50 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



The Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, which reaches a 

 length of nearly thirty feet, is fairly abundant in the 

 Ganges and Indus. Adult male specimens have a large 

 cartilaginous swelling on the extreme tip of the snout, 

 perforated by the nostrils, containing a chamber for the 

 reception of air, enabling them to remain for a considerably 

 longer period under water, than in the case of females. 



Although possessing the reputation of being more or 

 less harmless, the stomach of a recently dissected specimen 

 was found to contain human remains, a fact proving 

 beyond all possible doubt that large specimens, at least, 

 will not hesitate to attack man when hungry. 



Two seven-foot-long specimens that have come under 

 my charge at the Zoological Gardens were extremely 

 savage. On arrival both these specimens refused all food, 

 and it was not until they had been over three months in 

 captivity that they took their first meal. The fish are 

 caught by the tip of the snout, by means of a rapid sideway 

 snap, and are passed down to the mouth, head first, in a 

 series of jerks. 



The eggs of the Gharial, about forty in number, are 

 buried in two layers, half below and half above, separated 

 from each other by a foot or two of sand. 



The ToMiSTOMA, Tomistoma schlegeli, or False Gharial, 

 as it is often called, on account of its resemblance to the 

 true Gharial, from which it differs chiefly in the arrange- 

 ment of the bones of the skull, is a native of the Malay 

 Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra. It attains a maximum 

 length of fifteen feet. Its habits are unknown, but 

 naturally believed to be similar to those of the true 

 Gharial. 



