AUSTRALIAN SNAICES. 17 



FxUIILY OF BLIND SNAKES— TFPiZXOPZZ)^. 



This family comprises those snakes which are known as Blind 

 Worms ; they have a cylindrical hody, and a very short head and tail, the 

 latter ending in a sharp point. The fore-part of the head is provided with 

 large shields, covering the very rudimentary eye, which appears like a faint 

 blue spot, and in some species is not visible at all. 



Blind Snakes burrow in search of their food, which consists chiefly 

 of ants and their eggs and larvae. In excavating they are greatly assisted 

 by their blunt heads, smooth scales, and short pointed tails. The posterior 

 is generally larger than the anterior portion of their body. As far as 

 can be ascertained, eight species of Australian Blind Snakes have been 

 recorded, and descriptions and figures thereof published in works that are 

 not all accessible to the author ; it must therefore suffice to simply 

 enumerate the various species, and add a few illustrations from the work 

 of Professor Jan. 



TlTPHIiOPS. 

 Typhlops (sp. Schneider) Dmn. Sf Bihr. 



Snout covered with large shields ; rostral large, rounded in front ; 

 prseocular shield present ; nostrils laterally in front of the snout. 



Schlegel's Blind Snake. Typhlops polygrammicus. 



Typhlops polygrammicus, Schlegel, Abhild. unheJc. Amph. 



This species was first discovered at Timor, but subsequently found 

 also in New South Wales. All the scales are brown, bordered with yellow. 



Peters' Blfnd Snake. Typhlops bituberculatus. 



TypUops bituberculatus, Peters. Monatsber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 



Professor Peters, of the Royal Museum at Berlin, has given a 

 description of this snake, which is said to inhabit South Australia. 



GiJNTHER's Blind Snake. Typhlo]}s guntheri. 



Typhlops guntheri, Peters. Monatsber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1865, p. 239, fig. 1. 



The same author has given an account of this reptile, which belongs 

 to North Australia ; it was discovered by the late Mr. Elsey, who accom- 

 panied Gregory's Expedition as Surgeon and Naturalist. 



G 



