ZOOLOGY. 511 



head is wide and blunt in front, and tbe jaws are uncovered by lips. 

 The feet are pinuiforra, with the first and second digits short and en- 

 tirely involved in the skin, leaving only the claws exposed, while the 

 third (which is the longest) and the succeeding have the last two pha- 

 langes elongated and exserted,but connected by an extensive web, and 

 destitute of claws. (Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales (3), i, pp. 158-162, 

 pi. 3-6.)* 



A family of Lizards new for tlie American fauna. — In Asia there are a 

 few lizards having the eye entirely concealed by the skin, and with the 

 tongue scaly, constituting the family of Auelytropidae. Their life is 

 mainly subterranean, and consequently they rarely come within the field 

 of observation, unless specially sought for. In the examination of a 

 collection of reptiles made by the geographical and exploring commis- 

 sion of the Republic of Mexico, Professor Cope detected a specimen evi- 

 dently belonging to this family, which he has described as a new generic 

 type, under the name Anelytropsis papillosiis. The importance of this 

 discovery, he thinks, " is considerable, as it shows that the scincoid 

 lizards have undergone in the New World the same degenerative pro- 

 cesses as in the Old World, and in the same way. This is a new fact, 

 even supposing that the Aniellidse of America are a degenerate form of 

 the same family, which is not probable. Dr. Boulenger believes that 

 that family is a degenerate type of the Auguid stem," and with this 

 view Professor Cope is disposed to concur. Anelyptropsis, according to 

 Professor Cope, is "a degree further down in the scale than Aniella, in 

 having the epidermis absolutely continuous over the eye, as in other 

 members of the family of Anelytropidae, and as in the Typhlopoid family 

 of snakes." (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1886, p. 196.) 



The feat of an amphisbcenoid lizard. — A singular instance of the ex- 

 cavating powers and vitality of an amphisbaenoid has been noticed by 

 Dr. Boulenger, the keeper of the department of reptiles in the British 

 Museum. A coral snake {Elaps lemniscatus) was found with an amphis- 

 baenoid, a species known as Lepidosfernon polystegum, projecting from a 

 hole in the anterior half of the body, while the posterior part protruded 

 from the mouth of the snake. "The Lepidosternon had been swallowed 

 headforemost by the snake, and had, apparentl.y by means of its sharp- 

 edged cutting snout, partly forced its way out of tbe body of its enemy, 

 making its escape 3 inches from the mouth." (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 

 1885, pp. 327-328; Am. Nat., XX, p. 178, Feb., 1886.) 



Uarth- SnaJces of India. — A group of curious snakes is found in India 

 and are peculiar to the main-land and the island of Ceylon, where they 



*Pos<scryjt— After this report had beeu prepared, the "Anuals and Magazine of 

 Natural History" for March, 1887, was received, and in it is an article by Dr. Boulenger 

 "On a new family of Pleurodirian turtles" (xix, pp. 170-172), in which Carettocbelys 

 is declared to be a Pleurodirian, and the representative of a peculiar family (Caret- 

 tochelydidai). The more correct form is Charettochelydae, (^eAiif, ;i;eAwc.) Dr. Bou- 

 lenger only knew the form through the description and figure above referred to. 



