Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/140

132 and are found in a rudimentary state under the integument, the posterior ones constituting only small undivided processes. These also being removed, the Ophidian form of the present genus, [Anguis] and those of Tortix, Typhlops, and others, with all the Amphisbænidæ, succeed, in which the bones of the shoulder, the sternum, and the pelvis, exist in a more or less rudimentary condition; and lead us towards the true Snakes, in which all these parts are lost, excepting the rudiments of a posterior extremity, which in the Boa appears externally in the form of a small horny hook, or holder, on each side of the vent. In the Serpents, the gape, too, has assumed its extreme power of extension, from the bones of the jaws and other parts of the face being separate; and in most of them the scales, which in the former groups were similar on the upper and under parts of the body and tail, are small and imbricated above, whilst beneath they assume the form of broad transverse plates."

The Scinks have the head covered with large horny plates, of angular forms, in contact with each other at their edges, with the sutures or divisions always distinct: the neck is of the same size as the breast; the body and limbs are clothed with scales, more or less angular, frequently wide, with a somewhat rounded edge, disposed in quincunx (or like the meshes of a net), and overlapping each other, much like the scales of a fish. The back is rounded, without any crest; the belly is also more or less rounded, and covered with scales similar to those of the back. The tongue is free, fleshy, not very thick, slightly