SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS OF ZOOLOGY. 75 



published about 1356 in which, by the way, there are to 

 be found accounts of not a few wonderful things in the way 

 of zoological curiosities tells us that in a certain " centre 

 and be all yonde, ben great plenty of Crokodilles, that is, 

 a manner of a long Serpent as I have seyed before." He 

 further remarks that "these Serpents slew men," and de- 

 voured them, weeping; and he tells us, too, that "whan 

 thei eaten thei meven (move) the over jowe (upper jaw), 

 and nought the nether (lower) jowe : and thei have no 

 tonge (tongue)." Sir John thus states two popular beliefs 

 of his time and of days prior to his age, namely, that croco- 

 diles moved then- upper jaws, and that a tongue was absent 

 in these animals. 



As regards the tears of the crocodiles, no foundation of 

 fact exists for the belief in such sympathetic exhibitions. 

 But a highly probable explanation may be given of the 

 manner in which such a belief originated. These reptiles 

 unquestionably emit very loud and singularly plaintive 

 cries, compared by some travellers to the mournful howling 

 of dogs. The earlier and credulous travellers would very 

 naturally associate tears with these cries, and, once begun, 

 the supposition would be readily propagated, for error 

 and myth are ever plants of quick growth. The belief in 

 the movement of the upper jaw rests on an apparent basis 

 of fact. The lower jaw is joined to the skull very far back on 

 the latter, and the mouth-opening thus comes to be singularly 

 wide ; whilst, when the mouth opens, the skull and upper 

 jaw are apparently observed to move. This is not the case, 

 however ; the apparent movement arising from the manner 

 in which the lower jaw and the skull are joined together. 

 The belief in the absence of the tongue is even more 

 readily explained. When the mouth is widely opened, no 

 tongue is to be seen. This organ is not only present, but is, 

 moreover, of large size ; it is, however, firmly attached to the 

 floor of the mouth, and is specially adapted, from its peculiar 

 form and structure, to assist these animals in the capture and 

 swallowing of their prey. 



