Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/141

Rh notched at the tip, and covered either totally or partially with scaly papillæ.

Thus the Scincidæ are at once distinguishable from all the Saurian Orders, except the Lacertadæ, by the broad plates which cover the head; and from the latter by the belly being clothed with scales not diverse from those which cover the rest of the trunk.

The Scinks are a harmless race, for the most part living upon insects, slugs, and worms; but one of the most typical species, the great Gally-wasp of Jamaica, we have found to feed on fruits and other vegetable substances. Of their reproduction little seems known, but as the Gally-wasps, the Mabouyas, and the Slow-worm are