160 OPHIDIA. AMPHISB^NAD^. 



consists of ants, termites, and other minute ani- 

 mals ; and tliey are said to inhabit the earthy 

 nests and hills of these industrious insects, 

 through which their slender cylindrical bodies 

 and polished scales enable them to burrow with 

 great facility. They are oviparous, laying eggs 

 in such situations, which are very large in pro- 

 portion, and covered with a parchment-like skin. 



The Family contains but a small number of 

 species, wdiich are, however, scattered over the 

 tropical regions of both hemispheres. 



Genus Typhlops. (Schneid.) 



In the genus Typhlops are comprised a few 

 Serpents, so small as to resemble earthw^orms in 

 appearance, which are clothed with small over- 

 lapping scales, broader than long, very closely 

 apj)lied. They have the muzzle somew^hat ad- 

 vancing beyond the lower jaw, and covered with 

 broad plates ; the tongue is rather long and 

 forked like that of the true Serpents ; the eye, 

 minute and point-like, is scarcely or not at all 

 visible externally. The body is slender, cylin- 

 drical, terminating very abruptly ; the vent is close 

 to the extremity. One lung is four times as 

 large as the other. 



Species of this genus are found in the warm 

 regions of both continents, and in the large tro- 

 pical islands. We shall describe that which has 

 come under our own personal notice in Jamaica, 

 where it is popularly know^n as the Two-headed 

 Snake {Typhlops lumhricalis, Lacep.) In this 

 species, which has been by some zoologists ranked 

 as a genus, under the title of Argyi^ophisy the 



