SCINKS.] 



MUSEU3I OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



In Fig. 2202, a exhibits the fore-foot of this rep- 

 tile seen from above. 



2203. — The Capisteated Sphenops 

 (^Sphenops capistratus). Head of. 



We fi2;me only the head of this sinRidar lizard, 

 which, as Ikr as is ascertained, appears to be re- 

 stricted to Esrypt, where, according to Lefebvre, it is 

 very common in the oasis of Bahrieh, at Labou, 

 Quasr, and Uahoueit, and is to be seen in abun- 

 dance on the ridges of rice-grounds, at the foot of 

 hedges, and about the ruts of the miry roads of vil- 

 lages. It burrows so superficially tliat the slightest 

 disturbance made by the feet of the passer-by lays 

 open its retreat. It is very active in its movements, 

 but when captured does not attempt to bite. It is 

 a very remarkable circumstance, that an embalmed 

 individual of this species was found by M. Lelebvre 

 himself in the environs of Thebes. This he gave to 

 M. Cocteau, who drew up an interesting memoir, 

 which he was about to publish when death inter- 

 rupted his labours. It is, however, given by MI\I. 

 Dum6iil and Bibron. A similarly embalmed Sphe- 

 nops is in the Egyptian IVIuseum of the Louvre. 



2204. — Sacra's Dipoglossus 



{Dipoglossits SagrtB), Head of. 



We figure the head of this scincoid lizard so as to 

 show the form of the tongue cleft at its apex, and 

 covered above with papillae like little scales. 



This reptile is a native of Cuba, where it was dis- 

 covered by M. Ramon de la Sagra. It lives in cool 

 and humid places, where the soil is light ; and is 

 extremely quick and active in its movements. Nei- 

 ther in this nor the genus Sphenops are there any 

 palatal teeth. 



220.5.— The TJabouya 



{Gongylns ocellatus). The ocellated Scink, Ma- 

 bouya Scink of Shaw ; Tiliqua of Malta, Griff, 

 'Animal Kingdom,' Cuv. ; Lacepede"s Gallywasp, 

 Gray ; Scincus ocellatus, Meyer. 



This little scincoid lizard is found along the shores 

 of the Mediterranean, and is common in Sicily, 

 Sardinia, and Malta ; it occurs also in Egypt, and in 

 the Island of Teneriffe. Dry and slightly elevated 

 spots are its favourite abodes, and it conceals itself 

 in the sand or under stones. Its food consists of 

 insects, which it seizes alter the manner of the true 

 lizards; and though its form does not promise much 

 agility, its movements are quicker than might be 

 expected. When caught, it does not attempt to 

 bite, but merely struggles to escape. It is subject 

 to great variation of colouring, but is generally 

 marked above by ocellated spots of black with a 

 yellowish centre. 



2206.— The Common Seps 



(Seps chalci(ks). Seps tridactylus, Gerv., Gray, and 

 others. 



In this form we see a decided approximation to 

 the limbless groups of the present family : the body 

 is elongated and slender; the limbs are very short 

 and small, and furnished with only three minute 

 toes ; the under eyelid is transparent ; the teeth are 

 simple, none on the palate ; muzzle conical ; tongue 

 flat squamous, notched at the point. 



This smooth serpentiform scink is found in the 

 south of France, in Italy and Spain, in the islands 

 of the Mediterranean, and on the Mediterranean 

 shores of Africa. It lives on worms, little snails 

 and slugs, spiders, and all sorts of insects. It is 

 viviparous, like our viviparous lizard or the slow- 

 worm. 



2207. — The Slowwoem 



{Anguisfragilis). Blindworm, Head of. 



The Slowworm, as a type of the genus Anguis, 

 may be thus characterized : — Body and tail cylin- 

 drical and obtuse ; all the scales smooth, glossy, 

 imbricate, nearly equal on the upper and under 

 parts ; head covered with nine larger plates ; limbs 

 reduced to mere rudiments beneath the skin ; the 

 mouth is small ; the teeth minute, none on the 

 palate ; the eyes are small but brilliant. 



The slowworm is found over the greater part of 

 Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia ; and it is 

 common in many parts of England, frequenting 

 copses, orchards, old mouldering walls, and banks, 

 where it delights to bask in the sun ; it is a sluggish, 

 timid creature, and when handled, even roughly, 

 seldom attempts to bite : if it does, its jaws are too 

 small and feeble and its teeth too minute to inflict 

 a wound ; scarcely indeed does it make any impres- 

 sion, and the opinion that it is venomous is as ab- 

 surd as it is erroneous. Let those who believe it 

 put it themselves to the test, examine the creature's 

 teeth, try their effect on any small animal, and not 

 give up their common sense to the assertions of the 

 ignorant. I 



According to I^treille, the food of the slowworm 



consists of worms and beetles, to which it adds frogs, 



small rats, and even toads ; but this is a mistake : 



the undilafable mouth of the slowworm is incapable 



Vol. II. 



