Notes upon the Reptiles mentioned in Shakspeare's Plays.
By Robert Patterson, Esq., V.P. Nat. Hist. Soc. Belfast.
(Continued from page 253).
Of the true saurians or lizards but one species has as yet been recognized in Ireland: it is the smaller and more abundant of the two known as British, and is distinguished by the name Zootoca vivipara. It brings forth its young alive, or, to speak more correctly, it is ovoviviparous. The larger species, to which the name Lacerta agilis is now restricted, is, on the contrary, oviparous. This distinction is one of great interest to the erpetologist; but there is another point better known, and more often marvelled at—the facility with which the tail separates from the body. Great is the astonishment of a person unacquainted with this peculiarity, when he grasps the tail, and finds it remaining in his hand, while the swift-running reptile effects its escape.
The lizard presents itself to our eyes decked in bright colours, possessed of the power of rapid and graceful movements, and associated with the season when
"Summer birds sing welcome as ye pass."
We know from observation that its food is insects, and that its habits are perfectly innocuous to man: but such were not the opinions respecting it in Shakspeare's time: it was then a creature to be shunned, and one that, by common report, was furnished with a formidable sting. The bad repute in which the creature was held is evinced by the "lizard's leg" being one of the "ingredients" in the witches' cauldron. The sting itself is mentioned in the curses of Suffolk on his enemies.
"Their softest touch as smart as lizards' stings."
2nd part K. Henry VI. Act iii Scene iii
