lii L A C E R T A 
remote, pentadaetyle, and clawed. This, which is a na¬ 
tive of Java, meafures about .five inches and a half in 
length, anti is entirely covered with imbricated fcales : 
its colour is.either cinereous or pale ferruginous above, 
pr.arked with from fifteen to twenty dufky lines; and be¬ 
neath cinereous with a filvery glofs. 
85. Lacerta anguina, the anguine lizard: tail verticil- 
late, extremely long ; Tubulated feet, without toes. De- 
fcrihed by. Linnseus, apparently from Seba’s figure, which 
is about fifteen inches in length, the body meaiuring only 
four. The head is rather final], the nole taper, the legs 
very fliort, placed very near the head and vent, and appa¬ 
rently terminating in one undivided toe or procefs : the 
whole animal appears covered with ovate fcales, and is 
brown above, all)-colon red on the fides, and yellowifh be¬ 
neath ; the upper furface marked throughout its whole 
length by feveral dark lines or ftripes. Native, according 
to Seba, of the Cape of Good Hope, where it is found in 
great plenty in the water and about the rocks in Table 
Bay. Cepede is of opinion that this alio is a feps ; and 
that it really has toes, though they efcaped the notice of 
Linnaeus. 
86. Lacerta lumbricoides, the grooved biped : fore feet 
fliort, four-toed ; no hind-feet; body cylindrical, covered 
.with fquare fcales, difpofed in half-rings on the belly and 
back, and entire rings on the tail; tail (liort. 
The exigence of biped or two-footed reptiles was long 
doubted by naturalilfs; as molt of the fpecimens, which 
have been fhown for fuch, were only of the feps or chal- 
cides fpecies, which had loft their fore or hind legs either 
by accident or defign ; in the-^ all, the cicatrix was evi¬ 
dent on infpeCtion. Other lpecimens of pretended bi¬ 
peds were male ferpents, which had been killed in the 
pairing feafon, at a time when their double organ hap¬ 
pened to be out from the anus, juft before uniting with 
the female. The two parts of this organ ftand at lbrne 
diftance, and are covered with certain roughnelies, which 
might be miftaken at firft fight for fcales. Serpents killed 
in this (fate have frequently been tranfmitted to cabinets 
as two-footed ferpents or bipeds : and perhaps (fays Ce¬ 
pede) the animal defcribed by Linnteus, under the name 
of Anguis bipes, and placed by Gmelin in the genus La¬ 
certa, was one of thefe real ferpents, furprifed in the fex- 
ual union. (See the next fpecies.) Again ; feveral of 
the pretended bipeds, which occur in authors or collec¬ 
tions, mult be coniidered as larvae, or tadpoles, in a greater 
or lefs degree of developement, or in a later or earlier ftage 
of growth, of the frog, toad, tree-frog, or water-lizard ; 
as all of thefe oviparous quadrupeds have ordinarily only 
two feet in the earlier period of their exiftence. Such, 
for inftance, is the animal for which Linnaeus confidered 
it neceftary to inftitute a new genus, under the name of 
Syren lacertina; but now placed by Gmelin in the clafs 
of fillies, and genus Murena, under the name of Murena 
fyren. See that article. 
Although molt of the animals hitherto fhown or pre- 
ferved as real bipeds mult be referred either to the ovi¬ 
parous quadrupeds or to ferpents, the prefent fpecies has 
in reality only two feet, which yet l'eern perfectly deve¬ 
loped, fo it cannot in ftrictnefs be referred to either of 
thefe orders. The grooved biped, firft defcribed by Ce¬ 
pede, was difcovered in Mexico by M. Velafques, who 
tranfmitted it to M. Polony, phyfician in St. Domingo, 
from whence it was brought to France by the vicomtelTe 
de Fonfanges, lady to the commandant of that illand. It 
is entirely deftitute of hind legs; and the molt attentive 
examination could not dilcover the fmalleft trace, by which 
one might fufpeft they had been removed by accident. 
