316 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE AQUARIUM. 



and concealment until it has become sufficiently softened 

 by putrefaction to admit of being torn up by the teeth and 

 claws, when it is brought to shore and devoured. The 

 young specimen in the Zoological fish-house happened to 

 be feeding when we were there, and a piece of fresh beef 

 which was presented to it seemed too large to be swallowed 

 crosswise. The AlHgator made some attempts to get it 

 placed lengthwise, but was unsuccessful, so he remained on 

 the surface of the water with the meat across his jaws and 

 a piece hanging down at each side. Some saucy little 

 Water Tortoises in the same tank, seeing this, came round 

 the mouth of their distressed companion, and began snap- 

 ping and tugging away at the pendent morsels, regard- 

 less of his superior size and powerful jaws. Bit by bit 

 the piece was reduced to what the Alligator thought a 

 convenient size, and just as he was about to jerk it round 

 into his throat, one of the audacious Emydid(B seized it 

 with a sudden snap and carried it off without the slightest 

 resistance or apparent resentment on the part of the injured 

 Croeodihan. 



One remarkable circumstance in reference to AlHgators 

 is the immense disparity in size between the newly hatched 

 young and the full-grown individual. According to reliable 



