Mr. P. H. Gosse was struck with the amazing springing power of the yellow Jamaica boa (Chilobothrus inornatus), and by a similar use of its tail as a propelling power.[61] It rears itself up and leaps an incredible distance, he tells us; one covered nearly twenty feet in such a spring, but that was on the incline of a hill. He noticed another suspending itself from a branch, not with its tail curled round, but with a mere tip of it lying longitudinally, pressure alone supporting the reptile. The slightest contact suffices to maintain the hold.
There is still one more offending tail to describe. It belongs to a West Indian relative of our own little ‘blindworm,’ bearing also the family name, and for more justifiable reasons, inasmuch as the eyes of the Jamaica species really are not easily distinguished. It is worm-like in aspect, and of about the same size as Anguis fragilis, similarly smooth and polished, and so active that it is difficult to hold it. Typhlops lumbricalis is its name, the first word signifying blind, and the second worm-like. It moves backwards and forwards with equal facility, and is therefore commonly called the ‘two-headed snake.’ The coloured people are dreadfully afraid of its short blunt tail, which they think can ‘sting,’ and which terminates in a minute horny nipple on a shining round plate or scale. Being a burrowing snake, this hard, protected tail is of great use as a fulcrum; but when off the ground, taken up by the hand, for instance, the little shining worm makes still further use of its tail, as its English cousin does, pressing the tip firmly against the fingers, or whatever surface is near it, to support itself, and to the terror of those who hold it, and who forthwith dash it down, though it is wholly powerless to injure.
In Australia it has some allies, whose tails are remarkably developed into this useful point. The reptiles being as round as rulers and as smooth, the difficulty of progression without this aid as a fulcrum will be evident. Below are three tails, which will suffice to exemplify their purpose and utility.
A curious modification is seen in the centre tail, belonging to Uropeltis philippinus, which, as the name implies, terminates in a round disk or shield. This snake is also one of the smooth cylindrical forms, ‘admirably adapted to burrowing,’ says Dr. Günther. Its truncated appearance is as if it were chopped clean in halves.
Tails of three burrowing snakes.
Another is the Cylindrophis, from its form. Several of the burrowing family are remarkable for a similarity of head and tail, obscure features, inconspicuous eyes, and very small mouth, rendering it difficult on first sight to decide which is the head and which the tail. All being feeble, inoffensive, and entirely harmless, the evil attached to them of having ‘two heads’ is only another proof of the prejudice and animosity displayed towards every creature in the shape of a snake, however innocent. These poor little ‘blindworms,’ admirably organized to dig and burrow and find their food in deep and hidden places, have their uses. In countries where dangerous ants swarm, we might well tremble for the consequences, had not nature anticipated such evils by providing insectivorous reptiles, as well as birds and ant-eaters, to keep them in check.
We must not omit one other of the family of burrowing snakes, which from the very earliest ages has been supposititiously endowed with two heads. Its name, Amphisbæna, or ‘double-walker’ (going both ways), however, is well merited, because, like Typhlops, it can progress either way, forwards or backwards, with equal facility. This is the one alluded to by Catesby (p. 174). We can comprehend the advantage of the retrogressing power to these otherwise unprotected little reptiles, when they cautiously peep from their narrow burrow in the ground, and espy one of their many enemies in the shape of a much larger ophidian, or a carnivorous bird. Quick as thought, back they glide, and are safe. Living chiefly among the ants, on which they feed, their cuirass of hard, polished, close-set scales protects them from a bite or sting. Another beautiful provision of nature is, that the young ones, on being hatched, find food ready at hand—at mouth, rather—the eggs having been laid, or the young ones born, in the nest of the ants.
Of this harmless and useful reptile, Pliny seriously wrote: ‘The amphisbæna has two heads; that is, it has a second one at its tail, as though one mouth were too little for the discharge of all its venom!’
Even at the present day this belief in ‘two heads,’ or ‘two tails,’ and ‘death at both ends,’ is not wholly eradicated, and not merely among the lower classes either.