, in spite of every hypothesis, more or less reasonable,
which has been advanced by naturalists in explanation.

Men have little influence over birds, and have, therefore, few opportunities
of studying their habits in a state of nature. Some few species may be
retained in captivity, and some observers have been able to obtain their
entire confidence while in that condition; but, except two or three species, it
has not been possible to reduce them to a state of domestication. Our
knowledge of the habits and manners of the feathered race is, therefore,
entirely dependent on chance observation.

The Humming-bird is confined to certain portions of America. The
Nightingale, if a visitor to Scotland, is only found in Berwick and
Dumfriesshire in fine seasons, while it is constantly seen in Sweden, a
country much colder and much more northerly. The Toucans, so brilliant in
plumage, are only found in tropical South America. The Swallow, so rapid
on the wing, clearing its twenty leagues an hour when it leaves us for its
southern winter quarters, never deviates from the route which seems to have
been traced for it by a Sovereign Master.

It may, then, be stated that the great zones of the earth differ as much in
birds as in the Mammifers found in them. We find in climatic regions birds,
or groups of birds, of perfectly distinct species, and which are rarely found
beyond that particular zone. Glancing at the various countries forming a
region, particular types of birds are easily recognised. Africa, for instance,
alone possesses the Great Ostrich, while only a small species exists in
America—the Rhea; the Emu represents the genus in Australia. Africa has
species brilliant as the most precious stones. To America belong exclusively
the Humming-birds, so remarkable for the brilliancy of their plumage.
Again, if Africa is the country of the Vulture, to America belongs the
Condor.

Nevertheless, the acclimatisation of birds is by no means beyond our power.
Experience proves that by carrying a bird far from its native country, and
placing it in conditions approaching those to which it has been accustomed,
it will live and multiply—acclimate itself, in short, to its new home.

Europe possesses no ornithological type peculiar to it. It is only in Africa
and America that we find those rich varieties of form and colour which
characterise the feathered race. The Island of Madagascar is the land which
possesses the greatest number of ornithological types—simply, perhaps,
because that island abounds in species whose rudimentary wings do not
permit of their wandering away. Whatever the cause, however, the species
found there are not obtained elsewhere. Here we find the unique Dodo, a
form of animal which became extinct in Europe in the last century.

There is a wonderful charm of companionship in birds—they give
animation to the scene, skipping from bush to bush, or skimming the
surface of land and water. They please the eye by their graceful shape and
plumage, and they charm our ears by their ceaseless warblings. Even in this
sense we lie under a debt of gratitude to these graceful inhabitants of the air.
But this is far from being the limit of the benefits we derive from them. The
birds of the poultry-yards furnish our most delicate food; their eggs form a
considerable branch of trade, and are indispensable in the kitchen; and what
would become of our country gentleman should our game birds ever
become extinct?—an event by no means improbable, seeing that, in the year
of grace 1868, the head-dress of every votary of fashion was decorated with
the wing of a bird—not confining the demand to Birds of Paradise, Ostrich,
Pheasant, and other feathers of brilliant plumage whose value was a
protection, but extending to the harmless sea-fowl, which were destroyed
by thousands only for the sake of their feathers.

Birds are useful to man by their feeding on the insects, larvæ, and
caterpillars which infest cultivated crops. Without their aid, agriculture
would become impossible. In former times it was a favourite doctrine with
the agriculturist that the Passerina were the real destroyers of his crops, and
a war of extermination was declared against them; but the observations of
more enlightened persons have demonstrated that the chief food of most of
these consists of insects, and the havoc among them has consequently been

stayed; still much ignorance, and its concomitant, cruelty, exist on this
point. Elsewhere, those interested soon discovered that the destruction of
small birds led to formidable increase in the numbers of voracious insects—
that these lively and joyous creatures, which float in the air and twitter on
the bough, are sent us more for good than evil, and that if some of them
make the crops pay a tax, they repay it tenfold by keeping down the excess
of more destructive ravagers.

