|
BASILISK (the /3aathtaios of the Greeks, and Tsepha ( See also: Hebrews), a name given by the ancients to a horrid See also: monster of their own See also: imagination, to which they attributed the most malignant See also: powers and an equally fiendish appearance
.
The See also: term is now applied, owing to a certain fanciful resemblance, to a genus of lizards belongingto the familylguanidae,the See also: species of which are characterized by the presence,in the See also: males, of an erectile crest on the See also: head, and a still higher, likewise erectile crest—beset with scales—on the back, and another on the long tail
.
Basiliscus americanus reaches the length of one yard; its colour is See also: green and See also: brown, with dark crossbars, while the crest is reddish
.
This beautiful, strictly herbivorous creature is rather
See also: common amidst the luxuriant vegetation on the See also: banks of See also: rivers and streams of the See also: Atlantic hot lands of Mexico and See also: Guatemala
.
The lizards lie upon the branches of trees overhanging the See also: water, into which they plunge at the slightest alarm
.
Then they propel themselves by rapid strokes of the See also: hind limbs, beating the water in a semi-erect position and letting the long See also: rudder-like tail drag behind
.
They are universally known as pasa-rips, i.e. ferrymen
.
|
|
|
[back] BASILIDES |
[next] BASIM |
There are no comments yet for this article.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are encouraged.