lizards, frogs and toads.
their multitude within the tropics—the geckoes—anatomy of their feet—the anolis—their love of fight—the chameleon—its wonderful changes of colour—its habits—peculiarities of its organisation—the iguana—the teju—the water-lizards—lizard worship on the coast of africa—the flying dragon—the basilisk—frogs and toads—the pipa—the bahia toad—the giant toad—the musical toad—brazilian and surinam tree-frogs.
the equatorial regions may well be called the head-quarters of the lizard race, as these reptiles nowhere else appear in such a multitude of genera, species, and individuals. the stranger is struck with their numbers as soon as he sets his foot on a tropical shore, for on all sides, on the sands and in the forests, on banks and rocks, on the trees and on the ground, innumerable varieties of lizards are seen basking, rustling, crawling, climbing, or rapidly darting along.
the geckoes might even claim to be ranked among the domestic animals, as they take up their abode in the dwellings of man, where they make themselves useful by the destruction of flies, spiders, and other noxious or disagreeable insects, which they almost always swallow entire, their throat being as broad as311 the opening of their jaws. during the day time they generally remain concealed in some dark crevice or chink, but towards evening they may be seen running along the steepest walls with marvellous rapidity, in keen pursuit of their prey, frequently standing still, nodding with their head, and uttering shrill tones, most likely by smacking their tongue against the palate. their flattened flexible body seems to mould itself into the hollows, in which they often remain motionless for hours, and their generally dull colour harmonises so well with their resting-places, as to render them hardly distinguishable, a circumstance which answers the double purpose of masking their presence from the prey for which they lie in wait, and from the enemies that might be inclined to feast upon them. among these, some of the smaller birds of prey—hawks and owls—are the most conspicuous, not to mention man, the arch-persecutor of almost every animal large enough to attract his notice.
gecko.
how comes it that these nocturnal lizards, seemingly in defiance of the laws of gravitation, are thus able to adhere to ceilings or any other overhanging surfaces? an inspection of the soles of their broad feet will soon solve the enigma, for all their toes are considerably dilated on their margins, and divided beneath into a number of transverse lamellæ, parallel to each other, and generally without any longitudinal furrow. from these a fluid exudes which serves to attach the animal to the surface. they are also generally provided with sharp and crooked claws, retractile and movable, like those of a cat, and which render them good service in climbing trees.
in spite of their harmless nature, the geckoes, their real utility being forgotten over imaginary grievances, nowhere enjoy a good reputation, probably in consequence of their ugliness and the wild expression of their large eyes. they are accused of tainting with a virulent secretion every object they touch, and of provoking an eruption on the skin merely by running over it—a popular prejudice which naturally causes many a poor inoffensive gecko’s death. they abound all over the torrid zone, even in the remote islands of the pacific, such312 as tahiti and vanikoro. duméril, enumerates fifty-five different species, only two of which are indigenous in southern europe, while india monopolises no less than thirteen for her share.
mr. adams once witnessed in borneo a desperate struggle between a gecko and a large tarantula spider. after a long and doubtful contest, the gecko proved at length victorious, and succeeded in swallowing the insect, whose enormous legs, protruding from the lizard’s mouth, gave the animal the look of some monstrous cuttle-fish.
the graceful anolis are peculiar to america. by the structure of their feet, provided with long unequal toes, they are related to the geckoes, but are distinguished from them by a more slender form of body, by their extremely long thin tail, and a large neck-pouch, which dilates under the influence of excitement. these small and nimble creatures, the largest species seldom exceeding eight inches in length, are as touchy as fighting-cocks. on approaching them, they instantly blow up their pouch, open widely their diminutive jaws, and spring upon the aggressor, striving to bite him with their teeth, which, however, are too tiny to do much harm. among each other they live in a perpetual state of warfare. as soon as one anolis sees another, he makes a rapid advance, while his adversary awaits him with all the courage of a gallant knight. before beginning the conflict, they make all sorts of menacing gestures, convulsively nodding their heads and puffing up their pouches, until finally they close in desperate struggle.
