1865.] DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE AMPHISBENIANS. 445 
Fam. 1. TRoGonoruip2. 
Head oblong, depressed, rounded below; nostrils lateral, in large 
nasal shields; teeth conical, on the edge of the maxilla. Body 
cylindrical, covered with rings of uniform, elongate, oblong, four- 
sided shields, without any sternal disk; lateral line sunken, narrow, 
covered with a few minute scales ; preanal pores none ; tail conical, 
acute. 
Glyphodermes acrodontes, Dum. et Bibr. Erp. Gén. v. 467. 
TROGONOPHIS, Kaup, Isis, 1830, p- 880. 
Head oblong, depressed ; nasal shields large, united by a short 
straight edge, behind the large triangular convex rostral ; crown with 
two pairs of shields ; temple with many small shields ; upper labial 
plate moderate ; lower labial shield larger, with a series of large chin- 
shields on each side, and a central gular one. Tail conical, acute ; 
preanal pores none. 
The skull of this genus has been figured by Dr. Kaup in his paper 
in the ‘Isis’ above quoted. 
TROGONOPHIS WIEGMANNT, Kaup, Isis, 1830, p. 880, t. 861; 
Féruss. Bull. Sci. Nat. xxv. 203, 1831; Dum. et Bibr. Erp. Gén. v. 
470. 
Amphisbena elegans, Gervais, Bull. Sci. Nat. de France, 1855, 
p- 135; Mag. Zool. 1835, class 3. t. 11 (details not good). 
Hab. Tangiers (Fraser, B.M. 1848); N. Africa (B.M. 1846) ; 
Algeria (Duméril, B.M.). 
This animal was first described by Dr. Kaup, who showed that 
the teeth of it were placed on the edge of the jaw, as in the genera 
of the family Agamide, which are all confined to the eastern he- 
misphere and Australia; while all the other genera of the order 
that have been examined have the teeth on the inner side of the jaw, 
as in the family Iyuanide, which is restricted to the New World. 
It was afterwards described by M. Gervais; and even when Dr. 
Kaup had informed him, after inspecting the specimen, that it was 
the same as he had previously described, he still regarded it as new, 
because he said the skull did not agree with Dr. Kaup’s figure: 
but this was a mistake. Dr. Kaup figured the skull of Trogonophis 
and of an Amphisbena for the sake of showing the difference between 
them; and M. Gervais must have compared his animal with the 
wrong figure. 
Fam. 2. Currotip», Gray, Cat. Tortoises, &c., B. M. 74. 
Head depressed, rounded on the sides ; nostrils on sides ; teeth on 
the inner side of the mayxille. Body cylindrical, covered with rings 
of uniform oblong four-sided shields, and with two short weak front 
limbs, provided with five subequal clawless toes ; lateral line sunken, 
covered with scales; preanal vores distinct. Tail cylindrical. 
