100 



False Lizards.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-False Snakes. 



by two rudimentary toes. The Congo Snake lias re- 

 ceived its name from the negroes, who erroneously 

 regard it as exceedingly venomous. It lives in muddy 

 waters or in mud, being found sometimes three feet 

 deep in mud of the consistence of mortar, and bur- 

 rowing in it like the earlh-worm. " They inhabit the 

 ditches of our rice-fields," says Holbrook, " and feed on 

 small fish and various fresh-water-shells, as unios, &c. , 

 beetles and other insects have also been found in their 



stomachs. Sometimes, like eels, they are found on dry 

 land, but for what purpose they approach it is unknown." 

 Mr. Harlan tells us, that an individual in the possession 

 of Dr. Mease escaped from the vessel in which it was 

 confined, and when found several days afterwards was 

 brisk and lively. They pass the winter season in the 

 mud, collecting together at that time in great numbers, 

 and remain in a state of torpidity till the spring. The 

 other species possesses little interest. 



Oeder III.— false ok naked SNAKES (Pseudophidia). 



The animals belonging to this order, though essen- 

 tially amphibious, have a strong resemblance to ser- 

 pents. They are destitute of legs, and have an elongate, 

 cylindrical body, and the smooth, wrinkled skin has 

 minute scales embedded in its substance. The tail is 

 very short, and the vent opens at the extremity of the 

 body. Tlie vertebrsE or bones of the spinal column 

 resemble very much in their articulation those of fishes ; 

 they have short ribs, and no sternum or breastbone. 

 The opening for the gills on the side of the neck is 

 closed in the adults, but is open, according to the 

 observation of the celebrated anatomist Mliller, in 

 young individuals. In these it was found, that in the 

 opening on each side of the neck there were to be seen 

 black-coloured fringes, or a kind of gills, apparently 

 fixed to branches of the hyoid bone or base of the 

 tongue, and that the gill openings freely communicated 

 with the mouth. 



There is only one family, and the species belonging 

 to it are few in number. This family, C^ECiLliDiE, is 

 distinguished, in addition to the characters given 

 above, by the skin being covered with a viscous secre- 

 tion, and marked by a series of rings or annular fur- 

 rows. The head is depressed ; the eyes, beneath the 

 skin, are either minute or very indistinct, if not alto- 

 gether wanting ; the tongue is thick, velvety, of a 

 round form, and, besides the true external nostril.s, 

 there is a httle pit or depression, termed a false nostril, 

 generally placed beneath the former. They possess 

 teeth both on the jaws and the palate. The species 

 so nearly resemble serpents, that Cuvier retained 

 them among the Ophidians, forming a separate section 

 for their reception under the title of " Naked serpents ;" 

 and Dumeril and Bibron, and other naturalists, consider 

 them as forming a hnk between the Amphibia and 

 Opliidia, or Snakes. Miiller's discovery, however, of 

 the existence of gills in the young animals, is sufficient 



ground for placing this family amongst the former 

 group. Little is known with regard to their genera! 

 habits; but they have been observed to bury them- 

 selves in the moist earth or soft mud of the marshes, 

 piercing through it like worms, often to the depth of 

 many feet. They creep slowly on the ground, and 

 when in the water swim like eels, striking to the right 

 and left with their tails. 



THE GLUTINOUS C5;CILIA {CccciUa or Iditinj- 

 ophis glutinosus) is a native of Ceylon. It is some- 

 what spindle-shaped, with a depressed, elongate head, 

 and a blunt muzzle. The eyes are distinct, and the 

 teeth are slender, acute, and hooked. Sir James 

 Emerson Tennent particularly notices this animal in his 

 " History of Ceylon." " The Rocky Jungle," he says. 

 " bordering the higher coffee estates, provides a safe 

 retreat for a very singular animal, introduced about a 

 century ago to the notice of European naturalists by 

 Linnaeus, who gave it the name of CccciUa ylutinosa, 

 indicatory of two peculiarities manifest to the ordinary 

 observer — an apparent defect of vision, from the eyes 

 being so small and imbedded as to be scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable ; and a power of secreting from minute 

 pores in its skin a viscous fluid, resembling that of 

 snails, eels, and some salamanders. Specimens are 

 rare in Europe, from the readiness with which the 

 frame of the animal decomposes after death, breaking 

 down into a flaky mass in the spirits in which it is 

 attempted to be preserved. The creature is about the 

 length and thickness of an ordinary round desk ruler, 

 a little flattened before and rounded behind. It is 

 brownish, with a pale stripe along each side. The 

 skin is furrowed into three hundred and fifty circular 

 folds, in which are imbedded minute scales. The head 

 is tolerably distinct, with a double row cf fine curved 

 teeth for seizing the insects and worms on which it is 

 supposed to hve." 



Order IV.— PERENNIBKANCHIATE AMPHIBIA (Meantia), 



The animals referred to this order of Amphibia are 

 very remarkable. To them, and them only, truly 

 belongs the title amphibious, or creatures possessing, 

 as it were, a double life. The brancbire or gills, which 

 all the species of this class possess in their young or 

 tadpole state, in the Meantia remain external and well- 

 developed during their whole life. They also possess 



true lungs ; so that on dry land they can respire 

 atmospheric air, and in the water extract air from the 

 liquid element in which they are submerged. They 

 can thus live at pleasure either in the air or under 

 water. Their body is elongate, naked, and smooth, 

 and their tail is compressed. Their legs, which in 

 some species are four, and in others only two in num- 



