188 COMMON CROCODILE. 



Crocodiles, like the rest of the Lacertae, are 

 oviparous : they deposit their eggs in the sand or 

 mud near or on the banks of the rivers they fre- 

 quent, and the young, when hatched, immediately 

 proceed to the water ; but the major part are said 

 to be commonly devoured by other animals, as 

 Ichneumons, birds, &c. The egg of the common 

 or Nilotic Crocodile is not much larger than that 

 of a goose, and in external appearance bears a 

 most perfect resemblance to that of a bird ; being 

 covered with a calcarious shell, under which is a 

 membrane. When the young are first excluded 

 the head bears a much larger proportion to the 

 body than when full grown. The eggs, as well 

 as the flesh of the Crocodile itself, are numbered 

 among the delicacies of some of the African na- 

 tions, and are said to form one of their favourite 

 repasts. 



The gradual evolution and growth of the Croco- 

 dile are thus poetically described by Dr. Darwin : 



" So from his shell, on Delta's showerless isle 

 Bursts into birth the monster of the Nile ; 

 First, in translucent lymph, with cobweb threads 

 The brain's fine floating tissue swells and spreads : 

 Nerve after nerve the glistening spine descends ; 

 The red heart dances, the aorta bends : 

 Thro' each new gland the purple current glides, 

 New veins meand'ring drink the refluent tides. 

 Edge over edge expands each hardening scale, 

 And sheaths his slimy skin in silver mail. 

 Erewhile, emerging from the brooding sand, 

 With Tiger paw he prints the brineless strand : 

 High on the flood with speckled bosom swims, 

 Helm'd with broad tail, and oar'd with giant limbs : 



