CROCODILES. 51 



flattened at the sides ; there are five toes before 

 and four behind, of which the innermost three on 

 each foot are armed with claws ; the toes are 

 connected by intervening membranes, varying in 

 extent. There is a single row of pointed teeth 

 in each jaw; the tongue is fleshy, flat, and free 

 only at the extreme edge ; whence the Crocodile 

 was vulgarly reputed to be without a tongue. 

 The back and tail, as already intimated, are 

 covered by large and strong scales of square form, 

 elevated into a ridge in the middle ; the tail is 

 surmounted by a deeply notched or saw-like 

 crest, which is double at the base ; the scales of 

 the belly are delicate and smooth. The nostrils 

 are situated at the end of the muzzle, and open 

 by small crescent-form slits, closed by valves ; 

 they lead through a long and straight canal 

 pierced in the bones of the palate, to the back of 

 the mouth. The lower jaw is prolonged behind 

 the skull, and this structure causes the upper 

 jaw to seem moveable ; but this is simply an 

 illusion. The external ear is closed at pleasure 

 by means of two fleshy lips ; the eye is furnished 

 with three lids : two small glandular orifices are 

 placed beneath the throat, whence exudes a 

 musky secretion, the odour of which strongly 

 marks these animals even for years after their 

 dried skins have been preserved in a museum. 



The Reptiles of this Order are of large size 

 and great strength ; and as they are exclusively 

 carnivorous and predaceous, and very ferocious, 

 they are dreaded, not without reason, in the 

 tropical countries which they chiefly inhabit. 

 Yet these creatures, feared and hated as they are, 

 were not created in vain. "In the grand policy 



