322 LEAVES FROM THE 



I have seen many alligators of all sizes.* It would not 

 be very difficult to bring over a Nilotic crocodile ; and if 

 the Zoological Society of London were to show one with 

 its attendant dotterell and the hippopotamus,! the attrac- 

 tion would be strong. The clever keepers of that 

 establishment would soon reconcile them to each other, 

 . and present another ' united happy family' to the won- 

 dering spectators. 



Without wearying the reader with anatomical details, 

 we would draw attention to certain peculiarities in the 

 organization of the crocodilian family, which are not 

 only essential to its well-being, but indicate that approxi- 

 mation of one form to another, of which every observer 

 who studies animated nature is constantly reminded. 



The cervical vertebrae are furnished with a sort ol 

 false ribs, which impede lateral motion; and, indeed, the 

 general structure of the vertebral column, as far as the 

 pelvis, combined with the abdominal ribs, renders it 

 difficult for the crocodilidce to bend their bodies side- 



* I shall endeavour, hereafter, to describe the difference between 

 these two cognate forms. Some will think this superfluous, 

 especially if they remember the answer of the brightest legal wit 

 of his day, who, when asked what was the difference between a 

 solicitor and an attorney, replied, ' The same as between a crocodile 

 and an alligator.' 



f 6th Oct. — I to the Zoological Garden, and in my way to the 

 hippopotamus came upon a late hatch of six young black swans 

 not long out of the egg, walking with their affectionate mother, 

 the proud father strutting in advance ready to do battle with all 

 comers, and as if he defied the world. Looked in upon Jenny 

 Lind, who had broken her horn at the base, or rather loosened it 

 at the suture, so that it went quite back. But the keeper set it 

 cleverly, and it is now in place, exalted, like that of her namesake 

 by Brother Jonathan ; so that she carries her head as proudly and 

 symmetrically as any giraffe of them all. 



The great tortoise had cuddled into a corner of his house, as if 

 he felt the approach of winter. 



Hippo was in his bath. When he sinks he puts back his ears, 

 and closes them to keep out the water. A large vegetable marrow 

 was thrown to him by Hamet. He mumbled it for some time in 



