Our reptiles and batrachians; a plain and easy account of the lizards, snakes, newts, toads, frogs and tortoises indigenous to Great Britain . diminishing gradually to itsextremity; the palate is without teeth, the templeis covered with small polygonal plates, with a largeangular one in the centre. The scales on the backare long, narrow, and hexagonal, and less distinctlykeeled than in the next species. The head ismore depressed and the nose sharper. The plates ofthe belly are in six rows, with two small marginalseries ; the preanal plate is bordered by two rows ofscales. The fore legs reach t
Our reptiles and batrachians; a plain and easy account of the lizards, snakes, newts, toads, frogs and tortoises indigenous to Great Britain . diminishing gradually to itsextremity; the palate is without teeth, the templeis covered with small polygonal plates, with a largeangular one in the centre. The scales on the backare long, narrow, and hexagonal, and less distinctlykeeled than in the next species. The head ismore depressed and the nose sharper. The plates ofthe belly are in six rows, with two small marginalseries ; the preanal plate is bordered by two rows ofscales. The fore legs reach to the eye, the hindlegs extend along two-thirds of the sides; poresfrom nine to twelve on each thigh. The back isbrown, olive, or reddish, with a black band on eachside from the head to the tail; a second dark bandruns along the side, and is edged with white. Theunder parts are spotted with black upon a whitishground, generally with a bluish or greenish tinge.* The relative size and vivaparous character are thebest features whereby to distinguish this speciesfrom the next. * Lord Clermonts Reptiles of Europe, p. 184. 27 THE SAND {Lace da agilis.) Enlarged view of the upper surface of the head, showing theform and arrangement of the plates.* This and the latter species were long confoundedtogether. It appears to vary considerably, both incolour and size, is generally larger, but not so commonas the Scaly Lizard (Plate I). It seems to be prettywidely distributed over Europe, being found almosteverywhere except in the extreme North; confinedmore especially to lowland districts. It is said to * Milne-Edwards in Ann. des Sc. Nat., ser. i. vol. xvi. r. 4. 2g OUR REPTILES. abound in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, NorthernRussia, in Siberia, and generally through CentralEurope. It appears to occur freely in the neigh-bourhood of Poole, but we do not remember tohave met with records of its occurence in the Northof England, or in Scotland, although it may havebeen confounded
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubject, booksubjectreptiles
