[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
NATURE, in her provident wisdom, seems to have united, in an uninterruped chain, the whole of the creation. The coral brings the animal kingdom near the vegetable; the Bat calls on the quadrupeds and the birds with equal rights of affinity, and the Lizards join the inhabitants of the liquid element with those of the land, whilst the flying fish assimilates them to those of the air. The Lizards may be divided into several species, and are nearly of all colours. They are amphibious, that is, they live equally happy on land or in water, although some particular species affect more the one than the other element. They are harmless, and have even received, from popular, but we think unfounded, traditions, the honourable qualification of being friends to man. The salamander, fabulously reported to be able to live amidst the flames, is nothing else than a kind of Lizard often found in brooks and rivulets.