It has many circumftances of refemblance tv. the chalcides 
already defcribed, having its fcales fimilarly difpoled in 
rings; but it differs from that oviparous quadruped, both 
in wanting the hind legs, and by having a very Ihort tail, 
while in that lizard the tail is very long in proportion to 
the body. The whole body is covered with fcales, nearly 
of .a .lquare form, which are difpofedin half-rings both on 
the back and belly : the half-rings of the two furfaces 
lo arranged, that the ends of thole on the belly regularly 
abut againlt the intervals or lines of feparation between 
the half-rings on the back; in which circnmftance it dif¬ 
fers farther from the chalcides, the fcales of which are dif¬ 
pofed in whole-rings entirely (unrounding the body. The 
line where the upper and lower half-rings terminate form* 
a channel or groove along each fide of the body, from the 
head to the anus. On the tail the fcales are difpofed in 
complete rings, which entirely furround the body. The 
edges of all thefe fcales form a great number of longitu¬ 
dinal and tranfverle grooves or channels, from which, and 
the deeper groove along each fide, the trivial name of the 
fpecies is derived. In the fpecimen which forms the fub- 
ject of this article, there are 150 half-rings on the belly, 
and 31 entire rings on the tail, the extremity of which is 
thick, blunt, and rounded. The whole length of the fpe¬ 
cimen is eight inches and a half; its tail meafures one 
inch, and its greateft diameter one-third part of an inch ; 
the head is a quarter of an inch in length, rounded at the 
muzzle, and hardly diftinguifhable from the body; the 
upper furface being covered by one large fcale, and the 
muzzle by three fcales, larger than thofe of the half-rings, 
the two outer fcales having each a ftnall hole or opening 
for the noitrils. The lower jaw is edged with fcales fome- 
what larger than thofe on the half-rings: the teeth are 
very fmall: the eyes are extremely minute, and have no 
eyelids: nor can any traces of ears or auditory paffages be 
difcovered. The legs are each the third part of an inch 
long, being covered with fmall fcales, difpofed in rings 
like thofe on the body; each foot having four divided 
toes, with long hooked claws; and on the fide of the outer 
toe there is a protuberance, like the rudiment of a fifth 
toe. The tail of this biped, being as thick at the end as 
the head of the animal, gives it fome general refemblance 
to the genus of ferpents named Amphilbsena by Linnaeus, 
of which the fcales are difpofed in fimilar rings: in them 
likewile the eyes are fo fmall as to be hardly diicemable* 
and no auditory orifices can be dillinguilhed. The grooved 
biped would certainly fall to be arranged with that genus, 
were it not for the two feet diredily behind the head ; and 
it evidently forms a connecting link between ferpents and 
oviparous quadrupeds, through the genus of amphifbaena 
of the former, and the fpecies chalcides of the latter. 
Having been fent from America in fpirits, it was impof- 
fible to afcertain its natural colour; but it feemed to be 
green, rather lighter on the belly, and darker on the back. 
The habits of this animal ate entirely unknown; but, 
from its refemblance to the feps and chalcides, there is 
reafon to prefume that its habits and manner of life are 
fimilar to thofe two lizards. 
87. Lacerta bipes, the two-footed lizard : fore feet none; 
hind feet very fmall, didaitylous, without claws; abdo¬ 
minal fcales 100, fubcaudal 60. A fmall fpecies, faid to 
be found in South America and in India. Length about 
fix inches : diameter fcarcely that of a goofe-quill. Co¬ 
lour pale yellow, minutely fpeckled • with brown: head 
fmall; body cylindric, tail very Ihort and taper, but not 
fharp-pointed : on each lide the vent is a fmall fubuiated 
foot, which, being clofely examined, is found to be divided 
into two fmall and unequal toes, without claws. This 
lizard is defcribed by Linnaeus in the Mufeum Adolphi 
Friderici as a fpecies of fnake, under the title of Anguis 
apes. It is all'o figured in the fame w'ork, but more ele¬ 
gantly in that of Seba. Though removed by Gmelin into 
this genus, perhaps the reader, upon due confideration of 
what has been advanced in the preceding article, may 
think it might better have remained where Linnceus firft 
placed it. Seba’s words rather confirm our opinion: 
“Juft by the anus are two ftnall excrefcences like thorns; 
but whether for the purpofe of generation is uncertain.” 
88 . Lacerta apus, the apodal lizard : fore feet none; 
hind feet very fmall, fcarcely divided ; tail very long. In 
this fpecies the feet are as obfeure, and as doubtfully 
placed, near the vent, as the former; yet it is admitted 
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