OBSERVATIONAL LESSON VII 77 



PART III A BLINDWORM 

 PREPARATIONS FOR WORK 



Several living blind worms should be ready for handling and examination. As 

 they move with difficulty on a smooth surface, there is little chance of their escaping 

 from the table. One or two grass snakes may be at hand for comparison. 



DIRECTIONS TO THE PUPIL 



Note : The blindworm is in many ways the most interesting of 

 British reptiles, but it is delicate, and requires very careful handling. 

 Do not be in the least afraid of touching it. It is absolutely 

 harmless, and has never been known even to attempt to bite. 



(6) On the right-hand page of your book, make a list of at least 

 nine points which you notice about the blindworm. 



(7) It is a lizard, not a snake. Why do we say this ? Write 

 down at least three reasons. 



(8) How does it move ? 



On the left-hand page make a drawing of the animal as nearly 

 natural size as possible, and add one of the head also, three times 

 enlarged. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK OUT OF SCHOOL 



Blindworms may easily be kept in damp moss, and fed on earth- 

 worms and small slugs.* 



Note : A temporary vivarium may easily be made as follows : 

 Take an oblong box of stout wood, and nail a board neatly across 

 one-half of it. Cut a good sized hole into the piece you have fixed, 

 and tack a piece of perforated zinc over it. Cut a piece of glass 

 so as to exactly cover the part of the box still exposed ; nail a 

 little piece of wood on to each side ; cut so that it projects a quarter 



* Reptiles and batrachians should never be fed on the worm known as the " brandling." 



