AMPHlSBJiNA. FAMILY SCINCID^. 565 



from which circumstance, joined to the similarity in the appear- 

 ance of the two extremities, the idea has arisen among the 

 natives of some of the countries inhabited by it, that it has a 

 head at each end of the body. The Amphisbaena bores in the 

 soft earth like a worm, working its way with considerable 

 dispatch ; and it lives principally on Ants and Termites (com- 

 monly termed "White Ants) and their larvae. One species inha- 

 bits Spain, Portugal, and Northern Africa ; but many more are 

 found in America. 



502. In the family SCINCIDJE, or Scinks, 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. The true tfcw&shave 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 

 medicinal 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-icorm. In this animal, 

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

 reduced to mere rudiments, which do not manifest themselves 

 externally, but may be traced by careful dissection beneath the 

 skin. The Slow-worm frequents copses, orchards, old moulder- 

 ing walls, and banks, where it delights to bask in the sun ; it is 

 a sluggish, timid creature ; and its food consists chiefly of worms 

 and slugs. Its whole body is as brittle as the tail of the Vivi- 

 parous Lizard ; breaking asunder on the slightest attempt to 

 bend it, or on a trifling blow, in consequence (as it would seem) 

 of the violent contraction of the muscles induced by alarm. 