‘the meeting of these champions proud seems like the bursting thunder-cloud.’
if they are of equal strength, the battle remains for some time undecided. at length the vanquished anolis turns and runs away, but he may think himself fortunate if he escapes with the loss of his tail. many of them are thus deprived of this ornamental appendage, which they voluntarily leave behind to avoid a still greater disaster, and then they become timid, melancholy, and fond of retirement, as if ashamed of being seen, only regaining their spirits when, by a wonderful power of reproduction, the amputated tail has been replaced by another.
like many other lizards, the anolis possesses the faculty of313 changing colour when under the influence of excitement, but of all animals, whether terrestrial or marine, none is more famous or remarkable in this respect than the chameleon. it frequently happens that man, not satisfied with the wonders which nature everywhere exposes to his view, adds to their marvels others of his own invention, and thus many a fable has been told about the chameleon. it has been said, for instance, that it could emulate all the colours of the rainbow, but the more accurate observations of hasselquist and other naturalists have shown that the whole change, which takes place most frequently when the chameleon is exposed to full sunshine or under the influence of emotion, consists in its ordinary bluish-ash colour, turning to a green or yellowish hue with irregular spots of a dull red. like many other reptiles, the chameleon has the power of inflating its lungs and retaining the air for a long time so as one moment to appear as fat and well-fed as an alderman, and the next as lean and bony as a hungry disciple of the muses. these alternating expansions and collapses seem to have a great influence on the change of colour, which, however, according to milne-edwards, is principally owing to the skin of the animal consisting of two differently coloured layers, placed one above the other, and changing their relative position under the influence of excitement.
chameleon.
in our cold and northern regions the captive chameleon cuts but a sorry figure: but in his own and sunny regions, which extend from southern spain and sicily to the cape, and eastwards from arabia and hindostan to australia, it is said to be by no means deficient in beauty, in spite of its strangely-formed carinated head, its enormously projecting eyes, and its granulated skin. its manner of hunting for the little winged insects, that form its principal food, is very peculiar. although the movements of its head are very limited, on account of the shortness of its neck, this deficiency is amply supplied by the wide range of its vision, each eye being able to move about in all directions independently of the other. thus, while one of them attentively gazes upon the heavens,314 the other minutely examines the ground, or while one of them rolls in its orbit, the other remains fixed; nay, their mobility is so great, that without even moving its stiff head, this wonderful lizard, like janus, the double-faced god of ancient rome, can see at the same time all that goes on before and behind it. when an insect comes flying along, the chameleon, perched on a branch, and half concealed between the foliage, follows it in all its movements by means of his powerful telescopes, until the proper moment for action appears. then, quick as thought, he darts forth, even to a distance of five or six inches, his long fleshy glutinous tongue, which is moreover furnished with a dilated and somewhat tubular tip, and drawing it back with the same lightning-like velocity, engulphs his prey. this independence of the eyes is owing to the imperfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobes of the brain and the two sets of nerves which ramify throughout the opposite sides of its frame. hence also one side of the body may be asleep while the other is vigilant, one may be green while the other is ash-blue, and it is even said that the chameleon is utterly unable to swim, because the muscles of both sides are incapable of acting in concert.
destined for an arboreal life, he is provided with organs beautifully adapted for supporting himself on the flexible branches; for, besides the cylindrical tail nearly as long as his body which he coils round the boughs, his five toes are united two and three by a common skin, so as to form, as it were, a pair of pincers or a kind of hand, admirably suited for a hold-fast.
iguana.
among the iguanas, a huge lizard tribe, characterised by a carinated back and tail, and a large denticulated gular pouch, the common or great american guana (iguana tuberculata) deserves particular notice, as its white flesh is considered a great delicacy in brazil and the west indies. notwithstanding its large size, for it not seldom attains a length of four or five feet, and the formidable appearance of its serrated back, it is in reality by no means of a warlike disposition, and so stupid that, instead of endeavouring to save itself by a315 timely flight, it merely stares with its large eyes, and inflates its pouch, while the noose is passing round its neck to drag it from its hole.
the bahama islands abound with guanas, which form a great part of the subsistence of the inhabitants. they are caught by dogs, trained for the purpose, in the hollow rocks and trees where they nestle, and either carried alive for sale to carolina, or kept for home consumption. they feed wholly on vegetables and food, particularly on a kind of fungus, growing at the roots of trees, and on the fruits of the different kinds of pine apples, whence their flesh most likely acquires its delicate flavour.
monitor.
