158 LIZARDS. 



Typical The typical members of the family constitute a genus (Amphis- 



' Amphisbsenas. hcena) common to Tropical America and Africa, and represented by 

 nearly thirty species. Belonging, like the last genus, to the group in which the 

 teeth are attached to the inner edges of the jaws, these limbless amphisbsenas are 

 specially characterised by the anterior body-rings not being enlarged, by the 

 laterally placed nostrils being pierced in a special nasal shield, by the rounded or 

 slightly compressed snout, the obtuse, cylindrical tail, and the presence of pores in 

 front of the vent. The figured species (A. fidiginosa) is a well-known kind from 

 Tropical America and the West Indies, deriving its name from its pied, skin, and 

 attaining a length of about 18 inches. Writing of the habits of a member of the 

 genus, Bates observes that their " peculiar form, added to their habit of wriggling 

 backwards as well as forwards, has given rise to the fable that they have two 

 heads, one at each extremity. They are extremely sluggish in their motions, and 

 live habitually in the subterranean chambers of the satiba ant ; only coming out 



spotted amphisb^na (§ nat. size). 



of their abodes occasionally in the night-time. The natives call the amphisbsena 

 the mai das saiibas, or mother of the saiibas, and believe it to be poisonous, 

 although it is perfectly harmless. It is one of the many curious animals which 

 have become the subject of mythical stories with the natives. They say the ants 

 treat it with great affection, and that if the snake be taken away from a nest the 

 saiibas will forsake the spot. I once took one quite whole out of the body of a 

 young jararaca [a poisonous snake], whose body was so distended with its contents 

 that the skin was stretched out to a film over the contained amphisbsena. I was, 

 unfortunately, not able to ascertain the exact relation which subsists between 

 these curious reptiles and the satiba ants. I believe, however, that they feed upon 

 the saiibas, for I once found the remains of ants in the stomach of one of them." 



The True Lizards. 



Family LACERTID^E. 



The true lizards, constituting the typical representatives of the suborder, form 

 a large family, with seventeen genera, distributed over Europe, Asia, and Africa 



