CROCUS OR () TALUS. 



177 



liable a creature, when less capable of defence, are 

 diminished ; hut after having attained its utmost 

 power, different means repress it* vor.icitv, and other 

 enemies are on the watch for iis destruction. Al- 

 though the crocodile drags its prey under water to 

 extinguish life, we have already remarked, that it 

 mut resort to shallows or the land to feed upon it ; 

 and in like manner, when attacked by the sword-fish 

 or shark, it is easily vanquished, for on opening its 

 mouth in resistance, a torrent of water rushes in, and 

 it is drowned. Of all the enemies, however, which 

 the crocodile has to dread, the most inveterate is 

 man. By a perpetual and sanguinary war carried on 

 against it in almost every country, and by the various 

 devices adopted for its capture, the race is prodigi- 

 ously reduced. But it is no easy matter to overcome 

 an animal endowed with such uncommon strength, 

 and \\hose hide in general is impenetrable by a leaden 

 musket ball. It is, however, more vulnerable in the 

 belly, and a bullet discharged down the throat or into 

 the eyes is fatal. Even harpoons or spears will 

 penetrate the body and inflict mortal wounds, if 

 thrown by a skilful 'hand. 



As the habits of the different species of true 

 crocodiles do not vary much, except in so far as 

 depends upon difference of size and strength, and 

 difference of activity, which is always greater the 

 wanner the climate, a mere enumeration of the 

 remaining ones will be sufficient. 



ST. DOMINGO CROCODILE (CtocodUiii acviiu). The 

 muzzle of this species is longer in proportion than 

 that of the former, more pointed at the extremity, but 

 enlarged at the base. The scaly plates on the back 

 are ranged in four line?, the lateral ones anterior and 

 with verv elevated crests. This species is exceedingly 

 common in all the rivers and marshes of St. Domingo, 

 and most of the other large West Indian islands. It 

 has been confounded with the crocodile of the Nile, 

 also with the caimans of the American continent, and 

 its manners correspond exactly, though there are some 

 differences in its external structure. 



TWO-CKESTKD CROCODILE (Crocodllns bifitrcatus). 

 This is the crocodile of the east, and is more abundant 

 in the island-; than on the main land of Asia. It has 

 been seen as far to the southward as Timor, but it 

 does not appear to have been hitherto found in 

 Australia. It is reported, however, as being more 

 discursive in the water than any of the other species, 

 so that it has been met with a good way out at sea. 

 It is browner than the Egyptian crocodile, and the 

 dark spots upon it are more distinct. 



Crocodiles have been observed in all the great 

 rivers of Africa, and in the streams and marshes of 

 the oriental islands, and also in the larger rivers of 

 the extreme south of Asia, differing considerably from 

 those now mentioned, although only in a few unim- 

 portant particulars. But the manners of the whole 

 race, wherever they may occur, or however they may 

 differ from each other in a few external particulars, 

 are so much the same that, for popular purposes, any 

 further account of them is unnecessary. 



GAVIALS. The distinguishing characters of the 

 pavials, at least in point of shape, are these : the 

 mu/y.le slender and very much elongated; the teeth 

 of nearly equal length, the fourth in the lower jaw 

 passing into notches and not holes in the upper jaw ; 

 the hind feet are dentated on their external edges, and 

 the webs reach to the roots of the claws ; two large holes 

 are perforated in the cranial bone in the rear of the eyes, 



NAT Hisr. VOL. II. 



which are perceptible through the skin. The most 

 remarkable physiological character consists in these 

 animals being much more aquatic than either the true 

 crocodiles or the alligators. They repose on the 

 mud in the shallows ; but their food consists almost 

 entirely of fishes, aquatic reptiles, and other living 

 productions of the waters, seldom meddling with any 

 warm-blooded creatures and never with man. There 

 are only two known species, both of which are inhabit- 

 ants of the south-eastern parts of the old continent. 



GAVIAL OF THE GANGES (Lorigirostra Grtngetica). 

 This species appears to have been known to the 

 ancients, who describe the Ganges as containing two 

 sorts of crocodiles, one harmless and the other not. 

 This species is of course the harmless one. The other 

 species is the little gavial (L. U-nuirostra' , which is 

 hardly known except as a museum specimen. 



CROCUS (Linnanis). One of our commonest, 

 earliest, and most favourite garden flowers. It be- 

 longs to the third class of the sexual system, and to 

 the natural order Iridcce. The crocus is found wild 

 in different parts of Europe, three of them in Britain, 

 one of which is the cultivated saffron. The garden 

 varieties are numerous, and all are very attractive. 

 No flower is so sensible of the effects of light and 

 heat as the crocus. Its petals expand during the 

 day, and close at night. But they will expand at 

 night under the light of a lamp or candle ; or if 

 placed within the influence of the heat of afire, though 

 shaded from the light of it, the petals open as readily 

 as they do in bright light. The crocuses are mostly 

 summer sleeping plants, particularly the spring 

 flowering species ; and when the spring growth 

 ceases, the tubers are usually taken up and kept in a 

 dry place till the early spring, when they are again 

 planted where they are intended to flower. 



CRPSSANDRA (Salisbury). A splendid flower- 

 ing evergreen shrub, found in India. Linnaean class 

 and order Didynamia Angiospermia, and natural order 

 Acanthacete. Generic character : calyx of five un- 

 equal parts, supported by three bractes ; corolla 

 salver-shaped, of one lip, which is large, flat, and five- 

 lobed; stamens within the tube ; anthers one-celled ; 

 capsule two-celled, two-valved ; seeds netted. This 

 genus is called Hwrachia, by Jacquin, and Rut'llia, 

 by Andrews. The stove management of these 

 plants is easy ; they flower frequently, thrive in light 

 rich soil, and are propagated by cuttings. 



CROTALARIA (Linnaeus). So called because 

 the seeds of the genus rattle in the pods like Krotalons, 

 or castanets. Many of the species are annuals and 

 natives of warm climates. Linnsean class and order 

 MonadcIphiaDccandna,'d.\\(\ natural order Lcgi/ininosd'. 

 Generic character : calyx two-lipped, five parted ; 

 vexillum or standard large, and reflexed ; keel 

 pointed ; tube bearing the stamens ; style downy ; 

 pod on a pedicel, oblong. The shrubby species of 

 this genus have been long cultivated in our hothouses ; 

 they flower freely, and sometimes ripen seeds ; but 

 in default of these, cuttings may be rooted in sand 

 under a glass in hotbed heat. 



CROTALUS Rattle-snake. A genus of ophi- 

 dian reptiles, belonging to the poisonous division of 

 the true serpents, and to that subdivision of them 

 which have poison-fangs, unaccompanied by any 

 other teeth. They are the typical serpents of this 

 subdivision, and form a tribe, consisting of Crotalus 

 properly so called, which have a rattle, or instrument 

 of sound upon the tail; and Trigonacephalus, tri- 

 al 



