[Illustration: The Flying Dragon.]
This beautiful species of the lizard tribe was one of the wonders of our
ancestors, who believed it to be a fierce animal with wings, and whose
bite was mortal; whereas, it is perfectly harmless, and differs from other
lizards merely in its being furnished with an expanding membrane or web,
strengthened by a few radii, or small bones. It is about twelve inches in
length, and is found in the East Indies and Africa (_Blumenbach_), where
it flies through short distances, from tree to tree, and subsists on
flies, ants, and other insects. It is covered with very small scales,
and is generally of ash-colour, varied and clouded on the back, &c.
with brown, black, and white. The head is of a very singular form, and
furnished with a triple pouch, under and on each side the throat.
Barbarous nations have many fabulous stories of this little animal. They
say, for instance, that, although it usually lives in the water, it often
bounds up from the surface, and alights on the branch of some adjacent
tree, where it makes a noise resembling the laughter of a man.
The curious reader who is anxious to see a specimen of the Flying Dragon,
will be gratified with a young one, preserved in a case with two
Cameleons, and exposed for sale in the window of a dealer in articles of
_vertu_, in St. Martin's Court, Leicester Square.