Kew Kind of American Crocodile. 235 



and T was even enabled to confirm, tb.at age in the crocodile 

 gives rise to other differences than those of which I am 

 about to speak. I can mention, by way of pioof, the, two 

 individuals for which we are indel)fcd to the eulighteucd 

 zeal of general Lcclerc : though different in age and size^ 

 they still apjicarcd to me to be perfectly similar. 



The crocodile of Saint Domingo resembles that of the Nile 

 in rec'ard to all those characters which serve to dislinguisii 

 the latter from the caiman : it, however, has tiie jaws nar- 

 rower and lono-er ; the breadth of them is to the length as 

 three to six. In the crocodile of the Nile the ratio is that of 

 four to six. The body of the crocodile of Saint Domingo is 

 also proportionablv 'longer, and the tail consists of Three 

 bands more, twenty in the one, and seventeen in the other. 

 The tirst two of the lower teeth are so long that they pierce 

 the upper jaw from one side to the other; whereas they are 

 smaller in that of the Nile, and form for themselves only 

 two small cavities in which they are received. The fourth 

 tooth of the lower jaw of the former can scarcely be distin- 

 guished from the two neighbouring ones, while in the 

 other crocodile these fourth teeth are much larger. The 

 plates which cover the back arc much fewer in number, 

 and more unequally distributed in the crocodile of Saint 

 Domino-o ; the ridges of each are only really prominent in 

 the exterior row, all those of the middle are almost entirely 

 efficed : on the other hand, in the crocodile of the Nile 

 every plate and ridge has the same form, the same promi- 

 nency, and the same respective arrangement. In a word, 

 all the scales, even those which cover the extremities, are 

 perfectlv square in the crocodile of Saint Domingo, and 

 round or hexagonal in that of the Nile. 



All these differences appear to me to furnish so many 

 inductions proper for makhig us believe tliat the crocodile 

 of Saint Domingo forms a species distinct from that of the 

 Nile. But if this fact cannot be established at present in 

 an incontestable manner, there is at least no reason to con- 

 sider the law established by Buffon as invalidated by tlic dis- 

 covery at Saint Domingo of a crocodile with elongated jaws. 

 To give a decisive opinion in regard to this question, it 

 would be ncccssarv to have a more accurate kno^•v ledge of 

 the chansies which crocodiles may undergo at the uiiTerent 

 ages ; that is to say, whether they are not subject to local 

 iniluenccs which produce accidental variations, and to ob- 

 tain some infonnution respecting their habits. 



XLI. Pre- 



