Johnson's natural history, comprehensive, scientific, and popular, illustrating and describing the animal kingdom with its wonders and curiosities; ... and orders, to the animalculae in a Volume 2

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1872 edition. Excerpt: ... great part of its existence in trees, and is commonly taken when resting on a branch, by slipping a noose over its head, its captor whistling to it while engaged in the operation. Its teeth have the crowns compressed and serrated, and it lives principally upon fruits, and seeds. It is said to take the water freely, and to swim with facility. Genus BASILISCUS: Basiliscus.--The Basilisk, B. Amcricanus, although perfectly harmloss, is certainly one of the most hideous of reptiles in its appearance. It is found in South America, and occasionally attains a length of upward of three feet. Instead of the comb-like dorsal ridge of the Iguana, it is furnished with a broad membrane running down the back, and a second, still broader, on the upper surface of the tail, and these are supported by a series of bones, consisting of the elongated spinous processes of the dorsal and caudal vertebrae, and having the appearance of long perpendicular fins. THE AGAMTILE. These seem to take the place of the Iguanas in the Old World. They are principally inhabitants of the warmer regions of Asia and Australia, and the intervening islands; a few are found in the south of Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, and a few others in Africa, from Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope. One remarkable genus is found in the United States. In their general form, and in the character of their peculiar appendages, they closely resemble the American Iguanas; but some of them are particularly remarkable. One of these is the Chlamydosaurus Kingii, which is not uncommon in the neighborhood of Port Essington. The appearance of this lizard is most extraordinary; it is furnished with a curious crenatcd membrane, forming a sort of frill or tippet round its neck, and covering its...