Another lizard is called the “horrid Moloch” from an ancient idol-god. This, with perhaps the exception of the “horned toad,” is one of the most hideous creatures known. It is covered with large conical projections over the entire body; its feet are clawed, and the projections develop into horns on the top of the head and neck. These projections are merely a thick growth of the skin, each tipped with horny plates, and entirely intended for defensive armor, but they give the creature a formidable appearance. Still another variety of the lizard tribe is the pygopus of Australia, a lizard with only one pair of legs, and these are scaly and footless. Indeed they look merely like fleshy fins, and as the animal is very long and slim, and is covered with scales, at first sight it is almost impossible to consider it a lizard at all; it looks more like a snake. The iguana is a lizard of tropical countries: it is large, harmless, perhaps we had better say it is useful; for the natives of the countries where it lives are fond of its flesh for food, and think as well of a fried or roasted iguana as we do of roast chicken. Perhaps of the entire lizard family the most famous is the basilisk, about which much has been said and sung. The ancients had as many odd myths about the basilisk, as they had about the salamander. They said it was the king of all reptiles and wore a crown of gold: from its body diffused a poison which filled the air and killed not only animals but plants: the glance of its eye was so terrible that all living things fled from it--unless they fell dead on the spot, infected by its poison. The basilisk was afraid of only one living creature, and that creature was--a cock. The crowing of a cock filled the king of all reptiles with an awful terror. But what is the truth about the basilisk? The creature has been investigated by modern science. What does science report of it? Science says the basilisk is one of the prettiest and gentlest little creatures known. It is crested, and that crest is the famous “golden crown” of the ancient story; it is clawed, because it is a tree-climber; its eyes are large, gentle, lustrous; its skin is striped; its toes are much like the toes of a bird; its food is insects; it has no poison, and as for a cock’s crow--it pays no heed to it whatever. The Hilas are another family of lizards, embracing one with an ominous title, “The Gila monster.” This is not inaptly named, for it is uncouth in appearance, large, and, unlike most lizards, has a poisonous bite. Though this bite is painful, it is not fatal.