8-1 



A3IPIII.SE,Ej:iAKS.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-Ampiiisb.enians. 



Order HI.— DOUBLE WALKERS, or AMPHISBiENIANS (Amphisb^nia).* 



This last order of Reptiles, the Amphisbjcnians, are 

 peculiai-looking animals, and are not of much general 

 interest. In some systematic arrangements they lake 

 their place along with Serpents, and in others they are 

 placed amongst the Lizards. In the system we have 

 adopted in this work they form an order by them- 

 selves, and are placed at the end of the whole class of 

 Reptiles. In many of their characters they difler 

 from all the other orders we have been describing. The 

 body of the various animals which compose the order, 

 is elongate, of a cylindrical form, and naked, but sur- 

 rounded with rings of square scales or plates, placed 

 crosswise, and divided into two sets, in all but the 

 Lcpidosternoiis, by a sliglit longitudinal groove on 

 each side. The appearance of these square plates has 

 been compared to that of a piece of mosaic work. The 

 tail is short, continuous with the body, and about the 

 sanje dimensions. It is blunt, and generally of a 

 conical form. The head is the only part of the body 

 which possesses scales or plates similar to those of 

 lizards or serpents. The eyes are very small, and in 

 general appear like two simple black points, shining 

 through the skin by which they are covered. Tlie ears 

 are hidden under the skin, and no external auditory 

 holes are visible. The mouth is small and the jaws 

 are not extensile, the upper being fixed to the skull 

 and intermaxillary bones. The tongue is not sheathed 

 and extensile like that of serpents, neither is it forked, 

 bnt only notched at the end, and terminates in two 

 smooth threads. It is flat, short, and broad, and the 

 greater portion is covered with large flat papilhc or 

 scales. The nostrils are small and placed on the 

 side of the muzzle. With the exception of the genus 

 Chirotes, they are totally destitute of limbs ; and even 

 that species which has them, possesses only the two 

 front members. With the exception of about two 

 species, they are all natives of the New World. 



The Amphisboenians in the catalogue of the Reptiles 

 in the British Museum consist of about fifteen species, 

 which are distributed in four families. 



Family— AMPHISB^NIDiE. 



This fomily, that of the true Amphisbajnas, have the 

 teeth fixed on the internal edge of tlie jaws. They 

 are placed in a single row, are conical, slightly curved, 

 simple, pointed, miequal, and distinct from each other. 

 Tlie squaie scales or plates with which the body is 

 covered, are all of the same size and shape throughout. 

 The scales of the head, however, are variable in form. 

 There are no traces of limbs. The tail is short. The 

 species are chiefly found in America and the West 

 Indies. They live in the nests of the white ants, or 

 termites, and feed upon the larvo2 of these animals. A 

 number of fables have been related of tliese animals by 

 some of our earlier writers. It was said for instance, 



* From the Greek word amplilsbwiyio (x^u^tr^xtvc^), to walk iu 

 two ways. 



and even believed, that if an Amphisbrona were cut in 

 two across the middle, the two heads would mutually 

 seek each other ; and that when they met, the cut 

 extremities united again, the blood serving as a sort of 

 cement for making them adhere. It was also believed 

 that if cut into three pieces, each head sought tlie side 

 to which it belonged, and that when the fragments 

 were united the animal was as whole as ever. This 

 reptile was also said to be difficult of being kifled. The 

 only means of doing so was by cutting ofl' the two 

 heads with a small part of the body, and suspending 

 them to a tree by a cord ; but that this was not to be 

 depended upon : for if the birds of prey did not eat 

 them, and if the cord rotted and allowed the dried 

 portions to fall to the ground, these parts became 

 revivified by the first rain which fell and moistened 

 them, and coming together, united again into a perfect 

 animal. Such belief is attributed to the natives of 

 Brazil at the present day; and Stedman in his " Voyage 

 to Surinam" says, that "the flesh of the Ampltishmia, 

 dried and reduced to a fine powder, is confidently 

 administered as a sovereign and infallible remedy in 

 all cases of dislocation and broken bones — it being very 

 naturally inferred that an animal wliich has the power 

 of healing an entire amputation in bis own case, should 

 at least be able to cure a simple fracture in the case of 

 another." 



THE WHITE AMPHISBa:NA {Ampliishcvna alha) is 

 the species selected for illustration — see Plate 3, fig. 3 ; 

 and Plate 8, fig. 9 (skull). This animal is a native of 

 Brazil, and, we are told, is known in that country by the 

 name oi I brinram, which signifies " Lord of the earth." 

 It is of a white colour, often spotless, and the body 

 possesses two hundred and twenty-three rings of scales, 

 and the tail from fifteen to twenty more. Azara met 

 with it in his travels in South America, and says that it 

 is common in Paraguay, but that he never saw it beyond 

 the thirtieth degree of south latitude. Jlargraave, an 

 early writer on America, was the first to describe this 

 Amphisbaena, but his description is not to be relied 

 upon. He relates, for instance, that the " serpent," 

 as be considers it, wounds with its tail as well as its 

 liead, and that the bite is extremely venomous — both 

 assertions equally erroneous. He says, moreover, that 

 it lives underground, and tliat it attacks ant-hills, so as 

 to drive out the ants in large flocks as soon as they 

 have got their wings. In all probabilitj', like the fol- 

 lowing species, it feeds upon ants, and this may have 

 given rise to Margraave's story. 



THE SOOTY AMPHISBaafA {AmiihishanafiiUginosn) 

 is a much larger species than the preceding, being from 

 one and a half to two, and even, according to Stedman, 

 three feet in length. It is of a very dark colour varied 

 with wliite, and has two hundred and twenty-two rings 

 on its body, and twenty-eight on the tail. It is a native 

 of Brazil, Cayenne, and some of the AVest Indian 

 islands; and its habits and manner of life are very 

 similar to those of the preceding species. It burrows 



