96 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
The Scincide have the head covered with shields, which are 
symmetrically arranged. Tongue slender, free, exsertile, termi- 
nating in two pointed lobes. Scales on the back rounded, quin- 
cuncial, imbricate; those on the belly similar to those on the 
back and on the sides. No fold across the throat or along the 
side ; no femoral or inguinal pores. ‘Tail generally long, rounded, 
fragile. Eyes and eyelids well developed. Nostrils in a separate 
plate, between the frontal and labial shields. Generally four 
limbs, moderately developed, sometimes feeble or hidden below 
the skin. The species of this family are exceedingly numerous, and 
inhabit almost every part of the tropical regions, some extending 
into the temperate zones. They are thoroughly land lizards, 
preferring dry ground, and hiding themselves in the sand, under 
stones, fallen leaves, &c., very few of them entering the water. 
They do not attain to any considerable size, only a few species of 
Australia and the West Indies growing to the thickness of a 
man’s wrist, and exceeding a foot in length. Some of them are 
viviparous, others deposit from eight to twelve globular eggs. 
Dr. Gray divides them into the sub-families of Sccncen@e, or those 
which have the scales thin, smooth, and neither striated nor 
keeled ; the nostrils in a single smooth plate, without any lunate 
groove behind; and the tail round, tapering, unarmed; and 
Tropidophoring, or those which have the scales thick, bony, 
rugous, striated, and with one or more keels upon each of them; 
the rostral plate rounded in front, and the body fusiform, with 
well-developed limbs, which terminate always in the full comple- 
ment of toes. A few species of the Scizcine have no external 
limbs, thus approximating in their appearance to certain of the 
burrowing Ophidians. | 
The: Orvet, or Blind-worm (Anguis fragilis, Fig. 25), is small, 
cylindrical in shape, about eleven or twelve inches in length, and 
having the exterior appearance of Snakes. The scales which cover 
the body are small, smooth, and shining, being red in the middle, 
and edged with white, of a silvery yellow on the upper part, and 
dusky beneath; the sides somewhat dusky brown, and the throat 
slightly marbled with white, black, and yellow. Two larger spots 
appear, one above the muzzle, the other upon the back of the head ; 
from this point two blackish longitudinal rays start, which extend to 
the tail, as well as two other nut-brown rays, which start from the 
eyes, the markings vary, however, in different countries, and probably 
with age and sex. 
The Blind-worm is found in woods, and on dry, sandy, and stony 
