334 The Alligator and Its Allies 



The embryo now begins to exhibit some of the 

 external characteristics of the adult alligator. 



STAGE XXII 



Figure 25 (Plate xxviii.) 



This embryo needs no particular description. It 

 has reached in its external appearance practically 

 the adult condition, although there is still con- 

 siderable yolk (not shown in the figure) to be 

 absorbed, and the embryo would not have hatched 

 for many days. Pigmentation, begun in the last 

 stage, is now complete. The umbilical stalk is 

 clearly seen projecting from a large opening in the 

 body wall. The long loop of the intestine that 

 extends down into the yolk sac is here evident, and 

 it is hard to understand how it can all be drawn up 

 into the body cavity when the umbilical stalk is 

 withdrawn. No sharp shell-tooth at the tip of the 

 snout, such as is described by Voeltzkow (78) in 

 the crocodile, is here seen. 



STAGE XXIII 



Figure 26 (Plate xxviii.) 



This figure shows the relative sizes of the just- 

 hatched alligator and the egg from which it came. 

 It also shows the position of the young alligator in 

 the egg, half of the shell having been removed for 

 that purpose, The blotchy appearance of the 



