146 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
after they are laid, but yet a disturbance of them seems to destroy all vitality, 
judging by my invariable failure to artificially hatch them. 
The Metallic-backed House Lizard is another familiar reptile through¬ 
out the United States, making its home 
under door-sills, in rotted logs and under 
the bark of yard trees. Its skin is bright, 
with variable colors, and shines with splen¬ 
dor when reflecting the sun’s rays. It 
is generally dreaded, on account of its 
somewhat snaky appearance, yet nothing 
can be more harmless, or be more de¬ 
serving of our protection. 
The Skink (Scincus officinalis ), an an- 
skink. imal of Africa, possesses the singular power 
of burying itself in the sand with such 
rapidity as apparently to disappear in a previously-formed burrow. How this 
is accomplished does not clearly appear, though the fact cannot be gainsaid. 
The animal is thick of body, striped with 
black and white, and has four legs seemingly 
poorly developed, for which reason it travels 
slowly, and therefore seldom strays far from 
its abode. Formerly this reptile commanded 
the attention of the civilized world, by reason 
of the claim made that its body, reduced to 
a powder, possessed the most astonishing 
remedial virtue, and which was prescribed for pale-snake lizard. 
nearly all imaginary ills. 
The Pale-snake Lizard (Pseudopus pallasii) is a singular creature, combin¬ 
ing the characteristics of the lizard and the serpent, as its name implies. It 
is a native of Europe and Asia, and finds its abode in the darkest recesses of the 
woods, where it spends the time in quest of the eggs and young of birds. It 
grows to the length of two feet and 
has all the appearance of a snake, 
except that it has the head of a liz¬ 
ard and the rudiments of limbs. It 
is an extremely timid creature, and 
being capable of great speed, is dif¬ 
ficult of capture. 
The Amphisbcena (Amphisboena 
alba), or Two-headed Snake, so 
named by Pliny because of its ability 
to move with equal celerity either 
amphisbcena. forwards or backwards, is native to 
the warmer portions of Europe. For 
many years it was seriously believed the creature had a head at either end, 
and though this has long been disproved it does not yet appear quite plain 
how it manages to crawl so naturally backwards, especially as the head and 
eyes are so distinct, yet apparently not vitally important, so far as its travel¬ 
ling or search for food is concerned. It rarely grows to a greater length 
