CROCODILES. 131 



rapidity. The skin is coriaceous, thick, and resistant \ being covered 

 with plates of different size, according to the parts of the body they 

 protect. On the skull and face the skin adheres to the bone, and 

 there is no trace of scales. 



The scales which defend the back and the upper part of the tail 

 are square, and form hard transverse bands possessed of great 

 flexibility, which prevent them from breaking. Down the centre of 

 the back there is a ridge, which adds to the strength of their armour. 

 Thus, Nature has provided for the safety of these animals by covering 

 them with a cuirass capable of resisting anything but fire-arms. The 

 plates which cover the belly, neck, tail, and legs, are also arranged in 

 transverse bands, but are less hard, and not crested. Along the 

 back, the colour of the Crocodile is brown interspersed with black, 

 over which there is a greenish shade, becoming more decided on 

 the head and flanks; the under part of the legs and belly is of a 

 yellowish grey. These shades, however, vary with age and sex, and 

 the nature of the water in which the animals live. 



Crocodiles are oviparous. The females of the Nile deposit their 

 eggs where the solar heat soon brings them to maturity. But in 

 certain countries, such as in the neighbourhood of Cayenne and 

 Surinam, the eggs are buried under a mound of leaves and vegetable 

 debris t which the Alligators form. This undergoes a kind of fermen- 

 tation, the result of which is an increase of temperature, which pro- 

 duces the desired result. 



Lacepede describes an egg in the Museum of Natural History in 

 Paris, which was laid by a Crocodile fourteen feet in length, killed in 

 Upper Egypt. This egg is only two inches and five lines in length, 

 and one inch and eleven lines in breadth. It is oval and whitish. 

 Its shell is cretaceous in substance, like the eggs of birds, but not so 

 hard. At the time of birth Crocodiles are only about six inches in 

 length, but their growth is very rapid. They abound in large rivers 

 and in marshes. Being amphibious they often come on shore to 

 watch for their prey. They feed on fish, mammalia, aquatic birds, 

 and reptiles. When they have seized a large object they drag it 

 under the water, where they leave it to macerate before feeding upon 

 it. If a man is carried away by a Crocodile it does not attempt to 

 devour him until the body becomes decomposed. 



From the general structure of their framework it is difficult for 

 Crocodiles or Alligators to turn round or move otherwise than for- 

 ward ; thus they can be avoided by the pursued running in & circle 

 or succession of curves. An Englishman was once pursued by an 

 alligator upon the banks of Lake Nicaragua. The animal was gaining 



