OPHIDIA. 43 



forcibly as to become quite stiff and motionless; 

 and in this state it is so brittle as to snap in two 

 like a piece of glass, a quality belonging in a less 

 degree to many of the Lizards. Mr. George Daniel 

 has given the following account of the species in 

 captivity : " A Blind-worm that I kept alive for 

 nine weeks would, when touched, turn and bite, 

 although not very sharply ; its bite was not sufficient 

 to draw blood, but it always retained its hold until 

 released. It drank sparingly of milk, raising the 

 head when drinking. It fed upon the little white 

 Slug, (Limax Agrestis,) so common in fields and 

 gardens, eating six or seven of them one after the 

 other, but it did not eat every day. It invariably 

 took them in one position. Elevating its head 

 slowly above its victim, it would suddenly seize 

 the slug by the middle, in the same way that a 

 ferret or dog will generally take a rat by the loins ; 

 it would then hold it thus sometimes for more than 

 a minute, when it would pass its prey through its 

 jaws, and swallow the slug head foremost. It re- 

 fused the larger slugs, and would not touch either 

 young frogs or mice. Snakes, kept in the same cage, 

 took both frogs and mice. The Blind-worm avoided 

 the water ; the Snakes, on the contrary, coiled them- 

 selves in the pan containing water, which was put 

 into the cage, and appeared to delight in it. The 

 Blind-worm was a remarkably fine one, measuring 

 fifteen inches in length. It cast its slough while 

 in my keeping. The skin came off in separate 

 pieces, the largest of which was two inches in 



