10 2 
The Hiftory of A N I M A L S. 
very pale brown, with a faint admixture of a reddifh tawny on the back: the Tides 
are paler, and the belly is very pale, and almoft whitifh. The whole body is formed, 
as it were, of rings connected fideways to one another ; they are rounded, and about 
equal to the diameter of a ftraw; they have nothing of a fcaly appearance, but are co¬ 
vered with a firm and tough fkin, and their furface is fmooth ; but they have oblique 
furrows all round them, at about a quarter of an inch difiance, and cruciform ones at 
the fides: the aperture of the anus is very large, and is placed within lefs than two 
inches of the extremity of the body ; from this to the extremity of the tail there are 
fixteen rings: the tail does not terminate in a point, but has an obrufe extremity, 
much refembling a head, but finaller and lefs pointed than the real head : it is of the 
bignefs of the end of a large finger, and has none of the rugs or wrinkles on it that 
cover the reft of the body, but is covered with the fame kind of firm fkin that in¬ 
verts the head, but on this part it has no wrinkles or furrows of any kind. 
The fpecimen, from which I have formed this defcription, I met with among the 
other Serpents which I purchafed at the fale of the late Duke of Richmond’s Mufaeum. 
It is a native of Surinam. 
Amphifbcena annuls corporis centum et nonaginta , caudee viginti duo . 
The Amphifbcena , with a hundred and ninety rings on the body , and 
twenty-two on the taiL 
This is a Serpent of an extreamly different form from the former j it’s length is 
more than two feet, and it’s thicknefs not more than that of a man’s finger: the 
back and belly are both fomewhat flatted ; the belly very much fo, but the fides are 
round and inflated, as in the other : the colour is a deep, difagreeable brown, with 
an admixture of orange colour toward the fides: the belly is of a pale brown; the 
head is large, flatted, and obtufe ; it is covered with a very firm membrane, on which 
there are a few irregular furrows: the tail is thick and obtufe, and it’s extremity is of 
the bignefs and form of the head, and is covered with the fame kind of fkin, wrinkled 
in the fame manner: they are both of a colour, much paler than the reft of the body? 
and, as the creature lies at it’s length, it is not eafy to fay which is the head, which 
the tail : the whole body is compofed of annules or rings, as it were, joined fide to 
fide; they are nearly of the breadth of a ftraw, and are fomewhat flatted. 
It is a native of Peru and Mexico, and of fome parts of the Eaft Indies'; in which 
laft part of the world it has obtained, among the Englifh, the name of the two- 
headed worm. 
Amphifbcena annulis corporis centum et oBoginta duo , caudee triginta . 
The Amphifbcena, with the annules of the body a hundred and eighty-two, 
and thofe of the tail thirty . 
This grows to more than two feet in length, and to the thicknefs of a man’s finger : 
it’s body is rounded, the back very convex, and the belly fcarce at all flatted; the fides 
inflated and prominent: the colour is a deep, livid, greyifh-blue, with fome cloudings 
and Variegations of a deep black ; the belly is bluer and paler than the reft: the head 
is of a figure approaching to the half of an elliptic ; it is oblong, but obtufe and round¬ 
ed at the extremity : the upper jaw all the way over hangs the lower, and the open¬ 
ing of the mouth is very large; the whole head is covered with a fmooth and gloffy 
membrane, having the appearance of a thick parchment, with a few oblique and not 
very deep furrows on it: the rings of which the body is compofed are rounded, and of 
the breadth of a fmall ftraw ; they have oblique lines, at fmall diftances on them, and 
cruciform ones all down the fides: the extremity of the tail is fomewhat fmaller, and 
more rounded than the head, but it much refembles it in fhape; it is obtufe, and is 
covered with the fame fmooth fkin that invefts the head, but it has no wrinkles on it. 
This fpecies is a native of Surinam, and of fome other of the warmer parts of 
America. I met with it among the Duke of Richmond’s colle&ion ; his Grace had 
it from Carolina. 
The other known fpecies of the Amphifbama are, i. The great, brown Amphif- 
brena, with a flat head. 2. The lefler, brown Amphifbasna, with the head and 
tail both rounded, and extreamly alike in form. 3. The flender, bluifh Amphifbrena. 
4. The 
