68 REPTILES. 



Order V. AMPHISB.ENIANS, (AMPHISB^NIA). 



Body elongate, cylindrical, naked, with square imbedded plates 

 placed in cross rings, divided into two sets by a slight longitudinal 

 groove on each side. Tail short, continuous, blunt. Tongue not 

 sheathed, flat, enlarged and nicked at the end, ending in 2 smooth 

 threads, the rest covered with large flat papillae or scales. Eyes 

 small, under the skin ; eyelid none. Ear hidden under the skin. 

 Mouth small ; jaws not extensile. Feet none, or rarely in front, 

 Penis double. Vent rather transversely plaited. Skull very solid ; 

 orbits incomplete ; tympanic bone inclosed in the skull, oblique ; 

 parietal bone simple ; temporal and mastoid bones scarcely separate. 



Synopsis of the Families. 



A. Teeth in the margin of thejaivs. 



1. Trigonophidje. Limbs none. 



B. Teeth on the inner side of the jaws. 



2. Amphisb^nid^:. Limbs none. Body and chest covered with 

 similar square shields. Preanal pores distinct. 



3. Chirotid^. Limbs 2 anterior. 



4. Lepidosternid^e. Limbs none. Chest covered with larger 



and differently shaped shields. Preanal pores none. 



Fam. I. Trigonophes, (Trigonophidje). 



Teeth on the edge of the jaws, solidly fixed and nearly united 

 to one another at their base, unequal, conical, rather compressed. 

 Nostrils lateral, small, oval, pierced in the naso-rostral plate. Pre- 

 anal pores none. Limbs none. 



1. Trigonophis, Kaup. 



Head short, conical, very blunt. Eyes distinct. Naso-rostral 

 plate encasing the muzzle. Tail conical, short. 



The Elegant Trigonophe. Trigonophis Weigmanni, Kaup. 

 Isis, 1830, 880. Bum. et Bib. E. G. v. 469. Amphisbama ele- 

 gans, Gerv. Mag. Zool. t. 11, (1835). Ann. Sci. Nat. vii. 311. 



Body tessellated, black and white or yellow, head brown, with 

 an oblique band across the temples ; tail very short, conical ; teeth 

 5 in the intermaxillaries, 10 on each side of the maxillaries, and 

 18 in the lower jaw. 



a, b. Half grown, in spirits. Algiers. Presented by M. Bibron. 



