284 CLASS xv. 



Typhline WIEGMANN. Rudiments of feet none. Groove behind 

 the nostrils on each side in rostral scute. 



Sp. Typhline Cuvieri WIEGM., Acontias ccecus Cuv., Cape of Good Hope, 

 b) With eyes small, naked; eyelid single, inferior, short. 



Acontias WIEGM., DUM. and BIBR. Rudiments of feet none. 

 Groove behind the nostrils on each side in rostral scute. 



Sp. Acontias meleagris Cuv., Anguis meleagris L., SEBA Thes. n. Tab. 21, 

 fig. 4, GUERIN Iconogi;., Rept. PI. 1 7, fig. 3, DUM. and BIBB. Erpetol. PI. 

 68 ; from the Cape of Good Hope. 



Anguis Cuv. (Species from gen. Anguis L.). Feet none. 

 Eyes furnished with eyelids mobile, opening by a longitudinal 

 aperture. Aperture of auditory passage very small, scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable or concealed under scales. (Sternum, clavicle and 

 scapula ; rudiments of posterior extremities latent under the skin.) 



a) With teeth conical, straight. Nostrils placed in the suture between 

 two scutes, (Ophiomorus DUM. and BIBR.). Sp. Anguis miliaris PALL., 

 GMEL. ; in the Crimea, the Morea, and also in Africa. 



b) With teeth subulate, long, recurved. Nostrils perforated in the middle 

 of scute, (Anguis DUM., BIBR.). Sp. Anguis fragilis L., LAURENTI Speci- 

 men, Tab. v. fig. 2, VAN LIER Slangen, Tab. in., WOLF in STURM'S Fauna, 

 Amphib., Heft in., BELL Brit. Rept. p. 41 ; the blind-worm, slow-worm, 

 die Blindschleiche, I'Orvet; the back mostly copper- coloured or brownish 

 with a silvery glance ; sometimes with a longitudinal black stripe on the 

 middle; the belly is bluish. This species grows to a length of full i' (or 

 sometimes 15") and to a thickness of 6'"; the tail, which is variable in 

 length (often as long as the trunk), is easily broken off. Anguis lineata 

 LAUR., Anguis lineatus WOLF (STURM'S Fauna 1. 1.), is a younger individual 

 of the same species. The slow-worm is viviparous, feeds on slugs, insects 

 and earth-worms, hides in winter underground and then becomes torpid. 

 It is found in almost every country of Europe, in the west of Asia, and the 

 north of Africa. 



Hysteropus. Vestiges of hind feet very short, undivided, scaly ; 

 anterior feet none. Eyes destitute of eyelids, covered with a trans- 

 parent capsule. Row of pores in front of vent. Scales carinate. 



Sp. Hysteropus novae Hollandice DUM., Bipes lepidopus LAC. Ann. du Mus. 

 iv. PI. 55, fig. i, GUERIN Iconogr., Rept. PI. 16, fig. 4, Cuv. R. Ani., ed. 

 ill., Rept. PL 22 bis, fig. 2, New Holland. 



OpTiiophthalmus FITZ., Lialis GRAY. (Characters of preceding 

 genus. Scutella of head small, irregular; head above flat, smooth, 



