464 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [May, 



A NOTE REGARDING THE CHINESE ALLIGATOR. 

 BY THOMAS BARBOUR. 



The existence of a true alligator in China is one of the most inter- 

 esting and remarkable facts which has ever been brought to the notice 

 of zoogeographers. Specimens are rare in collections, and it is probable 

 that the example which has led to this note is the first one to be re- 

 ceived by an American Museum. The Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology received a few days ago a most excellent mounted specimen, 

 with skull, of an alligator which was brought from the region near 

 the mouth of the Yangtse River by Captain Thomas Golding. and 

 given to Dr. W. T. Hornaday, who had it in his private collection for 

 seven years. Dr. Hornaday very kindly gave it to the writer, and 

 it is a great pleasure to thank him most heartily for what has proved 

 an extremely welcome addition to the reptile collection of the Museum. 



To the average American naturalist the fact that our American 

 alligator has a close congener in the Yangtse in China is unknown. 

 and for that reason I am presenting here a short history of our know- 

 ledge of this most interesting creature. 



In 1870 Mr. Swinhoe, a well-known authority on Chinese zoology, 

 wrote in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (p. 410) 

 the following: "In February, 1869, some Chinese were exhibiting in 

 the native city of Shanghai what they called a dragon, which they 

 declared had been dug out of a hole in the province of Shense. It 

 was a young crocodile about four feet long, which they kept in tepid 

 water. They made so much money by showing it, that they refused 

 to sell it. I can not, of course, guess its species; but I nevertheless 

 think the fact worth recording, as evidence that a species of this group 

 does occur in China." 



Nine years later Mr. A. A. Fauvel, of the Imperial Chinese Maritime 

 Customs and the Honorary Curator of the Shanghai Museum, wrote 

 a long description and historical account 1 of the Yangstze alligator. 

 As this publication is not always easily obtainable, it may be well 

 to note briefly some of the interesting points which Fauvel brings 

 out. It apparently has been known since the earliest times in Chinese 



^Jour. No. China Br. Roy. Asiat. Soc, XIII, 1879, pp. l-36f., 3 pi. 



