OUR YOUTH'S DEPARTMENT. REPTILES OF THE LIZARD KIND. How diversified are the creatures God has made! yet they are all adapted in their form, their structure, and instincts, to the various habits of their existence. In our frontispiece we have a representation of the lizard, the chamæleon, the salamander, the siren, the alligator, and the crocodile, of which we furnish a brief description. The Lizard.-There are numerous creatures under this name. The lizard, properly so-called, is a little reptile of a green colour, with four feet and a tail, and is frequently to be met with in our gardens. The green lizard of Carolina, in America, is so called from its colour. This species is very slender, the tail is near double the length of the body, and the whole length about five inches. It inhabits Carolina; where it is domestic, familiar, and harmless. It sports on tables and windows, and amuses with its agility in catching flies. Cold affects the colour; in that uncertain climate, when there is a quick change in the same day from hot to cold, it changes instantly from the most brilliant green to a dull brown. They are a prey to cats and ravenous birds. They appear chiefly in summer; and at the approach of cold weather retire to their winter recesses, and lie torpid in the hollow crevices of rotten trees. A few warm, sunshiny days often so invigorate them that they will come out of their holes and appear abroad; when on a sudden, the weather changing to cold so enfeebles them, that they are unable to return to their retreats, } and die of cold. The Chameleon resembles the lizard, but is distinguished by some very peculiar properties. A poet, speaking of it, says it has "A lizard's body, lean and long; A fish's head-a serpent's tongue." The head of a large chamæleon is almost two inches long, and thence to the beginning of the tail it is four inches and a half. The tail is five inches long, and the feet two and a half. The thickness of the body is different at different seasons; for sometimes from the back to the belly it is two inches, and sometimes one; for he can blow up and contract himself at pleasure. This swelling and contraction is not only of the back and belly, but also of the legs and tail. The chamæleon will continue blown up for two hours together, and then become less and less insensibly; for the dilation is always more quick and visible than the contraction. In this last state he appears extremely lean; the spine of the back is sharp, and all his ribs might be told; the tendons of the arms and legs might also be seen distinctly. The jaws are furnished with a bone in the form of teeth, of which he makes but little use, as he lives by swallowing flies and other insects without chewing them; and hence arose the vulgar notion of his living upon air, because he was never seen to eat. The form, structure, and motion of the eyes have something very peculiar; for they are very large, being almost half an inch in diameter, of a globular figure, and stand out of the head. They have a single eye-lid like a cap, with a small hole in the middle, through which the sight of the eye appears, no bigger than a pin's head, and a shining brown, encircled by a little ring of a gold colour. But the most extraordinary thing relating to the eyes is, that this animal often moves one when the other is entirely at rest; nay, sometimes one eye will seem to look directly forward and the other backward, and one will look up to the sky when the other regards the earth. He always wraps his tail round the branches of trees, and it serves him instead of a fifth hand. Some naturalists believe the change of colour to depend upon the feelings of the animal, or upon the different degrees of heat or cold to which it is subjected. It seems similar to blushing; and is probably produced by the greater or less quantity of blood sent into the minute vessels, assisted also by the distention of their immense lungs, which, being expanded with air, render the animal nearly transparent. Previously to the chamæleon's assuming a change of colour it makes a long inspiration, the body swelling out to twice its usual size; and, as this inflation subsides, the change of colour gradually takes place. The Salamander has a short tail, four toes on the fore feet, and a naked, porous body. This animal has been said, even in the Philosophical Transactions, to live in the fire: but this is a mistake. It is found in the southern countries of Europe. Whilst the hardest bodies cannot resist the violence of fire, the world have endeavoured to make us believe, that a small lizard can not only withstand the flames, but even extinguish them. This lizard, which is found in so many countries of the ancient world, and even in very high latitudes, has been very Tittle noticed, because it is seldom seen out of its hole, and because for a long time it has inspired much terror. The Siren is a peculiar creature which some naturalists class among lizards, while others regard it as only a species of the eel. Having two small feet, and a body like an eel, it seems to partake of the properties