as the "horned toad" of America. His body is covered with
small spiny scales, while the chisel-shaped head has a circlet of
miniature horns. These he uses when attacked by enemies to shield
himself against bites and knocks. The Indians claim that if a snake
swallows the horned lizard whole, the lizard will immediately work his
way through the snake. This would not be without a parallel, however,
for it is generally known that box-fishes, when swallowed by sharks,
bite their way out!

Nature has been especially kind to horned lizards, and that is the
reason there are so many of them. They well know the secret of the Gyges
ring, and can put on the garment of invisibility in a very short time.
They especially frequent the desert regions of the South and West; and
those that dwell in black sandy regions are black; those of red clay
regions are red; those of grey regions, grey; those from the variously
coloured regions of blue and red are precisely the colour of the earth.
But not satisfied with all their protections of armour and camouflage,
they actually, when hard-pressed by an enemy, feign death, like an
opossum! And if the enemy persists in his attack, and Mr. Lizard cannot
escape, as a final effort he spurts tears of blood from his eyes. The
Mexicans call him the "sacred toad." The phenomenon of blood-shooting
has been explained in various ways, all of which seem equally
unsatisfactory. So far it is one of Nature's secrets. Perhaps some day
we may understand it.

The tortoises are among the best examples of creatures which to-day
protect themselves with armour. They are, of course, reptiles, yet in
the general formation of their armour, they are strikingly like
armadillos. The tortoise has his armour so arranged over his body that
it forms one big box. He draws his head and limbs into this whenever
danger is near. In Texas recently I found a small land terrapin, and as
soon as I came near, he closed his house. I picked him up, and then
carefully laid him upside down on the ground, and stepped behind some
nearby bushes to see what he would do. Immediately he poked his head
out, and then his feet, and then he began to wave his feet wildly in
air, and finally threw himself in the right position and hastened away
through the grass.

The turtle protects himself in the same way, and draws his head, feet,
and tail under his own house-roof where nothing can get him.

Lobsters and crabs are excellent types of armour-bearin