the famous south american monitory lizard or teju (tejus monitor) is one of the largest and most beautiful of the whole race, as he measures no less than five feet from the snout to the tip of the tail, which is nearly twice as long as the body, while his black colour, variegated with bright yellow bands and spots, produces an agreeable and pleasing effect. the head is small, the snout gradually tapers, the limbs are slender, and the tail, which is laterally compressed, gradually decreases towards the extremity. the teju lives in cavities and hollows, frequently under the roots of trees. when pursued, he runs rapidly straight forward to his burrow; but when his retreat is intercepted, he defends himself valiantly, and proves a by no means contemptible antagonist, as he is able to bite through a thick boot, and a stroke with his strong and muscular tail will completely disable a dog. though the monitor generally lives on land, he is an excellent swimmer, and catches many a fish in its native element. his chief food, however, consists in various fruits, rats, mice, birds, and he also devours a large number of the eggs and young of the alligator. the attachment to man which is universally attributed to him in brazil, and the warning which, like his relation the monitor of the nile, he is said to give to him of the approach of the cayman or the crocodile, by emitting a peculiar and shrill sound, are idle fables which hardly required the contradiction of prince maximilian of neu wied, who in all his travels never once heard the teju’s316 monitory cry, although occasions were not wanting when it might have been of service.
the large water-lizards (hydrosauri) frequent the low river banks or the margins of springs, and although they may be seen basking on rocks or on the dead trunk of some prostrate tree in the heat of the sun, yet they appear more partial to the damp weeds and undergrowth in the neighbourhood of water. their gait has somewhat more of the awkward lateral motion of the crocodile than of the lively action of the smaller saurians. when attacked, they lash violently with their tail, swaying it sideways with great force like the cayman. these modern types of the ichthyosaurus have a graceful habit of extending the neck, and raising the head to look about them, and as you follow them leisurely over the rocks, or through the jungle, they frequently stop, turn their heads round, and take a deliberate survey of the intruder. they are by no means vicious, though they bite severely when provoked, acting, however, always on the defensive. on examining their stomachs, crabs, locusts, beetles, the remains of jumping fish, the scales of snakes, and bones of frogs and other small animals are discovered. like that of the iguanas, their flesh is delicate eating, resembling that of a very young sucking-pig. mr. adams gives us an amusing description of his contests with a gigantic water-lizard (hydrosaura giganteus): ‘throwing myself on him, i wounded him with a clasp knife in the tail, but he managed to elude my grasp, and made for the woods. i succeeded, however, in tracking his retreating form, on hands and knees, through a low covered labyrinth in the dense undergrowth, until i saw him extended on a log; when, leaving the jungle, i called my servant, a marine, who was shooting specimens for me, and pointing out the couchant animal, desired him to shoot him in the neck, as i did not wish the head to be injured, which he accordingly did. entering the jungle, i then closed with the wounded saurian, and seizing him by the throat, bore him in triumph to our quarters. here he soon recovered; and hoping to preserve him alive to study his habits, i placed him in a malay wicker hen-coop. as we were sitting, however, at dinner, the black cook, with great alarm depicted in his features, reported that ‘alligator got out his cage!’ seizing the carving knife, i317 rushed down, and was just in time to cut off his retreat into the adjoining swamp. turning sharply round, he made a snap at my leg, and received in return a ‘rowland for his oliver’ in the shape of an inch or so of cold steel. after wrestling on the ground, and struggling through the deserted fire of our sable cook, i at length secured the runaway, tied him up to a post, and to prevent further mischief, ended his career by dividing the jugular. the length of this lizard from actual measurement was five feet ten inches and a half.’
these semi-aquatic, dingy-hued saurians are admirably adapted to the hot moist swamps and shallow lagoons that fringe the rivers of the tropical alluvial plains. as we watch their dark forms, plunging and wallowing in the water, or sluggishly moving over the soft and slimy mud, the imagination is carried back to the age of reptiles, when the muddy shores of the primæval ocean swarmed with their uncouth forms. the huge lizard, six or seven feet long, to which divine honours are paid at bonny on the coast of guinea, belongs most likely to this amphibious class. undisturbed, the lazy monsters crawl heavily through the streets, and as they pass, the negroes reverentially make way. a white man is hardly allowed to look at them, and hurried as fast as possible out of their presence. an attempt was once made to kidnap one of these dull lizard-gods for the benefit of a profane museum, but the consequences were such as to prevent a repetition of the offence, for all trade and intercourse with the ships in harbour was immediately stopped, and affairs assumed so hostile an aspect, that the foreigners were but too glad to purchase peace with a considerable sacrifice of money and goods. when one of these lizards crawls into a house, it is considered a great piece of good fortune; and when it chooses to take a bath, the bonnians hurry after it in their canoes. after having allowed it to swim a stretch, and to plunge several times, they seize it for fear of danger, and carry it back again to the land, well pleased at once more having the sacred reptile in their safe possession.
