340 - Zoological Collections. 



there was no other appearance than two not very striking elevations, or 

 knobs above the eyes, although between these and the end of the upper 

 jaw the surface of the nose was rough with mammillated prominences. 

 The slight differences which I have here pointed out would not of them- 

 selves, perhaps, suffice to make any specific distinction between the cum- 

 meer and Crocodilus biporcatus, but I have also to mention a character 

 which affects even the genus of the crocodile as characterized by Cuvier. 

 This naturalist states that the whole family of crocodiles have five toes be- 

 fore, and four behind, of which the three internal ones alone on each foot 

 are armed with claws. Thus far the curameer agrees with his description. 

 But he further adds, that all the toes of crocodiles are more or less united 

 by membranes or webs, as has also been stated by Lacepede and others ; 

 and adds that the crocodile, properly so called, in this respect has the cha- 

 racter of the gavial, in which, he says, the hind feet are palmated to the 

 extremity of the toes. This character is wanting in the cummeer, in 

 which the inner toe of the hind and two inner toes of the fore feet are per- 

 fectly free, not being connected by any membrane. If this peculiarity be 

 of constant occurrence, it makes the cummeer not only a new and unde- 

 scribed species, but it also vitiates the description of the family and of the 

 genus of crocodiles heretofore given. It would be premature, however, to 

 decide on this question, till other opportunities of examining the animal 

 shall have occurred, and it will have been sufficient to have pointed out 

 the peculiarity to observers in this country. 



It should be observed of the cummeer, however, that its teeth correspond 

 with those of the true crocodiles, in the mode in which those of the under 

 are received into the upper jaw. "The teeth," says Cuvier, "of the crocodiles, 

 properly so called, are unequal, the fourth tooth on each side passes into a 

 fissure, and not into a hole of the upper jaw. In the gavials the teeth are 

 nearly equal, although in other respects they agree with those of the cro- 

 codile. In the caimans or alligator, on the contrary, the teeth are unequal, 

 but the fourth tooth of the lower jaw on each side is received into a hole, 

 and not into a fissure." 



In the cummeer there are thirty-six teeth in the upper jaw, and thirty 

 in the lower. These are all in the' form of blunt cones, excepting the fourth 

 in the lower jaw, which are rather more pointed, and might be compared 

 to the canine teeth of large carnivorous animals. The two front teeth of 

 the lower jaw pass into holes which perforate the upper jaw ; the second 

 and third are received into small holes, and the fourth into deep fissures 

 visible on each side when the mouth is closed ; all the other teeth of the 

 lower jaw enter small holes. The upper teeth, on the contrary, are all re- 

 ceived into fissures on the outside of the lower jaw, with the exception of 

 the four hindmost, which.are very small, and received into indentations or 

 the lower jaw. 



Although the putrescency of the body of the animal prevented any de- 



• liberate examination of its internal structure, the contents of its stomach 



were exp^ed and found to consist of the remains of a woman, of a whole 



cat, of the remains of a dog and sheep, of several rings, and of the separated! 



parts of the common bangles worn by the native women. 



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