While the smaller birds have proved essentially beneficial to man, some of
the larger birds exhibit similar tendencies. The Wading Bird clears the earth
of serpents and other unclean and venomous animals. The Vultures and
Storks throw themselves in flocks on corrupt carrion, and divest the soil of
all putrefying objects: thus, in concert with insects, birds are the scavengers
of the earth, lending their aid to make it a fit residence for man; in fact, are
constituted by nature guardians of the public health.

In former days Falconry afforded a stately and picturesque sport to the
great, in which lords and noble dames assisted. This pastime still exists in
some parts of England and some portions of the East, especially in Persia,
where the Falcon is trained to chase the Gazelle and small ruminants; while
in China and Japan the Cormorant and Pelican are taught to fish the rivers
for their masters. From very ancient times, the Carrier Pigeon was the
bearer of messages now transmitted along the electric wires with lightning
speed.

Nor do these benefits comprise all the claims of birds to the gratitude of
man. In tropical America the Agami, Trophia crepitans, or Trumpet Bird of
Guiana, is domesticated, and so docile in its habits, that it is employed to
watch the flocks, which it does with the fidelity and intelligence of a Dog.
"The Agami," says M. Monocour, "is not only tamed easily, but becomes
attached to its benefactor with all the fondness and fidelity of a Dog. When
bred in the house, it loads the master with caresses, and follows all his
motions, but is easily offended." It is bold and obstinate, and will attack
Cats and Dogs, fighting a tough battle with one of the latter, however
considerable his size. In Cayenne the denizens of the poultry-yard are
confided to its care; it leads them to their pasture, prevents them from
straying to a dangerous distance, and brings them home in the evening, just

as a trained shepherd's Dog will do the flocks committed to his care, and it
manifests its delight by cries of joy when its master vouchsafes a caress in
return for its faithful service. The Kamichi, which belongs, like the Agami,
to the same order, possesses similar characteristic intelligence. Like the
former, it is sociable and susceptible of education, and becomes a useful
auxiliary to the inhabitants of South America.

After these brief remarks on the organisation and habits of birds, we
proceed to describe the more remarkable species, arranged according to a
simple and comprehensive order of classification, placing before the reader
the various orders of the class Aves, in the ascending scale which has been
adopted in our previous works.

Aves—Birds.

Warm-blooded, vertebrated, biped animals. Pectoral limbs, fore-arms or
wings organised for flight; feathery integument; red blood; respiration and
circulation double; lungs fixed and perforated.

I. Natatores, or Palmipedes.

Swimming birds, having the toes united by a membrane; legs placed behind
the equilibrium; the body covered with a thick coat of down beneath the
feathers. They include the following orders and families:—

I. Brevipennes, Ostriches, Cassowaries, the Penguins, Auks,
Guillemots, and Grebes.

II. Longipennes, including the Terns, Gulls, Mews, Petrel, and
Albatross.

III. Totipalmates, the Pelicans, Gannets, Cormorants, Frigate Bird,
Tropic Bird.

IV. Lamellirostres, the Ducks, Geese, Swans, Flamingos.

II. Grallatores.

Wading birds, having the legs long and naked from the tibia downwards.

I. Macrodactyli, Crakes, Coots, Rails, Screamers.

II. Cultrirostres, Boatbills, Cranes, Herons, Ibis, Storks, Spoonbills.

III. Longirostres, Avocets, Snipes, Ruffs, Turnstones, Sandpipers,
Godwit, Curlews, Gambets.

IV. Pressirostres, Oyster Catchers, Thicknee Plovers, Lapwings,
Bustards, Coursers.

III. Rasores.

Scratching birds. Feet with strong, obtuse, scratching claws; mandible
vaulted; nostrils pierced at the base, covered by a cartilaginous scale.

