the Crocodile of tfie Nile. 139 



Bdt moveable on each other. The apophyses of these ver- 

 teb'-ae arc so multiphetl, so long, and so close to each other, 

 that the an.a!al cannot bend its neck, and that the cervical 

 column, in rcy^ard to its uses, musi be considered as one 

 bone. The straight and oblique muscles attached to it, and 

 which have their second point of insertion towards tlic oc- 

 cipital ridgj, raise up wlien they contract the hcaxi on the 

 neck, by Uiaking it describe an arch of 45'. The s^ m is 

 thin behnid the occipital plate, and readily yields to all the 

 movements given to ttie head : on the other hand, the h-u er 

 jaw is, as it were, sheathed ni a rugous and very little flexi- 

 ble skin. If we suppose a muscular force sufficiently strong 

 to draw it dow nwaids, it would be retained by its coverings : 

 it is besides confined towards its posterior extremity ; for 

 the long apophysis situated beycind the articular facets ap- 

 proacl:es th:' skin by describing a curve exactly towards the 

 point, where it is armed with a long scale. 'I'he latter op- 

 poses an almost invincible resistance to the elevation ot the 

 condvjc, and conscquentlv to the depression of the jaw : it 

 is nut however entirely fixed, especially in the manner un- 

 derstood by Marmol, who tiiought that it formed with 

 the sternum one bone. Two small elongated muscles, Ijy 

 contracting, can give it a slight motion. The assertion of 

 Herodotus, then, is almost strictly true : " The crocodile 

 is the only animal known, wfiose upper jaw, between the 

 branches of which is comprehended the cranium, is move- 

 able on the under, which has a motion almost msensibie." 



II. Of the Organs of Digestion. 



The antients, and almost all the moderns, have stated 

 that the crocodile has no tongue ; it is indeed true that it 

 does not appear ontw ardlv, but, speaking in a physiological 

 point of view, this animi.! is not de .tnute of a tongue. The 

 whole skin comprehended between the branches ot the lower 

 jaw is clothed interiorly with spongy, thick and flabby flesh, 

 -which is inseparably attached to it throughout its whole ex- 

 tent : but this muscle or tongue is in some measure masked 

 jn the inside by a ctmtinuaiion of the general coverings. 

 Jt is a yellowish shagreened skin, perfectly similar to that of 

 ihe palate : it is pierced \\ itli a trrcat number of small holes, 

 which are the oriliee.s of the glands w ith which the upper 

 part is furnished. This tongue has the form of the head 

 ,of a. lance: its dimensions in the subject I examined, which 

 was 2- 10 metres long, was 0')3 in length by 0-05 at the 

 toot. Though it does not project forwaias, I have no doubt 

 iliut it serves to retain and convey the aliments into the oe»o* 



phagus ; 



