THE BLINDWORM. 497 



well-developed eyes, unless they are gifted with the means of attracting 

 their prey within reach, as is the case with some well-known fishes, or 

 chase it by the senses of hearing and touch, as is done by the mole. 

 Moreover, the chief food of the Blindworm consists of slugs, which 

 glide so noiselessly that the creature needs the use of its eyes to detect 

 the soft mollusc as it slides over the ground on its slimy course. Speed 

 is not needful for such a chase, and the Blindworm accordingly is slow 

 and deliberate in all its movements, except when very young, when it 

 twists and wriggles about in a singular fashion as often as it is touched. 



The great fragility of the Blindworm is well known. By a rather 

 curious structure of the muscles and bones of the spine, the reptile is 

 able to stiffen itself to such a degree that on a slight pressure or trifling 

 blow, or even by the voluntary contraction of the body, the tail is snap- 

 ped away from the body, and, on account of its proportionate length, 

 looks just as if the creature had been broken in half. The object of 

 this curious property seems to be to ensure the safety of the animal. 

 The severed tail retains, or rather acquires, an extraordinary amount 

 of irritability, and for several minutes after its amputation leaps and 

 twists about with such violence that the, attention of the foe is drawn to 

 its singular vagaries, and the Blindworm itself creeps quietly away to 

 some place of shelter. 



When the tail of the Blindworm is thus snapped off, the scales of tha 

 body project all round the fractured portion, forming a kind of hollow 

 into which the broken end of the tail can be slipped. 



According to popular notions, the Blindworm is a terribly poisonous 

 creature, and by many persons is thought to be even more venomous 

 than the viper, whereas it is perfectly harmless, having neither the 

 will nor the ability to bite, its temper being as quiet as its movements, 

 and its teeth as innocuous aa its jaws are weak. I fancy that the origin 

 of this opinion may be found in the habit of constantly thrusting out 

 its broad, black, flat tongue with its slightly forked tip ; for the pop- 

 ular mind considers the tongue to be the sting, imagining it to be both 

 the source of the venom and the weapon by which it is injected into the 

 body, and so logically classes all creatures with forked tongues under 

 the common denomination of poisonous animals. 



It is said that this reptile will bite when handled, but that its minute 

 teeth and feeble jaws can make no impression upon the skin, and also 

 that when it has thus fastened on the hand of its captor it will not re- 

 lease its hold unless its jaws be forced open. For my own part — and I 

 have liandled very many of these reptiles — I never knew them attempt 

 to bite, or even to assume a threatening attitude. They will suddenly 

 curl themselves up tightly and snap off their tails, but to use their jaws 

 in self-defence is an idea that seldom appears to occur to them. 



In its wild state the Blindworm feeds mostly on s'ugs, but will also 

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