In many places a popular belief prevails that such stones are found in the heads of snakes. Mr. J. A. Bucknill, now Attorney-General at Hong-Kong, who spent five years in Cyprus, has informed the author that the Viper of the latter island, _Vipera lebetina_, is commonly believed to contain a stone which, when applied to the bite of a poisonous snake, quickly nullifies the effect; it is also believed that, when this stone is allowed to stand in a glass of water and the water is drunk, it endows the drinker with surprising virility. Indeed, there was an action tried by the English judge at Larnaka in which the plaintiff claimed the return, or damages for the non-return, of one of these "Viper-stones" which he had lent for a monetary consideration to the defendant for the promotion of his manly vigour, and Mr. Bucknill's recollection is that the plaintiff recovered £10 for the loss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF THE SNAKES OF EUROPE[A] FIRST FAMILY: TYPHLOPIDÆ Skull compact, with short, toothless lower jaw, without transverse bone; palatine and pterygoid reduced and toothless; maxillary small, loosely attached to lower surface of cranium and bearing a few small teeth; no supratemporal, the quadrate articulated to the proötic; a coronoid element in the lower jaw. Rudiments of a pelvic arch, reduced to a single bone. Body vermiform, covered with uniform cycloid scales; head small, not distinct from the body; mouth small, crescentic, inferior; eyes under the more or less transparent head-shields, sometimes entirely hidden. Worm-like, smooth, shiny snakes, of small or very small size, the largest measuring little over 2 feet, of subterranean habits, or found in rotten trees, under stones, or in the saw-dust of sawmills; rarely appearing on the surface except when the ground is soaked by heavy rains. Inhabit the intertropical parts of the whole world, as well as South Africa, Southern Asia, and Southern Australia. One species occurs in South-Eastern Europe. About 120 species are known. GENUS TYPHLOPS, SCHNEIDER Head with large shields; nostril in a single or divided nasal. Tail extremely short. 1. TYPHLOPS VERMICULARIS, Merrem The Greek Blind-Snake [Illustration: FIG. 14 (after Sordelli)] _Form._--Slender, worm-like, the greatest diameter of the body 40 to 52 times in the total length. Tail about as long as broad, ending in a short spine. Snout depressed, rounded, strongly projecting. Eyes distinguishable, appearing as a small black spot surrounded by an unpigmented circle; nostrils lateral.