564 SNAKE-LIZARDS. FAMILY SCLNCID2E ; SLOW- WORM. 



rophis, or Snake- Lizard, which is a native of the southern part 

 of Africa; it possesses four minute limbs, each provided with 



FlO. 328- SXAKE-LIZAED. 



four toes. In the Anguine Lizard, also a native of South Africa, 

 the limbs are still more reduced, and have each but a single toe. 

 The Schelfopusic, a native of Northern Africa and South- Western 

 Asia, and common also in the Morea, has no fore-limbs, and the 

 hind-legs are mere scaly appendages. In the Ophisaurus, or 

 Glass-Snake, of Carolina, there is an entire absence of limbs ; yet 

 there are certain anatomical peculiarities, which indicate that it 

 belongs rather to the Saurian than to the Ophidian group. 



502. In the family SCINCID^E, or Skinks, we meet with a 

 similar gradual transition from the form of the Lizards to that of 

 the Serpents ; but the animals composing it differ from those of 

 the last family in the arrangement of the scales, and in certain 

 other peculiarities. The head is covered with large plates of 

 an angular figure, as in the true Lizards ; but the body, tail, and 

 limbs, are covered with uniform overlapping scales, having a 

 glossy and polished aspect, and presenting almost the appearance 

 of a coat of mail. These scales are composed of a mixture of 

 bony and horny matter, and only occur in this and the following 

 family. The true Skinks have four legs, and a sharp-edged 

 muzzle, by which they bury themselves in the sand of the deserts 

 they inhabit. One species, a native of Arabia, Northern Africa, 

 &c., was long held in repute, on account of its supposed medi- 

 cinal virtues. From these we pass, through genera in which the 

 limbs are reduced to mere footless appendages, and others in 

 which either the anterior or posterior pair is deficient, to the 

 genus Anguis; of which one species, inhabiting our own country, 

 is known as the Slow-worm, or Blind-worm. In this animal, 

 which is from twelve to fifteen inches in length, the legs are 

 reduced to mere rudiments, which do not manifest themselves 



