138 



651. The skull and anterior vertebrae of a poisonous Serpent (Najd), which had been 



deprived of its poison-fangs. This appears to have been effected by cutting 

 away the fangs, together with that part of the short maxillary bone which 

 contained their matrices. This was one of the specimens exhibited by the 

 Jugglers or Snake-charmers in India. Presented by Dr. Wallicli, F.H.S. 



652. The lower jaw and pterygoid bones of a Serpent. 



Neither the outer nor the inner plates of the coronoid fossa are developed into a coronoid 

 process. Each mandible consists of an articular, dentary and splenial piece, the latter divided 

 into two, opposite the junction of the two former pieces. 



Hunterian. 



Genus Anguis (Slow-worms). 



653. The skeleton of the Slow- worm (Anguis fragilis). 



It is fifteen inches in length and includes 111 vertebrae, of which 6 1 support free ribs, which 

 commence apparently at the fourth vertebra from the head. The transverse processes of the 

 caudal vertebrae are formed by short anchylosed pleurapophyses, which are bifurcate in the 

 second and third of those vertebrae ; in a few others they are notched and grooved at their 

 extremities and are much thicker than the succeeding ones, in which they are simple, short, 

 and extend directly outwards. The hypapophyses, instead of remaining distinct as in the true 

 Ophidia, unite at their extremities and complete a haemal arch. 



Mm. South. 



Genus Amphisbcena. 



654. The skeleton of the white Amphisbcena (Amphisbcena alba). 



It includes 1 34 vertebrae, and some are wanting from the end of the tail : 114 vertebrae, 

 after the atlas and axis, support moveable ribs, which are very short in the last ; hypapophyses 

 are developed singly from the five anterior vertebrae, and in pairs from the last abdominal ver- 

 tebra, and from the caudal vertebrae where they coalesce at their apices to form a neural arch. 

 The chief characteristic of the vertebrae of the Amphisbcena is the absence of the neural spine : 

 the neurapophyses meet and coalesce at an angular ridge on the three or four first vertebras 

 and in the caudal vertebrae, but form a low smooth arch above in the intervening ones : the 

 premaxillary is single, and the upper jaw is fixed : the tympanic is short, compared with that 

 of true Serpents, and extends almost horizontally forwards, in a line with the lower jaw which 

 it supports. The smooth sutureless cranium supports an occipital and sagittal crest. 



Purchased. 



