Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/293

Rh The Two-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means, .), of which the above observations are recorded, is the smaller of the two known Species, being only about eighteen inches in length, while its fellow (A. tridactylum) attains twice these dimensions. The former is called Congo-snake by the negroes of Florida, by whom it is reputed highly venomous, but without any foundation. It was first noticed by Dr. Garden of South Carolina, who described it in a letter to Linnæus in 1771. It is properly an inhabitant of the fetid ponds and ditches of those marshy regions, where it probably feeds on worms and water-insects, but it is capable of living on the land, though for what period has not been ascertained. It is sometimes found lurking under the decaying trunk of a fallen tree, in humid woods; and Dr. Harlan speaks of one in the possession of Dr. Mease, which having escaped from the vessel of water in which it was kept, was found brisk and lively several days afterwards.