vernacular. Many of the “monitors” are semi-aquatic, e.g. V.
niloticus, and these have a laterally compressed tail; others inhabit
dry sandy districts, e.g. V. scincus, the ouaran el ard of North Africa;
others prefer wooded localities. V. salvator is the largest species,
reaching a length of 7 ft.; it ranges from Nepal and southern China
to Cape York; a smaller species, common in New Guinea and
Australia, is V. gouldi. They all are predaceous, powerful creatures,
with a partiality for eggs. Their own eggs are laid in hollow trees, or
buried in the sand. The young are prettily spotted with white and
black ocelli, but the coloration of the adult is mostly very plain.
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Fig. 3.—Monitor of the Nile (Varanus niloticus).
The following families are much degraded in conformity with their, in most cases, subterranean life. They are of doubtful relationships and contain each but a few species.
Family 17. Pygopodidae.—Pleurodont, snake-shaped, covered with roundish, imbricating scales. Tail long and brittle. Fore-limbs absent; hind-limbs transformed into a pair of scale-covered flaps. Tongue slightly forked. Eyes functional but devoid of movable lids. Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.
Pygopus, e.g. P. lepidopus, about 2 ft. long, two-thirds belonging to the tail, distributed over the whole of Australia.
Lialis burtoni, of similar size and distribution, has the hind-limbs reduced to very small, narrow appendages. The members of this family seem to lead a snake-like life, not subterranean, and some are said to eat other lizards. L. jicari, from the Fly river, has a very snake-like appearance, with a long, pointed snout like certain tree-snakes, but with an easily visible ear-opening; their eyelids are reduced to a ring which is composed of two or three rows of small scales. (H. F. G.)
LIZARD POINT, or The Lizard, the southernmost point of
Great Britain, in Cornwall, England, in 49° 57′ 30″ N., 5° 12′ W.
It is generally the first British land sighted by ships bound up the
English Channel, and there are two lighthouses on it. The cliff
scenery is magnificent, and attracts many visitors. The coast
is fretted into several small bays, such as Housel and, most
famous of all, Kynance Cove; caves pierce the cliffs at many
points, and bold isolated rocks fringe the shore. The coloured
veining of the serpentine rock is a remarkable feature. The
Lion’s Den is a chasm formed by the falling in of a sea-cave in
1847; the Stags is a dangerous reef stretching southward from
the point, and at Asparagus Island, Kynance Cove, is a natural
funnel in which the air is compressed by the waves and causes a
violent ejection of foam. The principal village is Lizard Town,
1012 m. from Helston, the nearest railway station.
LJUNGGREN, GUSTAF HÅKAN JORDAN (1823–1905),
Swedish man of letters, was born at Lund on the 6th of March
1823. He was educated at Lund university, where he was
professor of German (1850–1859), of aesthetics (1859–1889) and
rector (1875–1885). He had been a member of the Swedish
Academy for twenty years at the time of his death in September
1905. His most important work, Svenska vitterhetens häfder efter
Gustav III.’s död (5 vols., Lund., 1873–1895), is a comprehensive
study of Swedish literature in the 19th century. His other
works include: Framställning af de förnämste estetiska systemerna
(an exposition of the principal system of aesthetics; 2 vols.,
1856–1860); Svenska dramat intill slutet af 17 århundradet
(a history of the Swedish drama down to the end of the 17th
century, Lund, 1864); an edition (1864) of the Epistlar of Bellman
and Fredman, and a history of the Swedish Academy in the
year of its centenary (1886).
His scattered writings were collected as Smärre Skrifter (3 vols., 1872–1881).
LLAMA, the Spanish modification of the Peruvian name of
the larger of the two domesticated members of the camel-tribe
indigenous to South America. The llama (Lama huanacus
glama) is a domesticated derivative of the wild guanaco, which
has been bred as a
beast of burden.
Chiefly found in
southern Peru, it
generally attains a
larger size than the
guanaco, and is
usually white or
spotted with brown
or black, and sometimes
altogether
black. The following
account by Augustin
de Zarate was given
in 1544:
Llama.
“In places where there is no snow, the natives want water, and to supply this they fill the skins of sheep with water and make other living sheep carry them, for, it must be remarked, these sheep of Peru are large enough to serve as beasts of burden. They can carry about one hundred pounds or more, and the Spaniards used to ride them, and they would go four or five leagues a day. When they are weary they lie down upon the ground, and as there are no means of making them get up, either by beating or assisting them, the load must of necessity be taken off. When there is a man on one of them, if the beast is tired and urged to go on, he turns his head round, and discharges his saliva, which has an unpleasant odour, into the rider’s face. These animals are of great use and profit to their masters, for their wool is very good and fine, particularly that of the species called pacas, which have very long fleeces; and the expense of their food is trifling, as a handful of maize suffices them, and they can go four or five days without water. Their flesh is as good as that of the fat sheep of Castile. There are now public shambles for the sale of their flesh in all parts of Peru, which was not the case when the Spaniards came first; for when one Indian had killed a sheep his neighbours came and took what they wanted, and then another Indian killed a sheep in his turn.”
The disagreeable habit of spitting is common to all the group.
In a wide sense the term “llama” is used to designate all the South American Camelidae. (See Tylopoda.)
LLANBERIS, a town of Carnarvonshire, N. Wales, 812 m. E.
by S. of Carnarvon, by a branch of the London & North-Western
railway. Pop. (1901) 3015. It is finely situated in
a valley near the foot of Snowdon. The valley has two lakes,
Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn, of over 1 m. and 2 m. long
