Papular JBt'ctionarg of gmmatetf feature, n 



pectation of some land animal coming to 

 drink. As the devoted victim approaches, 

 nothing of its insidious enemy is to be seen ; 

 nor is the retreat of the former meditated 

 till it is too late. The voracious reptile 

 instantly springs on its prey with much 

 more agility than might reasonably be ex- 

 pected from such an unwieldy creature ; 

 and, having secured it with its teeth and 

 claws, instantly plunges into the water and 

 drags it to the bottom, where it is devoured 

 at its leisure. In its depredations along the 

 banks, however, it sometimes happens that 

 the Alligator seizes on an animal as formid- 

 able as itself, and meets with a desperate 

 resistance. With the tiger, in particular, 

 which is in the habit of lurking in the vici- 

 nity of great rivers, it has frequent contests ; 

 and the instant this animal finds itself as- 

 saulted, he turns about with prodigious 

 agility, and forces his claws into the eyes of 

 the assailant, who immediately plunges with 

 its fierce antagonist into the river, where 

 the struggle continues till the tiger submits 

 to a watery death. 



As we have spoken at some length of the 

 CROCODILE, and described the different 

 species, it would be inconsistent with our 

 general plan to extend this article much 

 further. We therefore conclude with an 

 anecdote from Waterton's " Wanderings in 

 South America," clearly showing that man 

 is not exempt from the attacks of this fero- 

 cious destroyer :" One Sunday evening, 

 gome years ago, as I was walking with Don 

 Felipe de Ynciarte, governor of Angustura 

 on the bank of the Oroonoque, ' Stop here a 

 minute or two, Don Carlos,' said he to me, 

 'while I recount a sad accident. One fine 

 evening last year, as the people of Angustura, 

 were sauntering up and down here, in the 

 Alameda, I was within twenty yards of this 

 place, when I saw a large Cayman [the com- 

 mon species of Surinam and Guiana] rush 

 out of the river, seize a man, and carry him 

 down, before any body had it in his power to 

 assist him. The screams of the poor fellow 

 were terrible as the Cayman was running off 

 with him. He plunged into the river with 

 his prey : we instantly lost sight of him, and 

 never saw or heard him more." 



ALLIGATOR TORTOISE. A genus of 

 the EMYDA:, or Marsh Tortoises, which are 

 carnivorous in their habits ; and some of the 

 species, of which this is one, are formidable 

 from their size and ferocity. It is a native 

 of the lakes, rivers, and morasses of Caro- 

 lina ; and it is remarkable for its activity, 

 darting suddenly upon aquatic birds, fishes, 

 or other animals that come within its reach, 

 and snapping them up : from which habit 

 it is sometimes designated as the " Snap- 

 ping Turtle." The species is the Chelydra 

 Serpentina. [See TORTOISE.] 



ALOSA. A genus of Malacopterygious 

 fishes of the Clupeidce or Herring family, 

 greatly resembling the Pilchard and Sardine, 

 Alosa vulgaris is the common SHAD (which 

 see]. 



ALPACA, or PERUVIAN SHEEP. 

 (.Auchenia.) In form and structure, this 



animal bears a strong resemblance to the 

 camel ; but is greatly inferior in size, and 

 differs from it in the absence of the hump, 

 the want of water-cells in the stomach, and 

 in the conformation of the foot, which con- 



FBROVHN 8HBXP. (iUOHBNIi.) 



sists of two toes completely divided, each 

 with a rough cushion beneath, and provided 

 at the end with a strong short hoof. There 

 appear to be three closely allied species of 

 these animals. That which we are now 

 describing is said to be entirely confined to 

 Peru, where the natives keep vast flocks of 

 them for the sake of the silky lustre and 

 fineness of their wool. It inhabits the 

 more elevated parts of the mountain ranges, 

 living almost on the borders of perpetual 

 snow. [See LLAMA, GUANACO, and VICUNA.] 



ALUCITID^. A family of small Lepi- 

 dopterous insects, nearly allied to the 

 TixEii)>K,hut distinguished from that and all 

 others by the wings being singularly divided 

 into narrow feathered rays ; the fore wings 

 having two, three, four, or six, and the 

 posterior wings three or six of such rays, 

 which are beautifully feathered on each edge: 

 they are carried horizontally in repose ; the 

 antennae are long, slender, and setaceous ; 



the spiral maxillae are long ; and the legs are 



g and slender. The l 

 with very long hairs ; they have sixteen feet, 



larvae are clothed 



and are very inactive ; the pupse are either 

 naked, and enclosed in a transparent silken 

 cocoon ; or conical, hairy, and either sus- 

 pended perpendicularly by a thread, or af- 

 fixed at the posterior extremity of the body 

 to a layer of silk or leaves. These insects 

 vary in the time of their flight ; the Aluciia 

 frequenting our gardens, and sitting with its 

 beautiful fan-like wings on our hothouses, 

 whilst the Pterophori, being crepuscular, 

 fly over low plants. The rays of the wings 

 are composed of the nerves, without any of 

 the intervening membrane, which seems to 

 be transformed into the fringe. In repose 

 the Pterophori fold their wings so as to 

 appear to consist of only one broad ray. 



ALUTERES. A genus of fishes, belong- 

 ing to the order Plectognathi : they are cha- 

 racterized by a long body, the granulations 

 scarcely visible, and a single spine in the 

 first dorsal ; but the pelvis is completely 

 hidden in the skin. For an example, see 

 OSTRACIOW. 