I. Gallinaceæ (Polygamous), Pea-fowl, Partridge, Pheasant, Quail,
Grouse, Pentados, Turkey, Curassow.

II. Columbaceæ (Monogamous), Pigeons, Gouravinago.

IV. Cantores.

Singing birds. Legs short and slender, three toes before and one behind. In
this order, according to Professor Owen, the brain attains its greatest
proportionate size, and the organs of the voice their greatest complexity.

I. Dentirostres, Shrikes, Wrens, Wagtails, Thrushes, Warblers,
Manakins.

II. Conirostres, Birds of Paradise, Crows, Tits, Starlings, Buntings,
Larks, Finches, Grosbeaks.

III. Tenuirostres, Nuthatch, Creeper, Sunboard.

IV. Fissirostres, Swallows, Martins.

V. Volitores.

Birds moving solely by flight. Skeleton light and buoyant; head large; keel
deep (entire on the Humming-bird); wings powerful, in some long and
pointed; legs small and weak. The order includes—

I. Cypselidæ, Swifts.

II. Trochilidæ, Humming-birds.

III. Caprimulgidæ, Night-jar.

IV. Trogonidæ, Trogons.

V. Prionitidæ, Momots or Motmots.

VI. Meropidæ, Bee-eaters.

VII. Galbulidæ, Jacmar.

VIII. Coraciadæ, Rollers.

IX. Capitonidæ, Puff-bird.

X. Alcedinidæ, King-fishers.

XI. Bucerotidæ, Hornbills.

VI. Scansores.

Climbing birds, with opposing toes in pairs, two behind and two before.
The order includes—

I. Ramphastidæ, Toucans.

II. Bucconidæ, Barbets.

III. Cuculidæ, Cuckoos.

IV. Picidæ, Woodpeckers.

V. Musophagidæ, Plantain-eaters.

VI. Coliidæ, Colys.

VII. Psittacidæ, Parrots.

VII. Raptores.

Rapacious birds, with strong, curved, pointed, and sharp-edged beak; legs
short and robust, three toes before and one behind, armed with strong,
crooked talons. The order includes—

I. Nocturnes, Owls.

II. Diurnes, Eagles, Vultures, Hawks.

CHAPTER I.

THE NATATORES, OR SWIMMING BIRDS.

The Natatores are obviously devoted, by their organisation, to an aquatic
life. Their constant haunts are found on the great rivers and lakes, or on the
coast. They are chiefly characterised by the form of their feet. The toes are
united by marginal membranes in the Coots and Water-rails, or in others by
the extension of webs between and uniting the toes, of a soft membrane
slightly lobed; hence the name of Palmipedes, or web-footed, usually
applied to them. These broad palmate feet, acting at the end of a long lever,
strike the water with great force when fully expanded, being favoured by
their backward position. When the bird recovers its stroke, the toes are
relaxed in their forward movement, preparatory to another effort; thus
progression through the water is obtained.

Some of the swimming birds in their flight are feeble and slow; others are
incapable of even rising from the water, being only furnished with
rudimentary wings. Again, there are species which possess extraordinary
powers of traversing the air, their well-developed wings enabling them to
pass through space with wonderful rapidity. The Albatross is met with on
the high seas at a vast distance from the shore. Others, as the Petrels, seem
to revel in storms and tempests, mingling their wild cry with that of the
storm-tossed waves. The sailors, who look anxiously to windward at the
dark horizon, where the clouds are surcharged with torrents of rain ready to
burst on the ship, are assured of the approaching tempest by the circling
flight of the white-winged Albatross, as it is seen through the obscure and
threatening mist.

The whole order of Natatores swim and dive without saturation, their
plumage being anointed by an oily liquid furnished by certain glands in
their skin, which renders them impervious to moisture. This immunity from
the effect of water is further assisted by the disposition and structure of their

feathers, which, being smooth and three-cornered, with the barbules closely
interlaced, cause the water to glide off their polished surface; while the
down beneath the feathers of which we have spoken protects their bodies
from the cold, maintaining their natural heat, and enabling them to resist the
cold of the most rigorous winter.

