In the lizard family there is a large variety in habits and appearance. We say that they are quick of motion--but then, what is more dull and sluggish than a hatteria? We assert that they are pretty and attractive, but what is more undeniably ugly in appearance than the horned toad of Texas, which is really a lizard? While in general the body of a lizard is slender and long, supported by four legs, in some species the legs are mere rudiments, and in others gone altogether. When present the feet and legs are sometimes weak, so that the body drags upon the ground. The chameleons have their feet designed for grasping and climbing: the geckos of Asia have their feet changed into sucking disks, by which they can run up smooth walls; other lizards, which are chiefly aquatic, have feet formed for swimming; others still live in the ground and have hands fashioned like those of a mole, for digging. As for homes, some lizards are tree-dwellers; others live on the ground, hiding in stone or rubbish heaps; some live in the ground in burrows; others abide by rivers, and spend most of their time in the water. The lizards are citizens of the world, and are found in nearly all lands, but are most numerous and most brilliantly colored in hot countries. Wherever they are, some have so evidently the lizard characteristics that one who has ever seen any of the family would not fail to recognize their relationships at once; but others, as for example, the horned toad of Texas, might be thought at first sight to belong to some quite different order of animals. Some lizards have scales; others have no scales, but thick, granulated skins: some have no eyelids; others have eyelids, but their eyelids differ, some are nearly transparent, admitting light when they are closed; while yet other lizards, as the chameleons, have lids surrounding the entire eye, so that they can be drawn together and admit light at merely a tiny opening. In cold and temperate lands lizards lie dormant during the winter months; this is called hibernating. At the return of spring they come forth from their hiding-places. In tropical countries, while there is no cold to drive the lizards to a state of torpor, they still sink into a long sleep, or half-conscious condition, which lasts for some weeks. Nearly all lizards lay eggs, which are warmed into life by the sun, and the young ones are able to take care of themselves as soon as hatched. But even in this part of its life-history the lizard shows the changefulness of its race,--as variable in all things as a chameleon’s coat. Some lizards have living young, which they nurse with assiduous care.