58 ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 



wood, fragments of glass, broken bottles, &c., and these latter have their angles 

 rounded, probably by trituration with other hard substances. Many persons 

 suppose these foreign matters are destined to keep the stomach distended, during 

 the long fast the animal undergoes in winter: others think they aid digestion, as 

 particles of gravel operate in the gizzards of birds. It is not easy to say what 

 may be the precise use of these foreign substances found in the stomach of the 

 Alligator, but there can be little doubt of their subserviency to the function of 

 digestion, when it is remembered that they are universally present in the adult, 

 and most commonly also in the young animal.* 



The Alligator is much more timid than is commonly supposed, at least when 

 on land; even Catesby says " it seldom attacks men and cattle, yet it is a great 

 devourer of hogs." There is, I believe, no well authenticated instance with us in 

 Carolina, of their having preyed on man; yet Lacoudreniere (Journal de Physique) 

 says it often happens in Louisiana, and that they greatly prefer the flesh of the 

 black to the white ! ! Alligators will, however, defend themselves boldly when on 

 land and at certain seasons of the year; nor can they be made to retreat from 

 their position, as I have more than once observed, yet on these occasions I have 

 never known them the aggressors. Bartram gives a different account; he says, 

 they are very ferocious, and that he "was nearly devoured" by one; his description 

 should however be received with some caution; and yet, perhaps, the encroach- 

 ments of man upon their dwelling-places, since Bartram wrote, may have rendered 

 them more timid and distrustful. 



The Alligator moves but slowly and with difficulty on land, in consequence of 

 the shortness of the extremities compared with the great length of the body. He 

 raises himself on his legs, advances for a short distance, dragging along the 

 thick, heavy tail; noAv he falls upon the belly, apparently to rest for a time, before 

 he proceeds on his journey. In water, however, he moves from place to place 

 with great velocity, being propelled by his broad, strong, fin-like tail: besides, the 



* Vid. description of the stomach in the anatomical part of this work. 