The Natatores are numerous both in species and individuals, having their
habitat in all countries. According to Prince Charles Bonaparte, one of the
most eminent of European naturalists, those which frequent the sea-shore
alone constitute one-fourteenth part of all the birds on the globe, and the
number of species he reckons at nine thousand four hundred. They feed on
vegetables, insects, mollusks, and fishes. They seek the coast in the
breeding season, where they build their nests on the sand, or in nooks and
crannies of the rocks, or on the margin of lakes and rivers.

In the spring the sea-birds assemble in large flocks, pair off, and proceed to
deposit their eggs in nests constructed generally without skill, but always
lined or carpeted with a fine down, which forms a soft warm bed for the
embryo progeny. Certain localities are frequented by preference, which are
occupied by innumerable flocks in the breeding season, all of which seem
to live together in perfect harmony. Some of the families of the Natatores
are valuable additions to the poultry-yard. Ducks and Geese furnish delicate
and nourishing food for man; the Swan is gracefully ornamental on our
lakes and ponds. The down of all the aquatic birds is of immense value to
the commerce of northern countries. The eggs are good to eat, and in many
countries the inhabitants consume them in great quantities. Nor does their
usefulness end here. Guano, so eagerly sought for by the farmer, is the
excrement of aquatic fowls—the accumulation of ages, until, in the South
Pacific Ocean, it has formed whole islands, some of them being covered
with this valuable agricultural assistant to the depth of ninety or a hundred
yards. Nor is this so marvellous, if it is considered that twenty-five or thirty
thousand sea-birds sleep in these islets night after night, and that each of
them will yield half a pound of guano daily. Our lands receive valuable
assistance to fertility from this unrivalled material, which owes its power to
the ammoniacal salts, phosphate of lime, and fragments of feathers of which
it is composed.

The order of Natatores, or Palmipedes, consists of four families:—1.
Brevipennes, or Divers; 2. Longipennes, or Skimmers; 3. Totipalmates, or
Pelicanidæ; 4. Lamellirostres, including Geese, Ducks, Swans, and
Flamingos.

The Divers (Brevipennes).

Penguins, Aptenodytes; Auks, Alca; Grebes and Divers, Colymbus;
Guillemots, Uria.

The birds which constitute this family of the Natatores are characterised by
wings so thin and short as to be totally useless for the purposes of ærial
locomotion. They are also called Brachypteres, from the Greek compound
βραχυς, short, and πτερα, winged. These are all habitual divers and
indefatigable swimmers, using their wings as fish do their fins. To raise
these after making the down-stroke requires a considerably greater effort
than a bird of flight makes in raising its wings in the air, for which reason
the second pectoral muscle in this and other diving birds has an unusually
large development to give further strength. Their plumage is smooth and
silky, and impervious to water from its oily nature. They live chiefly on the
sea, coming ashore in the breeding season.

The Divers, Colymbus, are distinguished from other Brachypteres by their
beak being longer than the head, straight, robust, and nearly cylindrical,
slightly compressed on the sides, acute, the upper mandible longer than the
lower; their toes, in place of being each furnished with marginal
membranes, have the three united by a single membrane; their feet being
placed far backward and on the same perpendicular line with the tibia—an
arrangement very unfavourable for walking, compelling the birds to take a
vertical position, rendering their movements on land both painful and
difficult.

They are, however, intrepid swimmers, and they dive with such alertness
that it requires a quick eye and hand to shoot them. They are inhabitants of
northern seas; there they build their nests in some solitary islet or desert
promontory, where they lay two eggs, oblong in shape, and more or less
shaded of an Isabella white. Fish, particularly the herring, form their

principal food; crustaceans and marine vegetables are also eaten by them.
Their flesh is tough and leathery, and tastes disagreeable. In the winter they
migrate to temperate countries, where they frequent the rivers and lakes,
returning to the northern regions when the ice has broken up.

