26 BRITISH LIZARDS 



nothing more nor less than so many captures of slow- 

 worms ! I do not mean to insinuate that such ignor- 

 ance is common amongst those who work at outdoor 

 natural history, but one is driven to the conclusion 

 that there is room for improvement. Such a mistake 

 as this makes it necessary to point out the distinction 

 between a limbless lizard Hke the slow-worm, and a 

 snake of any species. It may be admitted at once 

 that the general form of this lizard is snakelike, that 

 is, it is possessed of a long, slender body without any 

 obvious indications of limbs, and no very marked 

 separation of the tail from the body. The same 

 remark practically applies to an eel, which means, of 

 course, that such a superficial description of a creature 

 is of no value whatever as a means of classification. 

 Three simple structural points, all of which can be 

 seen without any dissection, are amply sufficient to 

 identify the slow-worm as a lizard, and to separate it 

 from the snakes, at any rate as far as British reptiles 

 are concerned, which is all we need consider here. 

 First of all, the most casual observer could hardly 

 fail to notice that the slow-worm has eyelids ; the 

 snakes have no eyelids. How this creature came by 

 its other popular name of blind-worm, considering 

 the brilliancy of its eyes, is difficult to understand, 

 unless it was from seeing it with the eyes closed 

 during hibernation. Secondly, if the belly scales be 

 examined, it will be seen that they are made up of 

 a numl^er of rows in the slow- worm (as in other 