of both. This creature is found in Carolina. The siren of antiquity was an imaginary being said to be like the fabled mermaids, half woman and half fish. Some say that the Syrens were queens of the islands named Sirenuse, and chiefly inhabited the promontory of Minerva, upon the top of which that goddess had a temple, built by Ulysses. Others tell us of a certain bay, contracted within winding straits and broken cliffs, which, by the singing of the winds and beating of the waters, return a delightful harmony that allures the passenger to approach, who is immediately thrown against the rocks, and swallowed up by the violent eddies. Horace calls idleness a siren. But the fable may be applied to pleasures in general, which, if too eagerly pursued, betray the incautious into ruin. The Alligator-So very great is the resemblance between the alligator and the crocodile, that many naturalists suppose them to be but a variety of the same species. Others, on a closer inspection, have pronounced the American crocodile to be altogether a distinct species from the alligator of the Nile. The alligator arrives at a size not much inferior to that of the crocodile, specimens having often been seen of eighteen or twenty feet in length. They frequent not only salt rivers near the sea, but streams of fresh water in the upper parts of the country, and in lakes of salt and fresh water, on the banks of which they lie lurking among reeds, to surprise cattle and other animals. In Jamaica, and many parts of the continent they are found about twenty feet in length: they cannot be more terrible in their aspect, than they are formidable and mischievous in their natures, sparing neither man nor beast they can surprise, pulling them down under water, that, being dead, they may with greater facility, and without a struggle or resistance, devour them. The Crocodile.-The crocodile has a compressed jagged tail, five toes on the fore, and four on the hind feet. This is the largest animal of the genus. A young one that was dissected at Siam, an account of which was sent to the Royal Academy at Paris, was eighteen feet and a half long. These animals are seen in some places lying for hours and even whole days, stretched in the sun, and motionless; so that one not used to them might mistake them for trunks of trees covered with rough and dry bark: but the mistake would soon be fatal: for the seemingly torpid animal, at the near approach of any living creature, instantly darts upon it, and carries it to the bottom. In the times of an inundation they sometimes enter the cottages of the natives, where they seize the first animal they meet with. The crocodile, however, except when pressed with hunger, or with a view of depositing its eggs, seldom leaves the water. Its usual method is to float along upon the surface, and seize whatever animals come within its reach ; but, when this method fails, it then goes close to the bank. There it waits in patient expectation of some land animal that comes to drink; the dog, the bull, the tiger, or man himself. It seizes the victim with a spring, and goes at a bound much faster than such an unwieldly animal could be supposed to do; then, having secured the creature both with teeth and claws, it drags it into the water, instantly sinks with it to the bottom, and in this manner quickly drowns it. Combats often occur between the crocodile and the tiger. All tigers are continually oppressed by a parching thirst, that makes them frequent great rivers, whither they descend to drink. On these occasions they are seized by the crocodile, upon whom they turn with the greatest agility, and force their claws into eyes, while he plunges with his fierce antagonist into the river. There they continue to struggle, till at last the tiger is drowned. A negro, however, with no other weapon than a knife in his right hand, and his left arm wrapped round with a cow-hide, will often venture boldly to attack this animal, in its own element. As soon as he approaches the crocodile, he presents his left arm, which the animal swallows, but as it sticks in his throat, the negro has time to give it several stabs below the chin, where it is easily vulnerable; and the water also getting in it at the mouth, which is held involuntarily open, the creature soon expires. his THE DISOBEDIENT SON. A WARNING TO YOUTH, My father, after an absence of some years, returned to the house so dear to him. He had made his last voyage, and rejoiced to have reached a haven of rest from the perils of the sea. During his absence I had grown from a child and baby of my mother's (for I was her youngest) into a rough, careless boy. Her gentle voice no longer restrained me. I was often wilful, and sometimes disobedient. I thought it indicated manly superiority to be independent of a woman's influence. My father's return was a fortunate circumstance for me. He soon perceived the spirit of insubordination stirring within me. I saw by his manner that it displeased him, although for a few days he said nothing to me about it. It was an afternoon in October, bright and golden, that my |