History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

Anguis. REPTILES. OPHIDIA. 155it possesses a neck resembling the body of a serpent. Theteeth are unequal, slender, pointed, a little bent, and groovedlongitudinally. Two species occur in the strata of Britain.1. P. dolichodeirus—This species is an inmate of the has at Lvme.2. P. recenlior.— Found in the Kimmeridge clay.Baron Cuvier considers the bone figured by Sir E. Home, Phil. Trans.1818, tab. iii., as the humerus of a Plesiosaurus ; different, however, from thepreceding species, and more nearly related to P. pentagonus, or trigonus, twoother species which he has instituted.— Rech. v. 2. 475.OPHIDIA.Gen. II. ANGUIS. Blind-worm.— A third eye-lid. Tracesof scapular and clavicular bones.Tympanum concealed.No palatineteeth.Maxillary teeth compressed and recurved.2. A. fragilis.— Common Blind-worm. Head covered withnine largescales ;dorsal scales rounded and plain.28— Typhlops, Sibb. Scot. Caecilia, Pay, Syn. Quad. 289 Anguis frag.Linn. Syst.i. 392. Perm. Brit. Zool. iii. 36. Lacep. Ov. Quad. iv.293— E, Slow-worm ; W, Pwl dall, Needr y defaid Not uncommon.Length about a foot (in this country, where its growth is much reduced bythe cold), of which the tail forms one-half. Body greyish, with two dark-brownstripes along the back, and one on each side from" the eye. The belly darkbrown. Head small ; neck slender ; body larger, continuing nearly of equalthickness to the tail, the end of which is blunt. The scales on the head areplaced in four rows ;the first having only one scale, the second two scales, andthe third and fourth have three each. The other scales on the lips and bodyare small, and nearly of the same size. Eyes small. Gape extending beyondthe eyes. Tongue notched in a crescent form.Ovoviviparous. Lives inholes in woods, way-sides, or heaps of rubbish. Feeds on worms, frogs, andmice. Becomes torpid during the winter. Brittle. Its bite not venomous.Borlase, however, when speaking of the " long cripple," regarded by Pennantas the blind-worm, says that its bite is poisonous. He, however, adds, that itis of the "tail-pointed kind." As the obtuse tailed kind, the true blind worm,also inhabits Cornwall, it is probable that some of the varieties of the viperwere referred to. The figure which Borlase gives of the " long cripple,"(tab. xxviii. £ 24.) tapers too gradually to a point ever to have been copiedfrom a blind-worm.The Anguis Eryx, Linn. Syst.i. 392, or Aberdeen Serpent of Penn. Brit. Zool.iii. 35, appears to be no other than a variety of the fragilis, from which indeedit can scarcely be said to differ. It was communicated to Linnteus and Pennantby Dr David Skene of Aberdeen. In his MS. descriptions of animals(now before me), he notices it under the trivial name Anguis Scoticus. Twoexamples are recorded. The largest about 15 inches in length, of which thetail occupied 8 \ inches. In the smallest specimen, the scales on the bellywere 124 ; of the tail 63 ; a part of the latter he conjectures may have beenwanting. In the largest, the scales of the belly were 120 ; of the tail 137-Linnaeus states the number 126,-136, while his numbers for fragilis are 135,-