There are three species described: the Great Northern Diver, Colymbus
glacialis; the Arctic Diver; and the Imber Diver. But there is considerable
doubt on this subject, the young of C. glacialis of the first and second year
being so unlike the parent birds as to have been long supposed a distinct
species.

The Great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis).

English Synonyms.—Northern Diver: Montagu, Selby. Speckled Diver,
Ember Goose: Gunner. Ring-necked Loon.

Latin Synonyms.—Colymbus glacialis: Linn., Adult, Latham, Jenyns,
Brien. Colymbus Immer: Young, Linn., Latham.

French Synonym.—Plongeon Imbrim: Temminck.

Fig. 80.—Great Northern Divers (Colymbus glacialis).

The Great Northern Diver is among the mass of those birds which seek their
food on the bosom of the great deep. It is not numerous in British waters,

and can scarcely be called gregarious, although adults sometimes, and the
young more frequently, form small parties of two to five. A wanderer on the
ocean, it not only frequents the margins of the sea, fishing in the bays and
estuaries, but it is also met with many miles from the shore. Narrow
channels, firths, coves, sea-locks, and sandy bays are, however, its favourite
resorts; there it floats, the body deeply immersed in the water. But though
deep in the water, it moves on steadily and majestically; it overtakes and
shoots ahead of all its more buoyant congeners. But let us watch the actions
of a pair of these children of the ocean, and listen while Mr. McGillivray
describes one of those picturesque scenes in which he delights. "It is now
the end of spring, when the returning warmth gives an increase of animation
to the wandering tribes of the winged inhabitants of the ocean air; but the
Loon makes comparatively little use of his wings, and his great bulk and
robust frame would be ill adapted for the hovering flight of the Gulls and
Petrels. There he comes, followed by his mate, advancing with marvellous
speed. They have rounded the point, and now stop for a moment to cast a
searching glance along the shore, lest an enemy should be lurking there.
Forward they start—the smooth water rippling gently against their sides.
Small effort they seem to make, and yet powerful must be the stroke of the
oars which impel masses so large at so rapid a rate. Now and again they dip
their bills into the water; then the head and neck. One glides gently under
the surface, without plunge or flutter, and in a few seconds it appears with a
fish in his bill, which, with upstretched head and neck, it swallows. The
other having also dived, appears with a fish, larger, and less easily
managed. She beats it about in her bill, plashing the water, and seems
unable to adapt it to the capacity of her gullet; but at length, after much
striving, she masters it, and continues her search. Backwards and forwards,
over the clear sand of the shallow bay, they glide in their quiet way, and
now they have both dived with their heads towards us. One rises close to
the sea-weed, and so near to us, that we might almost count the spots on his
back. The other, in emerging, has perceived us, and somehow
communicates the discovery to her mate. They swim about for a short while
with erected necks, then sink into the water, their heads disappearing last;
and when we see them again, they are three hundred yards distant, standing
out to sea, with half-submerged bodies." "If shot at and not wounded,"
continues this most picturesque of writers on Natural History, "it never flies
off, but dips into the water and rises at a great distance, and unless shot

dead, there is little chance of procuring it, for its tenacity of life is great, and
its speed far exceeds that of a four-oared boat."

The great American naturalist, Audubon, has left a most interesting account
of this bird in his "Ornithological Biography." After describing the various
Transatlantic localities in which he has studied its economy, he describes its
nest. "One that I saw," he says, "after the young had left it, on Lake Cayuga,
was almost afloat, and rudely attached to the rushes, more than forty yards
from the land, though its base was laid on the bottom, the water being only
eight or nine inches deep. Others I examined in Labrador were placed on
dry land, several yards from the water, and raised to the height of nearly a
foot above the decayed moss on which they rested. The nest, however
placed, is bulky, and formed of withered grasses and herbaceous plants
found in the neighbourhood. The true nest, which is from a foot to fifteen
inches in diameter, is raised to the height of seven or eight inches. Of the
many nests I have examined, more contained three than two eggs, and I am
confident that the former number most frequently occurs."

