464 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



In the breeding season, the spring and early snmmer, the reptiles are ver\' noisy 

 and bellow with thunder-like power. The eggs are deposited in some natural sandy 

 hillock, or in a mound of the reptile's own construction, the young, on hatching, at 

 once directing their course to the water. The eggs are often taken from the nests, 

 however, by tourists, and illegally mailed to northern friends, when they hatch in a 

 climate unsuited to their wants and usually die, though a few have been known to 

 take food and pi'os|)er. Adults seldom reach the length of twelve feet. The name 

 given by science is Alligator mississippiensis, the animal being found in tliat river as 

 far north, though rarely, as the Ohio. 



The Orinoco cayman, Jacare nigra, was the animal with which Waterton had the 

 struggle so geographically described in his " Wanderings." It seems that the natural- 

 ist desired a specimen for dissection, and hence one mutilated as little as possible. 

 One of the reptiles was first caught by a cleverly devised hook, and, when drawn on 

 the bank, was mounted by Waterton, as he would mount an English hunter, the rep- 

 tile's fore feet and legs serving as reins. It is needless to say that it was only by the 

 exei'cise of considerable skill that the naturalist kejjt his seat, though he finally suc- 

 ceeded in exhausting the furious reptile. An old hunter and fisherman in southern 

 Louisiana assured me that in a similar manner he had captured alligators for showmen. 



Closely allied to the now existing crocodiles was the genus Thoracosaunis, inhab- 

 iting, in cretaceous times, the shores of Xew Jersey, as well as the coast of France, 

 and resembling to no little extent the Indian gavial. T. neocaisariensis, once inhabit- 

 ing the more eastern ])ortions of our continent, was one of the largest species. The 

 Teleosaiirus, from earlier deposits, had the jaws greatly elongated, considerably ex- 

 ceeding, in proportional length, tliose of the gavial of to-day, and armed with long 

 sharp teeth, which enableil them to capture and retain fishes, the onlj- large verte- 

 brates inhabiting the Jurassic seas suitable for food. Goniopholis cra.'<si(le/is resem- 

 bled the l\leosauri in having Ineoncave vertel)ra3, though its teeth resembled those 

 of the existing crocodiles. 



The Belodoxtid-E, though at first considered otherwise, now hold an important 

 position in the jiresent order. Belodon Icpti/nis, tlie largest of the genus, reached a 

 length of ten feet, and was strong and stout. It lived on the American shores during 

 the triassic period, and was, judging from the ]iosterior position of its nostrils, and 

 jjrobably webbed feet, an aquatic feeder, searching with its elongated snout below 

 the surface for such unfoi'tunate animals as might come within its reach, while respi- 

 ration was still maintained, as a result of the nostrils being placed almost as far 

 back as the eyes. This genus includes the earliest known representatives of the order. 

 Remains are found in the European as well as in American deposits. 



Order X. — DINOSAURIA. 



In this extinct order appears a series of reptiles, some of 'most gigantic size, 

 though many are small, which are of particular interest to the systematic zoologist, as 

 many forms, on examination, are seen to possess peculiarities of structure which point 

 towards the lower birds, while others have many points of structure in common with 

 the mammals. The avian ])eculiarities are not merely superficial, the pelvis and hind 

 limb is remarkably bird-like, and is often of a development which justifies naturalists 

 in considering the reptiles to have been bijjed, a sujiposition confirmed by the three- 

 toed tracks of the Connecticut valley. We have consequently in the Reptilia a 



