70 Dr. A. Voeltzkow on the Oviposition and 



the embryonic membranes are torn off at the edges of the 

 opening and are left behind in the Q.gg. 



The just-hatched young are of considerable size, and it is 

 afterwards difficult to understand how they could have found 

 room in the eg^g. For instance, an ag^^ 8 centim. in length 

 by 5 centim. in breadth produced a young crocodile of 28 

 centim. These young animals are very savage from the first ; 

 they snap at the finger if one attempts to pick them up, &c. 

 They frequently make a noise, especially when they are 

 hungry. This fact had long been known to me. The note 

 is not so high as that produced by the young in the tg^. It 

 sounds pretty much like the cry of our fire-bellied toad [Bom- 

 hinator igneus), but is somewhat louder ; it is repeated six or 

 seven times, followed by a pause. Some young crocodiles 

 which I have been observing for about a fortnight in a pool 

 I have not heard to utter any cries during the last day or 

 two. Besides this the animals make a spitting noise if they 

 are irritated, e. g. when they are held up by the tail. 



Hatching is not directly dependent upon the setting in of 

 the rainy season, and is not occasioned by the increased 

 moisture of the ground, since the greater number of pits con- 

 tained empty egg-shells about a fortnight before the occur- 

 rence of the first fall of rain. Development in the eg^ takes 

 about three months. It was in the middle of November that 

 I received information that the first newly-hatched young had 

 been observed. 



The newly laid Qgg exhibits the following characteristics. 



As has been remarked above, the form and size of the Qgg 

 are variable, and it possesses a hard and coarsely granulated 

 shell. Immediately beneath this lies the thick and tough 

 shell-membrane, which is so resistant that the egg retains its 

 form after the removal of the shell. This shell-membrane 

 consists of two layers, a thicker external and a more delicate 

 internal one. It is possible with a little care to peel off the 

 external layer in large pieces. S. F. Clarke * states that the 

 shell-membrane of the alligator is attached to the shell in a 

 ring-shaped zone in the direction of the smaller diameter, and 

 that even from outside the egg appears to be encircled by a 

 readily distinguishable white zone. Nothing of this is to be 

 seen in the perfectly fresh eggs of the crocodile. Crocodile 

 eggs which presented this appearance underwent no further 

 development. 



The albumen is of about the same consistency as jelly, some- 

 times has a greenish lustre, and is so tough that^ after care- 



* S. F. Clarke, " Tho Nest aucl Eggs of the Alligator, AUiyator Indus, 

 Cuv.," Zool. Anzeiger, 1888, uo. 290, p. 668. 



