84 AMPHISBiENlANS. KEPTILES. Amphisbasnians. 
OpvDer III. — DOUBLE WALKERS, or AMPHISBiENIANS (AMPiiisBiENiA).^ 
This last order of Reptiles, the Amphisbsenians, are 
peculiar-looking animals, and are not of much general 
interest. In some systematic arrangements they take 
their place along with Serpents, and in others they are 
placed amongst the Lizards. In the system we have 
adojked 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 differ 
from all the other orders we have been describing. The 
body of the various animals which compose the order, 
is elongate, of a c 3 dindrical form, and naked, but sur- 
rounded with rings of square scales or plates, placed 
crosswise, and divided into two sets, in all but the 
Lejndosternons, by a slight 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 
same 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 b} which they are covered. The 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 intermaxillai’y bones. The tongue is not sheathed 
and extensile like that of serpents, neither is it forked, 
but 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 papillae or 
scales. The nostrils are small and placed on the 
side of the muzzle. With the exception of the genus 
Chirotes, the}' are totally destitute of limbs ; and even 
that species which has them, possesses only the two 
front members. AVith the exception of about two 
species, they are all natives of the New World. 
The Amphisbaenians in the catalogue of the Reptiles 
in the British Museum consist of about fifteen species, 
which are distributed in four families. 
Family— AMPHISBJilNID^. 
This family, that of the true Amphisbaenas, have the 
teeth fixed on the internal edge of the jaws. They 
arc placed in a single row, are conical, slightly curved, 
simple, pointed, unequal, and distinct from each other. 
The square 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 AVest 
Indies. They live in the nests of the white ants, or 
termites, and feed upon the larvae of these animals. A 
number of febles have been related of these animals by 
some of our earlier writers. It w'as said for instance, 
* From the Greek word aTtijjhishcEtiio to walk iu 
two ways. 
and even believed, that if an Amphisbaena 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 w'as also believed 
that if cut into three pieces, each head sought the side 
to which it belonged, and that wdien the fragments 
were united the animal w'as as whole as ever. This 
reptile was also said to be difficult of being killed. The 
only means of doing so was by cutting off 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 Stedraan in his “ Voyage 
to Surinam ” says, that “ the flesh of the Amjphislama, 
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 which has the power 
of healing an entire amputation in his own case, should 
at least be able to cure a simple fracture in the case of 
another.” 
THE AVHITE AMPHISBAINA {Amphishcena alba) 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 know'n in that country by the 
name oilbriaram, 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. Margraave, 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 he considers it, wounds w'ith its tail as well as its 
head, and that the bite is extremely venomous — both 
assertions equally erroneous. He says, moreover, that 
it lives underground, and that it attacks ant-hills, so as 
to drive out the ants in large flocks as soon as they 
Iiave got their wings. In all probability, like the fol- 
lowing species, it feeds upon ants, and this may have 
given rise to Margraave’s story. 
THE SOOTY AMPHISBAlIfA {Ampldsbcenafuliginosa) 
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 white, 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 AA^’est Indian 
islands; and its habits and manner of life are very 
similar to those of the preceding species. It burrows 
