edges of their flattened bodies, and when surprised they feign death. The statement, persistently repeated (O. P. Hay, _Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus._ xv., 1892, pp. 375-378), that some, e.g. _P. blainvillei_ of California, have the power of squirting a blood-red fluid from the corner of the eye, still requires renewed investigation. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--Frilled Lizard (_Chlamydosaurus kingi_).] The smallest lizards of this family belong to the genus _Anolis_, extremely numerous as regards species (more than 100) and individuals on bushes and trees of tropical America, and especially of the West Indies. They offer many points of analogy to the humming birds in their distribution, colours and even disposition. Hundreds may be seen on a bright day, disporting themselves on trees and fences, and entering houses. Like the iguanas, they (at least the males) are provided with a large, expansible dewlap at the throat, which is brilliantly coloured, and which they display on the slightest provocation. This appendage is merely a fold of the skin, ornamental and sexual; it has no cavity in its interior, and has no communication with the mouth or with the respiratory organs; it is supported by the posterior horns of the hyoid bone, and can be erected and spread at the will of the animal. The presence of such dewlaps in lizards is always a sign of an excitable temper. Many, e.g. _A. carolinensis_, the "chameleon," can change colour to an extraordinary degree. They are much fed upon by birds and snakes, and have a fragile tail, easily reproduced. They bring forth only one large egg at a time, but probably breed several times during the season. Family 3. _Xenosauridae._--Pleurodont; solid teeth; anterior part of tongue slightly emarginate and retractile, and covered with flat papillae; no osteoderms. Mexico. The only representative of this family is _Xenosaurus grandis_, recorded from the mountains of Orizaba, Cordoba and Oaxaca. The four-footed creature is less than 1 ft. in length; the body is depressed, covered above with minute granules and tubercles; a distinct fold of skin extends from the axilla to the groin, reminding of the similar fold of some _Anguidae_, to which this singular genus seems to be allied. Family 4. _Anguidae._--Pleurodont; teeth solid, sometimes (_Ophiosaurus_) grooved; anterior part of tongue emarginate and retractile into the posterior portion; osteoderms on the body, and especially on the head where they are roofing over the temporal fossa; entirely zoophagous and ovo-viviparous. America, Europe and India.