orillOOLOSSACKjE. 



OPHISAURrS. 



OrHKXlLOttACKJB, AM** TW, a natural order of Acroge 

 PUota, beloaftaf to Ui slluuice Kilicales. They have an ered 

 with a canty in the middle instead of pith, am 



the .talk, of 



the lear, 



into spike formec 

 lout any trace of an 

 ring; sootH resembling floe powder. 



plaoU are a transition from Kerns to Lytopodiacaz, The 

 abundant in the ulands of tropioal Ana, They 



TV. 



mrkowtver in the West Ilidiai and in the tropical parte of Africa, 

 at the Gtpe, and in Tasmania, They are of little or no known u*e 

 The foUowiaf genera with about K species belong to tail order : 

 QliWiMiii, OWUeetoM, JMmimlkottotl^ Botnckium. 



OPHIOOL06SDM (from *<t, a anake, and Y AiMnre, the tongue), a 

 g*nns of Ilante belonging to the natural order Opktoytouame. The 

 thecst are connate, diapoeed in a simple distichous npike attached to an 

 undivided frond. 



0. rmlftlmm, Adder 1 * Tongue, b the only Briton species. It hai an 

 orate obtoe* frond, and ii from I to 12 inches in height; the spike 

 is club-soaped, usually rather longer than the frond, sometimae very 

 long. This plant is generally distributed over England, and in many 

 plaaee is exceedingly common, covering large plots of ground, and is 

 highly injurious to the crop of grass. It is leu frequent in Wales, 

 fViirtUnd, and Ireland. It is a common plant on the continent oi 

 is said to occur in Africa and North America. Like 

 x>king planU, it has been used in medicine. Ray 

 an ointment composed of oil and Addrr's-Tongue. 

 Oerarde says that the - Adder's-Tongue is dry in the turn! degree. 

 Th kavr* of Adder's-Toogue stamped in a stone mortar, and boiled 

 in oyle-olive vnto the consumption of the juice and until the hcrbes be 

 dry and parched, and then strained, will yeeld a most excellent grcene 

 oyle, or rather a balaame, for greene wounds comparable to oyle of St 

 John's Wort, if it do not far surpass it by many degrees, whose beauty 

 b such that Tery many artists hare thought the same to be mixed 

 with verdigris." Ughtfoot says that the common people in Scotland 

 make an ointment of the green leaves, and use it as a vulnerary. It is 

 also used in the same way in many parts of England. 



(Newman. BrilM Ptni .- Babington, Manual of Briiuh Botany.) 



' 'PHIOTaORUS, a genus of Reptiles established by Messrs. Duiiicril 

 and Bibron for a form placed by them in their first sub-family 

 (Saun>|.hUialme>) of Scincoidcan Lizards. 



OPHIOPHTHALMES, the named assigned by Messrs. Dumeril and 

 Kbron to their second sub-family of Scincoidean Lisards, having all 

 naked eyes, bat only one of them (Oy**oplukalmin quadrilineaHu) 

 heinjt compleUly without the eyelid. 



HI"PS, a genus of Reptiles belonging to the Lacertians 

 ' actyle Cododonta of Messrs. Dumoril and Bibron ; Amyittt of 



'* *" arrow-headed in shape, moderately long, notched at 



the sod, covered with imbricated squamiform papilhe ; intermaxillary 

 Jf?* 1 ! eoB i* l< """P 1 * ; """ullT tth ratlicr compressed, the anterior 

 staple, the posterior tricuspidato; two slightly convex naso-roetral 

 !*, between which is opened the nostril situated on the line of the 

 eanthm rostralis ; no eyelids ; a tympanic membrane extended within 



Jl*" ie T ar< y* lllB : ***? IUr under the neck ; naU fold 

 fcosrt of each shoulder ; ventral lamella! quadrilateral, smooth, and 

 ' Ily; femoral ports; feet with five toes slightly 

 d below, but not dentilatod laterally; tail cvclo- 

 I at its root, but rounded throughout the rest of its length. 



ftrfrew, 



Wlegmann. Olive or 



bronxed above ; two yellowish lines extend along each side of the 

 trunk ; each of these yellowish or whitish lines separates two rows of 

 black spots, which are small and very distinct in young individuals, 

 but are more or less dilated and confused in adults ; white below. It 

 is a native of Smyrna and Uakou. 



