500 SAURIANS. 



ptuclie, a fold ; pleura, side,) distinguished by a fold of the skin 

 upon the side ; (2) Glyptoderma, (Gr. gluptos, graved or carved ; 

 derma, skin,) distinguished by square or curd-like divisions, 

 sometimes colored, and then, like mosaic work, extending in reg 

 ular order over the skin. The first sub-family have scales ar 

 ranged in the manner described above. All have a fold or 

 furrow on each side, and are in possession of eye-lids. 



Of these may be mentioned the Ophisauros, (Gr. serpent- 

 lizard,) found in North America, having, with the head of a lizard, 

 the body of a snake, and the snake-like manners which such a 

 form involves. It is called the Glass-snake, from the fact that the 

 body is very brittle, and may be broken by a slight blow. 



Two species exist in the United States, viz: (1) O. ventralis, 

 which is limited to the Southern or South-Eastern States; (2) 

 O. lineatus, which is met with in the South- West, and as far 

 North as Michigan. 



II. Genus Pseudopus, (Gr. pseudos, false; pous, foot.) includ 

 ing reptiles which, in their form and movements, resemble 

 snakes, having no front limbs, and hind limbs which are mere 

 scaly, undivided appendages. 



The SCHELTOPUSIK, (P. Pallasii, Cuv.,) is so named by the 

 natives of the desert of Naryn, near the Volga, (Russia.) It is 

 a native, not of Europe only, but of Africa and Asia. This rep 

 tile is eighteen inches long; of a reddish yellow or chestnut 

 color, clouded with black. It frequents wooded valleys and 

 gives chase to small Lizards, which, together with insects, con 

 stitute its food. Being of a quiet and inoffensive disposition, it 

 is, when captured, sometimes kept alive in rooms. It is re 

 corded, however, that on one occasion, one of these reptiles so 

 kept, got access to a nest of young birds, which it soon demol 

 ished, and, no doubt, fully enjoyed. 



III. Genus Chalcides, includes species chiefly found in South 

 America, having both fore and hind limbs, but in a rudimentary 

 condition. The front pair terminate in three or four scaly 

 tubercles; the posterior pair are represented by two. slender 

 spines ; the tongue is arrow-like in figure, with a sharp, two- 

 cleft point ; the surface is covered with large, flat, imbricated 

 papilla resembling in form and arrangement, the scales of a 

 fish. Four species are described. One, (C. Schlegii,} a native 

 of Java; the others are found in Guiana, Columbia, and Chili. 

 These reptiles have no external ear, by which they are distin 

 guished from the following genus. 



IV. Genus Chamaesaura, (Gr. chamai, on the ground ; sau- 

 ra, a lizard,) which has an outward auditory cavity, and the 



