LIZARDS. 111 
upon which it is generally quite ready to feed. It will eat, while 
in confinement, worms, dead or live mice, snails, slugs, dead or 
live frogs, raw meat, and, occasionally, hard-boiled eggs, The 
readiness to take dead food adds much to its suitability as a 
Vivarium inmate. 
The Glass Snake, when first obtained, either by capture or by 
purchase, is likely to be wild and shy, and should therefore be 
handled with great care, or in its struggles to get free it is likely 
to injure itself. After a time it will generally submit to being 
caught without showing any nervousness, not even hissing. It 
does not often, even when wild, attempt to bite. The Glass 
Snake should be kept in a heated Vivarium during winter ; or, 
if it be in good condition it may be allowed to hibernate accord- 
ing to the directions already given. 
As Fig, 42 represents this Reptile so faithfully, no detailed 
description is necessary. The tail is sometimes twice as long as 
the head and body; the males have the longer tails. Occasion- 
ally this creature attains a length of about 4ft. I think both my 
specimens are more than 36in. long, and quite perfect, not even 
the tip of a tail broken off. 
The colour of the Glass Snake is a reddish-chestnut or dark 
brown on the back, and a lighter brown underneath. The young 
are olive-grey, with transverse dark brown bands on the upper 
surface of the body, brown streaks on the head and neck, and a 
greyish white below. 
The Scheltopusik has somewhat the appearance of a gigantic 
slow-worm (Angus fragilis). It is found in South-Eastern 
Europe, South-Western Asia, and North Africa. Many of those 
which are imported into this country come, I believe, from Dal- 
matia and Greece. It is very common in the uncultivated parts 
of the Holy Land. 
The American Glass Snake (Ophisaurus ventrales) is of much 
slenderer build than that last described (Fig. 42). It is very 
common in some parts of North America, and is frequently dug 
up with the potato. As it is a burrowing animal, it should be 
provided, in its case, with plenty of fine sand or mould. Its 
food may consist of earthworms, slugs, snails and insects. 
Unfortunately, this interesting Lizard is not often brought into 