OPHIO'XYLON (from t^a, a serpent, and fiiAo^, wood, because it 

 has a twisted root and stems), a genus of Plants belonging to the 

 natural order Apocynacar. It has a 5-cloft permanent calyx, a funnel- 

 shaped corolla with a long tube, thickest in the middle, and a 5 cleft 

 oblique limb. The anthers are subsessile, inserted into the middle of 

 the tube. The ovary is double, each lobe with one ovule, a filiform 

 inclosed style and a capitate stigma. The drupes are baccate, black, 



0f 



. 



0. Krpentinum, Serpentine Snake-Wood, is a native of the Enat 

 Indies. In nch soil it becomes a climbing plant, but in poor soil it 

 is a small erect shrub. The leaves are in threes or fives ; they are 

 short-stalked, oblong, pointed, wavy, and smooth. The peduncles are 

 long, smooUi, round, sometimes nearly erect, sointimes drooping. Tho 

 pedicels and calyxes are of a bright-red colour, and the corollas white. 

 In India the root of this plant is employed by the Telinga physicians 

 M a remedy in may diseases. 



(Lindley Flora Mcdica; Burnett, Outline of Botany.) 



OPH ISAURUS (Daudin), a genus of Reptile,, (Hyaline of Merrem) 

 near, allied to the Scheltopusiks (P. m do}>* t , Mer^ern), and, accord- 

 ing to Cuvier one of the sub-genera of the Anguid*. It haa the 

 tongue arrow-headed in shape, notched triangularly in front, free for 

 one third of its extent anteriorly, which part has granular papillic, 

 whilst the other two posterior thirds exhibit filiform papilla; Many 

 rows of palatal teeth. Intermaxillary teeth conical ; maxillary teeth 

 subcyhndrical, e imj>le. Nostrils lateral, each with its opening in a 

 single plate. External orifice of the ear very small. Eyelids ; cephalic 

 plates numerous. Body serpentiform. No vestige of limbs externally. 

 Two rather deep lateral furrows. No fold across the lower surface of 

 the neck. 



This form is one of those transitions by which nature passes from 

 one type to another. The animal, in eflect, has the head of a Lizard 

 on a serpentme body. There appears to be but one species, namely, 

 Atguu ventral,, Linn (CVwi/ia macK/a/a, Catesby), the Glass-Snake. 

 The colour is yellowish green, spotted with black above. Tail longer 

 lian the body. Head very small, and the tongue of a singular form, 

 according to Catesby. 



a. Brad of Ophitaum rmlralii b, head of the ismc from Cutcsby, bowlng 

 tbc tongue. 



It is probable that this )>ecies is subject to slight variations of 



>lour. Catesby says that the "upper part of the body is of a colour 



lended brown and green, most regularly and elegantly spotted with 



ellow ; the belly yellow, the undermost part of which is brightest. 



beir skin is very smooth and shining, with smaller scales more closely 



connected, and of a different structure from other serpents." General 



length about 18 inches. 



The fragility of this animal equals if it does not exceed that of the 

 Iworm ; and hence, probably, its name of Serpent de Verre, or 



QU**.8nake. The author last quoted says, "a small blow with a 

 ick will cause the body to separate, not only at the place struck, but 

 two or three other places; the muscles being articulated in a 

 nipil.r manner, quite through to the vertebrae. They are generally 

 14 to *? h le *" Thcr n<> doubt that the species is innocuous. 

 It is found in the southern United States. Catesby states that the 



vTf D * kei * pp ~ r eRrli "' in **"" "P rin 8 thlin ft "y otl>er serpent, and 

 that they are numerous in the sandy woods of Virginia and Carolina. 



