Is a small animal of the lizard genus, about ce inches in length. His natural colour is a bluish grey, but varies considerably when exposed to the sun, or placed upon some stuff of a bright colour, which he generally reflects so strongly as to lose his own. It has been supposed, that it is by swelling himself to a certain degree, that this curious animal can impart to his skin a smoothness sufficient. to reflect the colour which surrounds him. The Cameleon can live several months without taking any other food but a few flies, which he seems to swallow with great difficulty; his skin is very thin, and almost transparent. The tongue is nearly as long as the whole body. When he descends from a tree he moves very cautiously, and curls his tail round some branch to save himself from falling. He inhabits Asia and Africa, and is also found in the Mexican dominions. From his assuming the colour of any thing near him, he is often used as an emblem of obsequiousness and flattery: and as symbol to describe, allegorically, those vile sycophants,

who conform themselves to the opinions and wishes of their feeders.

Are the largest of the Lizard genus; and, though capable of living on land, as well as in the water, link themselves with fish by being oviparous; while the whale, that is confined to the regions of the deep, and cannot live out of them, bears resemblance to the quadrupeds by bringing forth her young alive. Both the Crocodile, whose haunts are the reedy banks of the Nile, the Niger, in Africa, and the Ganges in Asia; and the Alligator, who is confined to the middle parts of America; appear to be of a gregarious propensity, as they are sometimes found lying as close together as a raft of timber. The body of both is rough, being covered with hard scales. The Crocodile is in length eighteen, twenty, and sometimes thirty feet, the tail being about five feet and a half. The feet are webbed; the hinder

having four toes, the fore feet five, three of which have strong nails. The small in proeye is very portion to the whole bulk of the creature, and about one inch long in its wider diameter. The nose is in the middle of the upper jaw, and perfectly round and flat; the jaws seem to be locked one within another, by means of the sharp teeth of which the African species has forty above, and thirty-eight below; the Asiatic, twenty more in each jaw. The distance between the two jaws is large enough to admit the body of a man. From the general account of this tremendous animal, his destructive powers may be easily conjectured; and whether attacking or attacked he is nearly invincible. By the reason of his legs being short, his walk on the ground is very slow; and from the structure of his backbone, he turns with difficulty; but he swims very fast. The female lays eggs in the sand, to the number of three hundred, which often become the prey of the vulture or other birds, providentially appointed to lessen the multiplication of so dangerous a creature. They are not only sought eagerly by these, but also by the natives, being a very luscious food for them. We hear much said about the cunning and lurking of the Crocodile, of his imitating the groaning of a man, or the weeping of a child, to draw nearer the object of his search, man or beast; but most of these anecdotes are fabulous, and not worth mentioning in a book where we pledged ourselves to publish nothing, but what is generally held as indisputable among the best observers of Nature. The habits of the Alligator are the same with those of the Crocodile, but he is not quite so large.

Is a distinct genus of animals, of the class amphibious, and of the reptile order. They are found of various sizes and dimensions, from a few inches to five feet in length. It has a small head. four feet, and a tail, which the animal gathers within the shell in such a way, that the top part and the under one meet together, and so closely that the greatest strength cannot separate them. The eye is destitute of an upper lid, the under one serving to defend that organ. The upper shell, made up of thirty-seven compartments, is convex, and so strong, that a loaded cart can pass over it without injuring the creature inside. In winter they retire to some cavern under ground, which they line with moss, grass, and leaves, and where they pass in safe and solitary retirement the whole of the brumal season. The Tortoise is very tenacious of life, and one has been known to live, or at least to show signs of life, for the space of four and twenty days after the head had been severed from the body. It is no less remarkable for its longevity, as it is ascertained, that one lived upwards of onc

hundred and twenty years in the garden of Lambeth Palace,

The Tortoiseshell which is produced by this animal, as well as by the hawk's-bill turtle, is employed in several articles of useful and ornamental utensils, and when of a good colour sells at a considerable price. It is often alluded to in poetry, ás it is reported that Mercury, the inventor of the lyre, made it at first out of the shell of a Tortoise, as we see it carved in ancient bas reliefs, or on cameos.

Is reckoned a very delicate food, especially the green, and the loggerhead. Some of them are so large that they weigh near four hundred pounds, and some eight hundred pounds. They generally ascend from the sea, and crawl on the beach, either for food, or for laying their eggs (which are as big sometimes as those of a common hen), to the number of fifty or sixty at a time. The young ones, as