266 
BLUEFIELDS. 
was one sixth of an inch in length ; and the umbilicus 
was exactly one inch distant from the caudal point. 
The egg measured an inch and one eighth in length, 
and five twelfths in diameter : and this size struck 
me as surprisingly great, seeing that the greatest 
thickness of the body in the adult animal is consi- 
derably less than that of this egg ! ^ The appear- 
ance of a female Typhlops with such an egg contained 
in the abdomen, must he singular, even if but one is 
developed at a time ; but if many are synchronously 
matured, her dimensions must be immensely enlarged 
during pregnancy. 
In another, of about the same size as this prema- 
turely born young one, or rather less, which was 
taken on the 1st of November, wriggling quickly 
along on the ground near Bluefields house, the um- 
bilicus was not perceptible, except by an exceedingly 
slight depression. 
I am not aware that this reptile, or any of the 
allied species, is aquatic in the slightest degree ; but 
its natatory powers are considerable. One, which I 
put into a vessel of water for observation, swam 
rapidly and gracefully, throwing the body into ele- 
gant vertical undulations like a Leech. Snakes, I 
think, swim in this way. The fmcal discharges I 
found to have the white creamy appearance common 
to Serpents. 
Mr. Hill informs me that, in course of the cuttings 
for the laying down of the railway between Spanish- 
town and Kingston, the labourers laid open the sub- 
* This young specimen, still attached to the egg, is now in the 
magnificent collection of the British Museum. 
