Note 9 — CHAP. XXIV.
Reading edition
In this cabinet I also saw the blue dipsas of Surinam, which had almost the colour of ultramarine on the back; its sides were lighter, and the belly nearly white. I did not learn that the bite of this reptile was fatal, but that it occasions immoderate thirst in the patient, from which it took its name; the word dipsa signifying thirst in the Greek language. Another snake I also observed here, about three feet long, being annulated with different colours, and called amphisbœna, from the supposition of its having two heads; but the truth is, that from its cylindrical form the head and tail so much resemble each other, that the error is almost pardonable; besides which, the eyes are nearly imperceptible. This is the snake which, being supposed blind, and vulgarly said to be fed by the large ants already described, is in this country honoured with the name of King of the Emmets9.