AMPHIBIA. 527 



FIRST FAMILY. Caciliida, (Lat. cacilia, from ccecus, blind ;) 

 Apodous, (or footless.) 



The Reptiles of this family, Cuvier, following Linnaeus, 

 placed in his third and last family of Ophidians, calling them 

 naked serpents, and observing that those who placed it among the 

 Batrachians, "did not know whether the form underwent a meta- 

 morphosis or not." Muller, however, has proved that the Caecilia 

 has, at a very early period, gills, which are soon lost. The 

 name Csecilia was given to these Reptiles on account of their 

 supposed blindness. The eyes are, in fact, exceedingly small, 

 and nearly hidden under the skin. Cuvier asserts that in some 

 species the eyes are wanting altogether. The Caecilia are 

 named by Dumeril, Ophiosomata, (Gr. ophis, a snake ; soma, a 

 body.) They have a snake-like body, destitute of limbs, and with 

 vertebrae resembling those of fishes, short ribs, and no sternum 

 or breast- bone. They are undoubtedly to be regarded as a con- 

 necting link between the Ophidians and the Amphibia. Their 

 skin is smooth, viscous, and marked with a regular series of 

 ring-like furrows ; and the scales, which are very minute, are 

 not to be found, except by an examination of the substance of 

 the skin itself. The head is depressed ; the tongue is thick, 

 rounded and velvety; the skull united to the vertebrae by two 

 tubercles or condyles, as in the other Batrachians, whereas there 

 is only one in snakes. There are both maxillary and palatal 

 teeth. In their intestines, Cuvier says there is to be found " a 

 quantity of vegetable matter, vegetable earth and sand." Nine 

 species of this singular group are described as belonging to 

 Asia and America. These Reptiles are ovo viviparous, producing 

 their young alive, to the number of six or seven. Not much is 

 known respecting their general habits ; they bury themselves in 

 the soft mud of marshy places, piercing through it, in a worm- 

 like manner, often to the depth of many feet ; they creep slowly 

 on the ground, and, when in water, swim like an eel, striking to 

 the right and left with their tail. 



The RINGED CJECILIA, C. annulata, (Lat. ringed,) which is 

 figured on the Chart, is an inhabitant of Brazil, Cayenne, and 

 Surinam. It is remarkable for the bluntness of the tail, the dis- 

 tinctness of the rings, extending from the head over its whole 

 length to the tail, and for the position of the false nostrils, be- 

 low and a little before each eye. 