99 



of taking in such prey ; it could no more engulf a 

 frog or rat than could the little viviparous lizard ; 

 it feeds to some extent, perhaps, on insects, but 



niore particularly on worms and slugs, especially 

 the latter; as was witnessed by Mr. George Daniel, 

 whose account of the habits of the blindworm, in 

 Mr. Bennet's edition of White's ' Selborne,' is very 

 interesting. "A blindworm'' he writes,-' that I 

 kept alive for nine weeks, would, when touched, 

 turn and bite, altlioueh not very sharply ; its bite 

 was not sufficient to draw blood, but it always re- 

 tained its hold until released. It drank sparingly of 

 milk, raising the head when drinking. It fed upon 

 the little white slug so common in fields and gar- 

 dens, eating six or seven of them one after the 

 other. It invariably took them in one position. 

 Elevating its head slowly above its victim, it would 

 suddenly seize the slug by the middle, in the same 

 way that a dog will generally seize a rat by the 

 loins. It would then hold it thus sometimes for 

 more than a minute, when it would pass its prey 

 through its jaws, and swallow the slug head fore- 

 most. It refused the larger slugs, ami would not 

 touch either young frogs or mice. Snakes kept in 

 the same cage took both frogs and mice. The 

 blindworm avoided the water ; the snakes on the 

 contrary coiled themselves in a pan containing 

 water which was put into the cage, and appeared to 

 delight in it. The blindworm was a remiirkably 

 fine one, measuring fifteen inches in length; it cast 

 its slough while in my possession ; the i:kin came off 

 in separate pieces, the peeling of the head being 

 completed the last." In a state of nature, however, 

 the cuticle, as in the snake, is shed in one entire 

 everted piece. We have alluded to the brittleness 

 of the tail of the viviparous lizard: the same brittle- 

 ness characterizes the whole body of the slowworm. 

 When alarmed or irritated, it forcibly contracts all 

 its muscles, and breaks asunder upon the slightest 

 attempt to bend it, or a trifling blow. It was from 

 this circumstance that Linnaeus gave it the name of 

 fragilis. Like the other reptiles of our island, the 

 blindworm hybernates, making a burrow under de- 

 cayed masses of vegetation, in the soft earth, work- 

 ing its way to a considerable depth, the glossy 

 smoothness of the scales facilitating its passage. In 

 such burrows, Latreille assures us, it usually lives, 

 coming up for the purpose of breathing, when it 

 raises its head out of its hole, ready to retreat on the 

 appearance of danger. Even in the winter it some- 

 times does this, though snow may be on the ground, 

 if the sun be shining with a warm though transient 

 gleam. We have often in summer seen it basking 

 in old hedge-rows, and about crumbling old walls : 

 it is easily captured. 



As is the case with the viviparous lizard and the 

 viper, the slowworm produces living young, the eggs 

 being hatched just previously to the birth of the 

 offspring they enclosed. This takes place in June 

 or July. The young vary from six to twelve in 

 number, and when first born are not two inches 

 long; they soon, however, become active, and creep 

 about in search of minute slugs and worms. 



It is from the smallness of its eyes that this rep- 

 tile has received the name of blindworm; they are, 

 however, bright and quick, and defended by move- 

 able eyelids ; the minute teeth are slightly hooked ; 

 the tongue is rather broad, not very free, nor bifid, 

 as in the snake, but merely notched at the tip. The 

 general colour is lustrous silvery grey with a tinge 

 of brown ; a dark line runs along the spine, and ob- 

 scure lines or rows of spots are carried down the 

 sides ; there is, however, considerable variety. The 

 under parts are of a bluish-black, with white reticu- 

 lations. The young are of a pale yellowish-grey 

 above, black beneath ; there is a little black dot on 

 the top of the head, and another at the back of the 

 head, whence a narrow black line is continued down 

 the spine. 



The adults measure from twelve to fifteen inches, 

 but the proportionate length of the tail part varies, 

 sometimes being not half the length of the body, 

 sometimes nearly equalling it. This difference may 

 in a great measure depend on sex, for in the lizards 

 the body of the female is proportionally longer 

 than that of the male. 



2208. — The Painted Acostias 



{Acontias meleagris). Anguis meleagris of Gmelin, 

 Shaw, and others ; Javelin Snake. 



Releningto Fig. 2209, a represents the head as 

 seen from above; 6, the same in profile; c, the same ' 

 with the mouth open to show the tongue. [ 



In the genus Acontias the muzzle, which is coni- ! 

 cal, is sheathed in a large single case or horny 

 mask, on each side of which open the nostrils; the j 

 tongue is flat, arrow-headed, squamous, and scarcely ] 

 notched at the tip ; teeth small, blunt; none in the 

 palate. There is only one eyelid, namely, the 

 lower. The tail is blunt. Scales smooth ; limbs 

 none. 



