Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/167

Rh supposed blind, and vulgarly said to be fed by the large ants (termites), is in this country honoured with the name of King of the Emmets. The flesh of the Ampisbæna, dried and reduced to a fine powder, is confidently administered as a sovereign and infallible remedy in all cases of dislocation and broken bones; it being very naturally inferred that an animal which has the power of healing an entire amputation in its own case, should at least be able to cure a simple fracture in the case of another.”

The Amphibænadæ are covered with minute close-set scales, highly polished, either square and set in circular rings around the body, or overlapping, as in the Slow-worms. A range of small pores runs in front of the vent, which is situated almost at the very extremity of the body; the jaws are furnished with a single row of small conical teeth, which are few and distant from each other; the palate is destitute of any. The mouth is very small. There are no poison-fangs, and these reptiles are consequently harmless and inoffensive; those specimens which have been brought alive to Europe are described as dull and inanimate, without grace or activity in their movements; “they crawled slowly about, and when handled, languidly twisted their bodies and opened their mouths, but made no attempt to bite: their appearance was far from being attractive. One of these animals (Amphisbæna fuliginosa), kept alive some time since in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, took milk very freely, and subsisted on it for six months.”

The food of these Serpents, as we have said,