420 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



and since that date several specimens of the species figured here have been 

 found there. A glance at our figures will show the difference between 

 the two. In the alligator the snout is broad ; in the crocodile it is narrow 

 and more pointed. 



Our crocodile, however, is not so well known as the celebrated inhabi- 

 tant of the Nile, of which pages might easily be written. There it has 



^FURFfY. X. A ■ SERUM 



Fig. 3(i0. — American crocodile (Crocodilus americanus). 



lived from time immemorial, and the ancient Egyptians carved its effigy 

 upon their monuments, and embalmed its body and placed it in their 

 tombs. In some places they even regarded it as sacred, and kept it at the 

 public expense. "It was fed and attended with the most scrupulous care ; 

 geese, fish, and various meats were dressed purposely for it ; they orna- 

 mented its head with earrings, and its feet with bracelets and necklaces of 



