CuAP. III.] CECILIA. 201 



the first, which possessed a sUght absorbent power) were 

 quite inert, and incapable of having any effect exchisive 

 of that on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg 

 was shown the snake-stone used by the boers at the 

 Cape in 1772, which was imported for them " from 

 the Indies, especially from Malabar," at so high a 

 price that few of the farmers could afford to possess 

 themselves of it ; he describes it as convex on one side 

 black, and so porous that " when thrown into water, 

 it caused bubbles to rise ; " and hence, by its absorption, 

 it served, if speedily apphed, to extract the poison from 

 the wound. ^ 



Ccecilia. — The rocky jungle, bordering the higher 

 coffee estates, provides a safe retreat for a very singular 

 animal, first introduced to the notice of European 

 naturahsts about a centiu-y ago by Linnieus, who 

 gave it the name Ccecilia glutinosa^ to indicate two 

 pecuharities manifest to the ordinary observer — ^an appa- 

 rent defect of vision, from the eyes being so small and 

 imbedded as to be scarcely distinguishable ; and a power 

 of secreting from minute pores in the skin a viscous 

 fluid, resembhng that of snails, eels, and some salaman- 

 ders. Specimens are rare in Europe from the readiness 

 with which it decomposes, brealdng down into a flaky 

 mass in the spirits in which it is attempted to be pre- 

 served. 



The creature is about the length and thickness of an 

 ordinary round desk ruler, a httle flattened before and 

 rounded beliind. It is brownish, with a pale stripe along 

 either side. The skin is fiu-rowed into 350 circular 

 folds, in which are imbedded minute scales. The head 

 is tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine curved 

 teeth for seizing the insects and worms on which it is 

 supposed to hve. 



Natm^ahsts are most desirous that the habits and 

 metamorphoses of this creature should be carefully 



* Thunberg, vol. i. p. 155. 



