Ancuis. reptiles. OPHIDIA. 155 



it possesses a neck resembling the body of a serpent. The 

 teeth are unequal, slender, pointed, a little bent, and grooved 

 longitudinally. Two species occur in the strata of Britain. 



1. P. dolichodeirus This species is an inmate of the has at Lyme. 



2. P. recentior. — Found m the Kimmeridge clay. 



Baron Cuvier considers the bone figured by Sir E. Home, Phil. Trans. 

 181S, tab. iii., as the humerus of a Plesiosaurus ; different, however, from the 

 preceding species, and more nearly related to P. pentagonus, or trigonus, two 

 other species which he has instituted. — Rech. v. 2. 475. 



OPHIDIA. 



Gen. II. ANGUIS. Blind-woem. — A third eye-lid. Traces 

 of scapular and clavicular bones. Tympanum concealed. 

 No palatine teeth. Maxillary teeth compressed and re- 

 curved. 



2. A. fragilis. — Common Blind-worm. Head covered with 

 nine large scales ; dorsal scales rounded and plain. 



Typhlops, Sibb. Scot. 28 — CiKcilia, Ray, Syn. Quad. 289 Anguis frag. 



Linn. Syst. i. 392. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 36. Lacep. Ov. Quad. iv. 



293. — E, Slow-worm ; W, Pwl dall, Needr y defaid Not uncommon. 



Length about a foot (in this country, where its growth is much reduced by 

 the cold), of which the tail forms one-half Body gi-eyish, with two dark-brown 

 stripes along the back, and one on each side from the eye. The belly dark 

 brown. Head small ; neck slender ; body larger, continuing nearly of equal 

 thickness to the tail, the end of which is blunt. The scales on the head are 

 placed in four rows ; the first having only one scale, the second two scales, and 

 the third and fourth have three each. The other scales on the hps and body 

 are small, and nearly of the same size. Eyes small. Gape extending beyond 

 the eyes. Tongue notched in a crescent form. Ovoviviparous. "Lives in 

 holes in woods, way-sides, or heaps of rubbish. Feeds on worms, frogs, and 

 mice. Becomes torpid during the winter. Brittle. Its bite not venomous. 

 Borlase, however, when speaking of the " long cripple,''^ regarded by Pennant 

 as the blind-worm, says that its bite is poisonous. He, however, adds, that it 

 is of the " tail-pouited kind." As the obtuse tailed kind, the true blind worm, 

 also inhabits Cornwall, it is probable that some of the varieties of the viper 

 were referred to. The figure which Borlase gives of the " long cripple," 

 (tab. xxviii. £ 24.) tapers too gradually to a point ever to have been copied 

 from a blind-worm. 



The Anguis Eryx, Linn. Syst. i. 392, or Aberdeen Serpent o? Penn. Brit. Zool. 

 iii. 35, appears to be no other than a variety o? the fragilis, from which indeed 

 it can scarcely be said to differ. It was communicated to Linnaeus and Pen- 

 nant by Dr David Skene of Aberdeen. In his MS. desciiptions of animals 

 (now before me), he notices it under the trivial name Anguis Scoticus. Two 

 examples are recorded. The largest about 15 inches in length, of which the 

 tail occupied 8^ inches. In the smallest specimen, the scales on the belly 

 were 1 24 ; of the tail 63 ; a part of the latter he conjectures may have been 

 wanting. In the largest, the scales of the belly were 120 ; of the tail 137. 

 Linnoeus states the number 126,-136, while his numbers for fragilis are 135,- 



