THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 109 



14 92 86 88 66 



16 92 84 88 68 **Opened one of the eggs (sec 



**). 



20 93 88 83 76 .32 



21 92 86 83 74 



22 92 86 82 74 



23 92 86 83 71 ***The hard shell on the egg 



(see (***) next page). 



24 92 86 83 71 



25 92 86 85 73 



26 92 86 82 75 .46 



27 92 86 87 73 



28 ****Young hatching today 



(see (****) next page). 



29 Young left the nest last night 



*Opened one of the eggs, found the little alligator well 

 developed, fully shaped and fully colored, with black and 

 yellow markings as distinct as if naturally hatched. A con- 

 siderable amount of the yolk was yet to be absorbed. The 

 girth of the eggs is somewhat enlarged, and the hard out- 

 side shell is cracked and spread in many places showing the 

 inside membrane. 



**Opened one of the eggs today, the little alligator is 

 fully developed, it can see and opened its mouth when my 

 finger was put near it. The circumference of the eggs has 

 increased, and the outer hard shell is much cracked with 

 two openings extending irregularly from end to end show- 

 ing the tough inner covering of the embryo. The young 

 alligator has a sharp point on the top of its upper jaw, point- 

 ing up. This point looks like the point on the beak of a 

 young chicken when first hatched, and is undoubtedly for 

 the purpose of puncturing the tough inner shell at the time 

 of hatching. All the egg's liquid except about one-half a 

 tablespoon of the yolk had been absorbed. There was an 

 opening in the skin of the stomach just forward of the vent 

 one and five-eighths inches long. The stomach membrane 

 protrudes from this opening, and surrounds the remaining 

 yolk. The stomach is quite distended. This little alligator 

 moved its body very slowly due to the distended stomach. 

 This little alligator was placed in a pan containing a couple 

 of inches of tepid water and kept in my house. In six days 

 the yolk had all been absorbed, the stomach opening closed 

 and it was as normal as if it had not had a premature birth. 