The Painted Acontias, which is allied to our 

 blindworm, which it resembles in habits, is a native 



of South Africa, and is very common at the Cape of 

 Good Hope. '^ 



The general colour of this reptile is chestnut- 

 brown, the margin of every scale being of a very 

 light yellow, producing a prettily mottled appear- 

 ance. The abdomen is white. 



2210.— The Uommox Zonurus 



(Zomirusiirisciin), Cordyle Lizard, Shaw : Cordylug 

 griseus, Cuv. 

 I In our notice of the ptychopleurous chalcidiB, we 

 I omitted this singular reptile, which is a native of 

 j South Africa and Senegal. The genus is thus de- 

 [ fined by Mr. Gray:-Form lizard-like; tympanic 

 membrane exposed ; legs four. Femoral pores dis- 

 tinct ; head depressed, broad behind ; supra orbital 

 plate expanded. Tail depressed with whorls of 

 large sciuare-Ueeled spinous scales. Back with 

 keeleil subsiiinous scales, those of the under surface 

 smooth. Toes five on each loot. "The tongue is 

 an ow-head shaped ; free anteriorly, scarcely notched, 

 and velvety. No teeth on the palate. 



In this lizard the head is covered with large 

 plates ; the scales of the upper surface are quadri- 

 lateral, slightly imbricated from without inwards, 

 forming close transverse bands ; a furrow runs along 

 the lower region of each side. 



This species, the rough-scaled Cape lizard of 

 Petiver, is very common at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 ft varies in colour, but is generally yellowish on the 

 back, sides, and tail. The outer parts are white. 

 "The general form is thick and depressed, and the 

 limbs are robust. It is not very rapid in its move- 

 ments. 



Before leaving the Sauria we must advert to some 

 extinct forms, which at some remote epoch tenanted 

 our globe, realizing the wildest dreams of poetic 

 imagination, and forcibly impress upon our minds 

 the fact of the great difi'erence between many beings 

 which once enjoyed life and light, and those which 

 after the lapse of ages occupy their places. We 

 shall first draw attention to the Pterodactyles. 

 These extraordinary animals, which were regarded 

 by Blumenbach as birds, and by Professor Hejmann 

 of Strasburg as intermediate between mammalia, 

 and birds, were ascertained by Cuvier to belong to 

 the Sauria, or reptiles : and his views have been 

 since amply confirmed. " They are," he says, " rep- 

 tiles, of which the principal characters are a very 

 short tail, a very long neck, the muzzle much elon- 

 gated and armed with sharp teeth; the legs also 

 long, and one of the toes of the anterior extremity 

 excessively elongated, having probably served for 

 the attachment of a membrane adapted for support- 

 ing them in the air; besides this there are four (or 

 three) other toes of the ordinary size, terminated by 

 hooked claws." The remains of these strange 

 beings occur in the lithographic limestone of the 

 Jura formation at Aichstiidt and Solenhofen, in the 

 lias of Lyme Regis, and the oolite at Stonesfield, 

 Banz, &c. With them are mixed the remains of 

 fishes, Crustacea, and large insects, as libellulae and 

 coleoptera. Eight species are ascertained, varying 

 in size from a snipe to that of a cormorant; viz., 

 Pt. longirostrjs (Solenhofen), P. Brevirostris (Solen- 

 hofen), P. crassirostris (Solenhofen), P. medius 

 (Miinster), P. Miinsteri (Solenhofen), P. macronyx 

 (t.yme Regis, and Banz in Germany), P. grandis 

 (Solenhofen ?), and P. Bucklandi (Stonesfield). 



Our pictorial specimens are P. longirostris, P. 

 brevirostris, and P. crassirostris. 



2211. — The Lo.ng-Muzzled Pterodactylk ' 

 {PterodacUjlus longirostris). In all these Pterodac- 

 tyles it will be observed that, while the head as a 

 whole is very large in proportion to the body, the 

 cranial cavity is very contracted ; the orbits are 

 large, and extensive facial apertures or hollows- 

 diminish much from the weight of the muzzle. Irii 

 all the neck is very long, but particularly in the- 

 present species ; the vertebrae being very elongated 

 individually, with the exception of the first two. 

 At the same time they are strong, and the head, 

 neck, and jaws were no doubt moved by voluminous 

 muscles. The length of the jaws armed anteriorly 

 with sharp teeth is extraordinary ; the lower jaw is 

 slender. The vertebral column of the back and loins 

 is stout, the tail short, and the ribs slender. This 

 species equalled a woodcock in size, but the extent 

 of its wing-membranes, from the length of the outer 

 finger of the fore-limbs, must have been very great, 

 and it may easily be imagined what force of muscle 

 was required for agitating them. 



2212. — The Short-Muzzled Pterodactylb 



{Pt brevirostris). In this small species the muzzle 

 is short, and bird-like in its outline, which resembles 

 that of the head of a goose, and the neck is accord- 

 ingly abbreviated. 



2213. — The Thick-Muzzled Pterodactvle 



{Pt. crassirostris). In this species the muzzle is 

 moderate and thick; the head exceeds the neck in 



O 2 



