IV. 



A HISTORY OF 



two feet two inches long ; the paws, from the 

 joint to the extremity of the longest claws, 

 were above nine inches : they were divided 

 into four toes, of which three were armed with 

 large claws, the longest of which was an inch 

 and a half; these toes were united by a mem- 

 brane, like those of a duck, but much thicker. 

 The head was long, and had a little rising at 

 the top ; but the rest was flat, and especially 

 towards the extremity of the jaws. It was 

 covered by a skin, which adhered firmly to 

 the skull and to the jaws. The skull was 

 rough and unequal in several places : and 

 about the middle of the forehead there were 

 two bony crests, about two inches high : the 

 skull between these two crests was proof 

 against a musket-ball ; for it oniy rendered 

 the part a little white that it struck against. 

 The eye was very small, in proportion to the 

 rest of the body, and was so placed within its 

 orbit, that the outward part, when the lid was 

 closed, was only an inch long, and the line 

 running parallel to the opening of the jaws. 

 It was covered with a double lid, one within 

 and one without : that within, like the nicti- 

 tating membrane in birds, was folded in the 

 great corner of the eye, and had a motion to- 

 wards the tail, but being transparent, it cover- 

 ed the eye without hindering the sight. The 

 iris was very large in proportion to the globe 

 of the eye, and was of a yellowish gray colour. 

 Above the eye the ear was placed, which open- 

 ed from above downwards, as if it were by a 

 kind of spring, by means of a solid, thick, car- 

 tilaginous substance. The nose was placed 

 in the middle of the upper jaw, near an inch 

 from its extremity, and was perfectly round 

 and flat, being near two inches in diameter, 

 of a black, soft, spongy substance, not unlike 

 the nose of a dog. The jaws seemed to shut 

 one within another ; and nothing can be more 

 false than that the animal's under jaw is with- 

 out motion ; it moves like the lower jaw in 

 all other animals, while the upper is fixed to 

 the skull, and absolutely immoveable. The 

 animal had twenty-seven cutting teeth in the 

 upper jaw, and fifteen in the lower, with seve- 

 ral void spaces between them : they were 

 thick at the bottom, and sharp at the point, 

 being all of different sizes, except ten large 

 hooked ones, six of which were in the lower 

 jaw, and four in the upper. The mouth was 

 fifteen inches in length, and eight and a half 



in breadth, where broadest. The distance of 

 the two jaws, when opened as wide as they 

 could be, was fifteen inches and a half; this 

 is a very wide yawn, and could easily enough 

 take in the body of a man. The colour of 

 the body was of a dark brown on the upper 

 part, and of a whitish citron below, with large 

 spots of both colours on the sides. From the 

 shoulders to the extremity of the tail, the ani- 

 mal was covered with large scales, of a square 

 form, disposed like parallel girdles, and fifty- 

 two in number ; but those near the tail were 

 not so thick as the rest. The creature was 

 covered not only with these, but all over with 

 a coat of armour ; which, however, was not 

 proof against a musket-ball, contrary to what 

 has been commonly asserted : however, it 

 must be confessed, that the attitude in which 

 the animal was placed, might contribute to 

 render the skin more penetrable ; for, proba- 

 bly, if the hall had struck obliquely against the 

 shell, it would have flown off. Those parts 

 of the girdles underneath the belly were of a 

 whitish colour, and were made up of scales 

 of divers shapes, but not so hard as those on 

 the back. 



With respect to the internal parts of the ani- 

 mal, the gullet was large in proportion to the 

 mouth ; and a ball of wood as large as one's 

 head, readily ran down, and was drawn up 

 again. The guts were but short, in compari- 

 son, being not so long as the animal's body. 

 The tongue, which some have erroneously 

 asserted this animal was without, consisted of 

 a thick spongy soft flesh, and was strongly 

 connected to the lower jaw. The heart was 

 of the size of a calf's, of a bright red colour, 

 the blood passing as well from the veins to the 

 aorta as into the lungs. There was no blad- 

 der ; but the kidneys sent the urine to be dis- 

 charged by the anus. There were sixty-two 

 joints in the back-bone, which, though very 

 closely united, had sufficient play to enable 

 the animal to bend like a bow to the right and 

 the left; so that \\hat we hear of escaping the 

 creature by turning out of the right line, and 

 of the animal not being able to wheel readily 

 after its prey, seems to be fabulous. It is most 

 likely the crocodile can turn with ease, for the 

 joints of its back are not stiffer than those of 

 other animals, which we know, by experience, 

 can wheel about very nimbly for their size. 



Such is the figure and conformation of this 



