THE SLOW- WORM, ANGUIS FR A GILTS 43 



perfectly harmless, the only result being a series of 

 small depressions on the skin showing the marks of the 

 teeth. This exhibition of temper is generally seen in 

 old females before the young are born, and I have had 

 several such in my cages which would attempt to bite 

 on every opportunity. The great majority, however, 

 never attempt any such thing so long as they are 

 handled carefully, being quiet and docile to a degree. 

 They are extremely clean and take to life in a vivarium 

 well, and therefore make most interesting pets. One 

 cannot help being struck with their patience and 

 curiosity. Time after time will they raise themselves 

 up on to the tail to examine the side of the cage, 

 until they may be said to stand on the tip of that 

 organ, or very nearly so. Miss Hopley states that 

 one of her slow-worms learned to recognise certain 

 sounds made to attract her attention, and recognised 

 a peculiar intonation of voice w^hich was used to this 

 specimen alone, even when at a distance of the far 

 side of a room. In fact, the total sum of the 

 characteristics of the slow- worm, or blind- worm, forms 

 an entire negation of those implied by the popular 

 names, since the creature is neither slow, blind, deaf, 

 nor a worm. 



This species will always be remembered by zoologists 

 as that in which the discovery w^as made of the exist- 

 ence of a third or median eye in lizards. In the 

 chapter on the anatomy of a lizard reference was made 

 to the " pineal body," which comparative anatomists 



