io THOSE OTHER ANIMATE. 



prey by drowning ; the shark can take off a limb with a 

 single bite, the alligator has no such power. Its teeth are 

 sharp and pointed, but placed at irregular distances apart, 

 and though these can wound and lacerate sorely they have 

 no cutting power whatever, and when it has captured and 

 drowned a prey too large to be swallowed at a mouthful, 

 hides it up in a deep hole or under the river bank until it 

 decomposes sufficiently for the reptile to be able to tear it 

 in pieces. It is said that any one seized by an alligator or 

 crocodile can, if he possess a sufficient amount of presence 

 of mind, compel the creature to let go by thrusting his 

 thumbs into its one vulnerable point its eyes. The ex- 

 periment, however, is one that cannot be recommended. 

 It would doubtless be interesting, but, like Alpine climbing, 

 the satisfaction of success would scarcely compensate for 

 the risk incurred. 



In no creature have the defensive powers been carried to 

 the same perfection as in the case of the crocodile : its coat 

 of armour is absolutely invulnerable to the weapons that 

 it was intended to withstand; and even now that man has 

 armed himself with rifles, he is unable to penetrate its 

 defence unless the creature is struck in the eye or in the 

 thick skin of its leg-joints, which are comparatively exposed. 

 The coat of mail, doubtless, possesses certain disadvantages, 

 as did the armour worn by the knights of the Middle Ages ; 

 while this was proof against missiles of all kinds, against sword 

 and dagger, the knight, if unhorsed and hurled to the ground, 

 was unable to rise without assistance, and lay a helpless 

 victim to the dagger of the meanest camp-follower. So it 

 is with the crocodile ; it can turn its head but at a slight 

 angle with its body, and can turn itself only by means of 



