38 
THE SOOTY AMPHISB/ENA. 
carry Mm away in spite of Ms cries and struggles. Tlie beast plunged into the river with his 
prey, and neither Alligator nor man were afterwards seen. 
The Alligator is a familiar reptile on the Gulf coast, and in the rivers of Florida. Its 
length is usually about six or seven feet. Specimens are found at times twice this length-^ 
fourteen feet being the extreme. A tine example in the Central Park Museum is twelve feet in 
length. The term Alligator is a corruption of the Spanish el lagarto , a lizard. Five species 
are known in various parts of the world. 
The Jacabe, or Yacare ( Jacare sclerops), also belongs to this family. It inhabits Brazil, 
and is not uncommon. It may be known by the ridge across the face between the eyes, the 
scarcely- webbed hind feet and the fleshy eyelids. On account of the aspect of its eyes it is 
sometimes called the Spectacled Cayman. It is said that, although this reptile attains a very 
large size, it will not attack a man even in the water, provided that he always keeps in motion. 
They pass the night in the water and the day on the shore, where they lie sleeping on the sand, 
dashing into the water if alarmed. It is depicted on the foregoing page. 
A M P H I S B vE N I D JEL . 
We now leave the crocodiles and alligators, and proceed to another order of reptiles. 
These creatures are termed Ampliisbaenidse, from two Greek words signifying to go both ways, 
in allusion to the shape of the animal, which looks as if it had a head at each extremity. 
In former times, indeed, it was thought that not only could these reptiles creep backward and 
forward with equal ease, but that they absolutely possessed two veritable heads. Yone of 
these reptiles are of great size. They are divided into four families, three of which are without 
external feet, and the members of the other family only possess the front pair of legs very 
slightly developed. Their eyes are very minute and entirely covered with skin, so that their 
sight must be of the most limited character. As in the case of the mole, however, this 
deprivation of sight does not interefere with the welfare of the animal, for it lives mostly 
beneath the earth, where eyes would be useless. 
The Sooty Amphisb^e- 
na is a native of South- 
ern America, being found 
most plentifully in Brazil 
and Cayenne. It lives al- 
most wholly underground, 
boring its way through the 
soft earth like the common 
worm, and traversing the 
soil with considerable ad- 
dress. It feeds upon animal 
substances, and is very fond 
of ants, termites, and their 
young. Indeed, it is no 
extraordinary occurrence on 
breaking down a termite’s nest, to find an Amphisbsena within, luxuriously curled up in the 
midst of plenty. Ants’ nests below the ground are often penetrated and ransacked by this 
reptile. 
Being too small to injure man by sheer force, and being devoid of poisonous teeth, this 
creature is quite harmless except to the insects on which it feeds. It is able to crawl in either 
direction with nearly equal ease and rapidity, and on account of the bluntness of its tail 
and the almost imperceptible eyes, affords some reason for the popular idea of its possessing 
two heads. 
ITta 
h leme 
&\jq,.NGUMANN.s 
SOOTY AMPHISBiENA.— Amphisbcena americana. 
