Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

AMPHISBAENA (a Greek word, from &pegs...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 891 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

AMPHISBAENA (a See also:Greek word, from &pegs, both ways, and flaivav, to go)  , a See also:serpent in See also:ancient See also:mythology, beginning or ending at both See also:head and tail alike . Its fabled existence has been utilized by the poets, such as See also:Milton, See also:Pope. and See also:Tennyson . In See also:modern See also:zoology it is the name given to the See also:main genus of a See also:family of See also:worm-shaped lizards, most of which inhabit the tropical parts of See also:America, the See also:West Indies and See also:Africa . The commonest See also:species in See also:South America and the See also:Antilles is the sooty or dusky A. fuliginosa . The See also:body of the See also:amphisbaena, from 18 to 20 in. See also:long, is of nearly the same thickness throughout . The head is small, and there can scarcely be said to be a tail, the vent being See also:close to the extremity of the body . The See also:animal lives mostly underground, burrowing in soft See also:earth, and feeds on ants and other small animals . From its See also:appearance, and the ease with which it moves backwards, has arisen the popular belief that the amphisbaena has two heads, and that when the body is cut in two the parts seek each other out and reunite . From this has arisen another popular See also:error, which attributes extraordinary curative properties to its flesh when dried and pulverized .

End of Article: AMPHISBAENA (a Greek word, from &pegs, both ways, and flaivav, to go)
[back]
AMPHIPROSTYLE (from the Gr. &µ¢i, on both sides, ...
[next]
AMPHITHEATRE (Gr. 441, around, and O&arpov, a place...

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.