144 NEW YORK VZOOLOGICAL YSOCIEIY. 
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ALLIGATORS IN THEIR SUMMER POOL. 
from an authority of the United States Fisheries Bureau, who 
says, in one of the government publications: “Alligators grow 
very slowly. At fifteen years of age they are only two feet long. 
A twelve-footer may be reasonably supposed to be seventy-five 
years of age.” 
Our observations in the Reptile House have enabled us to 
look well into the development and habits of the Alligator. This 
article is the result of seven years’ accumulation of notes, during 
which time, among several series of examples, the writer has 
been able to gauge the rate of growth of the Alligator from the 
time of hatching up to the twelve-foot reptile—and a specimen 
of the latter size is a giant, nowadays. In a period of six years, 
the writer has succeeded in hatching alligator eggs, and rearing 
the young to a length of over five feet. Inasmuch as alligators of 
various sizes were received at the Reptile House seven years ago, 
at the opening of the building, we are able to approximately carry 
our records of the rate of growth from the young specimens 
hatched in the Park, through other series that have attained much 
larger growth during the time specified. As will be explained 
later, wild crocodilians seem to grow much faster than those in 
captivity, notwithstanding all possible facilities and food abun- 