the formidable name of flying dragons has been given to a genus of small lizards, remarkable for the expansible cutaneous processes with which the sides are furnished, and by whose means they are enabled to spring with more facility from branch to branch, and even to support themselves for some318 time in the air, like the bat or flying-squirrel. the tiny painted dragon of the east, the flying lizard of the woods, is fond of clinging with its wings to the smooth trunks of trees, and there remaining immovable, basking in the sun. when disturbed, it leaps and shuffles away in an awkward manner. one mr. adams had in his possession, reminded him of a bat when placed on the ground. sometimes the strange creature would feign death, and remain perfectly motionless, drooping its head, and doubling its limbs, until it fancied the danger over, then cautiously raising its crouching form, it would look stealthily around, and be off in a moment. the dragon consumes flies in a slow and deliberate manner, swallowing them gradually; its various species belong exclusively to india and the islands of the eastern archipelago.
flying dragon.
who has not heard of the fatal glance of the basilisk, which, according to poetical fancy, obliged all other poisonous animals to keep at a respectful distance
‘from monster more abhorr’d than they’?
the truth is, that the ugly lizards that bear this dreaded name, which has been given them from the fanciful resemblance of their pointed occipital crest to a regal crown, are quite as harmless and inoffensive as the flying dragon. they are chiefly inhabitants of south america, where they generally lead a sylvian life, feeding on insects.
basilisk.
surinam toad.
among the toads of the torrid zone there is none more curious than the large and hideous pipa surinamensis, whose319 deformity is often aggravated by a phenomenon unexampled in the rest of the animal world, namely, the young in various stages of exclusion, proceeding from cells dispersed over the back of the parent. it was for a long time supposed that the ova of this extraordinary reptile were produced in the dorsal cells without having been first excluded in the form of spawn; but it is now thoroughly ascertained that the female pipa deposits her eggs or spawn at the brink of some stagnant water, and that the male collects or amasses the heap of ova, and deposits them with great care on the back of the female, where, after impregnation, they are pressed into the cellules, which are at that period open for their reception, and afterwards close over them; thus retaining them till the period of their second birth, which happens in somewhat less than three months, when they emerge from the back of the parent in their complete state. the pipa is fond of dark nooks and corners, and avoids the light of day as if conscious of its unrivalled hideousness.
bahia toad.
mr. darwin thus describes a remarkable species of toad he noticed at bahia. ‘amongst the batrachian reptiles, i found only one little toad, which was most singular from its colour. if we imagine, first, that it had been steeped in the blackest ink, and then, when dry, allowed to crawl over a board freshly painted with the brightest vermilion, so as to colour the sides of its feet and parts of its stomach, a good idea of its appearance will be gained. if it is an unnamed species, surely it ought to be called diabolicus, for it is a fit toad to preach in the ear of eve. instead of being nocturnal in its habits as other toads are, and living in damp and obscure recesses, it crawls during the heat of the day about the dry sand hillocks and arid plains, where not a single drop of water can be found. it must necessarily depend on the dew for its moisture, and this probably is absorbed by the skin, for it is known that these reptiles possess great powers of cutaneous absorption. at maldonado i found one in a situation nearly as dry as at bahia blanca, and, thinking to give it a great treat, carried it to a pool of water; not only was the little animal unable to swim, but i think without help would soon have been drowned.’
320 the giant-toad (bufo gigas, agua) frequents the brazilian campos in such numbers that in the evening or after a shower of rain, when they come forth from their hiding-places to regale on the damp and murky atmosphere, the earth seems literally to swarm with them. they are double the size of our common toad, and are even said to attain, with their outstretched hind legs, a foot’s length, with a proportionate girth. covered with unsightly warts, and of a dull grey colour, their aspect is repulsive, and when excited, they eject a liquid which is very much feared by the natives. their voice is loud and disagreeable; while guinea possesses, in the breviceps gibbosus, a small toad which is said to sing delightfully, ‘charming the swamps with its melodious note.’
a brazilian tree-frog, (hyla crepitans) which adheres to the large leaves, not merely with its widened toes, but with its constantly viscid body, has a voice which sounds like the cracking of a large piece of wood, and generally proceeds from many throats at a time. on wandering through the forests of brazil, prince maximilian of neu wied was often surprised by this singular concert issuing from the dark shades of the forest.
a surinam tree-frog (hyla micans) has the singular property of secreting a luminous slime, so as to look in the dark like a yellowish will-o’-the-wisp. its voice is most disagreeable, and is said at times completely to overpower the orchestra of the theatre in paramaribo, thus emulating the stentorian achievements of the virginian bull-frog.