Of this handsome bird Sir John Richardson remarks, contrary to the
generally-received notion, that it is seldom seen either in the Arctic Sea or
Hudson's Bay, but that it abounds in all the inland lakes. It is rarely found
on land, being ill fitted for walking, but admirably adapted to aquatic habits,
swimming with great swiftness and for considerable distances under water;
and when it does come up, seldom exposing more than its neck. It flies
heavily, but rather swiftly, and in a circle round those who have disturbed it
in its haunts; its loud and melancholy cry resembling the howling of the
Wolf, or the distant scream of a man in distress. When the Loon calls
frequently, it is supposed to portend a storm. In the bad weather preceding
the advent of winter on the smaller northern American lakes, previous to
migration, their wild, weird note is so unnatural, that both the Indians and
settlers ascribe to it supernatural powers.

The Imbrine Diver, L'Imbrim of Buffon, is also a fine bird of blackish
plumage shaded with white, the belly and a ring round the neck being also
white. The head is of a changeable black and green colour. When it has
young, in place of diving under water, as its ordinary habit is when
threatened, it boldly attacks its enemies with its beak. Its skin serves the

Greenlanders as clothing. It inhabits the Arctic seas of both hemispheres, is
abundant about the Hebrides, in Norway, in Sweden, and even on the coast
of Scotland. Its appearance on the French coast is very irregular, and only
after great storms.

The Arctic Diver, C. arcticus, has the beak and throat black; summit of the
head ashy grey; the breast and the sides of the neck white, with black spots;
the back and rump black; the coverts of the wings with white spots, and all
the lower parts pure white. The bird, though rare in England and France, is
very common in the North of Europe. It is found on the lakes of Siberia, of
Iceland, in Greenland and Hudson's Bay, and sometimes in the Orkney
Islands. The women of Lapland make bonnets with its skin dressed without
removing the feathers; but in Norway it is considered an act of impiety to
destroy it, as the different cries which it utters are said to prognosticate fine
weather or rain.

The Black-throated Diver (Colymbus arcticus).

English Synonyms.—Black-throated Loon, Black-throated Diver: Montagu,
Selby.

Latin Synonyms.—Colymbus arcticus: Linn., Latham, Temminck, Jenyns,
Yarrell, Bonaparte.

French Synonyms.—Plongeon Lumme: Temminck. Plongeon Arctique:
Cuvier.

Smaller and more slender than the Great Northern Diver, this species retains
many of its characteristic habits. It floats deep in the water, and when
alarmed swims at surprising speed, with outstretched neck and rapid beat of
the wings, and little more than its head above the surface. It flies high and
in a direct course with great rapidity. Mr. Selby describes an ineffectual
pursuit of a pair on Loch Shin, in Sutherlandshire, which was long
persevered in. In this case submersion frequently took place, which
continued for nearly two minutes at a time, and they generally reappeared at
nearly a quarter of a mile distant from the spot at which they went down. In
no instance did he ever see them attempt to escape by taking wing. "I may

observe," says this acute ornithologist, "that a visible track from the water
to the nest was made by the female, whose progress on land is effected by
shuffling along upon her belly, propelled from behind by her legs." When
swimming, they are in the constant habit of dipping their bill in the water
with a graceful motion of the head and neck.

The eggs, of which there are two, sometimes three in the same nest, are of a
very elongated oval form, three inches in length, two inches in their greatest
girth, and of a brownish olive sprinkled with black or dark-brown spots, and
are larger at one end than at the other.

The Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis).

English Synonyms.—Red-throated Loon, Red-throated Diver: Montagu,
Selby, Yarrell. Speckled Diver: Montagu.

Latin Synonyms.—C. septentrionalis: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte,
Temminck. C. borealis, Siviatus, and stellatus: Latham.

