THE GILA MONSTER.
(Heloderma suspectum).
The reptile fauna of the North American continent includes a curious lizard known as Gila Monster, in science called Heloderma . It represents a family all to itself, with only two species: Heloderma horridum and Heloderma suspectum
Francisco Hernandez, a Spanish physician and naturalist, was the first to know of its existence when he found it in Mexico in the year 1651. In an account of his explorations he mentions a lizard three feet long, with a thick-set body, covered with wart-like skin, gaudily colored in orange and black, and generally of such horrid appearance that Wiegmann, another scientist, two hundred years later, called it Heloderma horridum
For a long time this name was given indiscriminately to all lizards of this kind, living either south or north of the boundary line of Mexico and the United States, till Professor Cope discovered a difference between them and called the variety found in our southwestern territories and states Heloderma suspectum
Many other naturalists have since taken up the study of this interesting reptile. The result of their observations and experiments was that they all agree in acknowledging the Heloderma as the only poisonous lizard in existence, although their opinions are at variance as to the effect of its venom on the human system. Dr. van Denburgh in his latest researches has found two glands, one on each side of the lower jaw, located between the skin and the bone. Such a venom-producing gland being taken out of its enveloping membrane proves to be not a single body, but an agglomeration of several small ones, differing in size, and each emptying through a separate duct. These glands are not directly communicated to the teeth. When the animal is highly irritated, caused by constant teasing or rough handling or by being trodden upon, the poison is emitted by the glands, gathers on the floor of the mouth, where it mixes with the saliva, and is transmitted through the bite. | |
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