French Synonyms.—Plongeon Col Marin, ou à Gorge Rouge: Temminck.

The Red-throated Diver is smaller than either of the preceding, the plumage
is dense and firm, the wings of moderate length, the tail rounded and firm.

From the beginning of October to the middle of May these birds are
constantly found on our northern coasts, and on the rivers and estuaries with
which they abound. When on a long journey, they keep at a great height,
moving rapidly in a direct course with outstretched wings. On these
occasions they exceed the speed of most of their congeners. With their long
outstretched necks and snow-white breasts, from their comparatively short
wings, they present a curious and novel sight. When swimming they are
extremely vigilant, and permit nothing to approach them. On the
appearance of a boat they glide as it were out of sight under the water,
without noise or flutter, and thence pursue their way with great rapidity,
using wings as well as feet to propel themselves.

The Penguins (Aptenodytes)

Belong exclusively to cold countries. They rarely quit the vicinity of land,
yet only take to the shore in the breeding season, or when driven by squalls
and storms from their favourite element. On shore they are compelled to sit
erect. They carry the head very high and the neck stretched out, while their
short winglets are advanced like two diminutive arms. When they sit
perched in flocks on some lofty projecting rock they might be mistaken at a
distance for a line of soldiers.

Fig. 81.—Penguin (Aptenodytes).

At certain periods of the year the Penguins assemble on the beach as if they
preconcertedly met for deliberation. These assemblies last for a day or two,
and are conducted with an obvious degree of solemnity. When the meeting
results in a decision, they proceed to work with great activity. Upon a ledge
of rock, sufficiently level and of the necessary size, they trace a square with
one of its sides parallel and overlooking the edge of the water, which is left
open for the egress of the colony. Then with their beaks they proceed to
collect all the stones in the neighbourhood, which they heap up outside the
lines marked out, to serve them as a wall, to shelter them from the
prevailing winds. During the night these openings are guarded by sentinels.
They afterwards divide the enclosure into smaller squares, each large

enough to receive a certain number of nests, with a passage between each
square. No architect could arrange the plan in a more regular manner.

What is most singular is that the Albatross, a bird essentially aërial, and
adapted for flight, associates at this period with these half fish, half birds,
the Penguins; so that the nest of an Albatross may be seen next the nest of a
Penguin, and the whole colony, so differently constituted, appear to live on
the best terms of intimacy. Each keeps to its own nest, and if by chance
there is a complaint, it is that some Penguin (probably the king Penguin, for
he is generally the greatest thief) has robbed the nest of his neighbour, the
Albatross.

Other sea-birds come to partake of the hospitality of the little republic. With
the permission of the masters of the coterie they build their nests in the
vacancies that occur in the squares.

The female Penguin lays but one egg, which she only abandons until
hatched for a few instants, the male taking her place while she seeks her
food. The Penguins are so numerous in the Antarctic seas that a hundred
thousand eggs have been collected by the crew of one vessel.

The Manchots (Fig. 82) have been described by most of the French
naturalists as a distinct species, but there is little doubt of their being only a
variety of the Aptenodytes. They abound in the southern seas. Their short,
stunted wings, which quite incapacitate them from flying, are reduced to a
flat and very short stump, totally destitute of feathers, being covered with a
soft down, having something of the appearance of hair, which might be
taken for scales. Like the Penguin, the Manchots are excellent swimmers
and incomparable divers, and their coating of down is so dense that it even
resists a bullet; it is consequently difficult to shoot them.

Everything about these birds indicates their adaptation to an aquatic life.
Their feet are placed at the extremity of the body—an arrangement that
renders them awkward and heavy when ashore; where, in short, they only
come to lay and hatch their eggs. They begin to assemble in great numbers
at the commencement of October. Their nests are a very simple
construction; for they content themselves with digging in the sand a hole
deep enough to contain two eggs—but more often one than two.